by T E Olivant
“No,” I said, with total confidence. “I don’t. Up until a few days ago they didn’t even know any of us existed. Why would they want to murder anyone? And besides, I don’t think you believe they killed him either.”
“You may have some Seeker perception in you, clan traitor. You’re right, those of us in this room do not belief that Brand was killed by an outsider.”
“Connoher, is this wise?” The woman shifted uncomfortably.
“I’m not sure. But we know, and have known for some time that there are some dark secrets in our clan, and perhaps we need help from this traitor boy to see the truth. To answer your question: I believe that my brother’s death was caused by a faction within our clan. Your friends just happened to be around to take the blame.”
“Not now that they have escaped.”
Connoher shook his head slowly. “Escaping the camp is the most foolish thing they could have done, it means not only do they look guilty, but they will die on the White. They could not have left without help, and I believe it is our enemies who freed them.”
Please find them Felkyo, I thought.
“My brother’s death is not the only strange thing to happen with the clan in the last few months, although it is the worst. There have been meetings with other clans, often done in secret, behind the Chief’s back. Supplies go missing and then turn up again. The clan is suddenly full of lies. I tried to tell Brand that something was wrong, but he wouldn’t listen. Perhaps if I had been more forceful he would still be alive.”
“What do you think is going on?”
“It’s something big,” the woman answered. “Something that goes beyond our clan. At first I thought it was merely a plot to get rid of Brand, but there must be more to it than that.”
“You think Yohan planned all this?” I asked, feeling my tender ribs.
Connoher snorted. “Hardly. Oh, he might kill his father to lead the clan, he has the ambition for that. But whatever is going on here is being done slyly, with cunning and intelligence, and that isn’t Yohan’s style. There’s someone else behind all this but I have no idea who.”
“And we don’t know what they’re trying to achieve. We don’t even know exactly who is involved. But I’ve spent seven decades on the White and this is the first time I’ve ever been frightened of my own people.”
I thought of Swift’s worried face when I left the Peak.
“The Seekers have felt the same fear,” I said.
“Then perhaps it is not restricted to our own clan.” Connoher said. “Kyrk, I have never trusted a Seeker in my life, or a Hunter for that matter. But you are not a Hunter, nor a Seeker, and perhaps you are the very person to find out what haunts our clan and the entire White.”
Connoher held out his right claw and I took it in mine. I felt responsibility weigh on my back even though I wasn’t even sure what exactly was being asked of me. But if the problems with the Doctor clan were from the same cause as those that were bothering the Seekers then it was my job to find out more. And perhaps I would be able to clear Lisanne and Sam of murder at the same time.
“I’ll do what I can.” I said, “But first I must see what I can do for the strangers. They do not deserve any of this.”
“Do you truly believe they are harmless?”
“I’m not sure what they are.” For some reason I thought of Lisanne’s brown eyes and the soft pink of her lips. “But I want to find out.”
Connoher still looked unconvinced but the woman touched my hand.
“When you find your friends tell them I am glad they escaped. Yohan will be named Chief in the next hour. You have until then.” Then she led Connoher out of the tent.
I was left alone, unguarded, but with no idea what to do next.
I was so exhausted that part of me just wanted to lie down and sleep in the tent, escape be damned. But I also didn’t trust Yohan as the new Chief not to order my execution. Perhaps he would find my head a fitting gift for the swearing in ceremony.
With that thought I dragged myself to the door of the tent and peered out. There were still a few stragglers making their way to the edge of the camp so I let the heavy fur fall back into place. I would wait just a few more minutes.
I closed my eyes for a moment and before I knew it I was asleep. I dreamt that I was back in the city and I held Jony and Mya by the hand. A swirling blizzard descended from dark skies and surrounded us. The children were whipped from my claws and I watched as they sped away into the clouds. Suddenly the wind dropped and the air cleared. Standing before me was the girl, Lisanne, wrapped in furs but with her face exposed to the elements so that I could see her dark eyes and her perfect skin. She smiled and I awoke.
I could only have been asleep for a few minutes, but I forced myself to sit up. I tried not to dwell on the end of my dream and what the image of Lisanne had meant – it wasn’t something I wanted to think about. But seeing my brother and sister had reminded me of how I had abandoned them, something I had avoided considering ever since my visit to the Seeker’s Peak. Now though I wanted nothing more than to return to the City, to find them and protect them from whatever was coming. For something was coming. It wasn’t just the appearance of the two strangers in the far White. There was something deeply wrong with the clans, and Brand’s murder was only a part of it.
My mind kept returning to Brand’s body, splayed out on the snow. It was natural, perhaps, to be so disturbed by death, but not for a Hunter, for someone who saw it all the time. And I had hardly known the man. No, there was something else going on. My subconscious was trying to tell me something. I had missed something crucial, and I needed to find out what it was.
I thought back to the moment I had found Sam with the gun. In my mind I looked around the scene at the people and all of a sudden I saw it. The look in Yohan’s eyes when he saw the gun. That was what was so strange. The others had looked at it in curiosity, or just confusion. No one thought the strange thing could have killed anyone, at least not until I explained it. But Yohan had flinched away from it. He knew to fear it. He knew what it was. And that was simply not possible.
I grabbed one of the furs from the floor of the tent and wrapped it around my head and shoulders. Hopefully it would stop anyone from recognising me, as long as they didn’t look too close. I snuck out of the tent and crept low, keeping to the shadows. In the distance I could see a large fire and the figures of Doctors crowded around it. That must have been Yohan’s inauguration as Chief. I snorted. At least I wasn’t a Doctor: I couldn’t have stood by and let him lead me.
I peeked into a couple of tents before I found what I was looking for. My own pack, complete with my father’s knife sat discarded on a table. I carefully latched it into place and filled my water pouch with fresh snow. When I came back outside I looked to the stars, knowing instinctively which way would take me to the Seeker’s Peak. But my legs wouldn’t move. There was something I had to see first.
I walked to the edge of the camp well beyond the light of the fire. This was the area that Yohan had been so eager to protect from the flames. Although here there seemed to be more Doctors around that hadn’t attended the ceremony, I managed to dodge in and out of the tents without being spotted. Not that I knew what I was looking for, but something told me I was on the right track.
It was in the last tent. A pile of animal skins had been hastily thrown over a large box. It was covered in thin material like Sam and Lisanne’s suits, but this had been ripped apart to gain access to what was inside. I pulled it open with unsteady claws. Small rounded items sat innocuously in boxes. Row upon row of the smooth killing devices were exposed. I measured the size of the box with my arms, trying to stay quiet and calm while my mind was screaming. There had to be three hundred of them in the box. Enough to start a war. Enough to kill a clan before they even realised what hit them.
I left the tent in a daze. I wanted to destroy the guns somehow, but I had nothing to use. I couldn’t take them all with me, and besides, what would I do wi
th them? After a moment I went back inside and tucked one of the smooth pods into my pack. I could feel it lurking in there like a White wolf in the dark, but my fear of the gun was less than my fear of being without one.
I could have confronted Yohan there and then. Walked right into the ceremony, maybe even shot him. But what good would that do? Even if I could bring myself to kill a man, another would simply take the place of Chief. Unless I was willing to slaughter an entire clan, this was no way to stop whatever they had planned. I had to speak to the other clans, to warn them before it was too late.
I lifted my pack onto my shoulder and began to walk to the Peak.
Chapter 15: Lisanne
“What are they?”
The Chief of the Seekers was a tall woman with long muscular limbs and fierce golden eyes. She did not look like someone who was often surprised.
“They’re humans. Or at least, that’s what they told me.”
“And they have escaped from imprisonment by the Doctors.” I bit my lip to stop from interrupting. I had told Felkyo the entire story, and she had relayed it to the Chief. I would have liked to tell her myself but each time I said anything she glared at me until I went silent.
“Yes.”
The Chief sighed and ran a claw over her face. She walked towards Sam and me with her arms folded and we shrank back against the ice walls of the building. Anger was etched on her face.
“The Doctors think you killed their leader.”
“I didn’t,” Sam managed to squeak.
“It doesn’t matter. You are wanted for murder by another clan and you brought them here.” She rounded on Felkyo. “Daughter, have you any idea what you have done?”
Felkyo cringed, but managed to meet her mother’s glare.
“I had to bring them here. Kyrk told me they would die on the White, and look at them, they nearly did!”
Felkyo was right. Sam had slept for a couple of hours, but he still looked exhausted. I was still shivering, even though I had layers of furs piled around me.
“Better they had died out there,” the Chief said grimly. She paced across the room, backwards and forwards with great strides. “Brand is dead and you have freed his killer. You have declared war!”
“Sam’s right,” I said in the silent that followed, “we had nothing to do with the Chief’s death.”
“Of course you didn’t. As if creatures like you could take down a clan Chief! But between you and Kyrk you have made it look extremely suspicious. If I were a Doctor I know where I’d be pointing the blame.”
“Kyrk needed our help.” Felkyo said quietly.
“I knew letting him into the clan was a mistake.”
Someone knocked at the door and didn’t pause before entering. He was tall, rangy and had silver-grey fur. The Chief bared her teeth at him and I wondered who this man was that could make her even angrier than she already was. I hadn’t thought that was possible.
“Swift,” she hissed, “I don’t believe you were invited to this meeting.”
“If I waited until you invited me in I would never go anywhere,” the man said with the trace of a smile. He looked Sam and me over. “Well, they are truly as strange as people are saying. Welcome to the home of the Seekers.” He spoke with a hint of irony but I couldn’t help but feel touched. No one else had suggested we might even be remotely welcome.
“They are not our guests, they are escaped criminals.”
“At least wait until Kyrk returns. We should hear this tale from his lips.” Swift’s voice was calm but it didn’t seem to be having much of an effect on the Chief.
“He is the last person I want to see. I knew the Hunter boy would cause us trouble, I just never thought it would happen so soon. And even in my worst nightmare I couldn’t have imagined what he would do.” The Chief was practically spitting at Swift now, every word a violent action.
“Kyrk saved our lives,” I said angrily, struggling to my feet. “We would have died out on the White without him.”
Still the Chief ignored me and I felt my temper rise.
“At least do me the decency of looking at me.” I almost regretted my words when those fierce eyes swivelled round to my face. “You say we are escaped criminals, I say we are that twice! We were hounded out of our own home by people just like you. People who were too afraid of change to listen to the truth. Just give us a chance to prove ourselves.”
There was a pause while every face in the room looked at me and no one seemed to blink.
“Let them walk back to their own people.” The Chief said softly.
Even Felkyo looked stunned.
“They’ll die out there.”
The Chief shrugged. “We’ll give them food and water and they can keep those furs. It’s better than they deserve.” She turned back to face me and for the first time there was something like pity on her face. “Whatever you might think I’m not cruel, but you have brought us to the brink of war. It is better for everyone, including you, if you are taken away.”
“Then you will have to send me away with them,” said a strong voice from the doorway.
It was Kyrk.
“Kyrk!” Felkyo ran towards him and gave him a quick hug across the shoulders. Swift smiled but stayed at the back of the room. The Chief stiffened with anger and shock. I felt my own heart beat more quickly, but I kept my reaction to a small smile. I was surprised at how much better I felt seeing him again, but I suppose I had come to depend on him. For his part, Angel Sam looked a little relieved, but he never took his eyes off the Chief.
“Sam didn’t kill Brand.” Kyrk said, and my hopes leapt at the conviction in his voice.
“How do you know?”
“The Chief was shot in the back. And it turns out that Sam wasn’t the only one there with a gun. I found a tent full of them. Any of the Doctors that knew about the weapons could have killed him.” Kyrk dropped his pack and sat down next to us on the floor. Up close I could see how exhausted he looked, and I only just resisted an urge to take his hand.
We all looked to the Chief to see what she would say.
“Well, it is certainly good to know that I am not sheltering a murderer.”
“And what about the Doctors’ guns?” Felkyo asked. “Who are they planning to use them on?”
The Chief exchanged a look with Swift.
“That is a conversation for another time. The fact remains that these two strangers have no place here. I still think we should send them back to their underground city.”
I opened my mouth to object, only to feel Sam stand up beside me.
“You are right,” he said. “I must return to the city.”
“What?” I said, disbelieving. “Sam, they banished us!”
He turned to me and took my hand gently in his. “What Kyrk has found out changes everything, Lisanne. Think about it: there’s only one place that clan could have got the guns from. Someone from our city must be involved. I’m not sure how this fits in with the Physician’s plans to eliminate the low graders, but it must all be connected somehow. The only way to know for sure is for one of us to go back there.”
“One of us?” I said slowly.
“One of us must go, but the other must stay.” He turned to the Chief. “Whatever is going on here involves both our cities. You will need someone who knows about the underground world, and that can only be Lisanne.”
The Chief looked about to object, then she nodded reluctantly.
“But I will need help to get back to the city,” Sam continued.
“We can get you to your city, but once you’re there you’re on your own.” Kyrk’s voice sounded hard, but there was an anxiety in the looks he shot at Sam, who was so small and vulnerable in the room of Seekers.
“I won’t need anyone else. They’ll have to listen to me this time.”
But I wondered if they would. They hadn’t listened to us before. Even with the Physician’s plans threatening everyone in the city, would they ever listen to the truth if it came f
rom Sam?
“Maybe I should go after all.” I said even though the idea made my head ache. “If I explained, they might take it better from someone with a higher grade.”
Sam gave a grim chuckle. “For once your grading would count against you. I’m not going to speak to the eighties, Lisanne. I’m going to talk to the people like me, to the sixties and seventies.”
“But they won’t be able to do anything, the people in charge are all eighties.”
“You still don’t get it. How many people live in the City?”
“A thousand, give or take”
“And how many eighties are there?”
Sam was right as usual, I had been stupid. “There are sixty-eight. Sorry Sam, you’re right, it just never occurred to me.”
“Of course it didn’t. That’s why the city works – if anyone ever did think about how so many were ruled by so few then, well…” He smirked. “The revolution that your doctor friend was so afraid of might be a lot more likely.”
“He’s no friend of mine.” I said fiercely. Sam held his hands up in an apology.
“Sorry, I know he’s not. But I know what to do. If the eighties won’t listen, then the rest of them will, especially as it’s them that are going to be sitting out on the snow if they don’t. I still have friends there, enough to get me a chance to speak out anyway. Just the fact that we survived will give me a chance.” He cupped my chin gently and looked right at me. From the corner of my eye I saw Kyrk slip out of the tent. “We’ve shown it’s possible to survive the White, Lisanne, you and me. They won’t be able to ignore that.”
I moved away, reluctantly. “Fine then. If you have to go, then go.” I felt the tears prick the back of my eyes.
“I’ll be back before you know it.” I smiled at the lie – we were both heading into danger, and the chances of us ever finding each other again were practically nothing. I turned and looked into his small, serious face and tried to find the words to tell him how I felt about him. But I didn’t know myself: so much had happened since those days in the city that I dreamed about us being together. We were both different now. Sam looked at me, as if reading my mind, and turned away.
