Forming a single file line, each person sticking to the one in front of them and keeping the children in the middle, they walked into the darkness of the forest. Janil got in line behind Nina and Kajol. They traveled for hours, twisting and turning in the darkness without any signs of life, much less people. Surprisingly though, it seemed the deeper they went into the forest, the less the moans and other noises could be heard.
“Why is it so quiet? Where did the sounds go?” Nina whispered.
“Not sure, maybe it’s a scare tactic to keep people from coming inside. It’s either that or whatever was making the sounds before is now too busy stalking us,” Lucas whispered back, eyes still locked on the trail in front of him.
“Lucas!” Nina scolded when Kajol looked up at her terrified. “It’s all right, dear, he didn’t mean it.”
She had managed to finally calm him back down when suddenly the lamp Lucas was carrying began to flicker and seconds later went dark. Someone in the back screamed, then panic filled voices started calling to one another in the pitch black void.
“Mommy!” Kajol yelled.
“I’m here,” Nina called back, trying to sound as calm as possible. Reaching out she grabbed ahold of something in the darkness. “Is that you, Kajol?”
“No, that’s me,” Lucas answered. “But I have Kajol.”
A moment later a light flickered on in the distance behind them. “Is everyone all right?” a man asked, holding the light above his head and shining it over the petrified faces.
“We should head back,” the man’s wife spoke up beside him. “We haven’t seen any signs of people in here, and if this light burns out we are going to be lost in here forever.”
A mumble of agreement rose from the others, and one by one they all agreed they had no other option but to turn around and head back, praying that they were able to find the exit. Feeling saddened by their lack of success, Nina and Lucas turned to follow the others when Nina noticed that Janil was nowhere to be found.
“Wait, everyone,” she shouted, “has anyone seen Janil?”
“The Terrian lady? No, she was right behind you.” The young man beside her called to the others, “Is she back there?”
“No,” yelled the man with the lamp, “she isn’t here either.”
Collectively they began calling her name into the darkness, “Janil! Where are you? Janil, answer us, please!”
They continued to call and plead with the void surrounding them to no avail, and after a few minutes hope for finding her began to fade.
“Let’s go,” the man holding the light called solemnly to the others.
“We can’t leave her out there,” Nina yelled toward the other end of the line. “She will die.”
“If we continue to look for her and this light burns out then we will all die as well,” he shouted back angrily. “You can stay if you want, but me and my family are taking the lamp and leaving.”
“Lucas, we can’t leave her,” Nina pleaded, clutching the front of Lucas’s shirt.
Lucas looked down to the end of the line as the others began to head away from them into the darkness. “I don’t think we have a choice. They have the light and we can’t stay here alone in the darkness, we would never find our way out.”
Nina scanned the void once more. Guilt knotted her stomach at the thought of the older lady being alone out there. Defeated, she turned to follow the others when the sound of a branch snapping caught her and Lucas’s attention.
Frozen with fear, Nina pulled Lucas and Kajol in close. “Did you hear that?”
Before they could answer, a rustling sound came from the branches of the trees above them, followed by shouting at the front of the line. Looking down past the man with the light, another light, much brighter than the one he was holding, could be seen approaching them from the distance. More sounds came from behind Nina. She clung tighter to Lucas, squeezing his arm as they turned to see a second light approaching them from the opposite direction.
“There’s more, out in the woods,” someone shouted.
Nina scanned the darkness, spotting several more lights approaching them from various directions.
“Move in together and put the women and children in the middle,” Lucas shouted as he pushed Nina and Kajol behind him and faced down the light coming up the trail. The others followed, pressing their bodies as close together as they could, forming a circle with the three men on the outside to protect their wives and children.
Nina’s heart pounded in her chest as she clutched tightly to Kajol and peered around Lucas’s shoulder. But as the light continued its steady approach, a familiar form began to take shape holding what they could now clearly recognize as a lantern.
“Janil?” Nina shouted, her voice trembling nervously. “What … but how? Oh my stars you scared us!”
Janil smiled, coming to a stop just a few feet away. Soon each of the other lights and the friendly faces of the people attached to them appeared from the darkness surrounding them.
“Sorry about that. We have to be very careful. Occasionally we have spies try to sneak their way into the camp.” Janil looked over the group of terrified faces, as she continued, “Consider it a test to see if you are trustworthy enough to be taken to Oasis. We figure if you’re brave enough to come this far into the forest despite the darkness and the noises, then you are most likely sincere in your search for a new life.”
As she spoke an older gentleman came up beside her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Janil smiled and leaned into his embrace. “I would like to introduce you to my husband, Gabriel.”
Watching the Terrian couple embrace and not sensing any malice from any of the others in their group, Nina and Lucas allowed some of the tension in their bodies to relax, as did the others behind them. Feeling more comfortable with their presence, Nina stepped around Lucas to address Janil. “I thought you said the Enforcer took your husband away.”
“He did. What I left out was that about seven months ago he returned for me.” She smiled up at her husband, the two of them clearly happy to be back in each other’s company.
“I don’t understand, I thought this camp was safe from the Enforcer and the Shadows’ forces.”
“It’s a lot to explain, and once we get to the camp we will do our best to help you understand. However, before we take you there, we have to make one thing very clear.” Janil paused, her expression becoming much more serious. “Once you enter into the camp you will not be permitted to leave. It is the only way to keep it hidden and everyone that lives there safe.”
“It sounds more like a prison, than a safe haven,” the man with the lamp said from behind them. “What if we don’t want to agree to that?”
“Then you are free to go back where you came from,” a broad, Full-blood with jet black hair and thick beard answered. “Don’t get me wrong, I understand your hesitation. If it hadn’t been for them tagging my twelve-year-old daughter, I don’t know if I would have gone through with it myself. But I promise you, what waits for you in there,” he paused, scanning the faces of the children, “or should I say for them, is a lot better than what they will ever have back out there.”
Having heard what the group of strangers had to say, Lucas glanced down at Nina. “What do you think?”
She pulled Kajol in tighter, scrutinizing the faces surrounding her. “I think we should go. We didn’t come all this way just to go back.”
“What about the rest of you?” Gabriel asked. “And don’t worry, if you do wish to go back then one of us will help you get out of the forest. Either way the decision is yours.”
The other two families turned to one another to discuss their fates. The first to speak up was a young lady cradling her toddler son. “We will go,” she answered, leaning into the arms of the young man traveling with her. “We can’t go back to that life.”
“Us as well,” the man with the lantern said. “My daughter will be thirteen this year and I won’t have her working the road day in and day out as I and her
mother have been forced to do.”
“Then follow us,” Janil instructed as she and her husband turned and headed off the trail leading them into the darkness. Smiling back at them over her shoulder she added, “I promise you’re not going to regret your decision.”
Chapter 1
Citera and Dirik sat atop the garden’s fence soaking in the warmth of the sun’s rays while enjoying the refreshing breeze that drifted down into the valley. Before them stretched miles of lush green fields, whose monochromatic state was interrupted only occasionally by a splash of vibrant color from the vegetables and fruits ripening on their branches. Turning their attention off to the left, the pair watched as several members of the kitchen staff hurriedly went about gathering a variety of vegetables which they would use in the preparation of the camp’s evening meal. The ferocity in which the ladies plucked the colorful bounty from the branches almost made it seem as if they were offended by the intrusion of color into the sea of green surrounding them.
Since their arrival at Oasis, the name given to Jaron’s camp by those who lived there, this had become one of their favorite places to sit in the late afternoons. Together the two of them would muse silently for hours and watch as the sun set across the open terrain. It was something they would never have been able to do back in their hometown of Vicaris. Even though they were Terrians, the curfew that had been enacted to restrict the Full-bloods ability to congregate, had applied to them as well. And with the patrols living in constant fear of losing even the slightest amount of control over the disgruntled citizens, only those with power or money had been permitted to roam the streets after dusk.
“Hey,” Dirik said, elbowing her gently, “Rigar and Janil are back, and it looks like they have three more families with them. I think that brings the total to twelve this month.”
Citera gazed down the path running behind them as the small group made its way their direction. “Yeah, word must be getting around faster, or things out there are getting much worse.”
“Probably both,” Dirik muttered, returning his attention to her. “Speaking of worse, have you heard anything about Jarod and Maya?”
Citera reached up and rubbed the scars on her neck at the mention of Jarod’s name. It was a habit she had developed since their run in at the clinic. Dirik smirked as he watched her, but remained silent.
“No, Jaron doesn’t like to talk about it. The last time I asked, he would only tell me that they were together in the Tower and that Jarod was training Maya to be his partner, but that was months ago.” Smiling, she gave Dirik a light shove, as she dropped the hand rubbing her neck back down to her side. “Stop looking at me like that, I can’t help it.”
Chuckling, they both returned their attention to the approaching group, now only a few feet away. Janil, hand in hand with Gabriel, smiled and waved as they neared. Citera returned the greeting as she jumped off the fence to join the group, Dirik right on her heels.
“Seems like things went well,” Citera said, hugging Rigar as they continued to make their way back into camp. She glanced behind them, at the weary expressions of the families following silently in line. Each family had a child with them, one a girl close to Sara’s age, but the other two were young, a toddler and a boy that couldn’t have been more than eight years old. Both the parents and the children appeared frightened and unsure, but that wasn’t unusual. These people had left behind the only lives they had ever known, risking certain death if caught, to travel to a place that might not even exist. And for people who had lived their entire lives oppressed and afraid, introduction into life at Oasis could be quite an overwhelming experience.
“We didn’t have any problems,” Rigar responded, before turning his attention to Janil. “Will you take them the rest of the way? I promised Sara I would watch her training at the Pit this afternoon.”
“Go ahead. We can handle it from here.” Rigar nodded, then diverted down a separate path. Janil watched until he was just out of sight then turned her attention to Citera and Dirik. “Would the two of you mind telling Jaron and K we have three more families? They will probably want to stop by the housing district later.”
“No problem. So, will we see you at dinner then?” Citera asked, as she too headed off down the smaller trail.
“Of course.”
Together she and Dirik followed the dirt path into the center of Oasis, better known as ‘the Core.’ A massive circular meeting area, it was filled to the brim with wooden benches strategically arranged to offer an unobstructed view of the raised podium and deep fire pit before it. Each new moon, or when a problem arose, the community would gather here to meet and discuss problems or changes that needed to be made. Members of the camp were encouraged to speak their opinion or bring up a subject of concern without fear of retaliation or reprimand. It often took months for the new ones to get brave enough to speak, years of keeping their heads down and mouths shut made it a difficult habit to break. But Jaron and K remained vigilant, and eventually one by one they all grew comfortable enough to join in the discussions.
Branching off the Core, like spokes in a wheel, were the trails that lead to the various other areas of the camp. To the north were the housing and dining areas, to the east the medical and supply tents, to the west the fields where all of the vegetables were grown and animals were kept, and to the south ‘the Pit,’ the training area where the Full-bloods learned to tap into themselves and learn the skills the Shadows had tried so hard to keep hidden from them. But the Pit wasn’t just for the Full-bloods. Anyone wanting to train to fight, or who merely desired to learn how to defend themselves, were welcomed. Swords, archery, knife throwing, and hand-to-hand combat were all skills taught by the resistance soldiers and Tyran, Jaron’s old second-in-command.
All in all, Oasis was an awe inspiring site to behold. Citera had marveled at the sheer size of the compound in the beginning, especially the openness of the location despite being in the midst of the dense forest. But once you got past the outer ring, the truth was the trees began to thin and a whole new world came to view with vast fields, rivers, and rock formations hidden within its midst. She had spent her first weeks when they arrived with Dirik exploring every inch of the location, discovering new trails, playing in the streams, and running through fields of colorful flowers. It was a life she would have never dreamt of having a year ago. Granted it was a little rustic. With the exception of the medical and dining tents, there was no solar power, no running water, and everyone—including K and Jaron—lived in tents. But on the plus side there were also no patrols, no forced labor, and no Shadows.
The two of them made their way through the Core and headed east toward the medical tent where Citera was certain she would locate Jaron and her father. K would be more difficult to find—she didn’t stay still long and it was nearly impossible to pin her down—but hopefully Jaron would have an idea of where to find her. Halfway down the path to the medical tent they came across Jaron standing in front of a large tree blocking the path.
“Jaron!” Citera called. “What happened?”
He glanced at the two of them over his shoulder, then turned his attention back to the tree. “Storm blew it down a few nights ago. Thankfully it didn’t do any damage, other than making a few people have to walk a little farther to get to the medical tent.”
“So what are you going to do with it?” Dirik asked, scanning from one end of it down to the other. It was huge, with a trunk that was bigger around than the two of them combined while stretching more than thirty feet in length.
“It should come in handy for building supplies and firewood, amongst other things,” Jaron answered flatly. “What brings you two out here anyway? Did Dirik fall out of a tree again?”
“That only happened once,” Dirik snapped angrily. “I can’t help it if that rat looking thing tried to eat me!”
Jaron winked slyly at Citera as she tried to stifle a laugh. “No, Janil and Rigar came back with three more families and she asked me to let you and K
know. Do you know where she is?”
“K? Not sure, but if I were you I would probably check the Pit.” He paused as he rolled up the sleeves of his shirt. “I am going to take this over to the supply tent. If you do find her, tell her as soon as I’m done there I’ll meet her in the housing area.”
And with that he reached under the tree and lifted it into the air as easily as one of them would lift a twig. Then he turned and headed down a side trail with the two of them watching after him. Citera and Dirik hardly batted an eye. Things like that had once amazed and shocked them, but around here it was an everyday occurrence and one they had since grown accustomed to.
Turning back to face the direction she was heading, Citera resumed her journey. “I’m going to say hi to my dad, are you coming?”
Dirik glanced toward her then back down the trail at Jaron strolling away with the tree slung over his shoulder. Laughing, Citera continued on her way. “Go on, and put me down for 3 dinar on 2.”
Grinning a mischievous grin, Dirik took off after Jaron shouting as he went, “See you at dinner.”
Waving with her back turned she made her way up the hill to the medical tent where she found her father finishing up for the evening. “Well, what have you been up to all day?”
“Oh, just the usual. Dirik and I spent the day in the fields helping the ladies pick carrots and beans. Then we went to the river and cooled off for a bit and now I’m here checking on you.” As they talked, Citera went about assisting her father by gathering dressings and linens into a basket to be washed the next morning.
“Well I’m glad you found time to squeeze me into your busy schedule,” Mikel laughed. “Where is Dirik anyway?”
“He followed Jaron,” she answered, as she set the basket of dirty linens outside. Each morning the wash ladies would stop by to pick it up and leave them a basket of clean ones. “There was a tree blocking the path, so Jaron took it to the supply tent to be divided into lumber and firewood.”
“Ah, what are the odds today?”
Linked (The Shadow Chronicles Book 2) Page 2
