Disclaimer: Not mine, not making any money. I'm just playing.
Shadow Puppets
Chapter 19
The team walked deep in the forest. It seemed like it was never long before the forest was around them. Villages and grasslands appeared in places, but eventually the forest always claimed the land again, like an ever-encroaching sea of trees waiting for their chance to swallow the tiny pockets of civilization as if they had never existed.
They reached an area dominated by huge, spreading horse-chestnut trees, their branches laden with prickly, green fruit. The carcasses of more were scattered on the floor below. Occasionally the deep, glossy brown of a horse chestnut showed through the spiky, green carapace, the treasure trove of childhood play.
"Holy crap!"
Lula's expletive, quickly hushed by Tank, dragged Morelli's eyes up from the debris under the trees. He caught sight of the three furred shapes just before they disappeared into the depths of the forest. There had definitely been one large one, one medium one, and one small one.
"You know, I could murder a bowl of porridge right now," Edna said wistfully.
There was a sharp click as Tank drew his handgun and made a show of cocking it. "Just so you know, I'm going to shoot the first person that suggests going to look for the house," he growled. "Are we clear?"
"Crystal." Lester put his hands on Edna's diminutive shoulders and turned her away from the direction that the three bears had taken. "No problem. We're not even hungry. Never even crossed our minds, did it, Edna?"
"I suppose not," she said, still looking after the bears. "I sure would have liked to see if it really existed though."
Tank put his gun away again. "Well you feel free to come back on your own when this is all over. Right now, we keep walking."
* * *
The slender tower in its circle of greensward pierced the sky like an ivory needle. They circled it cautiously.
"At least sixty feet." Lester squinted up into the sky at the pinnacle. "Looks different at the top. Kind of cloudy."
"So where's the door?" Morelli circled it again, tapping it at intervals to find anywhere that sounded hollow.
"Were you expecting one?" Tank murmured without taking his eyes off the top of the tower.
"Not really, no. But it would have been nice. Garrick didn't say anything about this one, did he?"
Lester still had his eyes fixed on the top of the tower too. "That doesn't mean anything, just that it happened after they went to sleep. Morwen said that there's a trail of this kind of thing between her village and Ash."
"Then we're on the right lines then, 'cause this don't look natural." Tank tapped his fingers against the ridged wall of the tower. "No joints, no marks, and everywhere else we've seen there's mud walls and straw roofs. This looks more like a tree than a tower."
"Knowing what we know, can we afford to walk away?" Morelli asked. "There could be someone trapped in there."
Lester stared intently at the cloudy area near the top. "I say we try to climb it and look at that spot at the top. We might get more information if we can break into this place. What have we got to lose?"
"How 'bout the fall to the ground that splashes your head like a watermelon?" Lula muttered to Edna behind him.
Tank followed Lester's gaze and made a decision. "Okay, see if you can get up there. Remember, there ain't no emergency room. You take it slow and you take it careful."
"Got it." Lester was already doing another circuit, looking for his route up the strange tower. He took a hold of one of the uneven ridges that covered the tower like bark and scrambled up the side.
He heard Morelli whistle. "Damn. He missed his calling as a cat burglar."
Lester risked a look back to see Tank stare blankly at Morelli. He snorted and carried on climbing.
Morelli's voice floated up to him. "Anything you want to tell me, Tank?"
"Nope. You just keep your eyes on the woods in case of company."
Lester grinned to himself. Tank knew the drill. Morelli was a good guy, but what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.
They were already looking smaller as he climbed the tower like a spider, moving sideways occasionally to find better handholds.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Lula voice sounded far away. "He's a real long way up. He falls from there, he's gonna go splat like a bag of Jello."
"He's the best there is," Tank answered.
Lester settled into an easy rhythm of finding hand and footholds and pulling himself up, one step at a time. The tower was a fairly simple climb, covered with bumps and ridges, nothing like a building at all. He had yet to see any kind of join or construction mark. The sun felt warm on his back as he ascended slowly and steadily.
He slowed down as he approached the top of the tower. From this angle the cloudy area looked cleaner, almost like a frosted glass window. The surface was rippled and whorled like a frozen sea. The edge of the area was even stranger; there wasn't one. It flowed continuously with the rest of the tower – it just was.
He edged closer until he was directly in front of it, balancing carefully on a knot in the tower wall. He reached out a finger and touched the frosted area. It was cold and hard, like glass.
Something slammed into the other side of the glass a few inches from his face and he recoiled in shock. He heard a gasp from below as he teetered on his tiny perch. He leaned forward, pressing his face against the uneven surface while he recovered his balance.
He came face to face with a dark-haired girl on the other side. She had both hands pressed to the glass and her face was pale and tearstained.
She banged her hands against the glass again and shouted at him soundlessly. It didn't take much to realize that her words were: "Help me." She shouted them over and over again as she pounded against the glass with her fists.
"Tank!" he yelled. "There's someone in here, a girl!"
Tank's voice was distant when he called back. "Can you see an escape route?"
He gestured to the girl to get away from the window.
She shook her head, eyes pleading.
"Go on." He gestured more firmly and she took a tiny step back. He waved her further and she moved back, step by reluctant step, eyes fixed on him the whole time as if she was afraid that he would disappear.
He looked around the room that she was in, squinting and shifting to see past the ripples in the window. She was trapped in one circular room at the top of the tower. There was a rumpled blanket on the floor by the wall. There was no way in or out of the room that he could see; she was sealed in.
"Nothing!" he shouted down to Tank. "Just a few hollows in the wall."
"Can you get round the other side?"
"Hold on." He eased his way around the side of the tower, doing a complete circuit. It was exactly the same all the way round.
He got back to his spot in front of the window and found the girl back there, pressed against it and looking panicky. "It's okay sweetheart, I'm still here," he murmured, knowing that she couldn't hear him but saying it anyway.
He called down to the team watching from below. "Nothing. It's all the same except for the window."
"What's it like?" Morelli called up.
"Whatever it is, it's not true glass. It's part of the wall."
"Can we shoot it out without hurting her?"
"Let me see." He turned back to the girl and smiled reassuringly. She watched him anxiously as he pantomimed lying down and covering her face. She stepped back to the opposite wall and crouched down, looking back at him for guidance.
He nodded and put one arm over his head, wobbling slightly on his perch as he did so.
She put her arms over her head, peeping out to watch him. He nodded again. He watched her for a moment to make sure that she stayed there before climbing quickly down the tower. "She's down on the floor. Do it quickly before she gets up."
Tank lifted his gun and fired three rounds at the cloudy window.
Morelli squinted up at the top of the tower. "Looks intact. You must have missed. Go again."
Tank and Lester exchanged raised eyebrows before Tank fired another three rounds at the window.
Morelli shook his head.
"I hit it," Tank growled. "I'm sure. Lester, go check. Carefully."
Lester nodded and climbed back up to the window. It was scarred but intact. He peered through it. The girl was still crouched on the floor. "She's okay, but the window's intact," he called down. "Just a few scratches."
"Worth another try?" Tank called back.
Lester scrutinized the window and frowned. "There's something odd. Stand by." He watched the window for a few moments. "Damn it, it's healing! The damage is disappearing."
Lester watched Morelli throw something to the ground far below and start cursing. He couldn't quite make out the words, but he could guess from Lula's and Edna's expressions that there was some choice language involved. He gestured to the girl to stay down and keep her face covered, and climbed down again.
"Let's go again."
This time they all raised their guns, including Lula and Edna. The sound was deafening. Lester was climbing again before it had died away.
When he looked through the window this time, the girl was huddled on the floor, shaking. He tapped on the window. "Come on, it's okay. Look at me."
Finally she looked up, still trembling. "That's it, good girl." Satisfied that she was safe, he examined the window. "Nothing. Same as before."
He made his way down the side of the tower, following a now-familiar route. He dropped the last couple of feet to the ground. "Now what?"
"I don't know." Tank stared at the side of the tower that stood there, unyielding. "We didn't come prepared for a building assault."
Lula shook her head frantically. "We can't leave her there. We just can't. Tank–"
"Enough. Let me think."
"We have to get her out."
With a low growl, Tank reloaded, strode to the bottom of the tower and emptied his gun into the wall at point blank range. The bullets sank into the surface with a dull thud and lodged there.
The tower shuddered slightly but held. He snarled and walked over to the horse where she stood placidly, the packs slung over her saddle.
She flattened her ears and swung her head at him as he approached.
He grabbed the soft end of her nose and glared up into her eyes. "Not. Now."
She rolled her eyes at him but held still.
After a few seconds he released her and turned to the packs on her back, daring her to react. He pulled out one of the machetes and stalked back to the wall, where he raised his hands above his head and brought the blade down in an overhead swing, slamming it into the ridged, uneven wall where the bullet holes showed. It bit into the surface.
He yanked it clear and hacked into the wall again in the same place. The tower shuddered again. He swung again and again, tearing and hacking at the wall. It splintered and split under his pounding assault, showing pale green beneath the rough, bark-like exterior. Green sap welled from the wound and trickled down to the ground where it soaked into the dirt.
Tank swung again and again, until sweat beaded his face and his black tee-shirt was soaked. He stripped it off and threw it to the ground, barely stopping his attack on the tower to do it.
Silent and grim, he hacked and chopped at the wall again and again.
Lester exchanged a glance with Morelli. Morelli shook his head slowly and drew a finger across his throat.
He nodded in agreement. "Tank."
Tank ignored him and continued his assault.
"Fuck," Lester muttered. He moved forward and braced himself. Timing his move carefully to avoid the blade, he snaked his hand out and caught at Tank's arm. "Stop, man."
"No."
"Look."
The wall was healing, closing in front of their eyes. The damaged bark knitted together, leaving just a roughened scar behind.
Lester took the machete from Tank with his other hand. "Look at the blade."
It was ruined, chipped and blunted.
"It's not going to happen," Morelli said quietly.
"But the girl–" Lula's voice was tinged with desperation.
"Is beyond our help."
"At the moment," Edna added.
They all spun to look at her.
"Explain," Tank said shortly.
"It's her construct. Part of her."
"Ash?"
Edna nodded.
"Then when we find her, the bitch lets her go or dies. Move out." Tank threw the ruined blade to the ground at the foot of the tower, picked up his discarded tee-shirt and started walking without waiting for the rest of them to catch up.
They fell in behind him without a word. Lula's eyes were suspiciously red but her face was set and she stared resolutely ahead. Edna walked next to her, whispering something to her. Morelli followed them, the horse plodding so close to him that no-one could have stepped between them. Occasionally he reached out and laid a hand on her neck or shoulder without looking at her, as though he didn't even know that he was doing it.
Lester cast a look back at the tower. It was hard to see at this distance, but he thought he saw a white face pressed against the window.