He went and shook Simeon awake. Simeon’s face looked grey and blotchy, and he groaned as he tried to sit up. Niall pointed.
“Do you know what that tree is?”
“No. Why?” He stared at it without enthusiasm.
Niall explained what had just happened.
“And you don’t feel any ill effects?”
“None whatever. There aren’t any if you move before it puts you to sleep. Try it.”
Simeon allowed them to help him to his feet, but they had to support him as they moved under the branches. Within moments they were bathed in the exhilarating shower of vital force. Simeon gave a long, slow sigh, then began to breathe deeply and peacefully, his head tilted back against the trunk. By the time the branches had reached the ground, he was fast asleep. But the colour had returned to his cheeks.
Ulic shook his arm. “Time to move!”
Simeon started into wakefulness, and followed them reluctantly as they crawled outside, then stood and stared with horrified fascination as the branches rose slowly into the air; there was something hypnotic about their movement, which was so gradual as to be almost undetectable.
Ulic said: “But what does it do?”
Simeon took the tip of a branch between his fingers.
“There’s your answer.”
The tip was soft, like rubbery flesh, and ended in a blunt point; but as Simeon squeezed it, the point opened and revealed a tiny circular mouth.
“It’s probably a bloodsucker.” He shook his head sadly. “What a pity that anything so beautiful should be so treacherous.”
“What is it called?” It was Manetho who asked the question; he was sitting up with his head between his hands.
“It doesn’t have a name, as far as I know.”
Ulic said: “We ought to call it the Judas tree.”
Simeon chuckled grimly, “That applies to practically everything in the Delta.” He bent down and shook Doggins. “Wake up. We’ve got something to show you.”
As Manetho, Doggins and Milo experienced the revitalising magic of the Judas tree — joined again by Ulic and Simeon — Niall stood by and watched them. He felt no desire to repeat the experience; it would have been as pointless as eating when he was no longer hungry. The strange force of the Delta could raise his vitality only to a certain level; beyond that, he had to do it himself.
The sun was now well past its zenith; Niall judged that it was about the third hour of the afternoon. As they began to pull on their back-packs, Simeon said:
“Before we set out, there’s something we ought to consider. You’ve seen what the Delta’s like. Do we really want to go on? Wouldn’t it be more sensible to go back to our camp, and wait for a wind, so we can use the balloons?”
Ulic said immediately: “I want to go on.”
Simeon ignored him; he was looking at Doggins. Doggins frowned, biting his lip. He asked:
“Do you think we’re likely to meet anything the Reapers can’t deal with?”
Simeon shrugged. “That’s impossible to say.” He added, after a pause: “But probably not.”
Doggins said: “All right. Then I think we should go on.” He looked around. “What do the rest of you think?”
Manetho, Ulic and Milo spoke together: “Let’s go on.”
“Niall?”
Niall said: “I think perhaps we should go back now and set out again early tomorrow.”
“Simeon?”
Simeon said: “I agree with Niall.”
Doggins said: “That’s four to two. So we go on.”
Simeon shrugged. “Very well.” But Niall could see that the decision troubled him.
With Doggins and Manetho now marching in front, they followed a path that led directly up the hill. Although the undergrowth was spiny and dense, the trees were spaced far apart, so they seldom had to use machetes. The hill was steep, but the shade of the trees made it less oppressive, and when they had been climbing for an hour, it was noticeably cooler. Niall was struck by the change in the nature of the trees. On the lower slopes there was an astonishing variety, so that it seemed no two trees were alike; Niall also observed that the trees seemed to be aware of their presence, so the trunks often gave a slight but distinctive shudder as they passed, while the branches stirred as if in a faint breeze. As they climbed, the variety disappeared, and the trees became bigger. Finally, the woodland looked like that in any temperate zone, except for the immense size of the trees, which towered up around them like columns supporting the sky.
Two hours after leaving the valley, they found themselves in a clearing with a view across to the western hills. They were on top of a ridge that ran at right angles to the path they had been following, while beyond this the hillside continued for at least another thousand feet. The trees were thinner here, and the path along the ridge looked as if it was used by animals. After resting for a while, and drinking from a small stream, they set off along this path. For more than half an hour they had encountered nothing that looked even potentially dangerous. Big mosquitoes and gnats occasionally buzzed around them, but seemed to be repelled by the juice with which they had anointed themselves.
Ulic asked: “Are we going to camp up here?”
Doggins nodded. “I suppose so.”
“Pity. I’d like to find another one of those Judas trees.”
“It’s too high up here.”
They tramped on for another hundred yards or so, enjoying the sensation of walking on level ground. Ulic said suddenly: “It’s not!”
Doggins was puzzled. “Not what?”
“Too high. Look.” He pointed into the low valley that sloped downward to the east of the ridge. There was rich green grass among the trees, and bright blue flowers like daisies, in the midst of which stood a larger version of the tree with the silver bark and broad leaves. Ulic turned to Doggins. “Can we try it?”
Doggins was obviously reluctant to break off the march; but after two hours of climbing, they all felt stiff and weary. He shrugged. “I suppose so.”
With a chuckle of delight, Ulic threw his pack on the ground, then tugged at Niall’s tunic. “I’ll race you.”
What happened next stunned them all. Ulic was running across the grass towards the tree, like a child going for a bathe. The ground was flat, and they could see for fifty yards in either direction. Then, with shocking rapidity, Ulic was engulfed by something black that rose out of the ground. For a moment Niall thought it was an enormous black flower with a trumpet-shaped head; then the head split into writhing tentacles which wrapped themselves round Ulic’s arms and neck as he screamed and struggled.
Doggins was the first to react; he pulled the Reaper from the top of his pack, and pointed it towards Ulic; Simeon struck down the barrel.
“Don’t. You’ll kill him.”
Ulic’s screams were horrible, but they ceased as a black tentacle wrapped itself round his head, covering his mouth.
Doggins said: “For God’s sake, what is it?”
“A ground squid.” Simeon was unsheathing his machete. “They can be killed if you cut the roots.”
Followed by Manetho, he ran across the grass. Only Ulic’s head was now visible; the rest of him had disappeared into the black shape, whose lower end vanished into the ground. He was still struggling violently. Manetho drew back his machete, and slashed at the point where the squid emerged from the ground. The flesh seemed resistant, like rubber. As Manetho and Simeon both continued to strike, the squid began to disappear back into the soft earth. To strike again would be to risk killing Ulic. Manetho threw down his machete, and flung his arms round the squid; its arms immediately seized him by the neck. As Simeon tried to drag Manetho clear, he was also seized. The squid seemed to have a subsidiary set of tentacles that emerged from the ground level, and which wrapped themselves round Manetho’s legs.
Milo ran forward, carrying his Reaper. He moved round to the far side of the struggling mass, to avoid Manetho and Simeon, and carefully pointed the Reaper down at the ground. In the bright sunlight, its beam was scarcely visible; but the damp earth hissed: and sent up a cloud of steam. He moved the Reaper slowly from; side to side. Then, quite suddenly, the struggle ceased. The squid collapsed sideways like a tall black flower, carrying Manetho ands Simeon with it. A moment later, Manetho was dragging Ulic out on to the grass; the squid, cut off at the root, moved with him.
Doggins called: “Are you all right?”
Ulic nodded, choking, then vomited.
Niall joined them, and looked down into the hole. A black, shiny mass that looked like the remains of a huge slug was still moving convulsively; it gave off the foul, typically decaying stench of the Delta. The remainder of the ground squid was still writhing on the grass, leaving quantities of a green-coloured slime; but it was obviously incapable of doing further harm.