Chapter 1

"What?" Satrina blinked unbelieving at her husband.

"We're going with the pilgrimage. I've already made up my mind. Now start packing." He turned away.

Satrina watched her husband who was over twice her age and had been the best friend of her father while he had been alive. She still didn't understand. "We're leaving New Dome? But ... I've never even been to the surface. What of the terrestrials? Won't they kill us?" She stood, her many skirts making it hard for her to hurry after Sir Malkius. He turned on his heel, his short hairless tail twitching with his barely contained annoyance at his young wife.

"I said we are going. It is not your place to question my decissions. Now pack lightly, we only get one wagon. We leave in a few days." He turned away again, stalking away.

Satrina sneered, her tail stiff as she started going through her things. If only her father hadn't promised her to his childhood friend long before she was even born. She bent over to pick up a scarf and cursed at her corset as it pinched her. She hated wearing all the "proper" women's clothing that Sir Malkius made her wear. He was not a cruel husband, but she had few freedoms.

As she packed, a shadow at her window drew her attention to a handsome grinning face. She caught her breath for a moment in surprise then threw her scarf at the man who hung outside down from the ledge above her window that looked out over the underground city of New Dome which glowed faintly from biolumenasant insects held in bottles throughout the city. She loved to look out to the park of glowing grass that young people liked to lounge on. But now the young man's face and shoulders blocked the view.

"You, Lord Dane, truly are a scoundrel. You obviously have had much practice with sneaking in and out of young maidens' windows while their husbands are away!" She turned away from him as Lord Dane let himself in, flipping upright as he dropped to the ground. He was dress in a white tunic the laced up around the neck and tight dark brown breeches as well as knee high brown leather boots.

"Yes, I'm afraid all the rumors are true. And yet, I still can't entice you. Thus, I'm obviously not that good. Getting ready to find a new cave? I hear the pilgrimage will be leaving soon." He came up next to Satrina, a good head and a half taller. He held out the scarf that she had thrown at him. She turned to take it from him, their hands touching. She looked up into his large black eyes. They all had huge black eyes to see in the faint glow of other creatures. Most Lukatians never see the surface of their world. But after so long, caves would get overcrowded and several hundred would band together and head off in search of new caves and found new cities.

His oval eyes pierced her's with an emotion she didn't quite understand. She turned away from him as she thought about the kind of cave they would find. "My husband says we are going. So I don't have much choice." She brushed past Dane, opening her antic wooden dresser and pulling out several shifts, stuffing them into her large bag. She had been friends with Lord Dane for several years now, having met him in a bar when she had doned her husband's clothing and slipped out when he was at work. Dane was, sadly enough, her only friend. And she felt a horrible aching in her chest as she thought about never seeing him again.

"Well, if you have to go, then I guess I should go home and pack." He was already over the windowsill as he said it, not giving her a chance to say anything. She rushed to her window but could only watch him nimbly climb down the cliff wall and drop to the ground. He didn't even turn as he made his way down the street, his tail swaying behind him in contentment. Satrina smiled and shook her head.

"No time for daydreaming, Satrina. We still have much to do." She turned, her face a little flushed as her husband walked in, completely unaware that anyone had been in her room. Damn, that Lord Dane is good! she thought, barely containing an amused smile.

As the pilgrimage gathered and people greeted one another, Satrina tossed her things into the back of their own personal wagon. Then her pointed ears perked slightly. "You hear Lord Dane is joining the pilgrimage?"

"Indeed. Keep your wife locked up."

"Hmph, he even looks at my daughter and I'll take his head off!"

Satrina had to giggle. Her friend had made quite an impression. "And think of the devil..." Satrina didn't even need to look up as Lord Dane leaned up against the back of her wagon next to her.

"You were thinking of me? Oh, maybe I haven't lost my touch. You know, it all starts with a thought..."

"Oh yes, I know. So does getting yourself in trouble. Might want to be careful on this trip. You're not very popular ... at least not with the men." She tossed her last luggage into the wagon and smiled at Dane. "Which makes me wonder why you are coming along? You have to know you aren't well liked."

Dane shrugged, looking at a group of men who glared hatefully at him, their tails stiff. "Not much left to do around here. Figure there's an adventure to be had. Besides," he grinned at her "admit it, you'd be so lonely without me!" He winked at her and slipped around the wagon before she could say another word.

"Finished, my dear?" She turned on her heels to look at her husband. "Uh, yep. I mean, yessir." She could barely contain her amusement at that scoundrel's timing.

Sir Malkius gave her a glance that let her know he knew something was up, but he also knew she was too stubborn to tell him even if he demanded it. So instead he turned and pushed the wagon's door shut and locked it. He held out his arm for his wife, which she took, and he led her to the high seat at the front of the wagon. The massive, grey, armor skinned beast that was latched to the wagon gave a grumble when one of it's eyes saw its mistress, hoping for a treat. Satrina patted the beast on the rump with affection as she hiked up her thinner traveling skirt and climbed up into the seat. Her husband followed and took the reins. They then waited a few minutes until the shrill whistle broke the dull noise of many people talking in hushed tones.

The pilgrim lurched forward, making their way toward the single road that led to the surface. As the minutes ticked by, the air started to feel warmer, fresher. It started to get brighter. Satrina held her breath as they came up to the entrance, a massive gaping maw to the surface world. As they came to the top, her eyes widened in amazement. The sky was a brilliant fiery red, the sun setting behind white tipped mountains in the far distance. Trees towered over them, and Satrina could barely blink as she stared at them in wonder. These plants didn't glow. She had read about life on the surface, but this was the first time she was ever seeing any of it.

Scouts were constantly running ahead then coming back with news of the road ahead. Their quick birdlike mounts covered the distances rapidly with their long strides. Occasionally, Satrina could hear what they were saying but none of it was of anything concerning. She wished she could be one of the scouts so that she could see everything before anyone else.

The sun had fully set and now she stared in wonder at the multitude of stars and the great moon that was bright enough to set the landscape glowing. She had all night to stare at the amazing sights as the pilgrimage ambled along, a long serpent snaking its way through the forest and out onto a praire. The grass waved lazily in a gentle warm wind that came from the east.

The hours went much to quickly and the sky was starting to turn grey with the threat of the sun. The pilgrimage ground to a halt and people scrambled to get their dark tents up. Having evolved underground, they had little protection against the sun. Satrina waited and watched as the sun peeked over the distant hills. It burned her large black eyes, but she continued to stare, amazed at its beauty. With the sun came a warmth, something she was not accustomed to, but it was not unpleasant.

"Satrina, I know it's beautiful but come inside before you burn!" With a sigh, she obeyed her husband and slipped into the blackness of the tent. She listened as her husband got comfortable, ready to go to sleep for the day, but her mind raced with the beauty of the surface. She longed to go explore, but he was right. If she went out without protection, she could be permanently blinded, and her skin could literally boil under the harsh rays of the sun.

"I'm assuming you're not asleep." Satrina automatically rolled over and lifted the edge of the tent, squinting out at brown leather boots. "What are you doing?" she whispered harshly, looking over her shoulder at her husband who breathed deeply and evenly in sleep.

"Put on long sleeves. I've got eye shields. Let's go take a look ahead." Satrina dropped the cloth and thought a moment. She couldn't pass up an opportunity to go exploring this new world. She quietly removed her clothes and slipped into a long tunic and breeches of her husband, pulling on his boots. They were very close to the same size, which she was glad for. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she slipped out into the blinding light. She barely noticed the black goggles that were held in front of her face. She took them and pulled them over her eyes, breathing a small sigh of relief as the sun's rays stopped hurting so bad. She then looked up at Lord Dane who grinned charmingly at her and grabbed her arm, dragging her quickly out of the camp, easily dodging the guards and running out into the nearby woods.

Satrina couldn't help but laugh, spinning around as she looked up at the high branches. Dane smiled in amusement, watching her. He was only a few years older than her, and he had seen the surface before but watching her wonder for everything brought great pleasure to him. "Satrina, look!" He pointed at a small bug that fluttered silently onto a nearby flower. She watched it with such intense interest. Then they both looked up at the sound of whooping. A flock of large creatures flew overhead. They had skin that stretched from a single elongated finger to the middle of their thick tails.

"What are they?" Satrina felt ancient instincts cause the hairs at the back of her neck rise. The loud whooping of the aerial beasts sent shivers down her back. They obviously disturbed Dane as well for he grabbed her and pulled her behind a bush. They crouched there, looking up at the large creatures.

"I'm not sure, but they don't look friendly. I don't want to let them know we're here." They stayed crouched until the flying predators moved on and their whoopings were mere echoes. With deep relieved breathes, they stood up from their hiding place. Then they looked at each other and started to laugh, releasing their nervousness.

They only had another hour or so before they knew they would need to go back. They slipped easily back into camp and Satrina made it back to her tent, sliding in quietly. Her husband was a deep sleeper. She removed the clothing and got back into her own shift, falling asleep quickly.

The nights passed slowly, which was fine because Satrina couldn't get enough of the stars. They made her homesick a little. She had grown up in Central Dome, a huge cave system that was lit by billions of glowing grubs on the ceiling of the cave. She had visited her old home a few times after being married by way of the underground tram system. When new caves are discovered, very often they eventually get linked up with the other cities by way of a magnetic train system. But it would be many years before such a train system existed between this new city and any of the existing ones.

The mornings she spent exploring the area with Dane. She enjoyed his company, his easy smile, and his deep voice. He was well studied and knew of many of the surface plants. He showed her some of the most delicious berries she'd ever tasted. He showed her strange plants that moved when they were touched. They spied on the local wildlife. At one point, they got too close to the baby of some creature and had to flee for their lives as its mother lunged its 2 tons into a gallop, bellowing as it charged, its powerful hunched front legs tipped with huge claws that it kept turned back, walking and running on its knuckles, while its shorter back legs ended in huge hooves. The encounter did nothing to quail their wanderlust.

Days passed and seemed to blur together, only their time together making it bearable. One morning dawned misty and eerie. Satrina and Dane left the safety of the camp and hiked through the massive trees. These trees were different than the others. Nothing grew around them. The ground was tainted red, which they figured had to be from iron rich clay. The few bushes that grew under their menacing branches were scraggly and looked starved for sun even though they grew in the only bright beams that filtered in through the immense spines that grew in bunches at the ends of the long, slightly drooping branches.

After a few minutes, Satrina started getting an eerie feeling. The air was warming up and the mist was getting thicker. Occasionally they heard a creaking but it was some way off. "Dane, I think we should go back." Satrina slowly came to a stop, looking around. Dane stopped and looked back at her. "Why? They're just trees. Don't worry, I'll protect you!" He struck a heroic pose which normally would have her giggling, but now she did not feel like laughing. The forest was groaning and creaking, the trees were seeming to sway.

Dane looked up, his tail twitching in nervousness. Instincts gnawed at him as well. "I guess we should go back." He started walking back to Satrina. There was a deafening discord of groaning and snapping. Dane stopped and fell backward in time as a massive branch came slamming down, the massive barbed spikes burying themselves into the red soil. He scuttled back, staring in shock as the branch groaned back up into the air where it swayed slowly as if searching for him. Satrina stood with her hands covering her mouth. She was barely breathing.

"Satrina, go. Go back to the camp." Dane stood up slowly, eyeing the tree cautiously. Satrina didn't feel like arguing and turned, starting to run back the way they had come when another deafening crash resounded through the forest. She screamed, falling to the side just out of the reach of the spines. The branch came back up but its partner brought down it's own branch. Satrina barely had time to roll out of the way, smacking into the trunk of the tree. Dane cried out and ran to her, the air cracking with the noise of branches smashing down into the ground. He slid under a branch after it made contact with the earth and bundled Satrina into his arms.

They knelt there, breathing hard, looking around at the forest that had come alive around them. The trees swayed for a little longer before stopping and standing still like normal trees. "By the first king, they sense when we move," Dane realized. He touched the trunk of the tree and felt that it was warm. "They couldn't attack us earlier because they were cold. But the sun has warmed them up."

Satrina looked up at him in terror. "The camp! If they start to move, everyone will be crushed! We have to figure out how to warn them. It will take the trees a long time to cool down during the night."

"Ok, I'm going to try something. Stay right here. Don't move." Dane let her go and slowly stood. He slowly put one foot out, leaning over onto it. Nothing happened. He made his way slowly, one tentative step at a time. After he'd gone a few steps, he turned and waved at Satrina. "They can't feel soft, slow steps. Just take your time. We have plenty of time before everyone wakes up and starts to move."

Their progress through the trees was very slow and agonizing. Every few minutes, a branch would sway above them, causing them to stop in their tracks and stare at it until it went still again. Finally, they got to the outskirts of the camp. They knew that raising an alarm would cause people to panic and that would set off the trees. Looking at each other, they figured they would have to wake people one by one.

"Halt! What are you doing, Lord Dane? Dragging another woman to your bed?"

"STOP! DON'T MO... !" They both screamed as a crack and groan sounded from high above. The guard didn't have the chance to even look up before a branch crashed down, impaling him. Then with another groan, it rose up into the air, holding the dead man high, letting his blood run down its bark where it would soak it up and use the nourishment to continue to grow in the dead soil.

They both held their breathes, barely able to comprehend the complete and total silence that fell over the forest. And then the silence cracked open like an egg and the trees all around them groaned and creaked and snapped. They could hear tents snapping under the force of the branches, wagons breaking apart. They heard screams and cries, the sick crunching of bones. The whole forest came alive, trees in the distance swaying from the vibrations in the ground, getting ready to attack anything that had escaped their neighbors.

Satrina was shocked still, but she had no choice to move when she felt Dane's hand grab her arm and drag her behind him. Adrenaline kicked in and they were both running through the camp, dodging the branches as they raced to help people. Dane snatched up a screaming child as a branch crashed down, burying itself into the ground. He threw the child into the back of a wagon. The beast it was latched to bellowed in terror but it couldn't move while the wagon was anchored to the ground. Dane screamed at the people fleeing around him, urging them to get into the wagon. Through panic and the horrible chorus of crashing and crunching and screaming, he managed to fill up the wagon. He leapt into the seat, cut the anchor and whipped at the poor terrified beast. It lurched forward, running as fast as its short powerful legs could take it. Branches crashed around them, but they moved too fast for them.

Finally, after they had left the terrifying sounds far behind them and had come out into a massive sweeping grassland, Dane slowed and eventually stopped the great tunkta. The beast sank to its knees, panting hard. Dane dropped off the seat and ran around to the back, opening the door to the wagon. He had managed to shove about a dozen people into the small supply wagon. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed Satrina wasn't among them. But he didn't have a lot of time to deal with that. He had people to care for, most of them women and children. As he helped everyone out, they looked back and could see the entire forest move and sway. A few of them dropped to the ground and sobbed, both in anguish and relief at being alive.

The night brought little solice. Every strange sound made them all jump. Dane built a fire, hoping the light would attract other survivors and keep away predators. Slowly, through the course of the night, a few started to show up. Another wagon that had survived ambled into view. One of the large and nimble scaraaes cautiously approached, no one riding it. But it knew people to be its only source of food so it came readily when one of the women held out some berries.

Morning started to break. Dane scrounged around and managed to find a few more eye shields, giving them to the men to help scout the area and look for more survivors. Only a few spare tents were left that had been in the wagon to begin with. Everyone else huddled into these and the wagons to stay out of the burning sun.

Dane and three other men went off toward the hills that bordered the Forest of Death. They figured people must have made it out to there and were waiting for survivors the same way they were. The wagon with their weapons had been lost so they moved through the tall grass with caution. They could feel the sun burning even through their clothing, but they had to find the rest of their people and that thought kept them going.

They finally reached the low hills and started to head up through the thick brush. They called out every few yards, hoping to hear a response but thus far were only met with their own echoes. As the hours went on and hunger and exhaustion took its toll, they had to stop the search for survivors and focus on finding something to eat. As they came over the hill, they looked out onto a completely different kind of forest. If any of them had been geologists, they would have realized that the soil on one side of the hills had been deprived due to glaciers and floods, while this side had been spared just barely, thus the reason for the drastic change.

Tired, they huddled down onto a clear patch at the top of the hill where they could look back and see the fire they had started. "Well, if it can be seen from here, then hopefully more people will notice it," one man said. Dane nodded. He continued to scan the horizon as the other men laid back to rest. Off in the distance, Dane saw a number of dark shapes. His heart skipped a beat, thinking it was more survivors. He leapt up and started to wave his arms, yelling at the dots. The other men stood up, saw what he saw and added their voices.

It didn't take more than a few moment for the hair on the back of Dane's neck to stand up. His ears perked at the faint sound of whooping. "Quiet! Get down! Hurry!" He crouched against the ground. The others, confused, did the same. And then they realized what the dots were. Everyone started to slow their breathing, too scared of making any sound or movement. They stayed huddled against the ground as the flock flew over them, breathing a sigh of relief as the predators continued on.

"That was close. Hey, do you see that? It's one of our wagons! They're coming over that ridge. HEY! OVER HERE!" Dane grabbed the man's ankle and tried pulling him to the ground. "SHUT UP!" he hissed. He tripped the man over as a massive shadow fell over them. Large claws clicked together just inches over them all. Wind buffeted them as the creature flapped to gain altitude. It whooped as it turned to dive again. Several others from the flock turned and came back to the aide of their flockmate.

Everyone scattered. Dane rolled away as one of the beasts landed, its sharp claws stabbing down into the dry ground. He rolled again as its large hooked beak snapped at him. The beak had two fanglike tusks that came down from the top portion of the beak. It had big ears that twitched as it followed him through the brush. Its sharp, slitted eyes flicked with his every movement, its long eyelashes giving it an almost feminine look. Two brightly colored feathers hung down from between its ears. A row of stiffer feather raised up along its head and long neck as it whooped, which Dane realized came from the nostrils of the beast near its chest rather than its face.