The Nightscape

A Ray Of Hope

That evening, the morale in camp was higher than it had been in the morning. After all, trees were already being cut down to make a raft, and the foraging team had managed to scrounge up and test another food to make a half decent, if a little watery, stew. It was easier to be happy, when there was hope and you had a full belly, Lyra realised. She wasn't even that worried about the boy; after all, he seemed harmless enough, even if he had been confined to the temple for a reason. The talk around the fire was constant and light, everyone trying to keep themselves distracted from all the bad things they had to think about. 

Lyra made herself focus on the mostly inane chatter, trying to stop her mind from circling around to her father every few seconds. She hoped he was okay; that Hayden had kept his word, that he had gotten her last letter, that he would be alright without her. When she wasn't thinking about him, she was thinking of her mother or Anya. If anything, worrying about them was a little better. At least she could actually do something about that. Well, not about her mother. That woman had made it extremely clear that she wanted as little to do with Lyra as possible, and that had wounded her daughter enough to put off trying to find her.

But she couldn't turn her back on Anya. After all, Lyra was reasonably certain that she hadn't known that Guy would try to imprison her, and she had even seemed on board with rescuing her father instead of leaving him to die. Sure, she had run off, but Lyra couldn't fault her going to ensure her own family was safe. The boy made it clear that all who opened his temple were still alive when he summoned them to him, so unless Anya was trying to run, Lyra was confident that they could meet up soon. 

Vivian was resting. She'd been able to force down almost half a bowl of the stew before she refused anymore, insisting that she just needed to rest. Lyra was worried about her, in a distant way. After all, Vivian did work for Hayden, and had been fine with threatening her father to coerce her into healing the rift. Nice though she was being now, Lyra only wanted her to live because she knew without her, this little party could easily fall apart, and then they were all screwed. 

A watch had to be set up through the night. After all, while the creatures of the Nightscape should have been mollified somewhat once the rift closed, getting hit in the night could prove deadly. Lyra was lucky enough to be counted out, as Zara insisted that she needed her rest. It was probably for the best that five people were awake at all times in the night, because there weren't enough tents for everyone to sleep at once anyway. Even with some people staying up, there still wasn't enough sleeping bags and blankets to go around, and it was cold in the darkness. Luckily, the tents were so crammed that those in the middle could go without, and the press of bodies around them was enough to stop them freezing. 

But it was far from comfortable. Lyra couldn't even toss and turn without jabbing someone awake, never mind stand up and walk about as she usually would when sleep evaded her. Instead, all she could do was peer through the tiny hole in the top of the tent and watch as stars crawled by on the dark sky above. Absently, she wondered if the stars here were different to the ones at home. If only she knew anything about astronomy. 

Well, she knew a little. Enough to know that if they matched the ones at home, then maybe home was not truly lost.  Or they were in an alternate dimension. 

A heavy sigh ripped out of her chest. Even though she could feel that an innate part of her was missing, she had to try anyway. She brought one palm in front of her chest, propping herself up on her other arm so she could see clearly. Furrowing her brow and trying with all her might, she tried to summon a few flickers of purple power. Just enough to prove that it can be done, that even though the rift had healed she could still flicker over to the real world. 

"It won't work." A woman laying next to her murmured, one eye only partly cracked open. Tired though she seemed, the woman didn't sound angry or annoyed, nor did she seem sympathetic, both of which suited Lyra just fine.