After a few minutes, I hear heavy breathing. Deeper, more even. I turn my head, and my neck cricks. Someone starts snoring. I frown. How can they fall asleep that quickly?
Small movement catches my eyes suddenly. Corin blinking. I lift my head up a little. He’s staring at me. Still awake. That makes me feel better. His arm is still around me, and he squeezes my shoulder slightly.
I try to smile, but the muscles ache. I try to feel calmer, because this is what we’re supposed to do, joining the Zharat; the Dream Land told me that. Still, I can’t help but wonder whether Corin’s right. Maybe we’d be better off trying to find other Untamed who can help Esther.
Or maybe there isn’t anyone else left. Maybe that’s why the bison helped us find the Zharat.
Or maybe they just needed rescuing.
I close my eyes, let out a shaky breath.
And I’m pulled into the Dream Land.
Light hurtles past me; for several seconds, I can’t breathe. I stay where I’m standing, can’t see properly. Darkness clouds my head for a moment. The transition—it’s wrong. Not normal. I frown, look up at the sky. The bison’s there. My breath catches in my throat.
I swallow hard. The Zharat? Am I going to be warned about them? Told that the Dream Land made a mistake last time, that we shouldn’t have found them? Or we were just supposed to save them from the Enhanced, not go with them?
I stare at the bison, waiting. It’s hot here. I look around. A desert. But not like the desert I grew up in. That was dry heat and sand. This is… I frown, nudge the ground carefully with the toe of my left boot. It’s like orange clay. But drier than normal clay. Not sand though. And the air’s different. Humid. There’s vegetation too. Low-creeping plants, like what we had at Nbutai. But there are sub-alpine plants too.
There are dunes in the distance, on every horizon. But even as I look at the mounds of sand, they’re changing. The land’s shifting. The dunes get bigger, erupting up into the sky, reaching up higher and higher. Trees sprout at their bases. They’re making a forest. Montane forest. And mountains.
Seconds go by. Then minutes.
It’s getting hotter. Sweat lines the back of my arms, trails down my spine. It’s not a nice heat. It’s the kind of heat that tries to pull you down, the kind that—
Don’t show him where you are.
The voice booms out from the sky—echoing around the landscape in a way it definitely shouldn’t—and the words zoom back and forth, before getting caught in the forests in the distance.
I turn, fast. Look around. No one’s behind me. No one. It’s empty. There’s no one here. Only me.
And the bison. His gaze is stronger now.
“What?” I shout.
The voice gets louder. If he sees the land, he’ll know. He’ll follow. He’ll get all the Zharat. Don’t let him have that knowledge, don’t let him have them. Stay in the lorry until you reach safety. If he doesn’t know where the Zharat caves are, he can’t find them. None of them can.
My lungs start to burn.
Don’t leave the lorry again, Seven. Not until you’re there. He sees what you see. Don’t let him see the way to the Zharat caves.
“He?” I shout. “Raleigh?”
I try to take a step forward. I need to run. I don’t know why, I just suddenly do. I have to run. But I can’t. My feet, they’re stuck. I’m sinking. The ground is moving. The clay is moving over my feet, holding me down. And then—then it’s shaking, and everything’s quivering, and a part of me doesn’t want to know the answer to my question, doesn’t want it to become concrete.
My heart pounds. I try to take another step forward, but the clay’s higher now, halfway up my shins. It’s sticky, wet, clammy, clings to my skin. And there’s no way out—the rocks are still falling, falling in front of me, next to me, behind me. Building a wall. A wall so I can’t see the land beyond.
The air gets drier still, feels grittier. It’s scratching me. My face. Invisible claws.
I scream.
Your eyes, Seven! Raleigh has your eyes.
Spluttering and choking, I wake. I bolt upright, pull blankets up with me. My head pounds, and I look around, expect to see him. Expect to see Raleigh.
He’s not dead. Raleigh’s not dead.
“Sev?” Corin peers bleary-eyed at me. It’s lighter now. I can see the concern on his face.
I take several deep breaths, try to still my rapid heart. I splay my fingers out on the floor, then feel Corin’s hand as he places it over mine. Our arms leap up in the air a little as the lorry goes over a pothole or something.
We’re still driving. That seems important.
“What is it?” Corin squeezes my fingers.
I swallow hard, looking around for other signs of alertness. I pick out dusty shapes in the semi-darkness. The Zharat are still lying down. It’s only Corin and me who are sitting up. But they could be awake. Could be listening.
My eyes latch onto Corin’s again. “Nightmare.”
Raleigh has your eyes.
My skin goosefleshes, and I shiver, then touch my eyes, feel my eyelids, expect them to feel different. They don’t.
Corin pulls me close to him. His skin is warm, a little tacky. My head bumps against his chest with the momentum of the lorry. We must be on a dirt road. Or no road at all.
I try to relax, try to stop the jittery feelings. But my legs tremble, and pins and needles run down my skin.
“Bison?” Corin’s voice is a murmur, barely audible, but I detect the load within it.
I nod.
Corin’s intake of breath is too sharp. I wince, drag in air that grates on my lungs.
The Jed-shape on the floor stirs. He’s closer to us than I remembered. Much closer. He’s switched places with Mart.
I pull away from Corin slightly, turn my head, check the Zharat again. Double-check Jed. His eyes are still shut. He’s still asleep, I tell myself. Everyone’s asleep, apart from me and Corin, because I woke him up. And I need to tell Corin more. Much more. My lips burn, almost in anticipation.
Raleigh has your eyes.
I gulp, don’t even know what it means. I blink slowly, exaggeratedly. My eyes still feel the same. But Raleigh has them? I frown, feel slight pressure begin to settle in my temples. Sleep-deprivation. I recognize the signs immediately.
“We’ll talk during the next stop,” Corin says, dipping his head down so his lips are by my ear. “That soon enough?”
I swallow hard. Don’t know. I mean, I wasn’t shown an immediate conversion attack, was I? But isn’t that the purpose of the Dream Land?
But it could be a conversion attack warning… If I go outside, Raleigh will know where I am? Where we are? I could trigger a conversion attack?
I nod at Corin.
“Let’s go back to sleep,” he says.
He pulls me back down with him, gently, and wraps his arms around me. I’m glad. It’s safety, him—around me. I breathe in his scent. There isn’t as much smoke on him as usual. I wonder if he’s struggling with cravings for cigarettes, whether he’ll get withdrawal symptoms.
Corin’s eyes are dark, watching me. He sees me looking, manages a smile. But it’s only a half-smile.
“Bad dreams?”
The next morning Manning’s voice is loud, intrusive, and I don’t like it; it makes me feel sticky. I grimace.
“Aye. That’s the greeting. Bad dreams and screams—all you need to know about the Noir Lands. Unique, ain’t it?”
“What?” I blink, see Raleigh’s face, super-imposed onto Jed’s. His perfect white teeth. The defined jaw Raleigh told me was the work of augmenters. What was it? Two a day that kept it that strong? I squirm, feel sick, look away.
The small slits of sky I can see still look dark. But it’s a different type of darkness. I frown. It’s dark, but it’s light in here. Yet there are no torches on now.
I frown, remembering what Corin told me about the Noir Lands earlier—that it doesn’t follow the normal rules. I look up at
the sky again. Still dark.
Corin’s starting to say something, but his words rush past me, and I can’t make them out.
Jed smiles. I swallow hard, tell myself that it’s just Jed. Not Raleigh.
“We are in the Noir Lands now. We will probably reach the den tomorrow.” Jed folds his blanket up, then chucks it over toward another man who catches it. “Maybe a couple of days, depends how the spirits are feeling. Can get quite dangerous.”
I frown. Dangerous. That’s what Corin said.
“Our home is far, far into the Noir Lands. The Fire Mountain,” Jed says, pride evident in his voice.
“You live on a mountain?” Corin frowns at them. “That’s just stupid. Anyone’ll be able to see you from miles off.”
“We live inside the mountain. Underground,” Manning says. “Don’t insult our culture, man, or there’ll be consequences.”
Corin mutters something under his breath about these consequences, but the Zharat men leave it.
“How many people do you have?” I ask. I squeeze the edge of the blanket, tighter, tighter. I need to distract myself.
Jed’s eyes watch my hands. “About two hundred. More when the next babies are born.”
I can’t hide my surprise. Two hundred. That’s just—
“That’s crazy,” Corin says. “You’re asking to be caught with that number.”
“Like I said, man, we live inside the mountain,” Manning’s voice is a low drool. “And there ain’t no Enhanced around to see us. They ain’t ventured into the Noir Lands in decades. The Gods keep us safe.”
Corin snorts and folds his arms. “So, do we get another pit stop here?” He glances at me. “Or is it a straight ride until your mountain?”
“Depends on the spirits,” Manning says, voice hard.
His words don’t make me feel any better.
A few hours later, Manning announces that we are stopping, that the spirits are being lenient. He doesn’t think they’ll attack us as they’ve let the sky go back to a normal color. I don’t know whether that makes me feel better or not.
It’s getting hot. Much hotter. The air is heavy with heat, and inside the lorry is like a greenhouse. Sweat lines my skin, and my clothes are damp with it. Corin’s face is shiny, red. We must be near the equator now, or on it.
I watch as the Zharat men pass me, head to the door. I hear one of them shout about a water hole. I want to get out, but the bison’s words drum through me.
Don’t show him where you are… He sees what you see. Don’t let him see the way to the Zharat caves. Even going over the words in memory unsettles me. Don’t let him have that knowledge, don’t let him have them. Stay in the lorry until you reach safety. If he doesn’t know where the Zharat caves are, he can’t find them. None of them can.
And it’s Rahn’s lesson two, after all: Don’t ever lead the Enhanced Ones toward the village, no matter how scared you are. Sacrifice yourself.
Sacrifice? I gulp. No. The wording doesn’t match the situation exactly here. I don’t need to sacrifice myself….
“Sev.” Corin’s standing over me, holding his hand out. The look in his eyes is intense. “Come on.”
I shake my head. I’ve already turned my back to the door, so I can’t see out. So Raleigh can’t see out. I swallow hard. “I don’t feel like it.”
Jed’s still in here. He hasn’t gone out this time. I heard him mumbling earlier, something about his leg, that it’s got worse. Manning thinks it might be infected. Jed’s watching me now. His eyes are too sharp, they flicker like serpents. I turn my head quickly. He can’t know anything, can he?
No. I’m being paranoid. Of course Jed can’t know.
If he knew, he’d be dissecting you.
I shudder, push that thought away.
“But, Sev, you need to get some air,” Corin says. “It’s stuffy in here.” His voice is tense, and I know he wants to talk to me about my Seeing dream.
“I don’t feel well. I need to stay in here.” I look up at Corin, trying to catch his eyes, make him understand.
But he shakes his head, reaches for my hand. “Come on.”
Jed coughs loudly.
“Excuse me?” Corin turns on him.
Jed shrugs. “I am wondering whether you are always this forceful and controlling with your girlfriend.”
“Forceful and controlling?” Corin says.
Jed nods and stretches his right leg out a little more. He groans, and the lines around his eyes look deeper, make him look older—in his forties? I’m not sure.
“S’ven has said she does not want to go out, yet you are trying to make her,” Jed says. “That is forceful and controlling behavior.”
Corin glares at him. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Maybe I do. Maybe I do not. But it does not seem like S’ven wants to go with you. It seems like she barely likes you.”
“What?” Corin says. He’s bracing his legs now, and I see the tension in his injured arm, how he’s holding it.
I glare at Jed, and then try to get Corin to look back at me, but he won’t. He’s turned his body completely toward Jed now.
And Jed doesn’t stop.
“S’ven, do you even like him? Or are you just with this jerk because he is the only man you have known, the only option you have had? He does not seem like a good choice to me. You know, you will have plenty of choice among the Zharat men.”
I stand up, feel something like fire—something so unlike me—in my veins. “Stop it.”
My eyes narrow at Jed. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. I’ve known Corin most of my life. I know him well. And I care about him. I do—but I’m just not one to shout about my feelings. And I’ve got nothing to prove to Jed.
Jed shrugs. “I just do not like to see a woman being taken advantage of. Especially such a woman as you.”
I ignore him, turn to Corin, my heart rate high.
He’s standing there, looking across at me, frowning. I can see the tension in his jaw and the hurt in his face that he’s desperately trying to hide. His fists shake.
“It’s all right,” I say, taking hold of his hands. I go onto my tiptoes, kiss him lightly on the lips. He’s unresponsive, still glaring at Jed. I don’t know why that makes my chest ache.
At last, Corin looks at me. “Let’s go.” He nods toward the open doors.
I turn, see pale gold sand and—
Raleigh has your eyes.
I turn back quickly, legs shaking. “I already said that I’m staying here. I don’t feel well.” My voice wobbles.
Corin’s eyes narrow. He looks between me and Jed. “You want to stay with him?”
“No.” I sit down—as far away from Jed as I can—and focus on Esther. She still hasn’t stirred, but she is breathing. I check the rise and fall of her chest, twice. “I just don’t want to get out. You can stay here as well, if you want.”
Corin grunts. “I’ll be right back after a cigarette, or whatever it is you men smoke.” He fixes Jed under his heavy gaze. “Don’t try anything. Don’t even talk to her.”
Jed snorts. “Jealousy is not a good trait, Corin. Did your mother not teach you to share?”
Corin says something very rude under his breath, then leaves. I glance at Jed, still half-lying on the floor. He catches me looking at him and laughs.
“Better not let him see you looking at another man.”
I ignore him, focus on the sounds outside. Some of the Zharat are talking nearby, then I hear Corin asking for a lighter. There are no sounds of spirits screaming. That makes me feel better.
“Do you mind?” Jed says a few minutes later. I turn to see him holding up an empty bottle. “Need to pee.”
I shrug, turn my head away even farther. I stare at Esther, still motionless, on the floor. I try not to listen, but really that’s impossible.
“We will be there soon.” Jed’s voice makes me jump. I hear him screwing the lid onto the bottle. “We are making good progre
ss, probably get there tomorrow. We have not had to take any diversions.”
I don’t say anything. I don’t understand why he’s even trying to engage me in conversation, why he’s trying to annoy Corin, because Corin’s going to be back here any second now.
“You will like our home,” he continues. “Your disposition reminds me of my daughter, Jeena. She is twelve. You are older. But you have the same mind. Inquisitive, strong, quiet. Easily overwhelmed.”
My shoulders prickle.
“Do not worry,” Jed says. “You will be safe with us.” He pauses for a second. “But, if you do not want to be with Corin, then that can be sorted. I would hate for any daughter of mine to be with a man she does not really want, especially when there is better being offered.”
I turn my head away from Jed, my shoulders tight, and try to pretend that he didn’t just say that.
The skies are getting darker, spirits closing in. That’s what Corin tells me when he gets back in the lorry, along with the rest of the Zharat, and we continue on our way. The Zharat are worried, I can tell that. Manning’s sitting with the two-way radio clasped in his hand, and he speaks rushed comments into it. A lot of interference and crackles blare out of it, but he seems to be able to pick out words.
Jed and three other men stare at a map. One of them got it out a box a minute ago. It’s laminated, and I watch as they draw lines on it with non-permanent marker pens.
“We need to go ’round that way. We ’ave no choice. There are too many chivras gathered east—”
Manning cuts the man off by barking something into the radio, and the other men go quiet. He then looks at Jed. “Eelan says there be water spirits in the distance. Looks like kavalahs. This ain’t good.”
I blink hard, recognize the name. It takes me a few moments to think. Kavalahs are one of the evil spirit types; they want human interaction and to make deals and feed on as much human energy as possible. Any human energy—and they don’t care about the difference between us and the Enhanced, all they want is to be fed. I think I remember my mother talking about a woman who sought out a kavalah once, made a deal with the evil spirit. The kavalah fed from her every day, in return for getting the woman something. That’s as much as I know. But it must have been something important, because giving the evil spirit her energy every day killed the woman within a year.
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