Dustborn Read online

  Four hundred people—the last survivors of Red Rock—waited for Neena and Kai in the large chamber inside, where Darius had gathered them.

  With a shudder, Neena turned around, praying that they were ready to face them.

  Chapter 2: Neena

  Neena and Kai stared around the dimly lit cave. Four hundred people occupied the space in front of them, clustered in groups. The people’s wild, nervous eyes were reflected underneath the glow of their torches. Their faces were dirty. A few coughed from the sicknesses that seemed to have come with spending so much time confined in tight quarters. They stood holding onto their blankets and bags, leaning against the auburn tunnel walls, or sitting on some of the rocks that jutted from the floor. They’d left the children in another cave to avoid exposing them to more frightening talk.

  Neena was glad that they’d made that decision.

  She swallowed and looked at the people who had once feared or disrespected her. Not for the first time, Neena thought someone else should be up here, and not she, Kai, and Darius.

  But the people in this cave were all that was left, except for the children, the people tending them, and the healers, who kept to their posts deeper in the passage.

  A meeting was overdue.

  “Thank you for coming,” Darius said, waving his cane, placating the people with a smile, the way he had been doing since he’d settled them into the caves.

  The people listened, but no one smiled back. They waited with trepidation that reminded her of the long while they’d spent in the cave together, waiting for the Abomination to leave, or, she assumed, the way the people who’d survived on the cliffs had waited. Neena looked to Kai, as if he might take the lead, but he conceded, “Go ahead.”

  “As you know, our supplies are running low, or will be soon,” Neena said, finding her voice. “The Watchers have done their best to scrape up more food and get water from the spring, but those quick trips will not supplement us for long. We need to decide on a better plan moving forward.”

  The people in the front rows watched her, judgment in their eyes. Their trust in her was new, and some were still questioning it. Amos stood in the front row, urging her on.

  “We know there are more useable supplies in some of the houses in the colony, or in some of the ruins. Rather than sending the Watchers on smaller trips, we think we should organize a large expedition to dig up anything we might’ve missed before it spoils.”

  “We are more likely to find bodies,” someone yelled, from the back of the cave.

  A few mumbles of agreement went through the room.

  Neena didn’t dispute the facts.

  “The trip will not be pleasant,” she agreed, “but anything we can find will be of help.”

  A palpable fear settled over the room, as people considered the reality of returning to the colony.

  “Digging around the ruins seems like an easy way to get killed,” someone said. “What if the creature hears us and comes back?”

  “We can keep guards on top of the cliffs to watch out for us,” Kai cut in. “We can take the same precautions that my people do while on the ground.”

  People turned to face Kai. His markings were a never-ending reminder that Kai was still a stranger, from a colony whose existence they were still accepting.

  “Your people have lived with the monster for generations,” remembered a woman. “But that doesn’t stop your people from dying on a regular basis.”

  “For all we know, your people are dead,” muttered another person behind her.

  Silence fell over Kai for a moment. “I don’t know for sure what has become of my people, that is true, though I suspect they are still there.”

  “But you don’t know how to get back to them,” someone else recalled.

  Kai chewed on that thought. “I was lost, as I told everyone. I’m not even sure I could find my way back, if I tried.”

  Murmurs went through the crowd. A man with a thick beard grunted something to the person next to him. His friend’s agreement gave him the courage to redirect his frustrations at Kai.

  Locking eyes with him, the man said, “You say there are thousands of your people, and yet, the leaders told us your group numbers a handful. Which is true?”

  “The leaders told many lies, as we’ve learned,” Darius said, trying to keep order. “The monster is the biggest proof of that. Everything we’ve explained to you over the last weeks is true.”

  “So, we are supposed to take your word for it?” asked the bearded man. “With Gideon unconscious, and no leaders alive to question further?”

  More murmurs rose above the crowd. People looked at their neighbors, furrowing their brows. A few colonists sparked loud side conversations.

  Feeling the crowd becoming unruly, Neena cut in. “The Watchers know the truth, as well.” She waved her hand at the group of forty young men who stood on the right side of the crowd, hoping her guess was accurate.

  The men exchanged nervous glances, surprised to be called on.

  For the past few weeks, the surviving Watchers had mostly remained quiet, going along with what Neena, Darius, and Kai said. Neena suspected that they were afraid to be roped in with the men who had obviously told lies. They’d had no issues with making scavenging trips, collecting water, or keeping guard on the cliffs, but she couldn’t guarantee their allegiance to anyone. Thankfully, The Watchers who had tried killing Kai—and the one who once held Akron’s knife—were dead.

  But Neena couldn’t forget that the rest had once hunted for them.

  After a long hesitation, one of The Watchers, a chiseled man with thick eyebrows and dark hair, Bryan, admitted, “It’s true. The leaders told us in a meeting that the colony of New Canaan numbers a few thousand.”

  “So, they lied to us,” the bearded man said, to the whispers of some others. Pointing at Bryan, he said, “That means you lied.”

  Bryan shifted uncomfortably.

  Turning his questioning on The Watchers, the bearded man asked, “What else do you know?”

  Reluctantly the center of attention, Bryan said, “The people of New Canaan were once a part of our colony. They were once a part of Red Rock.”

  Gasps came over the crowd as people heard something unexpected and reacted. Even Neena and Kai listened, surprised.

  “Generations ago, our people had a disagreement,” Bryan said. “The people of New Canaan broke off and settled elsewhere, while some people stayed here. The two parties had no contact.” Bryan sucked in a breath. “For a long time, they assumed each other were dead, until their representatives arrived a decade ago.”

  “How did we not know about each other?” a woman questioned.

  “That is not a question I can answer,” Bryan said.

  “What happened with those representatives? Why were we not told about New Canaan then?” the same woman asked.

  Bryan continued, “More disagreements plagued the discussions with the representatives, according to the leaders. So they kept their existence to themselves, until Kai arrived.”

  “You mean the criminal,” the bearded man said quietly.

  A few people picked up on the word, repeating it loudly.

  Bryan overheard. “That is what they called him, though I can only relay what we were told.”

  “And now Gideon is unconscious and unable to speak, and no one can ask him anything,” someone piped up. “All we have to rely on is the stranger’s word.”

  Neena glanced over at Kai, who was suddenly the focus of attention again.

  Kai shifted uncomfortably. “I have been honest about my past to anyone who has asked me. I hope I have proved trustworthy over these past few weeks.”

  The people seemed unconvinced.

  Hoping to draw the conversation back on track, Neena said, “
We are regurgitating the stories and lies of men who are no longer around to tell them. None of those stories will feed us or keep us alive. We should focus on plans for the future.”

  “You mean, plans this man is orchestrating,” the bearded man accused, pointing at Kai.

  Neena disagreed. “That’s not—”

  “Who are you to tell us what to do, anyway?” The man scoffed at Neena. “A hunter woman, who carries a man’s spear?”

  A few in the audience chuckled. Others looked at The Watchers for guidance.

  Trying to redeem himself, Bryan said, “We have always done our best by Red Rock. We have followed our oath. If everyone would feel more comfortable, we can lead the plan to get more food.”

  He looked at the bearded man for approval, but he was surprised to find the man red-faced and angry. “So we are forced to decide between a criminal and a lying group of Watchers?” he spat.

  Bryan opened and closed his mouth. He had no answer.

  Arguments threaded through the crowd as the bearded man turned to his friends, riling them up. A few looked angrily at the Watchers, while others looked mistrustingly at Kai. The crowd was quickly becoming ugly.

  Neena looked down at the knife at her side, wondering if she’d have to use it to defend her life.

  Darius and Kai tensed.

  A shout from the back of the chamber drew everyone’s attention. Far over the heads of the crowd, near the entrance to a long passageway at the end of the cave, a healer emerged. The light of his torch gleamed off his bald head as he said, “Gideon is awake!”

  Chapter 3: Raj

  “Samel! Where are you going?”

  Raj peered past the light of his torch to the passage beyond, where Samel crept along the auburn wall. He glanced back at Raj guiltily.

  “Neena told us to stay with the others in our cave,” Raj reminded him.

  He looked to his left, where a group of others sat, tending babies or other young children.

  Ever since they’d come up to the eastern formation, Raj and Samel had lived in the Right Cave, while most of The Watchers and their families lived in the Left. Other colonists lived in the Center Cave, where the adults were currently holding their meeting.

  According to Darius, these three caves were the best suited in which to stay, because of their proximity to each other and their wide floors, good for sleeping. More importantly, the caves had fewer forks and passages, making them easier to guard from animals.

  Looking back at the people in the Right Cave they were leaving behind, Raj’s eyes settled on one person: Adriana. His stomach fluttered. Adriana’s presence was one of the only things keeping him from being upset about missing the meeting.

  He still remembered the feeling of relief he’d had when he saw her, after the creature left. While Raj and his family hid in the lower cave, Adriana had been up on the cliffs with a group of others, hiding out with the surviving Watchers and their families. Her safety was one of the good things that had come from that day. Ever since that fateful day with the monster, Raj had done everything he could to try and be close to her.

  He wanted to take care of her, the way strong, hunting men took care of women.

  And now Samel was getting in the way of that.

  He needed to reel Samel in.

  “Samel!” he called again, watching his brother take a few more creeping steps. “I told you to get back here!”

  Catching up to Samel, he grabbed hold of his brother’s skinny wrist.

  Trying unsuccessfully to pull his hand free, Samel asked, “Do you hear that?”

  Raj quieted and listened. The auburn wall ahead of them extended for ten feet before curving. Raj looked for glowing eyes in the darkness, or another indicator that they’d encountered something they couldn’t handle. He saw and heard nothing.

  All of the people they’d left behind were within yelling distance. They trusted the boys to stay close. The caves were dangerous, Raj thought, but they seemed less dangerous than staying on the ground in Red Rock with a monster.

  Still, Raj had to be a different kind of careful in here.

  “There,” Samel insisted, pointing out the noise again. “Do you hear it?”

  Raj concentrated, until he heard a clicking sound somewhere around the bend. The noise was subtle, almost imperceptible. It frightened him, but it intrigued him, as well. A thought struck him: what if one of the young children had wandered off? He glanced behind him at Adriana again, noticing her soft skin and her dark hair. He might be hailed as a hero for bringing a young one back.

  Before he knew what he was doing, he took a step with Samel.

  Together, they crept along the smooth, red wall. Holding his torch higher, Raj saw no sand rats, or bats.

  They rounded the bend.

  The chatter of adults let him know they were still near others. Still, Raj’s heart pounded, and Samel’s wrist shook under his grasp.

  The area past the torch light was pitch black.

  The clicking came again—closer this time.

  A dark shape, several times the size of Raj’s head, skittered in the opposite direction, just outside his torch light. Raj thought he knew what this was.

  “A dust beetle,” Raj whispered.

  “By the heavens!” exclaimed Samel.

  Raj had only glimpsed a few of the curious-looking things. Most stuck to the bowels of the caves. Occasionally they came to the higher levels, but a sighting of one was rare, according to Darius.

  “I don’t think we have much to fear from it,” Raj said. “Darius said they’re mostly harmless. A few people have even eaten them.”

  “They can bite, though,” Samel remembered. “We might get a reaction.”

  Raj nodded. He knew that was true. He was about to turn around when a new thought made him linger. Raj pictured the look on Adriana’s face if he brought back one of the strange, shiny creatures. What if he could catch it, and provide more food?

  “You know how hungry everyone has been. Maybe I can try to kill it.” Raj looked over his shoulder, where some voices echoed.

  Sam lingered a step even though Raj started moving. “I think you are trying to impress Adriana.”

  “Adriana?” Raj said the word as if he didn’t know who she was.

  “You want to show her you are a man by catching it. You want a story to tell.”

  “I don’t care what Adriana thinks about it,” Raj said, hiding his motive. “I just want to catch it, so we can eat it.”

  Samel furrowed his brow, unconvinced, but he followed. Letting go of Samel’s wrist, Raj pulled his knife. Together, they wound through the tunnel. Raj kept his eye on the beetle, which scurried faster. He’d been in this part of the tunnel a few times, when he was scouting with Darius and some others, or accompanying the hunters to catch sand rats, but he hadn’t been too far. The colonists mostly kept near the entrances of the caves.

  Raj kept a tight grip on his torch, and an even tighter grip on his knife, as they pursued the dust beetle, getting farther away from the place where they held camp. The tunnel walls darkened, and the cave turned. They’d gotten close enough to see the dust beetle’s long, spindly legs sticking out from the side of its rounded shell when it suddenly changed direction, skirting from one side of the tunnel to the other. Raj cried out, nearly dropping his torch.

  The creature was as wily as it was elusive.

  Caught in the adrenaline of the pursuit, Raj ran faster, getting ahead of Samel. He didn’t realize they had taken another turn until Samel pointed out, “Raj! What if we get lost?”

  Raj didn’t stop. Determination had gotten hold of him. He felt like a hunter, pursuing game in the desert. He wanted to be like all the burly men coming back from the desert, with full bags, full stomachs, and large smiles—a man Adriana would want.
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  The beetle scooted away from Raj’s reaching knife, clacking the floor as it ran faster. He caught a glimpse of the top of its head, and the incisors on its mouth.

  Raj had only a few moments to consider whether he’d gone too far, when the dust beetle skittered toward a wall. Fearing he might lose it for good, he lunged and brought down his knife.

  Raj’s blade struck the floor.

  Metal sparked stone.

  The beetle disappeared underneath a crevice to safety.

  From somewhere out of sight, the clacking continued, farther away.

  “Where did it go?” Sam asked, catching up to Raj, who lay on his belly, holding out his torch.

  “It must be under here somewhere.”

  Trepidation struck him as he extended his torch far into the hole. Scattered rat bones and feces littered the ground. The space was high enough that the creature could slip under, and perhaps just tall enough that he could crawl into, but Raj wasn’t foolish enough to try. Still, staring through the glare of the torch light, he couldn’t help but feel the sting of failure.

  He’d failed to catch the beetle.

  He’d failed Adriana.

  Raj was about to pull out his torch when he spotted something else.

  He froze. His mouth fell agape.

  “What is it, Raj?” Samel asked nervously.

  “I see something.”

  “The beetle?”

  “Something else.”

  “What is it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Chapter 4: Neena

  Gasps rifled through the crowd. Almost everyone in the room turned, facing the healer who had made the proclamation about Gideon. In a moment, all interest was lost in the meeting. Sweat trickled down the healer’s face as he held his torch.

  A few people stepped forward, swarming him and waiting for more information. Sensing the growing fervor of the crowd, the healer held up his hands, holding them at bay.