The Inverted Pillars

Informer

The medical tent was a chaotic swirl of crimson alarm light and panicked motion

Senshi and Himari pushed through the heavy moss flaps nearly colliding with a healer carrying an armful of glowing fungi In the center of the tent sitting on a wooden cot and clutching his head was Toris

Toris was young barely older than Senshi He had been Returned for less than three months dying in a scaffolding collapse in the Middle Tiers His physical form still bore the fresh jagged scars of his death and his eyes—a pale watery blue—were wide with uncomprehending terror But it was the light radiating from his skin that drew the eye He was pulsing Not with the steady rhythmic amber of the Root but with a chaotic strobing white light that flared and died in erratic frantic bursts

Toris Himari barked dropping to her knees beside him She grabbed his wrists trying to steady his trembling hands Look at me Focus on my voice Anchor to the wood

I can't stop it Toris gasped his voice overlapping with a strange metallic static I'm trying Himari I swear I'm trying but it's so loud It's so loud in my head

Senshi stood over him confused What is he doing Is he broadcasting a signal to the Guards

He's not doing it on purpose Mirova said stepping into the tent Their blind eyes were fixed on the strobing light of the boy's chest He is a leaker When a soul is newly Returned the transition is violent The memories of their life before death are still raw Toris was a communications technician in the Middle Tiers His muscle memory his very instinct is trying to send a distress ping to his old supervisors His grief is acting as a broadcast beacon

He's leading the Root Guard right to us Senshi realized the cold dread pooling in his stomach

I'm sorry Toris wept the white light flaring brighter casting harsh jumping shadows across the tent walls I don't know how to turn it off I just want it to be quiet

Before Himari could answer the sound reached them

It started as a faint rhythmic vibration in the floorboards Thud Thud Thud The heavy synchronized strike of magnetic boots on living wood Then came the high-pitched mechanical whine of Pulse-scanners slicing through the ambient hum of the Crack The blue light of their rifles began to bleed through the moss walls at the far end of the settlement

They're in the outer perimeter Kaelen rasped bursting into the tent His translucent arm was flickering rapidly a sign of his own Faridah reacting to the proximity of the Guards' suppressors They bypassed the scramblers entirely They're heading straight for the hub

Mirova’s posture didn't change but her voice cut through the panic like a steel blade Evacuate to the Deep Weave Leave nothing that can be tracked Burn the ledgers scatter the spores Move

The Crow Collective did not panic They moved like water flowing over rocks There were no screams no chaotic rushes for the exits The merchants swept their goods into pre-packed fiber-sacks The soldiers formed a perimeter their wooden staves replaced by heavy sap-forged crossbows The healers lifted Toris’s cot carrying the strobing boy toward the rear exit

Himari grabbed Senshi by the collar of his jacket pulling him into the flow of the evacuation Stay close to me Do not stop moving

They hurried through the winding suspended bridges of the settlement the crimson alarm lights flashing in time with the approaching footsteps of the Root Guard The air grew colder as they moved away from the central hub descending into the lower older layers of the Crack where the bark of the Roots was thick calcified and dead

They reached the entrance to the Deep Weave—a narrow claustrophobic tunnel bored through a massive fossilized knot in the Root of Pillar Three It was the only way out of the settlement that the Guards wouldn't be able to track

Get inside Kaelen shouted ushering the last of the healers and Toris into the dark maw of the tunnel

Senshi followed but as he reached the entrance he looked back

At the far end of the central hub the moss curtain was violently torn away Three Root Guards stepped into the crimson light their mirrored helmets reflecting the alarm They raised their Pulse-rifles the blue energy in the barrels whining as it charged Behind them the strobing white light of Toris’s distress signal was acting like a lighthouse guiding them perfectly

If they ran into the tunnel now the Guards would follow The tunnel was narrow but it wasn't a dead end The Guards would track them to the Deep Weave and the entire Collective would be slaughtered in the dark

Senshi stopped He planted his feet on the calcified wood of the tunnel entrance

Senshi what are you doing Himari hissed grabbing his arm Move

If we run they follow Senshi said his voice eerily calm He looked at the massive fossilized archway of the tunnel We need to close the door

You can't Himari’s grip tightened her mismatched eyes wide with sudden realization Senshi Mirova told you Every use weakens the Root If you collapse this knot you compromise the structural integrity of the entire lower Crack You could drop the settlement

The settlement is already compromised Senshi said looking at her If they catch us everyone dies anyway Move Himari Get inside

He didn't wait for her to argue He stepped up to the archway and placed both of his bare hands flat against the dead gray wood

He closed his eyes and reached into his chest

The dense heavy marble of his Faridah was waiting It was cold so incredibly cold but it was stable He didn't let the grief expand He didn't let it become a screaming void He thought of Toris weeping on the cot his mind trapped in a loop of panic He thought of the heavy suffocating weight of being hunted He gathered all that pressure all that suffocating inescapable dread and he compressed it

He made it smaller He made it denser He turned the scream into a whisper

Unmake he thought

He pushed the compressed frequency into the wood

There was no explosion There was no dramatic flash of light The calcified archway simply turned a dull lifeless gray The molecular bonds of the ancient fossilized root-fiber surrendered to the absolute authority of his grief

Then gravity took over

With a deafening agonizing groan that vibrated through the soles of Senshi’s feet the massive archway lost its cohesion Tons of dead wood hardened sap and calcified bark crumbled inward The collapse was instantaneous and absolute A massive wall of compacted ash and splintered wood slammed into the tunnel entrance sealing it completely

The shockwave of the collapse knocked Senshi off his feet He hit the floor of the tunnel hard coughing as a thick cloud of gray dust billowed over him

Through the ringing in his ears he heard the muffled distant sound of shouting on the other side of the wall The Root Guards had reached the hub only to find their path buried under fifty tons of impenetrable dead wood

Himari was beside him in an instant pulling him up by his jacket She was coughing waving the dust away her eyes searching his face

You did it she breathed looking at the solid wall of debris blocking the tunnel You controlled it It didn't spread It just... fell

Senshi wiped a fresh line of blood from his nose his chest heaving The marble in his sternum felt bruised aching with a deep physical soreness but it was intact He hadn't lost control He had whispered and the wood had listened

Control is possible Senshi rasped leaning against the tunnel wall for support

Yes Himari said softly her mismatched eyes reflecting the dim ambient glow of the deep Crack But controlling grief is the hardest thing a person can do You held it back today But the Edge is always there Senshi And one day it will pull you over

On the other side of the collapsed tunnel the dust was slowly beginning to settle

The three Root Guards coughed lowering their rifles as the blinding blue light of their weapons illuminated the massive impassable wall of crumbled wood and ash

Command this is Unit Two the lead Guard spoke into his helmet comms his voice tight with frustration The targets have collapsed the primary artery We are blocked The tunnel is sealed under approximately fifty tons of calcified root-fiber We cannot breach without heavy excavation equipment

Copy Unit Two Hold your position Command is dispatching the excavation crew the dispatcher crackled back

Hold your position a new voice echoed through the tunnel

The three Guards instantly snapped to attention lowering their heads as a fourth figure stepped through the ranks

It was Commander Seikage

He did not wear the heavy bulky armor of the frontline Guards He wore the sleek tailored dark-blue uniform of the High Command the silver insignia of the Root Council gleaming on his collar His face was striking a sharp blend of Korean and Norwegian heritage with high cheekbone pale skin and eyes the color of glacial ice His dark hair was cut short immaculate He carried no rifle His weapon was his mind

Seikage didn't look at the Guards He walked past them his boots clicking softly against the metal grating of the hub until he stood directly in front of the collapsed tunnel

He didn't yell He didn't express frustration He simply raised a gloved hand and reached out pressing his fingertips against the gray lifeless ash of the collapsed archway

He rubbed the dust between his thumb and forefinger He looked at the clean surgical edge of the collapse This wasn't a structural failure caused by the Rot This wasn't a chaotic explosion caused by a wild Pulse-bomb The wood hadn't shattered it had been unmade The molecular bonds had been perfectly precisely dissolved

Seikage’s glacial eyes narrowed slightly A faint almost imperceptible smile touched the corners of his mouth

Command cancel the excavation crew Seikage said his voice calm smooth and carrying a strange quiet authority

Commander the dispatcher replied confused We cannot bypass the blockage

I know Seikage said wiping the gray ash from his glove He looked back at his men his expression one of deep calculating intrigue A Collapse Faridah And unlike the boy in the Magistrate's court... this one is learning

He turned his back on the rubble his mind already weaving the tactical web

Let them run Seikage murmured to the empty air I want to see how far he can fall before he breaks