Darkwing (18 page)

Dusk didn’t know how long a respite he’d earned—long enough to reach the mainland was all he needed. He hurriedly flapped back to Dad.

“We’ll make the trees,” he said breathlessly.

“You’re very brave,” his father said.

He had little time to savour his father’s compliment. Ahead of him he caught sight of several chiropters perilously close to the water, still hounded by birds. They hit the surface, and Dusk watched helplessly as they struggled for a few moments before their bulky sails dragged them under. Another chiropter ditched just a few feet from the beach, but managed to heave himself out onto the rocks. A few more were forced down on the shore and started the long, frantic climb to the trees.

“Egg-eaters!” screamed the birds one last time before wheeling and heading back to the island.

The mainland was so close now, and soon Dusk was sailing over the beach. The trees were coming up fast. He matched his trajectory to his father’s, and landed in the middle branches of a redwood. He clung to the bark, panting, all his limbs shaking with exhaustion and relief.

P
ART
T
WO

The Mainland

Dusk looked back at the island and saw Carnassial standing hunched on the rocky shore, flanked by the rest of his prowl. Their whines and growls carried eerily across the water, setting his fur on end. Once the tide went out the felids could bound across in pursuit. Dusk wanted to get as far away as possible.

“Will they come after us?” he asked his father.

“I don’t think so.”

Scattered amongst the nearby trees, the rest of the colony scuttled and glided, chattering as heads were counted and names called. It was all depressingly similar to last night, when the four families had tried to find out who was alive, and who was dead.

“Who has been lost?” Icaron cried out. “Barat, Sol, Nova, who is missing amongst your families?”

“Sylph!” Dusk called. “Sylph?”

Each second he waited was too long, but mercifully there were not so very many before she appeared, sailing happily towards him.

“We did it!” she said. “It was so easy once you were up high. I almost felt like I was flying. Just a little bit,” she added, and Dusk
was reminded of how much he loved her, and how he’d missed her during his long solitary sulk.

“Your idea worked,” his father told him, patting him with his sail. “I’m proud of you.”

“You saved the entire colony,” Sylph said.

“Almost,” said Sol, settling beside them. “Three of my family are missing.”

“I am sorry, Sol,” said Icaron.

“It would have been much worse, if not for your son’s ingenuity,” said Sol. “Thank you, Dusk. This won’t be forgotten.”

Dusk didn’t know how to respond to this praise, so he just nodded mutely. He felt little sense of accomplishment, knowing that chiropters had died following his plan.

Soon Nova and Barat glided down to make their reports. Barat had lost two, and Nova four. Auster came to bring the news that Icaron’s family had lost two as well, drowned like the others after being forced too low by the birds. Dusk looked up at them, still wheeling in the sky over the island. How could they do such a thing? He hated them now. Teryx too. Had the young bird even tried to stop the rest of his flock? Had he taken part himself?

“We must keep moving,” Sol said, staring at the felids on the opposite shore.

“I agree,” Icaron said. “Farther along the coast we can find a temporary home, and monitor the island. When the felids leave, we can return.”

“That might be some time,” said Nova. “Surely we should try to rejoin our old colony. The mainland’s foreign to us now, and much will have changed. We need shelter and advice. It’s a three-day journey to the south, no more. All four of us remember the way back home.”

“The island is our home,” said Sol pointedly.

“I’m in no hurry to seek out our old colony,” said Icaron. “It won’t have forgotten the four families who were exiled. Are you really expecting them to welcome us?”

Dusk glanced up as a female chiropter sailed low overhead, calling out a greeting. She wasn’t from his colony, he knew that immediately. The slope of her face was longer, the angle of her ears slightly sharper. Her fur was a pale grey, and not because of age. All his life Dusk had known only chiropters whose fur was black or brown or copper.

“I seek the leader!” she called out.

Dad called back, and she landed gracefully beside him and the elders. Nova shooed Dusk and Sylph away, but Dusk didn’t retreat so far that he couldn’t hear.

“I’m Kona,” the strange chiropter said, giving a curt, formal nod. “I’m a soldier in the family of Gyrokus.”

Dusk stared at her, fascinated. He’d never known a soldier. They’d had no need of them in his colony. Kona crouched alertly on the branch, head poised, her eyes moving swiftly from one elder to the next as they introduced themselves. Dusk sniffed tentatively. She had an unusual smell. Maybe all the chiropters on the mainland did. Did they eat different food, or nest in trees whose bark had an odd fragrance?

“My detachment has been guarding the coastline,” Kona told Icaron.

Peering up into the trees, Dusk now caught sight of several other grey-furred chiropters perched attentively on the ends of high branches.

“We watched your crossing,” Kona went on. “Were any of you harmed by the birds?”

“Nine of us didn’t make it across,” Sol said. “They drowned after the birds drove them into the water.”

A twitch of Kona’s ears was her only reaction to this news. Nothing seemed to rile her, but maybe as a soldier she wasn’t allowed to express much emotion. Her gaze lifted to the flock of birds, only now dispersing over the island.

“Your crossing must have been difficult,” she commented. “Especially with no wind to hasten your glide.”

“We used thermals to lift us high,” Icaron told her. “We couldn’t wait for favourable winds. We were escaping from a prowl of rogue felids.”

Kona gave another curt nod. “Yes, we’ve been monitoring their movements.”

Dusk looked over at Sylph in surprise.

“You know about these fiends?” Nova asked.

“Certainly. That’s why Gyrokus has posted sentries everywhere. We saw them cross over last night. But we weren’t aware of any chiropters living on the island. Gyrokus will want to speak with you. Please come with me—I’ll take you to him now.”

“Yes, we will come,” said Icaron.

Kona was polite but aloof, and Dusk wasn’t sure he liked the way she talked to his father. It didn’t seem properly respectful. Still, she radiated confidence and discipline, and Dusk couldn’t help but find that immensely comforting right now. He was so grateful that the first creature they’d met in this new world was a chiropter, and that they were being taken somewhere safe.

Icaron and Kona continued to speak, as Barat and Sol went off to organize their families. Dusk swallowed nervously when he saw Nova turn and walk straight towards him. He doubted she was coming to praise him for helping the colony reach the mainland; her face was far too stern.

“Listen to me,” Nova said quietly. “You must not fly here. On the mainland, the chiropters are not as lenient as your father. They have much harsher ways of dealing with
aberrations.”

“What will they do?” Dusk said in a squeaky whisper.

“Beat you, most likely, then drive you away—and us with you. For your own good, and the good of this colony, you must use your sails only for gliding. Do you understand me, Dusk?”

He was cowed by her forcefulness, but not so cowed that he didn’t feel indignation at being told what to do.

“I thought that only the leader could—”

“You’re right, Dusk,” said his father, suddenly beside them. “Only a leader’s command needs to be heeded in the colony. But in this case, I must reluctantly agree with Nova. We’re strangers here, and I don’t want to test the kindness of Gyrokus’s colony. We need to avoid scandal, at least for now. Nova, you needn’t have harangued my son, I would have asked him to do the same.”

“I just wanted to be certain,” said Nova coolly.

When the colony was assembled, Kona and several of her fellow soldiers led them deeper into the forest. Dad and the elders flew up ahead; Dusk and Sylph were well back. It was a relief to be moving away from the felids, even though it also meant moving farther from their home. Dusk turned back towards the island one last time, but his view was already blocked by trees.

He was entering a new world. Everything around him seemed illuminated by the light from a different sun. There was much that looked familiar, but already Dusk had picked out vines and flowers and fruits he’d never seen. He sipped the air and tasted pollens and spores they didn’t have on the island. As he touched down on a tree to climb higher, his claws skittered, and he noticed how smooth and hard the bark was. This was the mainland, the birthplace of his parents. His mother would never see it again.

Dusk’s sadness for her was a constant echo in his head, and all it took was the smallest thought to set it booming like thunder. This new forest was alive in a way he’d never known. He was
used to being the only beast in the trees, but here, many creatures shared the branches. Dusk caught sight of numerous small, wiry animals with skinny tails and quick eyes.

On the ground, every crack of a twig made his heart quicken. This was the homeland of the saurians, and for all he knew, they lived here still. He’d seen their bones; he knew how large they were. He did spy a worryingly large groundling with tusks curving from its upper jaws. Fortunately, it was far too bulky ever to climb a tree.

“Did you see that?” Sylph asked him. “What is that?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, feeling terribly ignorant.

Why hadn’t his parents taught him about all the different kinds of creatures in the world? Even if they were never to see them, it would’ve been interesting to learn about them.

“They’re friendly, aren’t they?” Sylph asked.

“Yes,” Dusk told her, having no idea whatsoever. Gliding across a clearing, he saw something that resembled bones, but he wasn’t willing to stop and look more closely. The colony was moving steadily forward, and he had no desire to be left behind.

He paused only once, to lick some moisture from a flower, and gave a cry of surprise when it closed its petals around him as if intent on devouring him. “It’s just a plant,” Jib said as he passed.

Shadows stole into the forest, reaching out across branches and flowing into one another. It was a clear night, and the moon’s light penetrated the canopy. Up ahead Dusk saw a brightening and knew they must be close to a clearing. He wondered if Gyrokus’s colony lived in a sequoia, just like them.

Scattered in the branches were several other grey-furred soldiers. They didn’t call out greetings, just held their positions as the colony passed, gazing intently into the distance.

“Do they really need so many sentries?” Dusk whispered to Sylph. He was beginning to think the mainland was even more dangerous than he’d imagined. Guards had never been necessary back home. They’d slept on their branches, unafraid—until last night, when everything had changed. But maybe the rest of the world had always lived in this state of tense vigilance.

“Do you think they’re keeping watch for saurians?” Sylph whispered.

“I hope not. But it’s like they’re at war,” said Dusk. “Or waiting for one.”

“They’re very organized,” Sylph replied, with obvious admiration. “They seem ready for anything.”

The colony was fanning out as they neared the clearing, landing and finding space on several mighty pines. This was obviously home to Gyrokus’s colony, for the trees were already crowded with grey-furred chiropters. There was a great deal of wary sniffing and chittering as everyone got settled.

Dusk glided towards a free spot with Sylph. The surface of the branch looked like saurian scales, and even though he knew it was just bark, it made him feel ill at ease. With his eyes he sought out his father—just there on the next branch up, with the other elders.

Kona and a phalanx of older chiropters sailed down to meet them. There was something almost menacing about their swift descent in tight formation. They landed beside Icaron and his elders.

A grizzled male stepped forward. He was the largest chiropter Dusk had ever seen, and had the bearing of a warrior. There was a thick pink ridge of scar tissue running across his broad chest. His claws, though gnarled with time, were formidable, and Dusk could easily imagine them slashing at saurian eggs, and maybe even saurians themselves.

“Welcome, welcome!” he cried. “I am Gyrokus, and you are very welcome here.” His powerful voice and bearing emanated authority, but there also seemed genuine warmth in his greeting. He went on to introduce his many elders, each of whom stepped forward in turn, nodded curtly, and then stepped back. It seemed his colony was vast, and well disciplined.

“Kona tells me you have suffered mightily on the island,” Gyrokus said.

“Yes,” said Icaron. “A prowl of felids, led by Carnassial, massacred my colony. Thirty-eight were killed.”

Shocked chattering erupted from the branches.

“My friend, I am sorry,” said Gyrokus. “This is evil work, worse than anything I’ve yet heard. We’ve been watching out for this prowl. Carnassial split from Patriofelis some time ago, and has been marauding the forests. We’re always vigilant here, but I’ve doubled my sentries as a precaution, and so far we’ve escaped unscathed. I know these felids have killed groundlings and pillaged bird nests. The birds, too, have become extremely troublesome.”

“They attacked Icaron’s colony as they crossed,” Kona informed her leader. “They were vicious.”

“They think we’re egg-eaters,” Icaron said. Gyrokus gave a patronizing snort. “The birds are too stupid to understand that we have no interest in their eggs. They haven’t made any attacks here yet, but I fear it won’t be long. Carnassial’s felids have brought chaos to the beast kingdoms. But rest assured, many have sent envoys to Patriofelis, charging him to put a stop to the carnage. Fortunately, he’s deployed many of his soldiers to hunt down Carnassial. And we’ve already sent word that we’ve found his murderous prowl on the island.”

“What will these soldiers do?” Nova asked.