Dustborn Read online

  Samara’s tone was calm, as she reiterated, “On the day of the monster’s attack, I watched Neena, Kai, and Darius help many others to the caves. If not for them, many of us would be dead. I know they are trying to do right by us.”

  Hearing Amos and Samara, the rest of the crowd reluctantly settled. Their bond seemed to have brought them together.

  For now.

  “Hopefully we’ll figure this out,” Neena took back over. “But at the moment, we have to protect ourselves.”

  Returning to the current matter, Samara said, “Some of our friends and old neighbors are in those caves. Do you really think they would fight us?”

  “That seems unfathomable,” muttered another woman.

  Looking around at the mothers and children in the crowd, Neena said, “We should be prepared, just in case.”

  People looked worriedly toward the cave entrance, where a few guards kept watch. Thinking of their fellow colonists as enemies felt paranoid and strange.

  But people were quickly accepting it as truth.

  “So what will we do now?” asked Samara.

  Neena motioned for Kai to explain.

  “We will increase the number of guards at the entrance,” Kai took over. “We will sleep with our spears and knives close, and our children, closer. We will get our water early, so we do not chance running into anyone else. And we will make every trip in groups.”

  “We will keep enough people in the cave to ensure we are well-guarded,” Darius finished.

  Husbands hugged wives. Parents clutched their young ones.

  “Do you think The Watchers will ever come in here?” someone called out.

  “It is not an unreasonable suspicion,” Neena said.

  “That is why we will keep extra guards,” Darius reinforced.

  “How about food?” one man asked. “How will we keep ourselves sustained?”

  “We will keep hunting rats and scrounge whatever we can in the caves, to keep our stomachs fed,” Neena said. “But right now, safety is just as important.”

  She looked among the worried and downcast faces. Her earlier plans about assessing the Green Crops and reclaiming the colony seemed like foolish dreams. With their enemies so close, scraping by seemed the only option.

  Hoping to inject some optimism into the meeting, Neena said, “I have not given up on returning to our colony one day. At some point, we will fix our hovels and reclaim our homes. At some point we will kill the monster. We’ll just need to get through this first.”

  Only a few faces showed any hope in that statement. Greater worries plagued them now, and everyone knew it.

  Chapter 40: Raj

  Raj stuffed his hands in his pockets. Days had passed since Neena’s meeting. Ever since then, he’d mostly stayed by himself. He smiled when appropriate, laughed when he had to, and answered questions people asked him. He ate his meager meals without complaint. He felt empty inside—not just because of the slim rations, but because of the pit in his stomach.

  Neena had never asked about his secret again.

  Perhaps she had never even listened at all.

  Raj wanted to yell and scream at her. He wanted to tell her that she had missed something important, and that she should’ve paid attention. He’d never felt such bitter feelings toward his sister. But there was no way to express his rage without drawing the attention of everyone.

  And so, he kept it inside.

  He was repressed. Bottled up.

  Worse than his stifled anger was his embarrassment, which prevented him from seeking out Adriana. He felt ashamed—not only for failing to do what they planned, but also for leaving their last conversation so awkwardly.

  Many times, Raj saw her looking at him in the cave, but he purposely avoided her. He couldn’t speak with her right now. Raj felt like a failure, not like a hunter or a man. He felt like someone the planet had forgotten. His shame kept him away.

  And that shame was Neena’s fault.

  He thought he might hate her.

  He wanted to prove his manhood. He wanted to show his sister that she was wrong for refusing his help and ignoring him. Of course, he couldn’t.

  The atmosphere in the cave didn’t help his mood.

  After several days with no interaction with the Left or Center Caves, some of the Right Cavers’ fear had settled into boredom. Other than the water runs to the spring, or the time they spent trapping and hunting rodents, they were confined between the same auburn walls. They were more cooped up than before, if that was possible.

  Life became a grueling routine of waiting.

  For what, no one knew.

  In order to pass the time, some of the men started telling stories about the hunts they’d been on, or some of the worst sandstorms. Often, those boisterous tales contained a fabric of truth, but more often than not, they contained a bucketful of fabrication.

  For a while, Raj joined the small crowds, but eventually, the repetitive stories bored him, and he bothered with them less. Now, they served one purpose: keeping people busy, so that fewer people noticed him. To his relief, Neena spent more time with Samel, leaving Raj to do his own thing. Perhaps she was giving Raj space. Or maybe she had forgotten about him again.

  Good, he thought. Let her forget me.

  Let everyone forget me.

  “How are you, Raj?” Salvador asked, nodding at him from the ledge outside the cave.

  “I’m okay.” Raj cranked a thumb behind him. “I think I’ve heard the story about the enormous Rydeer seven times.”

  Salvador chuckled. “And I feel like I saved the drowning boy with my own hands.”

  Raj looked out from the cave at the horizon, watching the last bit of sun sink beneath the opposite formation. It was nearly nightfall, and with it came a small chill in the air.

  “Have you seen anything this evening?” Raj asked Salvador.

  “Only birds,” Salvador said, gesturing to a few of the winged animals swooping through the sky.

  Raj stared down at the distant side of the colony, watching the shadows claim the last of the hovels. Somehow, it surprised him to see the colony every time he looked at it. It was as if he expected the monster to come and swallow that, too.

  Taking a chance, he stuck his head out a little further and looked right, along the ledge, toward the mouths of the other caves, where a few men guarded the entrances of the Left and Center Caves.

  “Nothing new from the other cavers, either?” Raj asked.

  Salvador shook his head. “After that meeting, it almost feels like there are invisible lines in the dirt between us. Every so often, we’ll catch each other’s gaze, but no one gets close.” Salvador fell silent. “It is as if we are strangers, now.”

  An ominous fear washed over Raj. He looked left to find Robert retrieving his torch from the other side of the cave entrance. Mirroring the other guard, Salvador grabbed one for himself, and lit it.

  For a long time, the three of them stood under torch light, observing and talking, until the sun disappeared behind the cliffs of the western formation, far away and across from them. Raj looked up into a starless sky. For a moment, he pretended that he was an official guard, instead of a young observer whom Salvador and Robert indulged.

  He looked over his shoulder, glimpsing a few groups of people standing around the storytellers. His eyes gravitated to Adriana, who hung out in a circle with a few other girls. They laughed, chatted, and drew things in the dirt near a fire. The pit in Raj’s stomach tightened.

  More than anything, he wanted to talk to her again. He wanted to speak with her the way he used to. He wanted her back.

  But he felt shameful.

  He wasn’t worthy.

  He wasn’t a man.

  That thought—and a budding defiance toward
Neena—made him take a step forward, until he was almost level with Salvador.

  Salvador didn’t seem to notice.

  For a while, Raj looked out over the ledge, lost in his thoughts about Adriana.

  A skittering noise ripped him to the present.

  Raj frowned, looking right, along the pitch-black portion of the path. Farther down the ledge, some torches burned at the mouths of the other caves, where some men chatted in the distance. But this noise in the dark was closer.

  “Did you hear that?” he asked Salvador.

  Salvador froze, following his gaze.

  The skittering came again. Robert moved in behind Salvador, investigating. They held their torches high, stepping in the direction of the sound. The light revealed a few feet of the ledge at a time, as they progressed along it.

  In the shadows, something whined.

  “Stay here,” Salvador warned Raj, clutching his spear.

  He and Robert continued along the ledge, getting ten feet away from the entrance. Raj turned behind him. He looked at the guards. No one paid him any special attention.

  Before he could second-guess himself, Raj crept out behind the guards, following on their heels. The open air gave him a surge of excitement. Raj felt alive, in a way that he hadn’t in a long time. He felt important.

  Something moved in the darkness, just outside of the guards’ light.

  “There!” Salvador hissed.

  The whine came again. Followed by a growl.

  “Wolf!” Salvador hissed.

  The men took a reflexive step backward, raising their spears in defense, until animal paws beat the ground, heading in the opposite direction. The wolf was fleeing.

  Overcoming their fear, the men gave chase.

  The wolf was a threat, but it was also food.

  Salvador and Robert hurried down the rocky ledge after the creature, getting farther from the Right Cave and headed toward the Center Cave.

  Caught up in the exhilaration of the moment, Raj raced directly behind them, keeping in the light of their torches. His pulse hammered as he pulled his knife. He felt the way he’d felt in that tunnel, chasing the dust beetle, or the way he’d felt when he and Adriana snuck down the cave. Gone was his hesitation. In its place was a primal courage. Raj kept to the interior of the ledge, forgetting about the deathly height to his left. All he cared about was keeping up with the guards. He skirted along the path with Salvador and Robert, listening to the sounds of the fleeing animal.

  More torches appeared, a hundred feet away.

  The people from the other caves had picked up on the threat, and were reacting. Two or three batches of lights converged on the fleeing animal, simultaneously keeping it away from their caves, and trying to catch it.

  Raj, Salvador, and Robert increased their pace.

  For every boot step they took, it felt like the animal took twice as many lopes.

  In frustration, Salvador said, “I can’t get a throw!”

  All at once, the sounds of the animal ceased.

  Salvador, Robert, and Raj scanned the ledge from left to right.

  Raj kept his knife close; the guards wielded their spears.

  The group of torch-carrying men in the distance got close enough that Raj could see their sweaty, dirt-streaked faces. He recognized a few of the Center Cave guards that he had seen in weeks past. They stared from the ledge to the cliff wall, also searching. The wolf seemed to be gone, but the wily, dangerous beast must be somewhere. Right?

  Hit with a new idea, Salvador said, “Let’s search between the rocks! It must’ve gotten into a crevice.”

  Following his line of reasoning, they crept toward the cliff wall, scanning the holes between the jutting crags. Raj stayed close behind Salvador and Robert, his breath coming in quick, ragged gasps.

  Bending down to look into a deep, dark passage, Raj asked, “Do you think it’s in here?”

  Robert spun.

  A realization hit him. “You shouldn’t be out here,” he warned.

  “I’m fine,” Raj protested.

  “Your sister would have our heads,” Salvador agreed. “You should get back to the cave.”

  “I won’t say anything,” Raj protested.

  Making a split-second decision, Robert said, “I’ll take him back, Salvador.”

  Raj’s stomach sank as Robert grabbed his arm and guided him toward the Right Cave. He looked over his shoulder, watching Salvador’s light merge with those of some other men. Groups of distant guards spoke words he couldn’t hear. For the moment, their rivalry was forgotten. Or maybe the thrill of the chase had consumed them—for now.

  Renewed cries hit the air.

  “Over here!”

  Robert whipped around.

  “I think I see something!” Salvador cried.

  Indecision struck Robert for a moment. He looked between the men and Raj, before stuffing the torch in Raj’s hand. “Stay here! Don’t move!”

  Left alone, Raj shivered.

  He watched Robert hurry off in the dark.

  A mild wind kicked up, coursing through his curly hair as he turned and backed up farther from the ledge. Staring toward the drop off, his fear rekindled. Shouts drew his attention back to where Robert had disappeared. Almost a dozen torches merged, so that he could no longer tell Robert and Salvador from the other cavers.

  Nor could he tell if they had found anything.

  Raj remained against the wall, watching the pursuit get farther away, before slowly winding back toward him. Several sweating, stubbly men passed by. Raj recognized one or two from the Center Cave. He nodded at them, but they only glared. For a moment, he considered sneaking around them, to the Right Cave, and to safety.

  A voice ripped his attention right.

  Raj tensed as a shadowy figure approached, just outside his torchlight. It took him a moment to identify the person.

  Bryan.

  “They’re letting you guard now?” Bryan’s voice was as intimidating as it had been in the caves.

  Raj’s breath caught in his throat.

  “Yes,” he finally croaked.

  Once again, Raj felt as if he were back in the cave with Adriana, stumbling upon The Watchers. That time, Bryan had let him go. But what about now?

  “Did you see the wolf?” Bryan asked.

  Recalling the moment when he’d heard the disturbance, Raj said, “Yes. I heard it and pointed it out to the others.”

  Impressed, Bryan said, “You have good ears.”

  Raj’s glow relieved some of his nervousness. “Do you think they’ll catch it?”

  “Eventually,” Bryan said with certainty. “Too many threats face us these days. Not many will get better, unless we act on them. That is something I wish everyone understood.”

  Raj didn’t need him to clarify to know he was talking about the monster.

  Raj arched his shoulders. Standing next to Bryan, he felt like more of a man than inside the cave. He felt like a real guard, instead of a boy playing pretend. Together, they looked at the horizon, watching the moonlight illuminate the silhouettes of several hovels.

  “It almost feels like we could return to our homes, repair them, and live out our normal lives, doesn’t it?” Bryan asked, looking out over the colony.

  Raj nodded. He’d thought that himself, a few times.

  “One day soon, we’ll return to Red Rock. We’ll kill the monster.”

  Raj didn’t know what to say to that.

  Further away, men shouted and bustled, still searching for the beast.

  “Good work spotting the wolf,” Bryan said. “I need to get back to the others.”

  He placed a hand on Raj’s shoulder, and then he was gone.

  “Raj!” a voice y
elled from farther along the cliff.

  “I’m right here!”

  Raj looked up to find a light coming in his direction. Salvador and Robert were sweaty and out of breath as they shared the single torch, appraising him.

  “Are you all right?” Salvador asked him, regaining his wind.

  “I’m fine,” Raj assured them.

  Grabbing his arm, Salvador and Robert led him back along the ledge. “Let’s get you back inside before your sister notices anything.”

  Chapter 41: Raj

  Raj glanced behind him at the mouth of the cave, where Salvador and Robert spoke with a few people near their posts. A handful of people had heard the commotion with the wolf, and gone to the cave entrance, but most were caught up with the storytellers. Thankfully, nobody seemed to have noticed Raj slipping back inside. He kept his head down and his eyes averted, walking deeper into the cave.

  For the first time in days, pride coursed through him. Looking around at the people in the cave, he felt more important than he had the day before, more important than anyone standing inside.

  Raj looked at where Adriana stood among her friends. The same longing overcame him.

  For a brief moment, he contemplated approaching her and relaying all the things that had happened outside. But he hesitated.

  The story might impress her, but was it a worthy enough tale to make him forget his embarrassment?

  Raj wasn’t certain.

  And that tied his tongue.

  Still, it gave him a hope he hadn’t had before: maybe he was on the path to getting her back.

  A night later, Raj lay in bed, occupied by his excited thoughts. After a full day and an evening of pondering the previous night’s excursion, he was still stuck on it. He kept thinking about the way the wind felt in his hair, or the way his heart pounded during the chase. They might not have caught the wolf, but Raj had spotted it, like a guard would. For a little while, Raj had been one of the important men.