Daywards (5 page)

Somebody was moving.

Lying wide awake on her sleeping mat, Dara sat up slowly, blinking in the heavy darkness of the sleeping cave and turning her head to pinpoint the source of the faint scuffling.

The last three days had been awful, the whole camp sunk in an atmosphere of strained tension. Every time she entered the main cave there were whispered conversations and suspicious glances. More than once she'd thanked the sky and the earth that she was viable and could escape with Eyna during the days, which they spent wandering and hunting in the cool, sun-dappled forest below the escarpment.

Nights, though, were a whole other story. Tension was high around the firepit and, though nobody had mentioned the argument out loud, several of the aunts and uncles had made it widely known that if Ma Saria left they'd be going, too.

Ma Saria herself hadn't said another word about moving, and nobody had gone off to salvage, either. Occasionally, Dara found herself wishing the whole fuss would just blow over, and things return to normal, but then she remembered that distant, life-blocking chill of the Darklands and she knew that until something had been done to repair it none of them would ever be truly peaceful.

And at nights, after the meetings around the firepit had broken up and everyone had made their way up the hill, Dara lay wide awake in the dark, her mind alert and whirling, while the rest of the clan slumbered around her.

Tonight, though, she wasn't the only one. Somebody was moving as quietly as possible through the darkness on the other side of the cave. Then the woven curtain that hung across the cavemouth during the evenings, keeping the insects out and the warmth in, twitched aside slightly, admitting a slither of starlight and briefly silhouetting a familiar figure against it.

Jaran.

Without hesitation, Dara slid out from under her blanket, pulled her clothes on as quickly and silently as she could, slipped into her soft, hopper-hide moccasins and crept after her brother, wondering what in the sky he was up to.

Outside, a cold wind moaned gently up the escarpment. After the warmth of her blanket, it raised gooseflesh on her bare arms and legs, but, not wanting to lose track of Jaran, Dara gritted her teeth against it. Already he was well ahead, picking his way carefully up the track towards the sentries.

At the top he stopped, and Dara froze, completely still. She wasn't worried about him discovering her following him, but she knew that if he did she had no chance of finding out his real intentions. After a moment he set off between the sentries, along the track to the Eye.

Once safely enclosed by the darkness of the forest, Jaran appeared to forget all about stealth and instead set a quick pace, his passage marked by the occasional crackle of twigs and leaves underfoot and the odd muttered curse as a branch or spider-web caught him across the face. It was a simple matter for Dara to track him, keeping her own footsteps stealthy and her breathing steady, as though she were trailing a rockhopper.

It seemed a much quicker walk than last time. She was concentrating hard on not making any sound, and was startled to look up and find the gloomy orange lights of the Eye already looming over her. She stopped, crouching in the shadows of a bush off to the side of the path and giving her brother a chance to move out into the light.

Ahead, Jaran walked confidently into the middle of the clearing and stood waiting beside the remains of the fire they'd built on the night Da had been found.

‘What are you up to, bro?' Dara whispered.

Somewhere in the forest a nightbird hooted softly, its cry echoing, unanswered, between the trees. Then Dara's sensitive hearing picked up the pad of footsteps behind her, back up the path and moving in her direction.

Once again she froze and a moment later Uncle Xani walked quietly past, a metre from her hiding place and completely unaware of her presence. He stepped out into the clearing.

Neither Xani nor Jaran seemed surprised to see the other.

‘You're here. Good lad. No problems getting out?'

‘Nah. They're all asleep. Nobody's got any idea.'

Xani turned and crossed to the door of the Eye, Jaran following. There, the older man removed an object from a pocket, and Dara caught a brief glimpse of something metallic flashing dully in the orange lights of the clearing.

Uncle Xani waved it over a small panel set into the wall and silently the door slid open, bright light spilling out onto the dusty earth. Dara realised what the object was, and a hot flush of anger swept through her.

Da Janil's wristband. For as long as Dara could remember, the slim metal band had been fixed to the old man's wrist, as much a part of him as his arms and legs. But now, here was Uncle Xani waving it around as though he owned it.

Xani and Jaran vanished into the Eye. From her hiding place Dara strained to hear their conversation, but the walls of the blockhouse were too thick; only the low and indistinct murmur of their discussion escaped through the narrow doorway. She moved across the open space as quickly as she dared and into the shadows of the walls, close to the door.

The solar lights cast their glare evenly over the clearing and her hiding place was far from ideal, but she banked on the fact that, after being inside in that harsh white light, Xani and Jaran would not have much in the way of night vision when they emerged.

Inside, Uncle Xani was speaking.

‘… obviously can't allow that to happen. If Ma takes even a small number of the viable kids, then the repercussions will be far-reaching for everyone. Da Janil knew this, which is why he put these measures in place. You understand why he needed to keep this to himself, don't you, Jaran?'

‘Yeah, of course.'

‘Good. I knew we'd be able to rely on you.'

‘But what if they go? I mean, I'll be as fast as I can, but what if Ma Saria decides to take off …'

‘I'll deal with Ma.' Uncle Xani cut him off. ‘When all is said and done, she's just an old woman with some strange beliefs. I can keep her occupied. Anyway, if tonight goes the way I'm expecting Ma Saria won't budge.'

‘And Dara?' Even from outside, Dara could hear a note of hesitation in her brother's voice.

‘What about her?'

‘You know she won't just accept this. And if she decides to interfere, or doesn't behave the way we think she will …'

‘Jaran, you do your job properly and she won't be a problem. Just concentrate on the task at hand, leave things here for me and the others to deal with, do what I've asked of you and get back as fast as you can, all right?'

‘Okay. But I still don't see why we can't just let them go. We're probably better off without them, and we wouldn't have to listen to all that Earthmother shi, either.'

Uncle Xani let out a long breath, his patience clearly being tried. ‘It's like I told you all the other night, Jaran. Da's instructions were very,
very
specific. I'm not the scientist he was, so I don't understand the details, but I do know that there's absolutely no room for even the slightest error. He made that quite clear. Every single viable kid brings something different to the mix, and so we need Dara just as much as we need you and all of the others. Otherwise it all comes to nothing, right? So let's stick to the plan.'

‘Then why send me off? What's the point of having …'

‘Jaran!' Xani's voice grew sharp now. ‘That's enough. I thought you had more respect than this.'

‘I'm not trying to question you, Uncle. I just don't see why we need to do this. It seems unnecessary. Unscientific.'

‘Jaran, this isn't about science, it's about power. As soon as this all goes up, the clan will be turned on its head. You understand that?'

‘Yeah.'

‘Then you realise that anything which helps us sustain our power is vital. I'm confident that when they … when it all happens, things will work out just as Da Janil planned. But in case they don't, it's important that we have a little … persuasion … on our side. A bargaining tool, if you prefer.
That's
why you need to do this; it'll give us leverage, in case we need it.'

At that, the two fell silent for some minutes and then Dara heard footsteps coming her way. She hunched down into the shadows, staying small and silent as Uncle Xani led Jaran back out into the clearing and the door slid closed behind them. As she'd hoped, both of them were blinking against the sudden darkness, and she relaxed, confident that neither would see her. Jaran had a bulky pack strapped to his back, and in the middle of the clearing the two stopped and faced each other. They were almost the same height, Dara noticed. Uncle Xani placed a hand on her brother's shoulder.

‘Stay safe. By the time you get back, everything should be well in motion. Wait up here for me to come and get you. I'll check every night, okay?'

Jaran nodded and then, without another word, Uncle Xani turned and strode from the clearing, disappearing into the tangle of the forest along the home trail. Jaran watched him go, and then, to Dara's surprise, he shrugged off the pack, dropped it to the ground and sat beside it. He remained there, motionless, as though listening to the night.

Crouched beside the Eye, Dara was aware that with every passing moment her brother's night-vision was returning and the likelihood of him glancing in her direction and spotting her was increasing.

There was little she could do about it, though, other than hold her breath.

Then Jaran pulled the pack towards him and opened it, digging around and pulling out oddly-shaped bits and pieces and examining each one briefly, before replacing them. Finally, he stood up, slung the pack onto his shoulders and crossed to the edge of the clearing.

Dara, watching, held her breath, willing her brother to continue on, to vanish into the forest, so she could move and follow him. Jaran, though, hesitated, lingering a minute or two longer in the broken shadows of the nearest trees. At one point he looked back towards the Eye, apparently staring directly at her, and Dara's pulse raced in her ears as she braced herself to run.

But somehow he didn't spot her and he turned and marched off into the forest, swallowed quickly by the night.

She gave him a moment to get clear and out of earshot and then released an enormous sigh of relief. Her first instinct was to rush back down to the caves to wake Ma Saria and tell her everything she'd just overheard.

But if she did that, Jaran would get away and there was no telling what devious task he'd been dispatched to fulfill. All that talk of power – it left a hard knot in the pit of her stomach.

I'll get back as fast as I can,
Jaran had said. That didn't sound good either. Whatever they were planning, was going to happen quickly and soon, by the sound of things.

‘What would Ma want?' she muttered to herself. Somewhere in the distance, a couple of nightbirds cried their lonely songs into the sky.

At the edge of the clearing, she took a few steps into the shadows and stopped to let her eyes adjust. She strained to find a little earthwarmth so she could reach out and locate Jaran, but her thoughts were too unfocused and she stopped trying and concentrated instead on simply listening.

Even in the middle of the night, the forest was never silent. Distant chirps and rustles and the soft, low moan of the breeze through the canopy joined to form a clamour that filled her hearing, but then, just as she was about to give up and trail Uncle Xani back down to the camp, there came one of those brief, transitory lulls – a moment when, for whatever reason, the wind dropped and the whole forest paused in a moment of silent synchronicity.

And in the middle of that profound quiet, somewhere off the path to her right and north from where she stood, something large rustled through heavy undergrowth.

The silent moment passed and the sound of her brother's passage was hidden again by the nightsong of the forest, but it was enough. Knowing where to look, now, it took Dara only a couple of moments to spot the other trail. It was barely more than an overgrown and little-used game path, its entrance tangled and well hidden and all but invisible, branching into the undergrowth just a few metres ahead.

Smiling, and with one last glance back over her shoulder towards the Eye, Dara slid between the shrubs and fell quickly into hunting walk as she followed her brother into the night.