Dustborn

by T. W. Piperbrook

  “Gideon’s awake and speaking,” the healer clarified, beckoning to the long, narrow passage behind him, “but he only came to consciousness a little while ago. Only a few people should visit him.”

  People whispered, craning their necks to get a better view down the long, windy cave, even though no one could see Gideon from here. Hearing the leader’s name had instilled an instinctive order that no one could erase, taking away some of the peoples’ anger. The old hierarchy was as ingrained as their names. Gaining some confidence, Bryan and a few of his Watchers cut through the crowd, moving without impedance.

  Slowly, some people turned back to Neena, Kai, and Darius, wondering what would happen next. Neena swallowed. No one had expected Gideon to live as long as he had. Neena certainly hadn’t expected to face him again—at least not in this life. But at the moment, she, Kai, and Darius were the most likely choices to speak with him.

  Seeing the apprehension on her face, Darius said, “We should go with the healer.”

  Neena nodded.

  She, Kai, and Darius cut through the crowd, following the path of the smaller group of Watchers. All at once, she felt as if she were on the edge of the colony again, returning from that fateful trip to the desert with Kai. The people in the caves swiveled their heads to watch her. Wives held their husbands. She didn’t glance long enough at anyone to see the expression on their faces, but she sensed their ambivalence. Everyone had heard Gideon’s words on the day he’d told them to hunt for her and Kai. She hadn’t been there to witness it, but she’d heard the stories. Gideon had labeled her a threat, and the people had listened. Hearing he was awake had brought them back to those moments, just as it brought Neena back to shivering in the cell, thinking she might die.

  The last time she’d seen Gideon had been in the Comm Building, right before he’d let her out. He’d threatened to kill her, if she spoke a word about what she’d seen in the desert. He’d called her delusional. A liar.

  And now, she knew that he was the liar.

  His lies had killed hundreds of people.

  Anger replaced her fear. It was certainly better than feeling afraid.

  “This way,” the healer said, motioning them down the passage.

  Kai’s arm brushed hers. He seemed troubled, as well. Too many lingering questions seemed as if they’d died with the leaders and the veteran Watchers. For the past weeks, those questions had become secondary to the need to survive.

  And now they might get answers.

  They followed the healer’s flickering torch in front of them down the long, narrow passage, getting farther from the main chamber, as the echoes of the crowd faded out behind them. The red, sloping walls seemed to bear down on Neena, crushing her bones, robbing her of her last breaths.

  They passed the first of two recessed coves branching from the main tunnel. Several people guarded the entrance of the first cove, holding spears and watching for danger, while some healers inside bustled among some bedridden people.

  They headed to another, deeper cove, where two guards nodded.

  Stopping just before them, the healer turned and faced the small group: Bryan, a few of his closest Watchers, and Neena, Darius, and Kai.

  “As you know, we’ve separated Gideon, due to the extent of his injuries.” The healer motioned over his shoulder to the dark, shadowed portion of the cove. “We’ve given him the best care we can. His injuries are grave, though. I want you to know that.”

  Neena looked over his shoulder and between the guards. Toward the back of the cove, near a wall, a shadowed figure lay in a bedroll, vaguely illuminated by some hung torches.

  “Please keep the visit brief,” the healer instructed. “He doesn’t have much strength.”

  Neena nodded and walked inside.

  Instinctually, Neena, Kai, and Darius headed to one side of the bedroll, while The Watchers spread out by the other. The torches cast dancing shadows. The healer who fetched them hung behind, standing a few paces back and near the guards. The humid air reeked of medicines, soiled garments, and unwashed sweat.

  For a long moment, no one spoke, or moved.

  A single torch on the wall above his head illuminated Gideon’s stationary form, but kept his face in shadow. Neena traced the length of his body with her eyes, from his blanketed shoulders, to his arms, to his lower half. Only one limb occupied the space where two legs should be.

  Her hand instinctively went to her mouth.

  She shouldn’t be surprised.

  She had known the healers had to amputate one leg.

  But it was one thing to hear about, and another to look at.

  Gideon’s survival seemed unthinkable. She’d seen the blood that spackled his face, and the crippled legs on which he’d dragged his battered torso from that hole. She’d heard his agonizing wails. The healer was certain that he’d never walk again, even before he’d made the decision to take one leg. Most were certain that he wouldn’t live. It had taken more than one man to lift Gideon the rest of the way and out into the open, where he’d collapsed for what she thought was the final time.

  A cough ripped her attention back to his face. Slowly, Gideon slid an arm out from the blankets, covering his mouth. A few words croaked from his lips. The Watchers leaned forward, straining to hear.

  “Where’s Thorne?” he asked in a confused rasp, taking his hand away from his mouth.

  He turned to look between them.

  Bryan traded a nervous glance with the others. “He’s dead, sir.”

  “Dead.” The word hung in the air like an edict, or a pronouncement.

  Bryan shifted uncomfortably under the dim torchlight. A few others wrung their hands.

  “My Heads of Colony?”

  “They’re dead, too, except for you, sir.” Bryan kept some distance, as if Gideon might leap from his blankets, grab him, and demand another answer.

  Instead, Gideon hacked up phlegm. Neena couldn’t tell how much he understood. Sensing his distress, the healer returned to the bedside and grabbed a cloth, wiping the incapacitated man’s mouth. A groan escaped Gideon’s lips as he dealt with his pains. With care, the healer helped him find a more comfortable position.

  “Just a few more moments,” the healer warned, again.

  No one moved to leave.

  They couldn’t.

  Gideon’s new position revealed more of his face.

  A few gasped audibly as they saw his condition.

  Scars flecked Gideon’s cheeks and forehead. His broken nose was misshapen. Matted, gray hair hung over his one remaining eye, which rolled around, taking them in. In place of the other eye was a raw, membranous socket. Gideon wheezed through more phlegm, but he didn’t move, except to look between his followers, his people.

  A few men looked away, out of deference.

  “We were attacked,” Gideon said, seeming to recall something.

  “Yes, sir,” Bryan said.

  “How many of us are left?” Gideon asked.

  Bryan swallowed again. Projecting confidence through his shock, he answered, “Four hundred, sir.”

  Another Watcher said, “We survived and have been living in three caves on the top of the eastern cliffs. The Center Cave is where you are now.”

  “The healer told me a little bit of that, right when I woke up.” Gideon nodded and coughed again. His eye rolled to Kai, Neena, and Darius. He opened and closed his lips without a sound. Neena couldn’t tell if he recognized them, but he certainly wasn’t condemning them.

  She clenched her hands, prepared to ask one of many questions, or spout some hateful words. For two weeks since the massacre, during those long, sleepless nights, she’d needed an outlet for her pain.

  Looking at Gideon, watching him drip drool, Neena felt only pity.

  Gideon bl
inked hard, losing his stamina.

  “You should go now,” the healer suggested, shooing them away.

  Neena stepped back, letting go of the last of her unreleased anger. Even Darius seemed at a lost for words, as he hobbled along after The Watchers.

  Gideon wasn’t dead, but he might as well be.

  Chapter 5: Raj

  “What is it, Raj?” Samel asked, bending down to see what had captured his brother’s attention.

  Raj held a hand up, keeping his brother back as he stuck his torch deeper into the crevice. Farther inside the small passage, past the dirt, feces, and bones, something gleamed. Raj squinted and looked closer, but he couldn’t make out what it was. In an instant, he’d forgotten about the dust beetle. He stretched his arm a little farther, but retracted it.

  His heart pounded.

  He had the sudden fear of something grabbing hold of him, tugging him into the hole, and devouring him alive. Darius’s stories of the enormous carcass in the lower caves plagued his heart. He hadn’t seen those enormous bones, but the description was enough to instill a primitive fear. Pulling his hand all the way out, he studied the glint of whatever hidden object had caught his eye.

  Whatever it was, it wasn’t an animal. He was sure of that.

  And it certainly wasn’t the dust beetle.

  He’d never reach the object from here. It was almost ten feet away. In order to get to it, he’d have to crawl in, exposing him to who knew what was in there. For all he was aware, he was seeing a trick of the light.

  “What is it, Raj?” Sam asked again.

  “It’s—”

  A voice ripped his attention away.

  Instinctively, Raj scooted back, while Samel looked in the direction from which they’d come. A cluster of women stood with their torches, facing Raj and Samel with stern expressions.

  “What are you doing?” asked a skinny woman named Samara, who had been watching the children in the area they left.

  Raj’s mouth fell open as he took to his feet. Guilt caught his words.

  “You shouldn’t be wandering around this far alone,” she said curtly. “Neena would have our heads.”

  A blush of shame reddened Raj’s cheeks. He lowered his torch, avoiding eye contact with the scolding woman.

  Searching for an excuse worthy of leaving the group, Raj said, “We heard a noise down here. I thought one of the children had run off.”

  “And you didn’t fetch us?” Samara asked.

  “It was just a dust beetle,” Samel cut in, as if that might excuse their absence. “We saw it scurrying down the tunnel. We thought it might be edible.”

  “You know better than to wander off without others.” Clearly anxious to leave, Samara insisted, “Come on. Let’s get back.”

  She and the others waited for the boys to get safely ahead of them before falling behind. Raj and Samel walked quickly ahead, under the weight of the women’s angry stares. When they were far enough away to speak privately, Samel whispered, “What did you see?”

  Raj started to explain and stopped.

  The last thing he needed was his brother running off again.

  “It was nothing, Sam. Just a trick of the light.”

  “Are you sure?” Samel didn’t look convinced.

  “It was a rock.” Raj shrugged. “That’s it.”

  Samel watched Raj for a moment, but he nodded, satisfied.

  Raj wasn’t.

  He couldn’t get his mind off whatever treasure the crevice held. He wanted to crawl in that hole and find out what it was.

  Chapter 6: Neena

  “I wanted to hate him,” Neena said to Kai, as they walked down the long cave, carrying too many emotions.

  “I know you did,” Kai said, touching her arm.

  “I wanted to blame Gideon for everything that has happened, but it seems as if his own decisions punished him.” Neena shook her head. “Now, I can’t even tell if he knows who we are.”

  Ahead of them, The Watchers walked in a tight group, glancing at each other. It felt as if they’d shared another tragedy, almost as impactful as the loss of their entire colony.

  “His men would’ve killed us both, if they had found us in the caves that day,” Kai said with certainty. “Those were Gideon’s orders. And yet, we are alive.” He blew a long sigh. “In a way, I can’t complain. The life I have here is certainly better than the life I would’ve had in New Canaan, rotting away in a cell.”

  “But that doesn’t mean we are safe,” Darius reminded them, shuffling behind. “If the monster doesn’t get us, starvation will. We have many problems.”

  Neena swallowed. She could already hear the faint echo of the crowd they’d left behind. The tension from the meeting was palpable, and it drew closer with each step they took toward the main chamber. The crowd wanted answers. Any information they hoped to receive was buried behind Gideon’s sickly rasp, and in his battered, paralyzed body.

  Her fear returned.

  Gesturing to The Watchers, who spoke in whispers ahead of them, Darius said, “Our alliance was tenuous, even before any of this happened. But if we don’t come up with a plan together, we will have an uproar.”

  Neena and Kai nodded.

  Hearing the noise at the tunnel’s other end, The Watchers slowed. It seemed no one was in a rush to get back to the tense mob.

  “Wait,” Neena called.

  The young men looked over their shoulders. Bryan wiped some sweat from his thick brow, halting while Neena, Darius, and Kai joined his group. Together, they formed a new circle.

  “We need to talk,” Neena whispered.

  Bryan nodded. The other men huddled around.

  “I don’t think any of us missed the ugliness emanating from that crowd,” Neena said, looking from one face to the next. “We are on the verge of a riot. We need a plan.”

  The Watchers exchanged glances.

  “The people in that room are having a hard time trusting us,” Neena said. “They’re having a hard time trusting anyone. But if we come in as a unified group, we are in a better position to convince people to listen. We need to work together.”

  “But Gideon might…” a Watcher started.

  Darius cut in. “Even if the people trusted Gideon, he is no condition to lead us.”

  A few of the men nodded reluctantly.

  Speaking up, one of The Watchers, a blond-haired man, said, “The people will have questions.”

  “Eventually, we might get answers, but right now, those answers will have to wait,” Darius said. “The people in that cave need leadership. We need to convince them that an expedition into the colony is the first step. Do you agree?”

  The Watchers’ eyes settled on Bryan. In Thorne’s absence, he had become the de facto leader of their group.

  Bryan was noncommittal.

  “Our first step is to scavenge the rest of the food, before it goes bad,” Neena said, reinforcing her earlier suggestion. “Afterward, we can come up with a long-term plan. Whether it is tending the crops or hunting in small groups, we’ll figure it out.”

  The Watchers hesitated as the noises down the end of the hall grew louder. With every moment Neena and her group were away, the people grew more impatient.

  “What about the monster?” Bryan asked.

  “Maybe we’ll discover a way to kill it later on,” Darius suggested. “But for now, we need to keep our people fed, or there will be no monster to face.”

  Bryan looked at his other Watchers, but no one disagreed.

  After a long, exasperated sigh, Bryan nodded.

  Neena opened and closed her eyes, feeling a small wave of relief.

  “Now that we have a plan, let’s convince the others,” Darius said. “If the heavens are with us, we will have luck.�
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  The chamber quieted as Neena, Kai, Darius, and The Watchers returned. Even the people who had yelled or argued before were silent, waiting on the forthcoming news. Neena’s palms were sweaty as she looked among the faces of the people who had so loudly disputed them only a short while earlier. She recognized the bearded man among the first rows. It looked like he had changed positions so that he could face them again.

  Breaking the silence, Neena said, “Gideon is barely conscious. As some of you might have heard, one of his legs has been amputated. He is paralyzed, and not speaking much.”

  Her words sapped some of the anger from the room. The people watched her silently, covering their mouths.

  “Though he was lucid for a time, it is difficult to tell how much he understands,” Darius said. “Like all of you, we have questions for him, but they will have to wait until his condition improves. There is a good chance he will never have his full awareness.” Clearing his throat, he continued, “Whether or not we get answers doesn’t change our dilemma. We need to keep ourselves fed.”

  Darius looked over at Bryan, who shifted reluctantly.

  For a moment, Neena thought he might not speak as their ally. But he made good on his word.

  “We are going to organize an expedition to the colony, as Neena and the others have suggested,” Bryan said. “Among that expedition will be us Watchers, Neena and Kai, and as many volunteers as we can get. It will take more hands than we have to dig up the rubble and see what is underneath. And we will need Crop Tenders who are familiar with the plants, so they can assess them. From there, we’ll make future decisions.”

  The room grew silent as people looked at their boots, or toward the ceiling. Of course, no one volunteered.

  Darius looked among the crowd. “You are all afraid. I understand. But we need to act quickly, before the food down there goes bad. Kai will instruct you on the best ways to avoid the creature, should it appear. If you stick to his words, you’ll be safe.”