"Why do we have to move? My hands are still all roughed up from the bark and I can't feel my fingers and legs."
The pencil pusher calmed down a bit but was not willing to move.
"We have to. We don't know what's up there. My colleague is not in the condition to fight. We shouldn't risk it."
"You have to fight through the pain. I am not going to say that you should do it like me but at least try because we are going to start moving now."
The pencil pusher bit on his lip.
'I know this is gruesome but if we wait we essentially gamble with our lives. How did a Shadow even reach the old woman? When we were up there, we saw nothing. The other Shadows came from below. As far as I know, Shadows attack the target that is the closest to them. So any Shadow that came from below should be closest to us.'
"Let's go, the next branch is approximately 100 meters away as well."
It was just as tough as the last time. Will's breathing reached a high frequency. He did not look around where the other members of the group were. He just focused on the next step.
Another familiar scream cut through the air. It was the pencil pusher. Will looked around to see the potential enemy. He didn't find any. His gaze settled on the pencil pusher's body which was falling towards him.
Will's body moved on instinct. His hand shot to the right grabbing the bark. The other hand and the left foot let go of the bark so his body swung to the side. It was an enormous stress on his body. Not even a moment passed and the body shut past him avoiding Will only by a couple of centimetres.
Will swung back and regained his footing. A few seconds later Will could hear the sound of the body hitting the ground and again silence settled in the void.
Will did not mourn the death of the pencil pusher. He did not know him that well. However, the group suffered another loss. That loss pushed down morale even further. In such a short time the group lost a third of its members.
'Is it only a matter of time until we join them? One of our protectors is already wounded. If they leave us we'll have no chance against the shadows. That's a bleak outlook huh.'
Will chuckled a little bit.
'Am I going insane? Well, that did not take that long. Nah, that's not it. I guess I just slowly accept reality. We are all going to die here. The pencil pusher said that as well and he was already correct in his case. We know death is above us. I mean something had to have killed the old woman.'
'Also we don't know whether we can escape this thing. Going down is the only way. It at least has the potential of offering a hypothetical escape route. We haven't discovered anything there so there is a chance. Well, we need help to reach the end of the tree. Someone like a knight'
'But .... that is just wishful thinking. In reality, we'll probably suffer loss after loss after loss. Until no one is left. Why do we even have to suffer through this? No one knows that we are suffering here. It serves zero purpose. Should have asked that Sinban believer about that who I met yesterday.'
'Hey man, what do you say about your god's role in this situation.'
'Well, those religious extremists always find some explanation for their beliefs. So, that won't change his mind.'
Will took another step but his foot somehow could not go down. He reached the next tree branch. His body somehow handled the tortures way better than last time. Yes, it wasn't easy and he was about to pass out but he could handle it now that he could rest. Last time was different, Will could feel a change.
The man with the military hat was of course already there. Listeners are stronger than normal humans so that was not a surprise.
"Ah, there you are boy, you finally made it. I did not think that you could make it. Thought you'd fall down and die like this old geezer. In the end, this balloony dude could not fly like his voice suggested."
"Man, you have some sick humour. That is still a man laying there."
Will was a bit struck back, he had already come to terms with the fact that the pencil pusher died but that was a bit too much for him.
Will was still facing the tree and only turned around. There he saw the body of the pencil pusher. Will was taken aback. It wasn't the first time he saw a dead body but it was the first time that the body was only pulp.
"Yeah, I know he was a man. Do you know something else? I found his wallet."
"So? Don't you Listeners earn enough already? Furthermore, you mentioned you work for a clan. That means you should be able to bathe in money. Yet you still rob a corpse?"
"No, well I mean yes I do have a lot of money. What I meant to say was that this guy has a membership card. He's a member of Eden."
He was way too proud of that money part but the second part was interesting.
"That explains why he was so scared all the time. Also, why are you telling me that?"
"Because this raises some questions. Let me ask you a question. Where were you in the real world before you ended up here?"
'What is he on about? Should I lie or is he working towards something?'
"I was in the gutters of New Berlin."
"As I thought and from her smell I guess the little girl was there as well."
The girl did not seem to mind his unfriendly remark.
"Where are you going with this?"
"Oh, do you not understand? I thought you were a bit smart but maybe I was wrong."
"Get to the point, please. I have a hunch as well. It's why this guy was there as well, correct?"
"Yeah, me and my partner were also on a short mission in the gutters. So we can assume that whatever brought us here, selected the persons based on their location and their proximity to a certain location."
"So, why was that guy there? The local entrance to Eden is over 50 kilometres away from the gutters of New Berlin. With his rank in society, he shouldn't be there. So, why was he there?"
"Beats me and frankly I don't really give a fuck. I'm just making conversation until my colleague arrives. As you can see he's nearly there. You see I don't like uncomfortable silence. Those moments on the last branch were harder to handle than the way down."
His partner arrived. He did not look too well. While he was sweating bullets, his breathing was surprisingly flat.
"Guy's ... I think we can't rest this time. I think I saw the Shadow that killed the old woman. It looked pissed and it is on its way to us."