Daywards by Anthony Eaton

Author:Anthony Eaton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Queensland Press

By the time the sun was finally below the treetops and the whole forest sinking into golden twilight, Dara was well clear of the Eye and, she hoped, the Nightpeople. Her stomach rumbled, but she didn’t dare stop and find food. At her side, her small bundle of tech, which she’d retrieved before plunging into the forest, swung against her hip and she thought briefly about the sachets of prosup she’d flushed down the creek. Da Janil always had a thing about waste. He wouldn’t let anything be discarded, even broken-down tech. He used to lecture the littlies about it all the time. Now she understood why.

For most of the afternoon she’d plunged nightwards, below the sheltering foliage while following the line of the escarpment, all the while keeping a close eye on the descending sun, as it arced inexorably towards the horizon. Raj had told her she had at least ‘a couple of hours’ before anybody could follow her, but then what? She was also constantly listening behind, always half-expecting the resonating buzz of a drone to come floating through the trees.

Luck seemed to be on her side, and as the hours passed without any sign of pursuit she allowed herself to relax, to let the swing of her footsteps fall into their more natural rhythm, and to draw some energy up from the warm forest floor beneath her bare feet.

Despite her hunger, she felt okay. Strong, even. At least the Nightpeople had given her the chance to rest up. She’d walk all night, if necessary, though she’d prefer not to. She had a destination in mind. Somewhere up ahead, half a day’s walk from the Eye, she knew of a large fissure in the escarpment, a deep scar clefting into the dark granite cliff face. She’d noticed it several times when swimming at the waterhole and had always thought it looked particularly climbable. If she could find it in the dark, she’d have a way to descend to the coastal forest in relative safety. And once down there, on familiar ground, there was no way Drake or Blin would ever find her, even with all their tech.

As twilight started to fade from the sky, Dara stopped and reached, relishing the familiar tug as the earthwarmth helped her flow out into the wider awareness of the Earthmother. Back at the Eye, the now-familiar coldness of the Nightpeople’s camp was unchanged. Down in the clan caves a similar sensation prevailed, although here and there isolated sparks flared occasionally, like a distant campfire seen from a long way off, flickering between trees. There were also moving patches of nothing, of the same cold emptiness as the buildings, which she presumed to be individual Nightpeople moving around.

Slowly, not wanting to exhaust herself, she started to push out further, hoping to find Eyna or Ma Saria nearby, but before she could do so, a vibrating thrum caught her attention.

Something was coming from the Eye, headed in her direction. Dara thought it must have been one of the drones, but the sound was different and built too quickly.

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