Chapter 3: Midnight

Location Hawopt Grove, Red Blade - White Wand Border
Time Night Sleep 7900 hours (16 hours before dawn)

He caught glimpses of night wolves, and other night life as he made his circuit, making his way through the Net Trees, the Web Trees, Lure Spike brushes, and dead looking day trees or sleeping day life. However the night creatures kept their distance. Now and again he came across abandoned Artificia. They were the only thing besides day life and day trees that could survive the light of the burning sun.

After a few circuits he made his way back into the camp. Most people had woken up and were loading the sleeping mats and the serving tables onto the wagons.

Zav was back up on his shard mount looking fresher than most of the Greens who were looking blurry eyed.

Pophur climbed aboard the lead shard crab wagon, and the caravan started forward. Zav rode over to him.

“We be heading towards the abandoned White Wand Village of the Lonely Sceptre. No one be living there in since anyone knowing. However it be providing us with water, and protection from the sun. The heading be North-west and you will be finding the village marked on the map I have been giving you,” instructed Zav,

“As before, you will be scouting the left and I will be scouting the right. You be breaking your fast in a few hours at first meal. We will be eating on the move as we been doing last sleep-cycle.” Zav continued.

Kin nodded and piped Ka to the left. As before, the day life stayed dormant and the night life kept its distance. Kin kept boredom at bay by practicing his archery against the Net Trees. He was careful to retrieve all his arrows.

Kin picked a different wagon to breakfast in this time. After leaping onto the wagon Kin piped instructions to Ka then introduced himself.

The wagon was driven by more cousins of Vaskia and Tomon. This time by a couple called Stadef and Favia. They shared a breakfast of mana bread, red fruit, and round nuts wrapped in Net Tree leaves with him.

Kin said farewell to Stadef and Favia and resumed his scouting. It did not take long for the combination of a full stomach, and lack of sleep to start him nodding. Zav waved him over, and told him to take a nap in one of the wagons for a couple of hours. Kin picked a different wagon again. As he leapt onto the wagon the drivers tried to wave him off.

“This wagon is already more than full,” complained the female Green. The other Green tapped her and pointed to the back of the wagon. Kin looked back to where he was pointing and saw the slave girl sitting up from where she had been lying on some sleeping mats that were in turn on top of some bales of fiber tree wool.

“Sister says you are welcome to sleep next to her” he said interpreting the slave’s hand talk. “My name is Hufur, and my wife is Dalia.” Hufur then helped him up to the back of the wagon much to his wife’s displeasure.

“I know you, don’t I?” asked Kin.

She nodded.

“How come I don’t remember?”

She placed her hand slightly above the mats.

“I was small.”

She nodded.

“How old was I?”

She held up nine fingers.

“9 hundred-days old. Hold on! That was when I was kidnapped by the Reborn. Were you kidnapped too? Was that how we met?” Eleven hundred-days ago, he and his cache mates were out in the night being shown how to collect mana. They were surprised by reborn warriors, their teachers were slaughtered, and Kin and his friends disappeared for more than a hundred-day. They turned up almost a cycle latter accompanied by a collection of children from all five tribes.

She nodded.

“I need to be able to talk to you. Will you teach me hand talk?”

She nodded then raised her index finger then placed her hands together and placed her head upon them.

“You will teach me but first you need to sleep.”

She shook her head then pointed at him.

“You will teach me but first I need to sleep?”

She nodded.

“Alright, but we will talk when I awake.”

With the gentile rocking of the shard crabs he fell asleep quickly and began to dream.

Location wilderness, White Wand Territory
Time 11 Hundred Days Previous

“Kin, you need to sing,” urged Rath.

“I can’t sing.”

“I know you can sing. I have heard you in the back tunnels when you thought no one was listening.”

“Father Urg told me that if he caught me singing one more time he would rip out my tongue, and make me into a slave,” Kin said.

They had been marching for days. Each time a war band returned to the caravan it brought new captive children. So far there were 18 Reds, 9 Whites and 6 Blues.

“Father Urg is not here and I will swear a blood oath that no-one will learn that you ever sung and I will make everyone else swear too,” Rath said. “ You know what will happen if the Reborn take us back to their nest? You have heard the stories?”