Daywards (4 page)

Beside her, Ma Saria's breathing was heavy as they laboured up the final, steepest part of the climb and stopped between the sentries.

‘Over here, girl.' Ma Saria led her at the base of the nearest boulder to a small flat platform, backed by sun-warmed granite and perched right on the edge of the escarpment, so that the view opened up daywards ahead of them. There, Ma eased herself gingerly to the ground and leaned her back against the rock, her bony legs poking out over the edge of the escarpment. Without needing to be told, Dara lowered herself into a similar position.

‘Don't make you dizzy, does it?' Ma Saria asked, after a moment.

‘The height? Nah.' Dara shook her head.

‘Good. Jus' like Da Lari. He used to love it here, too. Nights during the dry you'd find him perched up here for hours.'

Far below them, the forest was sunk into black shadow, from which floated the occasional screech or howl. At her back, the warmth pressed gently into her awareness, slowly filling her with its residual earthwarmth, until she felt her mind slipping down into its soporific effect. Beside her, Ma Saria's mind was a bright glow which, Dara was startled to realise, had been there, for as long as she could remember.

‘You feelin' it, Dara? That's good.'

‘How do you do that? How can you be everywhere in the Earthmother at once like that?'

Ma smiled. ‘It's not a case of
doin'
anything, Dara. Just a case of
being.'

‘I don't understand.'

‘I wouldn't expect you to. Not yet, anyhow. You will, though.'

Sick of being spoken to in riddles, Dara turned her head and looked at the old woman directly, something she'd rarely done before. Even in the dull starlight, Ma Saria's eyes were bright and her dark skin seemed to glow.

‘What are we doing, Ma? Why have you brought me up here, eh?'

She half expected to be rebuked for not showing proper respect, but instead Ma Saria smiled.

‘Good girl. Don't you ever be afraid to stand up and have yourself counted. That's gonna be important from now on.'

‘Why?'

‘'cause a few people in the clan – your Uncle Xani, for one – 'ent gonna be too happy when they learn about the next steps in our journey. An' you're the one whose shoulders'll be carrying most of us onwards.'

‘Ma, you're not making sense.'

The old woman pointed out at the distant horizon.

‘It's time for us to start movin' on again. That's what I'm telling you, Dara.'

‘Moving on?'

Ma Saria nodded.

‘For a long time now I been wanting to keep going. Turn our steps daywards and walk into the sunrise for a bit, but your Da Janil was never too keen. He reckoned we had all we need here, so why move on? Why make our lives that much harder? But now he's gone, and I reckon my own walk on the Earthmother's getting short, so it seems to me there's not gonna be a better time to get on with it.'

‘And go where?'

The old woman nodded towards the three-star constellation she'd pointed out the previous evening.

‘Back home. Back to those Darklands where I was born.'

‘But why, Ma? I thought they were dead. All the people you knew there must be long-gone.'

‘Here …' Gently, Ma Saria rested her fingertips lightly against the skin of Dara's neck. Immediately, Dara was aware of the warm surge of earthwarmth flowing between them. ‘This'll feel strange, an' it'll hurt if you try an' fight 'gainst it, so just let yourself go, right?'

Dara nodded and then gasped sharply as she felt herself being drawn down, deep into the Earthmother. Her perception expanded out, dizzyingly fast, further than she'd imagined possible.

Steady, child.
Ma Saria's voice wasn't in her ears now but in her mind.
Jus' be calm and let it fill you.

Out there was life: more night-cooled, sun-warmed life than she'd believed existed. Deep rivers of cold water, long stretches of living forest, heavy veins of cold stone, and somewhere a deep, burning centre of things.

What is it?
She couldn't give voice to the question, but Ma understood it anyway.

It's life, Dara. It's the Earthmother. Now, here …

Then, still further – long, void stretches of sand, empty but still somehow living. A pounding, like a slow heartbeat and then. nothing. Cold, hard, alien nothingness. Dara felt her breath catch in her throat.

Breathe, girl.

I can't feel it. There's something there but it's … it's nothing.

That's the Darkedge. That's where I come from.

It's hollow.

It 'ent. Just trapped land. That's why we gotta go back. Time to free up the Earthmother, once and for all.

Abruptly, the sensation fled and Dara felt her awareness shrink back into herself again. Her mind felt tiny and confining, her body an insignificant trap, lost against a vaster energy.

Ma Saria's hand dropped from her neck.

‘You okay, girl?'

‘Yeah, I'm fine. It's just … so … big.'

The old woman smiled.

‘Sure is. I remember the first time I found the Earthmother properly, like that. Jus' about made me cry, eh?'

They sat in companionable silence while Ma Saria allowed Dara to shake off that odd, confining feeling, then she spoke again. A single question.

‘You see why we gotta go back?'

‘I … think so. We have to fix things.'

‘That's right. That land out there is the last of the Nightpeople. Once we get that down, then the Earthmother can really start healing herself.'

‘How will we do it?'

Ma Saria shrugged. ‘Gotta get there first. Then we'll work it out. Before that, though, we have to tell the rest of the clan that it's time to be movin' on.'

‘They won't like it.'

‘True. But it's the way things are. Nothin' more.'

‘What if they refuse?'

‘Then I go on my own. Or with whoever'll agree to come along.'

The old woman climbed back to her feet and Dara did likewise. Once upright, Ma Saria swayed slightly and Dara had to steady her.

‘Thanks, child. Haven't reached like that for a lotta years now. Takes it outa you.'

Dara couldn't begin to imagine what it must be like to have that kind of power. The old woman let go of her arm and started back along the clifftop path.

‘Let's get back below, eh?'

A last, lingering glance out towards the daywards horizon and Dara followed.

After the evening meal a sombre atmosphere settled around the clan fire. Usually, this was the time for relaxation, for stories and singing and laughter. That night, though, people drifted into small groups and conversations were whispered. At the first opportunity, Eyna pulled Dara off to one side.

‘What did Ma want?'

Dara considered her response carefully. ‘Just to talk, mainly.'

‘About what?'

Dara glanced around, making certain that nobody was listening.

‘She wants us to move.'

‘Move?' Eyna tilted her head to one side, a habitual gesture whenever she didn't understand something. ‘Move what?'

‘Us. The clan. Now that Da Janil's gone, Ma wants us all to move daywards, back to the Darklands.'

‘Why?'

‘Because …' Dara searched for a way to describe what she'd felt during that incredible reaching, but it was too big, too vast and sensory to explain in words, and all she could do was shrug. ‘It's complicated.'

Dara studied her cousin's face while Eyna digested this. The younger girl was about to say something when Xani, who'd been quietly chatting with a bunch of other uncles, stepped up to stand beside the firepit.

‘You lot all listen up, eh?'

The low babble died away and all eyes turned to Uncle Xani. He stood there looking slowly around, meeting the eyes of almost every person there, though he skipped past Dara quickly and she noticed that he didn't so much as glance in Ma Saria's direction.

‘It's been a long day and a pretty difficult one for most of us, and we all got a lot to think and talk about, but I just wanted to let you know about some decisions we've made, so that tomorrow we don't find ourselves working at cross-purposes to one another.'

He paused and Dara scanned the people's faces. Most of the clan looked blankly confused, though a couple of the uncles and Jaran were nodding. Alone among them, Ma Saria wore an expression of faint amusement, which Uncle Xani appeared not to notice.

‘Now, you all know that today was supposed to be the first day of the salvaging, and obviously we've had to put that on hold, but we've decided that tomorrow me, Uncle Dariand, Uncle Clinil and young Jaran will be heading off to the city …'

A wave of indignant anger swept over Dara and she began to rise to her feet, but a sharp glance from Ma Saria and a squeeze on her arm from Eyna was enough to make her bite her tongue.

‘The rest of you will stay here. There'll be plenty to get done before we get back – all the usual hunting and cooking. You all know the food supply tends to slow down in the second half of the dry season, so I'd like to get a good amount laid into stores, an' also start putting down firewood. That should keep most of you occupied.'

On the other side of the firepit, a couple of the aunties began whispering and Xani glared at them until they slipped back into sullen silence.

‘Another thing I want to make clear right away – the others an' I have talked about this, and we reckon it's a good idea if we go back to the old rules regarding the Eye. Until we decide differently, it's still out of bounds for everyone, okay?'

‘Including you, Xani?' The voice came from somewhere in the shadows near the cavemouth. Dara couldn't make out the speaker.

‘I'll be takin' over where Da left off, obviously. So no. But the rest of you should keep your distance, jus' like we've always done.'

‘Why you, eh?'

‘Somebody's gotta make the decisions around here and someone's gotta monitor the Eye. Up until yesterday, these things were always Da's business, but now he's gone and someone needs to take his place.'

While he'd been speaking, a small knot of uncles had gradually formed behind him – probably fifteen men, most of them big, and a couple with hunting spears held loosely between their fingers. The threat was not at all subtle. Xani nodded at them.

‘We all agree that this is the best way to run things, at least for the moment, so that's how it's gonna be.'

There was a challenge in his words and in the flash of his eyes as he held the stares of the rest of the clan. He stood there, rock still, illuminated by the firepit in an attitude of somebody who expects to be obeyed. After a couple of moments of strained silence, a dozen heated discussions broke out in all corners of the cave. Dara, furious, turned to Eyna.

‘Who put him in charge?'

‘They must have taken a vote or something.'

‘Shi! Nobody asked me for my opinion. He's got no right to …'

‘Hey, sis!' Jaran sauntered over, his face a smirk. ‘What do you think of that? Looks like it'll be me off on the salvage after all, while you stay here and do women's work.'

Dara's hand clenched into a fist and only Eyna's firm grip stopped her from punching her brother. She wasn't the only one being restrained, either. All around the cave people were shouting and yelling. Uncle Rada had grabbed Uncle Dariand by the front of his shirt and looked as though he was about to throw him into the firepit. Women were shouting at men, men at each other, and a couple of scuffles broke out so that their instigators had to be quickly separated.

‘Right then!' Ma Saria didn't raise her voice, but, even with all the shouting, it somehow echoed around the cave and created an instant hush. The old woman rose from the spot where she'd watched the unfolding riot. She yawned, stretching her arms wide and looking as though she'd just risen from an afternoon nap.

‘I don't know 'bout you lot,' she said, ‘but I'm done. Reckon I'll head up the hill and catch some sleep. Busy day tomorrow for all of us, eh?'Night everyone. Thanks for the show, Xani. Very entertaining.'

The old woman wandered towards the entrance and it looked as though she'd leave without anybody stopping her, but then Xani stepped in her way.

‘Ma Saria …'

She regarded him with a blank expression.

‘Yeah?'

‘I'm dead serious. We all are. Somebody's gotta take charge now that Da's gone, and the feeling is that that person should be me.'

Ma Saria's eyes narrowed slightly and she reached out and rested her fingers lightly against Xani's neck.

‘Funny thing, Xani.' Her eyes closed. ‘I don't know what feeling you're talking about, but it sure isn't something I can pick up, an' you know I'm usually pretty good at that sort of thing.'

A glazed expression flitted across Xani's face and when Ma withdrew her hand he shook his head a couple of times as though trying to clear it.

‘What …' he began, but Ma Saria turned her back on him and faced the rest of the clan.

‘Now, I appreciate that you're only trying to do what's best for us all here, okay? But you need to understand a couple of things and the sooner you get your heads around them the better. All the years we been living here on this bit of country, that's the first time anybody's ever thought they had the right to make decisions on behalf of the rest of us. You can't treat people like you own 'em. Might as well go out there an' boss the Earthmother and the Skyfather around, for all the good it'll do you in the end. Da Janil knew that, even though it went'gainst a lot of what he'd been taught to believe. Only two places I've ever known where someone thought they had that sort of power over other people were the skycity an' the Darklands. Neither of those turned out so healthy, as I recall.'

Now she returned her attention to Uncle Xani and looked him straight in the eye.

‘So here's something for you lot to think about. I don't mind if you wanna go off salvaging, even though there's not a lotta point, so far as I can see. But in a day or two me an' Dara and a few of the others'll be heading daywards, and anyone who wants to come with us'll be more than welcome, obviously. So if you wanna go and dig around in the ruins of the old city, that's fine, but don't expect us all to be here when you get back.'

Xani's befuddled expression cleared, giving way to suspicion.

‘Daywards where? For how long?'

‘Darklands. We're goin' home. An' we'll be gone for as long as it takes us. Chances are you won't see us again for a very long time.'

Xani shook his head emphatically.

‘That's not acceptable, Ma. Dara's the best hunter in the clan, and her place is here, providing for the rest of us.'

‘You weren't listenin', Xani. Her place is wherever she decides she wants to be.'

‘If Dara's going, I'm going too.' Eyna stood up, and her announcement rang around the gathering. Instantly several others rose to their feet and expressed their intentions to leave with Ma Saria.

Xani tried to control his anger.

‘This is shi! You can't expect to just head off into the middle of nowhere with our most viable kids and our best hunters. What do you think will happen to the rest of us?'

‘You can always come too,' Ma said. ‘Like I said, everyone's welcome. Otherwise there's plenty of food an' water 'round here. We've lived comfortably here for a long time now, an' there's no reason those who choose to stay can't continue to do so. It'd jus' mean you might have to do a bit of real work for a change, Xani.'

That comment raised a chuckle from quite a few of the clan and caused a deep red flush to spread across Xani's face. He struggled to find a suitable reply, but then he simply threw up his hands in disgust.

‘If none of you lot are gonna see reason tonight, then we'll just have to talk this out tomorrow, eh?'

Ma Saria looked unperturbed. ‘If that's what you want, Xani. At least talkin' is better than you tryin' to boss everyone around. It won't change anything, though.'

Xani turned and stormed from the cave, followed by his group of supporters, plus a few others.

Dara elbowed her brother, who had stood motionless beside her through the entire exchange. ‘Who's laughing now?'

‘Shut up,' he growled, then he scurried off after the men.