From Light to Dark

by Irene L. Pynn

  “No,” she said. She got gingerly to her feet. “I’m better, somehow.” Her pretty white face and round black eyes looked as confused and thrilled as he felt.

  He nodded. Somehow everything was better. She was healed, and he could see. “Let’s go.”

  They held tightly to each other’s hands and ran, not daring to let go and lose the soothing light. Energy coursed through Eref’s body, and he guessed it flowed through Caer, too. She looked vibrant.

  The world was green. Living, beautiful, healthy green. Vines and trees mingled all around him. Fresh flowers, red and blue and yellow, dropped at his feet as he ran. It was more amazing than anything he had imagined. There was a mystical sparkle on every moist leaf, every thick trunk.

  The rest of his senses were also heightened—he smelled life all around him, felt every blade beneath his feet. He opened his mouth to laugh and tasted the fragrant, warm air. He heard the leaves rustling against one another in the magic of the soft jungle breeze.

  And he saw it all. Dark World. Beautiful, magical, mysterious Dark World.

  Caer squeezed his hand tighter and let out a low whoop of joy. She pulled him faster, farther through the trees.

  They weren’t running from anyone. They were together. They were complete. They were safe. Feeling like this, they couldn’t be touched.

  Chapter Seven

  Arrest

  “Caer! Caer!” Vul’s voice rang out from their left.

  Caer stopped running but held tight to Eref’s hand. “Vul! Come here!”

  Vul stood a yard away, her beige, fuzzy arms at her sides, her pink mouth open. She was smaller than Caer, but more muscular. Her face bore a horrified expression that Eref couldn’t understand. His emotions were all positive.

  Vul pointed at them. “Light,” she whispered.

  “Come over here, Vul. We’ll hide together!” Caer motioned her over with her free hand.

  But Vul shook her head. She backed up into the trunk of a tree and stumbled.

  “What’s wrong?” Caer loosened her grip.

  “The Light Person,” Vul said, still shaking her head. “What’s he done to you?”

  “No, Vul,” Caer said. “You don’t understand—”

  “Let go of her!” Vul screeched at the top of her lungs. Her tiny body shook with the words.

  “Over there!” Men’s voices came from behind them, still in the distance. Eref and Caer had to move quickly or be captured.

  “Vul,” Eref said. “I haven’t done anything. Caer fell. I helped her—”

  “Let go of her, let go of her!” Vul screamed over and over again, her eyes shut tight. Her voice became a beacon, guiding the soldiers their way.

  “We have to hide,” Eref said to Caer. “They’ll find us.”

  Caer blinked, and her grip loosened more. “Not without Vul.”

  “Vul,” Eref implored. “They’re coming. We have to get out of here.”

  “Let go of her!”

  Caer slipped her hand out of Eref’s, and the joy vanished from his chest. The light remained, glowing independently from both his and Caer’s hands. But within seconds, it began to grow dim.

  “You see, Vul?” Caer held up both arms. A muted light shone from her right palm. “He’s not holding me. I’m safe.”

  Vul’s eyes opened wider in shock. She pointed another shaky finger at Caer. “Light….”

  “Come here, Vul,” Caer said. “We’ve got to hide.”

  Eref’s heart began to race again. Darkness crept into the corners of his eyes. “We have to go. Now—”

  Caer ran forward and grabbed Vul by her waist. Vul screamed.

  “They’re right over there!” The men’s voices sounded much closer.

  Almost completely in silhouette now, Caer gestured upward to Eref. She was pulling Vul up the tree.

  He dashed toward them and jumped to the nearest branch. From there, he helped Caer hoist Vul upward, the little Dark Person kicking and biting as they went. Once the three of them were seated on the first branch that was large enough for everyone, Caer put her hand over Vul’s mouth.

  “What are we going to do? She won’t calm down.” Eref said.

  “We can’t let her be caught,” Caer said. “Tomorrow’s her birthday.”

  Vul squirmed on the thick branch and struggled to get free. The light coming from their palms dimmed even more.

  “I was supposed to spend time with her the last few nights. That’s why she was so angry when I was busy taking care of you.”

  “What will they do if they find her?”

  “She’ll go to the Eighteener Entrance.” Caer stared at Vul, her expression very stern. “It’s too soon, Eref. She’s not ready for that yet. They can’t take her.”

  Vul kicked her tiny legs out and hit Eref on the thigh. He held onto the branch for support.

  “It’s getting dark again. I can’t see much anymore.”

  “I know,” she said. “But we don’t want them to notice the light anyway. Just stay still. Stay still, Vul!”

  Vul groaned under Caer’s hand and wriggled like a mad person. Her bright, black eyes glared at Eref as though he were a monster. Darkness continued to creep into his vision.

  Eref looked at the writhing, shadowy mass that was Vul. “If she keeps that up, they’ll know where we are.”

  “Vul. Stay. Still,” Caer said between her teeth.

  “Can you move your hand?” Eref spoke softly. “I want to talk to her.”

  A moment of silence hung in the blackness that had returned, and then Vul’s voice rang out. “What have you done? What was that light?”

  “We don’t know, Vul. Calm down. I didn’t hurt Caer.”

  “Liar! We heard what they said at the Pyre! You made that hole on purpose! You came here to hurt us!”

  “No, I didn’t!” Eref tried to keep his voice a whisper. “I don’t know who made that hole. I was being executed and I fell. That’s all I know.”

  “You’ve got to be quiet, Vul,” Caer said. “Please. Remember about your birthday—”

  “What are my choices? The Eighteener Entrance, or let this Light Person kill me? At least I’ll live if they catch me! I’d be safer running on my own than hiding with him!”

  “Where were you going to run?”

  “We talked about it years ago! We were going to run away!”

  “But, Vul,” Caer said. “We didn’t have anywhere to go.”

  There was a pause, and Vul made a sound like choking back tears. “Now that the Light Person is here, you don’t want to!”

  “Vul, please,” Caer moaned.

  “They’ve got to be around here somewhere,” a young man said. “I heard someone shouting.”

  “Search the area. We’ll find them. Torch anyone who gets in your way.”

  The three of them grew silent and stiff. Even Vul stopped yelling.

  Footsteps crunched in the grass just feet below. Eref stretched his eyes, willing them to see, but everything had turned black again.

  “Nothing, Lieutenant Matboc,” the young man said. “What do you think?”

  “They’re here.”

  “But where?”

  Eref held his breath in the chilling silence.

  “The trees. Search them all.”

  Caer let out a tiny sob.

  Eref remained still. What could he do? They were trapped.

  Something moved on the branch.

  “No!” Caer whispered. “Vul, what are you doing?”

  “I’m going down, of course.”

  Vul struggled next to Eref. She prepared to climb down the tree.

  “But, Vul!” Caer cried softly.

  “Be quiet. Do you want them to hear you?”

  “I don’t want them to catch you!”

  “Listen,” Vul said, moving closer to the trunk to stretch her legs down. “I don’t trust this Light Person. But you’re still my best friend, and I can’t see you on the Pyre. I can distract them. I’m fast. I can get away. They’ll
leave you alone.”

  “No, Vul!”

  A tiny hand gripped Eref’s shoulder, little fingernails poking him like needles. “Light Person,” Vul growled into his ear. “Don’t you ever, ever let anything happen to Caer. If you do, I swear I’ll kill you myself.” Her nails dug deeper into his skin. “Did you hear me? I will kill you.”

  Eref nodded, his heart racing.

  “Vul!” Caer sobbed. “Please, there’s got to be another way.”

  Eref’s mind raced. Was there another way?

  “Should I torch the trees, sir?” The voice was so close...

  “If it comes to that, I will give the order. Keep searching.”

  The fingernails left Eref’s shoulder, and he heard Vul shift over and embrace Caer.

  “I love you. Be careful.”

  “You can’t go down there!”

  “Let me go, Caer. I can get away! I’m a good runner!”

  Caer sobbed a little louder. “No, please.”

  The small struggle next to Eref made his branch sway dangerously, and he gripped the bark to stay stable. “Caer,” he whispered. “Vul.”

  Then something terrible happened. A crack of wood sounded from a lower branch, and Caer gasped. Eref heard Vul’s body crash downward, slamming into thick tree limbs on her way down.

  “Oh, oh, oh, oh,” Caer stammered, her voice a horrified whisper.

  Vul landed on the ground with a soft thud. For a moment, there was silence. Eref didn’t dare breathe. Then came a rustling of grass below, and Vul’s shaky voice whimpered, “Hey! Soldiers! Over here!”

  “No. Vul,” Caer cried under her breath. But it was too late.

  The injured Vul limped off. It sounded as if she was dragging something. Maybe a leg.

  In a matter of seconds, the soldiers caught up with her.

  “Who is this?”

  “A friend of Caer’s! Her picture was in the report, too.”

  “Where’s Caer?”

  “Where are the Light People?”

  Vul made the very definite sound of a spit wad below them.

  “Little brat!”

  “Cover her damn mouth.”

  “Give me your handkerchief.”

  “Is there anyone else here?”

  “Must have gotten away. She’s the decoy.”

  “Look at those injuries,” another soldier said. “Caer and the Light Person left her here to die.”

  Vul groaned in pain. “Get that off me!”

  “Some decoy. Feisty.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Eighteen tomorrow, Lieutenant. According to the report.”

  The men laughed.

  “We’ll see how you feel tomorrow, brat. Bring her to the Shade.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And tie her arms a little tighter for good measure. Don’t want this one getting away.”

  “That all you got?” Vul’s shaky whimper had become a courageous roar. “Tie it as tight as you want! You’d better, because I’m going to tear your eyes out the second I get near you!”

  “Yeah, yeah,” the men said, laughing. “Come on.”

  Slumped next to Eref, Caer sobbed quietly. She didn’t hold onto him. She didn’t say a word. He sat still and felt her hot tears as they trickled onto his shoulder.

  Then they listened to the soldiers stomp off together, with Vul’s one good leg kicking behind them.

  Chapter Eight

  Legend

  Caer hadn’t spoken for about two hours. She’d sat in the tree for a quarter of that time, rocking slowly back and forth and moaning unintelligible sounds from deep within her throat. Every time Eref tried to talk to her, ask her what had happened, or come up with a plan to rescue Vul, Caer had only uttered that frightened, tragic sound.

  Eventually, she’d guided Eref wordlessly downward to the grass. From there, they walked in silence. He was too unsure of things to touch her, so he just walked by her side, hoping she’d stay near enough for him to follow.

  Did Caer hold him responsible for Vul’s capture? He wouldn’t blame her if she did, but….

  Surely she knew he wouldn’t have brought any of this on them if he had had any choice. Why wouldn’t she talk to him?

  The sound of Vul’s body crashing through the branches filled his ears. If only he could have seen. He would have been able to stop her from falling.

  For the hundredth time, Eref cursed his blindness. He’d become useless to everyone. He’d only brought these people trouble.

  If he were really brave, he would have run off on his own and not added to Caer’s problems. Vul would have come back for her. They might have gotten away.

  His fists tightened. He was a coward. And not just because of the blindness. Eref had been a coward his entire life.

  Only once had Eref ever felt brave and truly worthy of living. That one time, he had felt like he could save the world. When Caer had gripped his hand, something in his body had come to life. It felt like waking up from a lifelong coma. He had known the secrets of the universe and the way to live in peace. Together, they’d become the embodiment of joy.

  Now, that feeling dwindled to a vague memory, overshadowed by the horrible crack of Vul’s body breaking over tree limbs.

  Lost in his thoughts, Eref failed to notice the sounds around him changing. Not until he smelled something different, the fresh scent of cool, running water, did he come back to reality.

  Caer had brought him to a river. The busy sound of it rushing over the rocks and sand cleared his mind just a little.

  “Sit,” Caer said.

  “Caer, I wish I could have done someth—”

  “Sit down. I need to rest.”

  Eref sat next to Caer. They leaned against a large tree trunk, nestled between its massive roots.

  For several more minutes, the two of them sat without speaking. The water hurried by, occasionally splashing Eref’s legs with tiny droplets. He tried to imagine what a river in Dark World looked like. This one sounded much larger than rivers in Light World. At home, bodies of water didn’t splash or rush like this. There, rivers were tiny openings in the land where water meandered by, crystal clear, carrying just enough hydration for a person to drink his fair share.

  This river sounded like it was the size of an entire world. Its music played all around them. Insects burped and whistled nearby, and a chilly breeze blew through the grass where they sat.

  In Light World, trees also grew near rivers, but they didn’t provide comfortable seats in their enormous roots. Instead, they grew straight up, with few branches and only a patch of spiky leaves at the top.

  Eref realized that a tree like the one he now rested against would be destroyed in Light World. Its bent shape and curvy roots would cast shadows in all directions. He nestled down into the grass and leaned his head back. It felt safe to hide here by the river.

  “It’s my fault,” Caer said.

  “What?” Eref turned toward her.

  “I knocked her down.”

  “No, you didn’t.”

  “Eref. You didn’t see. I knocked her over. She fell because of me.”

  “Even if you did, you didn’t mean to.”

  “That doesn’t make any difference now, does it?” Eref realized she’d continued crying silently this whole walk. Her voice held so much tension.

  “Of course it makes a difference.”

  “I should have let her do what she wanted. She is fast. She could have gotten away. And she knows how to hide, so they could have chased her, and she would have been fine. This is all my fault.”

  “How can you say that? You didn’t want her to take the risk,” Eref said. But he knew what it was like to carry guilt. She would always blame herself, whether she deserved it or not.

  “I didn’t want her to leave! It was selfish. I thought—” Caer caught a sob in her throat. Eref tried to reach out to her, but she brushed his hand away. “I thought, what if this is the last time I see her? What if they catch her? What if somethi
ng goes wrong?”

  “You were protecting her, Caer. It was the right thing to do.”

  “Is that so? Well, then, why is she with them now? Tell me that!” Caer’s voice shook, this time with anger. “I know you can’t see a single thing. You’re staring at a knot in the tree right now, not at me. You’re completely blind, but you aren’t deaf. Tell me, Eref. What did you hear?”

  Eref’s jaw tightened, and his throat constricted. He turned away and faced the sound of the river. “I heard her fall.”

  “Right. She fell. And what kind of fall would you say it sounded like, Eref?”

  He couldn’t believe her tone. It was something he hadn’t imagined could come out of a creature like Caer. She was cold and furious. Her words came at him like little shards of glass.

  “She hit some branches.”

  “Oh, she did? Really?”

  “Caer, why are you angry with m—”

  “She hit some branches? Oh, well, you should know what that’s like. How did you feel after your fall?”

  “It was…. My bones were broken.”

  “That’s right. Your bones were broken. Now, let me fill you in on this part since you were too busy being blind.”

  His heart pounded with embarrassment and anger. He hadn’t meant to bring this on them. She had to know that. Why was she treating him this way?

  “Vul’s right arm and left leg were both bent completely backward when she hit the ground. She tried to hop away on one foot, holding her twisted arm with her other hand. Blood was pouring from her forehead. That’s what you didn’t see, Eref. That’s what I did to my friend.” She broke down again, and this time her tears fell into the river at their feet.

  This picture of Vul filled the darkness in Eref’s eyes and froze his heart with a new horror. Vul was brave to have done what she did.

  He should have been the one to fall. He should have been caught.

  Caer sat next to him, crying. Of course she was angry with him. She hated him because he’d had the power to save Vul, and he hadn’t thought of it in time.

  It wasn’t Caer’s fault. It was his. She’d accidentally knocked Vul to the ground when she should have shoved him off instead. Maybe Caer had expected him to jump all along. Maybe they had both been waiting for him to do it.