Chapter 7

7.

         Spitting out a foul-tasting combination of berries and leaves, Tolin was just convincing himself that his situation wasn’t too embarrassing when he heard the light scuff of footsteps just behind his head.
         “You know,” said a voice not trying hard enough to disguise its amusement, “one of my instructors used to tell us all the time that turning invisible wasn’t enough, that if we wanted to blend in somewhere, we had to become the environment.” A shadow fell over Tolin’s face as a hand rustled the branches surrounding him. “Damn, he’d be proud of you, Tolin.”
         “Get me out of here, you bastard,” Tolin snarled, trying to angle his arm so he could at least get some leverage, since it was clear his comrade was going to milk this for all it was worth. “I can’t teleport with this on top of me.” There was no answer. Tolin craned his neck, trying to find where the other fellow had gone. “Dammit, you better not have left . . .”
         “Hm . . . what was that, Tolin?” the voice said, now sounding farther away. “I’m afraid I didn’t quite hear you. All these bodies must have distracted me. What were you saying?”
         “Argh . . . you . . .” Tolin tried to turn his head again but instead was rewarded with a mouthful of leaves. This was getting ridiculous. He was starting to lose the feeling in his legs. Straining, he pushed against the tree trunk, both with his arms and otherwise. His shoulder burned with the motion. The world swam in and out but he felt the pressure decrease slightly.
         “I mean, just look at all of them here, it’s like an animal went after them, you know? Though I do have to give whoever it was points for creativity, it certainly demonstrates a broad range of imagination. We’ve got a beheading, a scouring, a multiple stabbing, an . . . ooh, a self inflicted wound, very nasty . . . a very neatly done slit throat, very professional . . .”
         He could move his legs a little, but it still felt like they were caught on something. Maybe another . . . inch or so. Feeling a blood vessel pounding in his forehead, Tolin strained some more, trying to visualize a feather, a balloon, a rocket dragging it up into the atmosphere, although somehow it all kept transforming into a two thousand pound baby.
         “And what happened to this one here, it looks like . . . oh . . . well I’ll be . . .”
         Nearly breathless from the effort, Tolin almost forgot to test the range of motion in his legs again. Blood roaring in his ears, he pulled his legs toward him in a swift motion, at the same time taking the opportunity to roll completely free of the tree. As he scrambled to his feet, landing in a crouch, the tree slipped free, hitting the ground with a thud, throwing up a small, scattered cloud of dirt.
         Trying to slow down his breathing, Tolin looked in the direction where he had last heard the voice come from. A little down the road a small, slight man was leaning over someone’s prone body.
         Casually, as if Tolin had been standing there all along, he said, “This one’s still alive.”
         Brushing dirt off of his clothing and looking with dismay at the rips and tears in what had once been a fine set of clothing, Tolin said, “You make it sound so unexpected, Rathas.”
         The other man only frowned, his mouth a thin line. Not looking up, his fingers felt the man’s neck, searching for confirmation of a pulse. Finding it, he nodded to himself and clapped his hands on his knees, glancing over at Tolin. “Call it past experience. Tolin, what the hell happened here?” he asked, putting his hands out to indicate the whole bloody scene.
         Casting a look around, his face passive, Tolin replied with a shrug, “They spotted me.”
         Rathas raised his eyebrows. Nodding sagely, he said, “I see. Well remind me not to walk in on you in the bedroom, then. I take it teleporting wasn’t really an option?”
         Damn. He had wanted to avoid this part. But it would come out eventually anyway. “It wasn’t just soldiers, they had someone else with them . . . someone like us. That’s who dropped the tree on me.”
         “Ah . . . I see,” Rathas said, somehow avoiding a smile. Staring around at the bodies scattered all over the road, he asked calmly, “And which of these odes to carnage is your junior lumberjack? Is he the one without his head, because that would be an irony I honestly thought was beyond you.”
         Tolin made a face. Rathas was clearly enjoying this too much. Valreck must have already heard and wasn’t happy about what happened. Well he should have come out here himself if he wanted it done a certain way. They knew what he was capable of. It’s not that this should have come as a surprise. “They’re not here . . . and it’s a she. A young girl, I couldn’t read her too well, she had . . . barriers in place already and when she sensed me . . . more went up.”
         Now Rathas frowned. “Awful paranoid, isn’t she? Bit of a rare technique too, mostly because it’s quite a waste of energy, if you ask me. And you say she wasn’t a soldier?”
         “She didn’t fight with the rest of them, in fact it looked like they were trying to keep her out of the way. We only fought because she was the last one standing.”
         “And that’s when she dropped the tree on you.”
         “No . . . that was after I rammed a piece of wood through her.” Tolin allowed himself a small smile of satisfaction. The look of startled agony on her face almost made it worth getting hit with the tree. He winced as he took a step and a muscle protested, seeming to twist itself in knots. Almost worth it.
         Rathas sighed. “I think the theatre lost a genius in performance art when you came with us, Tolin. You’re not one for half-measures, are you?” Standing up, he pivoted in a small circle. “So where did she go?”
         Tolin shrugged. “I don’t know. Ran off, I guess. I was otherwise occupied, remember?”
         Rathas sly but fleeting grin indicated he very much did. “Oh, trust me, I won’t forget that for a while.” Smile fading, he crossed his arm, head bowed in thought, his boot tracing a small abstract pattern in the dirt. “A young girl, you say? With our abilities. And these are supposed to be soldiers from the mythical Time Patrol . . .” his eyes suddenly widened as he looked at Tolin. “You don’t think it’s . . .”
         Lost for a second, Tolin immediately grasped what Rathas was trying to say. “How could it be? She’d only be . . . what, a year old at the most?”
         “That’d be the logical explanation,” Rathas mused, strolling over to another body and casually nudging it with his foot. “But the things people kept saying . . . I mean, it would have been a little hard to rally around an infant, isn’t it? The little bugger would just sleep through every battle.” Bending down, he deftly began to rifle through the dead man’s pockets, still speaking as he did, “But maybe they kept her in hiding for years . . .” he picked up a discarded laser, turning it over in his hands, his fingers exploring its smooth, compact surface. “Though I’d be giving Mandras more credit than he deserved, probably. He never really struck me as a long-term thinker.” Tapping the laser against his chin, he looked up at Tolin and said, “But it would make sense that the child would have wound up with the Time Patrol, once the dust settled. If she did exist, then that’s not someone you particularly want in circulation.”
         “But wasn’t she supposed to be the most powerful of us ever?” Tolin asked, breaking off a portion of a branch and gradually stripping it of leaves and excess twigs. “I mean, her shields were better than I would have expected, but . . . I don’t know, it shouldn’t have been so easy, then.”
         Rathas shook his head briefly, unable to hide a smile. “Such modesty. No doubt she was stunned by your charming visage and gentle, comforting manner.” Tossing the laser up and then snatching it out of the air with a quick motion, he stood up and added, “And don’t underestimate her too much, as you mentioned not only were her shields a tad unconventional, but keep in mind . . . and oh how I love saying this . . . she did drop a tree on you. That’s not exactly the same as juggling balls.” He sauntered over to another soldier, rummaging through the pockets in the same manner as before. “There was a lot of hyperbole being flung around back then, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some element of truth to it . . . she might not have been power incarnate, but it’s quite possible we might have had a young Ranos on our hands.” Rathas flashed the other man a grim smile. “If that was the case, then you, my friend, made out pretty damn well.”
         “If that was even her and not just some kid . . .” Tolin pointed out. His fingernail was working at the end of the branch, sending flecks of bark spiraling into the dirt. “I mean, I can’t even believe these were Time Patrol, I know I took them by surprise but . . .”
         “Yes, I was wondering that myself, actually,” Rathas muttered, patting the chest of the dead soldier as in comfort as he stood up. “With all due respect to your prowess, six Time Patrol soldiers should have posed a little bit of a problem . . . and yet . . .” pacing aimlessly in the midst of the bodies, his boots kicked up little spurts of dirt as he thought outloud, “who else could it have been, but the nebulous Time Patrol, if only there was some . . . ah-“ Stopping, he snapped his fingers suddenly, looking at Tolin but speaking in a fashion that indicated he didn’t care if the man was following along or not. “We have to assume that ninety percent of what we hear is false, correct?” He strode purposely over to one of the bodies, kicking something out of the way in the process. “But, as I hinted at before, hidden in every falsehood somewhere, is some small kernel of truth and sometimes that kernel is insignificant . . .” he dropped to his knees, grabbing the corpse by the shoulders and lifting him up to a near sitting position, staring at the top of the body.
         He drew a short intake of breath.
         Turning slowly to Tolin, who was now wandering over, discarding the now sharpened spike of wood to the ground, Rathas grinned slowly, the gesture dissolving into a brief, triumphant laugh.
         “. . . and sometimes,” he finished, “that kernel means everything,” pointing to the body.
         Tolin leaned over, casting a curious glance at his comrade, wondering what the hell he was babbling about.
         Then he saw what Rathas was indicating, and his eyes widened.
         The soldier Rathas was holding had been the first one Tolin had killed, slaying him through decapitation. The head, its features now obscured by caked on dirt, still lay nearby, fortunately not looking at them. The body itself had stopped bleeding, which wasn’t surprising in itself, but in the area of the severed neck a thin layer of skin had grown to cover the formerly exposed bone and muscle. The soldier hadn’t been the first person that Tolin had caused to lose his head, and by now he knew what he should have been seeing. What he was looking at now wasn’t it.
         “It’s still warm,” Rathas said, in wonder. “Feel it.” Tolin took the man’s word for it, finding himself oddly repulsed by what appeared to be happening here. Suddenly he wished he had beheaded all of the bodies. He cast a glance around, looking for any signs of movement. “And look . . .” Rathas continued, his finger poking into the center of the neck region, “there’s a . . . bud . . . or something . . .” and indeed a small nub, not unlike a nipple, had formed where Rathas was pointing. For some reason that made Tolin even queasier. He didn’t like this. Not at all.
         Letting the body drop to the ground, Rathas ran his hands through his hair and said, “This presents a problem. What are now six corpses are soon enough going to become six no doubt very angry men.”
         “Five,” Tolin corrected. Rathas shot him a questioning look. “Remember, one’s still alive . . .” he said, pointing to the soldier in question. He hadn’t twitched one bit since Rathas had arrived but if Tolin looked closely he could see the slow rise and fall of his chest.
         “That’s right, so he is,” Rathas murmured. “Okay,” he said, louder, wringing his hands together briefly but letting them drop to his sides. “Okay, here’s what we do, then. We take that one back with us . . . things are progressing to the point where a hostage might be prudent. We might be able to do something to delay the rest of these folks from coming back to haunt us, so that’s another issue and . . .” Rathas fixed his gaze on Tolin, almost disconcertingly so. Damn he looks like a bird sometimes, Tolin thought. “She ran, you say?”
         “Yeah,” Tolin confirmed, gesturing vaguely in the direction of the forest. “But I wounded her pretty bad, she won’t last too long bleeding like that . . . I don’t think we have to worry about her too much.”
         Rathas gave the smile that he always seemed to reserve for simpletons. “Tolin, Tolin, Tolin, you really should have listened to more of the rhetoric they forced down our throats . . . don’t you remember what was special about the child? It wasn’t just her power . . .”
         It hit Tolin then, a snatch of long forgotten music returning screeching to life. He looked at the scattered bodies again, then back at Rathas. “The union,” he whispered.
         “That’s right,” the other man answered in a singsong fashion. “So one way or the other we’re going to figure out if she’s the real thing or not, it seems.” Tolin wished he didn’t sound so gleeful at the prospect. He had a fairly good idea of who Valreck was going to send after her when it came down to it. For some reason, the thought of trying to track her through the entire forest didn’t exactly appeal to him.
         “Want me to take this guy back, then?” Tolin asked, taking a step toward the Rathas and the prone soldier. “Valreck will probably want to know what happened here . . .” or at least I want him to hear my version.
         “Oh that’s quite all right, I can take him,” Rathas responded cordially, not looking at him. “I think I’ve seen enough to give Valreck an honest picture of how you did your best in an unpleasant situation.” He paused for a moment. “Besides, you should get a head start on finding our problem child, before she gets a chance to cause anymore havoc.” A smirk creased his face. “Though if you could be a dear and steer her near my house, there are some trees that I need cleared.”
         Rathas’ insistence wasn’t unexpected, but Tolin really wasn’t in any mood for it. If he had to go chasing people around the forest for hours, he wanted a quick break at least. “No, really, I should go back . . . I need to let my wife know that I may not be back for a while . . . hell, she’s probably wondering where I am now . . .”
         “Oh, I highly doubt that,” Rathas said, his voice odd. He was looking down at the still living soldier, as if trying to memorize his features. “In fact, she’s not even there anymore.”
         Tolin blinked, momentarily confused. What the hell was he talking about? “What do you mean? I left her sleeping, where did she go?” His voice was a calm rattle, simmering just under the cracked surface.
         Rathas gave a brief, cold laugh. “Yes, I saw how you left her.” His round eyes tore into Tolin, seemingly strangely clear all of a sudden. “I sent her away, Tolin. She’s gone and she’s not coming back.”
         “What . . . what are you . . .” rage strangled his words, and for a second he didn’t think he could breathe properly. Who said he could do this? The words that did emerge were razor-lined and snarled, “You . . . bastard . . .” The sharpened stick from before was in his hand before he even realized he had called it from the dirt. These days, everything felt automatic. Dammit, I’ll put it right through his eyes, the little monster, I’ll ram it in as far as it’ll go and leave it there and leave him screaming in the road with blood all over his face and let the birds take the other eye, I swear . . . the small spear quivered in his hands, as if awaiting the okay.
         Burning light seared the air near his ear, causing him to dodge to the side a step, flinching away instinctively.
         “Now, now, manners,” Rathas said coolly, keeping the laser trained on Tolin. “This next one is aimed at your head. Frankly, it’s the biggest target.” There was no humor in his jagged laugh, only something grim and callous. Even the humor vanished in his next sentence. “I told you, Tolin . . . I’ve said it over and over, but you just don’t listen . . .”
         “I don’t have to!” Tolin seethed, keeping his body very still, but mentally calculating the distance between him and Rathas. If the bastard looked for a second like he was going to pull the trigger, he was going down. Whatever it took. Let Valreck pick up the damn pieces later. He didn’t care. “I don’t have to and I sure as hell don’t need your stamp of approval. You have no right to interfere with what I do, you hear me, no damn right-“
         ”I can’t touch you, Tolin,” Rathas continued, as if he hadn’t heard, “and I can’t stop you, so if I can’t get through to you, I’ll simply have to make it not worth your while. It’s as simple as that.” He shrugged, the laser never wavering. “So, you see, the choice to stop this sick little game of ours is entirely yours, my friend.”
         Tolin said nothing, merely stared at the laser as if his gaze alone could melt the object. Somewhere distant he heard a snap and realized he was only holding wooden fragments.
         “Don’t screw up what we have here, Tolin,” Rathas said, his voice deadly serious. “Construct your ridiculous fantasies if you must, but don’t jeopardize the rest of us. We’re no different than they are, we’ll die just as easily. Don’t give them anymore reasons than they already have.”
         “I’ll kill you-“ Tolin spat out uselessly, angry at how impotent he felt.
         Rathas only shook his head. “Unless you’ve learned how to move faster than light, I sincerely doubt that.” With deliberate speed he bent down and rearranged the soldier’s limbs, folding his hands on his chest like he was already dead. Tolin knew what was coming next. Continuing in a conversational tone, Rathas said, “So I’m taking him back in order to give you a head start on finding the girl. No, no need to thank me, in fact I’ll be joining you later, since as we all know two heads are so much better than one.” The man flashed Tolin an insincere grin that only served to incense him further.
         “This isn’t over,” Tolin vowed, wondering if Valreck would believe Rathas got caught in the middle of the battle. “Do you understand that, you little bastard? Do you?” He was surprised by how strangely calm his voice was. Maybe this wasn’t bothering him as much as he thought. It was just the principle involved, the other man had no right at all to do this. “You’re not doing this to me again.”
         “If you say so,” Rathas said offhandedly with a small sigh, as if bored, leaping agilely to his feet. “The thing is, dear boy,” and he tapped the laser lightly with the other hand, “the next time, I may just give her this.”
         Then he and the soldier both disappeared in a burst of imploding air, followed by a whooshing sound as nature rushed to occupy the space they had just departed from.
         Tolin stood there for a long time, as if the laser was still trained on him, as if a stray shot might take his head off from any angle. Very slowly he let a ragged breath out, opening his tightly clenched fists and letting the remains of the shattered twig flutter to the road. Turning in a slow circle, he stared at the debris from his work, the unmoving bodies, the dust congealed with dried blood, the vague smell of smoke and terror that still lingered around the place, a houseguest who hadn’t yet received the hint.
         His eyes fell on the downed tree, it trunk cleaved by unseen force, its twisted branches reaching for a sky that wouldn’t help. Tolin thought of the dead soldiers, and tried to manufacture some pride. The effort suddenly didn’t seem worth it.
         He thought of his departed wife and his now empty house, how quiet it would be, how much colder and distant the place would feel. Tolin looked at the bodies again, and tried to picture Rathas’ small, broken frame among them.
         It didn’t help.
         This was supposed to be a victory, you bastard.
         “Dammit,” he whispered, and focused a lens in his mind. Rathas’ smug smile flickered in front of his eyes, a reflection he couldn’t reach, from a lake where the bottom was too dark to see. Touching it would merely ruin the hallucination.
         A victory-
         “Damn you!” he screamed, spinning away from the broken tree, his mind igniting, feeling the sudden flash of heat as the topmost branches burst into flame. He staggered away from it for a few steps, the warmth falling on him in grimy waves, the crackling of the dried tree providing a backdrop that only accented how alone out here he was.
         “Ah, the hell with it. The hell with him,” Tolin muttered, making his way closest to where the majority of the bodies were lying. To his dismay some looked oddly healthy already. I have to do something, or I’m going to have a problem later. Rathas had been right about that at least.
         “How do you stop a dead man from coming back?” he mused, resting his foot on the severed head, rolling it back and forth gently, as if the patterns the battered face made in the dirt might tell him something. “They’re healing, and I can’t stop them from healing,” he rationalized, “. . . so the only thing I can do is . . .”
         That’s it. Absently kicking the head away, Tolin regarded the other bodies again, his eyes reflecting the flames above him, possibilities falling out of the air itself, as if the heat had halted their evaporation. Yes, yes it might work. It would take some doing but it would definitely slow them down. Yes. Might even short circuit the process, if he was lucky.
         “Okay. Okay, then,” he said to no one at all, stalking toward the first corpse. “Let’s do this.” First, the dead. Then the girl. And then . . .
         Then maybe life could go back to normal. Or close to it.
         Jula . . . he thought sadly, before abruptly thrusting the thought far away.
         Face blankly pinched in thought, Tolin grabbed the headless soldier by the arms and, grunting slightly, began to drag him closer to the forest.
         How do you keep the dead from walking?
         Just a little imagination. That’s all I need.
         You hear that, Rathas? That’s all I need.