Ferris and Orange dismounted and threaded their horses to a shroomtree on the clearing’s perimeter. They strode past the injured Pango. Pango attempted to stop them, but the Foresters countered Pango’s threads with their own, threading him in place without breaking their stride. It was done casually, like brushing away a couple of stray vines dangling across a forest path. Caruso realised they could’ve killed him just as easily.
Webber attempted to run to Pango’s aid, but Eve grabbed his arm. ‘Don’t,’ she said. ‘Grab my blinking pole. We’ll need it.’
Webber tucked his knife into the back of his pants and ran for the pole while Eve loaded her crossbow with one of her two remaining bolts.
‘Shouldn’t Webber run away?’ Caruso asked Eve, already knowing the answer.
‘He should, but he won’t.’ Eve glared at the two Foresters that now blocked her path towards Pango. ‘He understands the stakes.’
If Webber understands the stakes, then why is he fighting? Again, Caruso knew the answer. He couldn’t help but feel resentment towards Eve. He knew Webber respected her, possibly loved her, and would fight alongside her uncaring of the consequences. But this was not a fight they could hope to win. It felt like Eve was leading Webber to his death.
Webber returned, standing between Caruso and Eve. They stood about twenty paces from the Foresters in an uneasy stand-off. Although the unease wasn’t shared by Ferris and Orange; they both looked relaxed, in control. Being upzone from two blinkers clearly didn’t bother them.
Caruso felt nauseous. He didn’t know where he should be standing. Even after his long discussion with Eve, he still wasn’t prepared to give up on the Foresters. He’d always looked up to them. After joining them, he’d felt their strength slowly become his own. His life had been easier with them. Ferris had sheltered him, guided him, given his life direction. Before meeting Eve, he’d never thought to doubt Ferris’s intentions. He’d never thought to question the path Ferris had placed him on. Now his thoughts about Ferris were tainted and tangled and he didn’t know what conclusion to draw.
But his conflicted feelings did not spread to Orange. As soon as he’d seen his long black hair, Caruso had felt a sort of comfort, as if everything was going to be okay.
Despite his faith in Orange, Caruso still felt an ugly decision looming before him. He knew, ultimately, this could not end without a fight. And when that happened, he would eventually be forced to choose between these two sides; forced to choose between the Foresters and Webber. Caruso longed to avoid that decision. For a brief moment he relished the idea of hiding away in his walls until the outcome of the fight decided his fate for him. It was a pathetic and cowardly thought. But Caruso didn’t know what to do.
Ferris danced his eyes across Caruso and Eve. ‘Eve, I was hoping to find you out here. Thank you for taking care of Caruso. I feared the worst after finding this amongst the smoldering remains at the anima station.’ Ferris removed a stone necklace from his pocket. ‘Caruso, I believe this is yours.’ Ferris held the Forester disc out to Caruso—a silent command in the gesture.
Without thinking, Caruso went to collect it. After several steps he realised what he was doing and stopped, finding himself halfway into the gulf that stretched between the two sides. He glanced back at Webber and Eve, as if they would tell him what he should do—they just looked back at him curiously. A glance over at Ferris and Orange confirmed that both parties were now watching him to see which side he would take. Caruso froze with indecision. What was he supposed to do? His thoughts ran in circles.
No matter which side he chose it would mean betraying the other. If he betrayed the Foresters, that would likely get him killed. So it seemed logical to side with the Foresters. But how could he just abandon Webber? He knew without a doubt, Webber would never abandon him. Doing that to Webber felt wrong. But was being right worth dying for?
It was an impossible choice. Caruso did the only thing that made sense to him in the moment. He did nothing. Just stood there awkwardly in the middle.
‘I see,’ Ferris said, lowering the disc. ‘You let these Urchins poison your mind against me?’
Caruso cringed at Ferris's disapproval.
‘I told him the truth about you,’ Eve said.
‘You told him your perspective,’ Ferris corrected.
‘Which also happens to be the truth…’
‘You hoped to insult me by stealing Caruso from under me?’
‘Not everything’s about you,' Eve said. 'But, I admit, insulting you is a happy byproduct.’
Ferris’s expression darkened. ‘You’ve gone too far. Mark my words, Eve, this will be your final world. You have been a scourge to the Foresters. You destroyed my anima stations—’
‘I liberated your torture stations,’ Eve corrected.
‘You killed my Foresters. Most recently Mang, and now Miles.’
‘Ha. Don’t pretend you give a shit about them. You’ve barely glanced at Miles’s corpse. You’re welcome to go to him now and give him a threader’s burial. We’ll wait.’
‘I should’ve put you down a long time ago.’ Ferris took a small step forward, a couple of threads snaked up, either side of him. ‘I should’ve seen you for the beast you are.’
‘I am what you made me. You just hate that you no can longer control me.’
‘I can’t control you?’ Ferris had a hungry glint in his eyes, his threads grew and swayed menacingly beside him. Orange stood by Ferris, looking unreadable.
Eve fingered the trigger on her crossbow. Webber angled his blinking pole at the ready. They were all hurtling towards the inevitable with Caruso standing in the middle.
‘Wait!’ Caruso blurted out.
The two parties tore their eyes from each other to regard Caruso. He had no idea what to say next. Only that he needed to deescalate the situation. Again, he felt that temptation to wall himself away and avoid this whole situation. He ignored the instinct.
‘Let’s think about this… Surely we can resolve this without fighting.’ It sounded lame to Caruso’s ears. And he could tell it did nothing to quell the brewing storm.
‘Orange,’ Ferris said. ‘Take Caruso somewhere safe. Leave me to deal with these two alone.’
Orange nodded and stepped towards Caruso. Caruso didn’t fancy being escorted away like a child. He erected a long tall wall beneath him, riding it upwards while separating the two sides. Orange attached a thread to the wall’s top, and pulled himself up beside Caruso.
Orange turned to him with a small grin and spoke quietly. ‘Much nicer up here. Always better to be on top of the wall, instead of stuck below on either side.’
‘Is there anything you can do to stop this?’
‘Perhaps. But I’m not going to do anything, and I suggest you do the same.’
‘Why?’
‘Trust me on this.’ Orange gave him a meaningful look.
Caruso nodded. He already wanted to trust Orange, and he wasn’t seeing a better alternative. If Caruso thought his wall would somehow prevent the fight, he was sorely mistaken. Like the dividing wall in the duel at the compound, it seemed instead to initiate the action.
Eve and Webber, at least, were in a good position—downzone from the dividing wall and Ferris. Eve made the first move. With the wall obscuring her actions, she took a few steps towards it, aimed her crossbow to where she thought Ferris was, blinked through, and fired.
Maybe that simple move would have been enough against most opponents. The bolt was quick and aimed true. But with an immediate shifting of his threads, Ferris knocked the bolt from the air.
Now in Ferris’s threading range, Eve put her footwork to use. With a confusing flourish of her feet, she feinted left and dashed right. Meanwhile, Webber blinked through the wall and lunged straight for Ferris’s blinkshadow.
Both had their feet plucked from under them—the threads that had snagged their ankles had appeared almost instantly. Before Eve hit the ground, a whip cracked and gashed her cheek. The whip then noosed around her neck and, as she landed, its tip shot up her nose.
Barely a second into the fight, Caruso assumed it was already over. But Ferris clearly had no intentions of ending it. Instead of gouging her, the thread emerged back through Eve’s mouth. She gagged and choked then escaped by blinking next to Ferris.
No sooner had she blinked than another whip scored a fresh line down her face, before, once again, coiling around her neck. This time, Ferris stepped over and booted her in the stomach. Eve tried latching on to his foot, but Ferris bound her limbs to the ground.
Ferris went to kick her again and Eve blinked away before it connected. But she blinked straight into a waiting snare. It tightened around her and yanked her back to Ferris’s side. A third whip slashed across her brow, sheeting blood down her face. She tried getting her feet under her, but a thread pinned her down. Ferris stomped on her neck. Ferris was toying with her. The difference in skill level was painfully obvious.
Even while Ferris focused on Eve, Webber was given no opportunities. Ferris controlled him. Webber wasn’t allowed on his feet. He wasn’t allowed near Ferris’s blinkshadow. He wasn’t allowed to interfere with Eve’s beating. The only thing he could do was blink. And whenever he did, a thread would be waiting to bind him to the ground, or yank him somewhere out of the way.
Ferris wielded his threads in a way Caruso had never seen before, nor even thought was possible. It wasn’t just his speed, or his accuracy, or even the way he could split his attention between his separate threads—but the brute force with which he yanked his victims bodily across the ground. All these abilities together made him untouchable.
Ferris didn’t keep Webber close like he did to Eve. Instead, he kept him away like one would an annoying fly. Only occasionally did Ferris bother striking at him with a noose or a whip. And he didn’t seem to care if Webber blinked all the way upzone and out of his ten-pace threading range. When that happened, Webber simply ran back around downzone to make another futile attempt on Ferris’s blinkshadow.
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The fight continued in this way with no sign of changing. Caruso wasn’t sure how much more of this Eve could take. She was stuck in a merciless loop. Again and again and again, she would blink away before getting dragged back to Ferris. Whips sliced through her face, ripped her shirt to tatters, scored angry red lines across her body. Ferris abused her. He kicked her in the gut, stomped on her head, twisted his boot down on her neck. His threads strangled her, shot into her nose, her mouth, her ears. Eve gagged and choked, screamed and thrashed and spit blood. Her only respite came when she blinked away. But that only lasted until she was thrust back at Ferris’s feet for a new round of abuse. She wouldn’t last much longer.
‘Do you still think I can’t control you?’ Ferris said as he prevented Eve from rolling away.
Eve opened her mouth to reply but was silenced by a savage kick to her face. She sprawled onto her back as a whip ripped through her bottom lip. Another thread squeezed around her neck. She reached weakly for the crossbow lying forgotten on the ground. Ferris snatched it and tossed it into the stream.
‘You brought this upon yourself,’ Ferris said, booting her again in the ribs as his thread tightened around her throat.
To avoid choking, Eve was forced to blink away. Ferris snared her feet and yanked her straight back.
‘There’s no running from me this time.’
Eve reached out an empty hand towards Webber. A whip sliced up her arm.
Caruso realised this was no longer a fight. It never had been. This was Ferris doling out punishment. Ferris could end it any time he chose—he chose instead to torture Eve. It was hard to watch.
‘So,’ Orange said conversationally. ‘Miranda was asking about you.’
Webber tried running and diving at Ferris’s blinkshadow with his pole outstretched. A thread reached up and guided his pole away as he blinked. The pole missed Ferris and another thread yanked Webber away to the side, binding him to the ground. Orange’s words only just registered.
‘What did she say?’ Caruso replied absently, wincing as another whip cracked down on Eve.
‘It was more how she said it…’
Eve twisted away from another kick, it caught her in the back and flipped her onto her stomach. She reached out a hand, palm up, towards Webber.
‘She acted far too casual about it,’ Orange continued. ‘Pretending the question was nothing but an inconsequential afterthought. I saw through her act immediately. I knew she was eagerly awaiting my response.’
Ferris coiled a thread around Eve’s neck. As she choked, he said something in her ear before she blinked away.
‘So I told her you were dead,’ Orange said with a shrug. ‘Mauled by shroombeasts in Zone 4.’
It was clear Orange was just trying to distract him from the grisly scene below. Caruso was both annoyed and grateful for this. Even though the fight was a terrible thing, he felt obliged to watch. He tried to ignore Orange, but couldn’t help listening with half an ear.
‘Don’t worry,’ Orange said. ‘I made it sound as heroic as possible.’
As Ferris snared Eve and forced her back to his feet, she again stretched an open hand out towards Webber. Webber was too busy clawing at a noose to notice.
‘I wasn’t trying to be cruel,’ Orange said. ‘I was gauging her reaction. See, I was testing a theory of mine…’
Ferris kicked Eve in her mouth and strangled her with another thread. Eve kept her open hand out, pointing downzone. Caruso wasn’t sure what she was doing. Maybe reaching for Webber? Likely she couldn’t see him as her eyes were now swollen shut.
‘While I was sure the two of you were good friends, I had an inkling there was something more at play…’
Webber was yanked to the edge of Ferris’s range and blinked out. He ran back around downzone. Eve was reaching towards him. Her cut brow leaked blood down her face. She flinched as a whip lanced up her side, but she kept her hand out. Webber didn’t notice. He attempted another dive at Ferris’s blinkshadow. Caruso knew it wouldn’t work, and likely Webber did too, but that didn’t stop him.
Orange looked at Caruso, ‘However, my theory about you two was quickly proven wrong. At the news of your death she merely shrugged and laughed.’
Caruso’s attention was pulled from the fight. ‘What?’
Orange cracked a wide smile.
‘You're messing with me, aren't you?’ Caruso said.
‘Just gauging your reaction,’ Orange grinned.
Caruso shook his head and turned back to the scene below. ‘You could stop this. I know you could.’
‘I will not disobey Ferris—at least not to his face.’
Webber made another lap around Ferris’s range. Eve was struggling less and less. When Ferris kicked her in the ribs, and tightened a thread around her blood slicked throat, she barely looked conscious. Yet she still blinked away, only to get yanked back. She stuck a hand out towards Webber, her trembling fingers unfurled.
This time, Webber did not attempt diving at Ferris’s shadow. Instead, he lowered his pole inches from the ground, and blinked so that the pole’s tip fell into Eve’s waiting grasp. Eve gripped the pole and cocked her wrist, swinging the pole up towards Ferris’s blinkshadow. But at the last moment, a thread latched onto the pole, nudging it away. When Eve blinked, the pole appeared before Ferris. He snatched it from Eve’s weakened grasp and smashed it down over her head. The pole snapped in two and Eve crumpled to the ground. Whether she had lost consciousness or had finally given up, Caruso was unsure. Ferris picked her up, walked over to where Pango lay, and dumped her in Pango's blinkshadow—preventing her from blinking without killing him. A couple of threads tied her in place.
Ferris turned towards Webber.
Caruso felt a sudden chill. It was cold up on the wall. A biting breeze blew through the clearing and the surrounding trees all shook and hissed.
Below, Eve lay unmoving in Pango’s blinkshadow. Her face was swollen and battered and criss-crossed with whip lashes. She looked half-dead; only the subtle movements of her blood soaked shirt betrayed her breath. A thread emerged beside Eve. It gently cupped and pillowed her head. Another nestled into her hand. It was the only comfort Pango could extend to her.
Webber knelt at Eve’s side, his fists clenched and trembled. He turned to face Ferris. Ferris smirked back at him.
Caruso felt a restraining hand hold him back. He realised he was poised on the wall’s edge, as if to jump down to Webber’s defence.
‘Don’t,’ Orange warned. ‘It would be an exceedingly dim witted move to interfere.’
Caruso knew that on his own he was powerless to do anything. Only Orange could potentially stop this. He looked at Orange and searched for the part of him that Caruso had faith in. ‘There’s no point in hurting Webber,’ Caruso said. ‘He doesn’t have a slimekey. He’s not a threat to you.’
‘What do you expect me to do, Caruso? Hop down and challenge Ferris?’
‘Can’t you reason with him? I thought I could trust you.’
‘Then trust me.’
‘But you’re just going to sit here and let the same thing that happened to Eve, happen to Webber.’
‘Ferris is more pragmatic than he is cruel. Now that he’s balanced his debt with Eve, I expect him to adhere to the plan of taking them alive.’
‘So they can be tortured and killed back at the compound?’ His voice had risen enough to be heard down below.
Ferris glanced up at Caruso and held his gaze for a couple of unsettling seconds.
‘Calm down,’ Orange said. ‘You do not want Ferris to question your loyalty any more than he already does. Trust me.’
It felt wrong, but Caruso nodded and sat back. There was logic behind Orange’s words, however cold it may be.
Caruso had feared earlier that he would eventually be put to the test and forced to choose between the Foresters and Webber. Was this what he was doing now? Choosing the Foresters over Webber? If this is a test, am I failing it?
Webber finally spurred into action. He reached behind him and took out the knife that was tucked there. He charged straight at Ferris. He didn’t bother getting downzone first, didn’t use any elegant footwork—just simply ran at Ferris. It was a blunt and raw attempt to hurt the man who had hurt his friends.
Ferris watched Webber with a bemused expression. As soon as Webber got close enough, a thread snagged his ankle and tugged him back in Eve’s direction. Another thread positioned and secured him in Eve’s blinkshadow—preventing him from blinking without killing her.
Ferris approached Webber.
Caruso held his breath. When no whips fell, and Ferris made no attempt to kick or gouge Webber, Caruso exhaled. Ferris had captured Webber quickly and efficiently, without bloodshed or savagery. Caruso felt a wave of relief, and an odd burst of gratitude towards Ferris.
With a quick hand gesture, Ferris summoned Orange and Caruso over. Caruso lowered his wall and followed Orange over to Ferris and his captured prisoners.
‘What’s the plan?’ Orange asked.
‘We take these two back to the compound.’
‘And the big guy?’
‘Too heavy to transport. We’ve no use for him.’
Ferris turned his attention towards Pango, the threads binding him unwound and loosened. Pango slowly climbed to his feet. He gave Webber and Eve one final look, then with a sad nod of acceptance, began limping away.
‘Caruso,’ Ferris said. ‘Kill him.’
Pango was launched in the air before Caruso really understood what he had done. This time, Pango didn’t use his threads to prevent being launched.
The sight of Pango flying seventy paces above jolted Caruso back to his senses. But even then, Caruso made no move to catch Pango. There was still time to save him. Caruso knew he should; he screamed internally at himself to do it. But some pathetic, cowardly part of him realised that doing nothing was the safest and easiest option. Caruso latched on to this idea, using it to shield himself from any responsibility.
When Pango thumped into the ground, the impact reverberated through Caruso’s soul, shaking everything loose. I just killed Pango. Why did I do that? What the fuck is wrong with me?
That inescapable void inside Caruso rose up and swallowed him whole. He’d always known it was there. He’d felt it while witnessing the aftermath at the anima station, and again during his discussion with Eve. But perhaps it had been there much longer, growing, dutifully swallowing anything Caruso wished not to deal with. Now he was pulled into its darkness.
He was finally confronted with all the thoughts and emotions and memories he had buried in its depths. One by one they arose to cut him, bludgeon him, suffocate him. All the uncomfortable truths Caruso had ignored, all the wrongs he had committed—they all tormented him at once, dragging him down to his doom. He tried to hide from them, wall himself away—but there was no escape. Nothing could make it stop.
Caruso looked around like a drowning man grasping for a hand—nobody came to his rescue. Ferris gave him a satisfied nod. Orange left to untie the horses. And the hurt and betrayal in Webber’s eyes awoke in him such profound shame that he couldn’t hold his gaze for a second more. Caruso wanted to stare back at Webber, make him understand that it wasn’t truly him that had killed Pango, that he hadn’t meant to do it. But if I didn’t mean to do it, then why didn’t I try to catch Pango?
It was all happening too fast. Ferris loaded Webber onto his horse. Webber, his friend, was being hauled away to be tortured and killed. And Caruso just stood there. He was letting this happen without complaint. He could fight. He could challenge this. Right now, he could try and wall Ferris and attempt to escape with Webber. It wouldn’t work—but he understood now that that didn’t matter.
Fighting for Webber was simply the right thing to do. He couldn’t justify it, or explain it with reasoning—it was the only thing that didn’t require either. All it required was courage.
The consequences didn’t matter; death would be preferable to what he felt now. Even if he couldn’t save Webber, he knew that as long as he tried, he would be saving himself.
Caruso understood this. He knew this.
Yet still he did nothing.
This was the point that Caruso had feared earlier—the point where he would be forced to choose a side, where he would be put to the test. He knew now exactly why he had feared it. He had feared it because deep down, he knew he would fail. He knew he would be proved a coward, a wimp, a gutless and spineless weakling. That was simply who Caruso was; nothing could change that.
‘Caruso, come,’ Ferris ordered.
Caruso followed the command like a dog, self revulsion stirring in his gut.
‘I’ll take him,’ Orange said. He had since found Eve’s sack and was rifling through its contents. ‘Niko will want to debrief Caruso on the anima research as soon as possible. I’ll cut through Zone 4 and get him there by tonight.’
‘Good. Miles’s horse should be nearby, perhaps upstream. Find it and take Eve with you.’
‘Will do. That one will be trouble,’ Orange said, gesturing to Webber. ‘It’s quite a way back around Zone 3, perhaps giving him some of this might smoothen the journey for both of you.’ Orange had fished out Mang’s pottle of poppy extract and her blow dart gun.
‘I can control him,’ Ferris said.
‘Right you are.’
Ferris mounted his horse and trotted away. Webber was draped in front of him, his hands and feet bound together.
Before they had left the clearing, Webber blinked off the horse. Even now, Webber didn’t back down. Caruso knew he would fearlessly fight until the end, no matter how useless it was. He once would’ve thought this foolhardy, bordering on stupidity. Now, he appreciated it for what it was: unfailing strength and courage—something Caruso would never have.
Webber didn’t get far—his feet bound together, all he could do was hop and crawl away. Ferris snared him back, whipped and kicked him and slung him again over the horse. Caruso wondered what condition Webber would be in by the time he was brought back to the compound.
Once they were through the tree-line and out of sight, Caruso felt a release. At least now, the test was over. At least now, he had reached the limit of his disgrace and couldn’t sink any lower.
Orange approached him, but Caruso stepped back.
‘Caruso, I’m sorry. There was nothing I could do.’
With Ferris gone, Caruso’s thoughts came clearer. He realised then that he never wanted to see Ferris again. He didn’t want to be a Forester. He didn’t want anything to do with the mushrooms or the trees or the forest. He wanted to put it all behind him and leave the shroom circles for good.
Caruso turned and ran.
With each step, Caruso cursed himself for ever entering the Zones with Webber. Leaving Jamala had been a mistake. Even leaving Bob had been a mistake. Nothing good had come of it.
As he neared the clearing’s edge, something pricked the back of his neck. His limbs and his mind both thickened. He found himself lying on the ground, his eyes heavy. The promise of unconsciousness came to Caruso’s rescue. He grasped at it and flung himself into its safe and quieting embrace.