Page 111 of Into the Abyss
I didn’t get a chance to respond before thecalamut leaves rippled overhead and an ominous creak filled theair. Silence descended over those in the clearing. Grabbing Amalia,I tugged her against my side and sheltered her there seconds beforethe trees burst into motion.
The branches of the calamuts rose highbefore slamming into the ground all around us to create a cage.When the earth heaved, it staggered most of us back, thougheveryone managed to keep from touching the trees. Jarred by thesudden movement, prury fruit broke loose, fell to the ground, andshattered.
Then, more branches shot through the cage asthe trees struck out at us.
Caim yelped and ducked out from under Slothwhen multiple limbs plunged into the horsemen’s body. The treespierced Sloth from shoulders to feet, covering every inch of hisback and holding him suspended five feet off the ground.
Then, the branches groaned again, and risinghigher, they ripped the body to pieces. When more branchesslithered through the cage, Nalki threw the head in the air. Beforeit could plummet to the ground, limbs punctured it through the eyesand mouth and yanked it apart.
No one dared to move as the trees continuedto creak and sway. Then, numerous roots tore free of the ground;they dripped dirt and worms from them as they pulled themselvesfree of the Earth. Anyone unfortunate enough to be standing on oneof the roots danced back as if their feet were on fire.
The fine black hairs lining the thick rootsenveloped Sloth’s shredded pieces and dragged them beneath theground. Amalia released an explosive breath when the branchessettled back into place. The freshly upturned soil was the onlyindication they’d broken free as the leaves danced overhead.
“Holy shit,” Wren murmured; her skin waspaler than normal, but so were the faces of everyone in thegrove.
No one else spoke for a few minutes, no onedared to move, and then Lix unscrewed his flask and gulped downsome of its contents. “You know,” he said to Erin, “that makes methink of a riddle.”
Erin’s eyes widened before she gave a smallsmile of sadness and joy. The skelleins had tried and failed formonths to stump her with a riddle, but now Lix was the onlyskellein who remained in the Wilds. I doubted he’d been much forpuzzles and games since losing so many of his friends andfamily.
This small reversion to his more jovial selfwas a relief to see considering he’d removed all his accessoriesand wore nothing but the flask strapped to his side. He looked ashe had in Hell when the skelleins were almost interchangeable.
“And what is that?” Erin asked.
“An apple tree has apples on it. A stormcomes through, and there are no longer apples on the tree, butthere aren’t any apples on the ground either. How can this be so?”Lix asked.
Erin rubbed her chin. “Let me think aboutit.”
“Take your time,” Lix said and took anotherswallow of his brew. “So how did you off Sloth?” he asked me, and Igave everyone a brief account of what happened in the Abyss.
“We have to report to Kobal and let him knoweverything that happened,” Corson said.
“Since Halstar’s dead, we’ll have to sendsomeone back,” I said and looked at Raphael.
Raphael’s jaw clenched, and his hand fellonto the hilt of the sword at his side. “I amnotyourcarrier pigeon whenever you need to communicate with yourking.”
“He’s your king here on Earth too, and it’seither you or Caim,” Corson said. “We have to get word back to himsoon, and traveling by foot will take too long. Not to mention,Kobal and River have probably moved on from where they were thelast time you saw them at the wall. Wings will make finding themfar easier.”
“Send Caim then,” Raphael stated.
“Oh no, brother, I’mnotto betrusted!” Caim said and threw up his hands. “There are way too manytemptations for a wicked angel such as myself. I might never comeback. I might not even arrive there!”
I didn’t believe that, not after what I’dseen Caim do for Amalia in the Abyss. We’d all distrusted him fromthe beginning, and with good reason, but I believed he was anally.
Hehadto be an ally if Amaliabrought him into the Abyss; she wouldn’t have done so if she feltanything secretive or distrustful from him. However, Caim lookedhighly amused right now, and I suspected he was enjoying pissingoff Raphael.
Raphael's nostrils flared, and his handtightened on his sword. “What shall I tell Kobal?”
Corson smiled at him before giving a rundownof details for him to tell Kobal. “With the number of fighterswe’ve lost, I don’t think it’s wise for him to send more troopsback. We can’t risk losing more of them, but we do need anothertelepathic demon so we can communicate with him,” Corsonfinished.
“And we’re keeping this one alive,” Raphaelgrowled from between his teeth. Before anyone could reply, heshoved off his feet and streaked straight into the air so fast thecalamuts barely had time to move their leaves out of his way. Theleaves shuffled with annoyance when they settled back intoplace.
I couldn’t help but smile after the angel,and when I looked around, I found almost all the demons smilingtoo. Ruffling the feathers of the arrogant, golden angel wasfun.
“I know the answer to the riddle,” Erin saidto Lix.
“And?” Lix inquired.
“The tree only had two apples, so when onefell in the storm, the tree and the ground both had onlyoneapple. So neither hadapples, but they each had oneapple.”
