The Dark Cloud

Chapter One

It finally happened at night. She was told it would be soon, was told to expect it. But when she blinked her eyes open, it was still a surprise.

Through the window, she could see the stars, huddled in their myriad clusters. She knew them all of course. They were like old friends. From this angle, she could see Ursa Major and there was Leo Minor. Named after the Nemean lion, Leo represented one of Heracles' Twelve Labours. But that was just a story. A fiction. Created by those down the mountain to rationalise the enormity of the unknowable universe. Tales told to entertain children like her. But she was different. And so were the other eleven girls fast asleep in the cots around her. They all knew the real truth of the universe. They all knew about The Dark Cloud. They all knew about Lupus Four.

The pen was still resting in her fingers and she noticed that her hand trembled. She let her eyes glide over the pages strewn about the blanket. She picked one up. The handwriting didn't look like hers but she was warned it might not. The scrawl was more angular than her usually rounded script. It was all more aggressive somehow. Then there were the words themselves. They were in a different language to her own, one she wasn't familiar with. Indeed, some pages dispensed with the Latin alphabet altogether, instead employing obscure symbols and scribbles to communicate their wisdoms. This, she knew, was the language of The Dark Cloud. She had never laid eyes on it before and seeing the loose pages, made by her own hand, thrilled her.

At the age of twelve, Annie had finally become a woman. Soon, she'd be moved to the adult hut with the other spaewives. This would likely include seeing Old Mother but it would be worth it to sit in the presence of Mister Felix every evening. The only time the youngers got to see him was when he gave them a special talk in lesson or if a run was declared.

Annie collected the papers together. She had no idea what order she wrote them in and the mutating handwriting did nothing but confuse her. The only thing she could do was make a neat little pile for Monitor to find in the morning. Monitor would then, with any luck, declare her a spaewife.

She laid back down on the bed, still clutching the pen in her hand just in case. But she knew it wouldn't happen again. Not tonight. Once the communication with The Void was disrupted, it couldn't be reestablished the same night. Besides, Annie knew she was destined to stay awake till morning call. Because she was of age now. She had been gifted the purpose.

She glanced to the beds around her. They would all be envious. To be a spaewife was a great honour. Failure to become one meant a high likelihood of banishment down the mountain.

And that scared everyone more than anything in this world.

But she did eventually fall into sleep. She even dreamed, though it was more like pieces of dreams really – bits of Old Mother and the Sacred Pool; a brief flight above the tree canopy.

The knelling of the bell quickly put paid to all that though. As Annie lifted her head from the pillow, she saw that Neeva was already up and standing over her. The girl's eyes were fixed on the shelf above Annie's bed.

"You wrote pages," Neeva said flatly. She was a squat girl with pale skin and small eyes that were close together, like two blueberries on a wide, white plate. Right then, those eyes looked under threat of tears as they flicked over to Annie.

Annie nodded. She didn't know what to say to console the girl. While they weren't friends exactly, Neeva was her birth sister from New Mother. They were the same of year and their development should have been of equal measure and yet Annie found Neeva to be in a state of constant struggle, be it tending the fields, churning the milk or training for exam days. The girl had latched onto Annie this past year and, while Annie didn't mind all that much, she knew it was frowned upon by the olders to carry another through their responsibilities.