The Hunt

Chapter 3

Alesco:

We've been running for 3 days. Stopping as little as possible. Hiding in the tree tops. But we haven't been followed. At least there's no sign of having been followed. None of us can talk to the birds like father can, none of us can see, hear or smell as well as father and Clemente and we don't have them here.

The running has kept my mind occupied. But in the moments in between it's been jumping between father and Clemente, their battle, their capture and the face of the human who let us run. Why did he let us run? What was that look in his eye as he stared at me?

Mother hasn't spoken much since father was captured. Only single words when necessary and Wynn has been angry. He's still angry. I don't know if he's angry at the humans or father or Clemente. I've asked him but he hasn't answered.

We're sitting now at the top of a tall tree, beneath the thick canopy, sheltered from the sun and safe from the ground. I should be resting. Mother looks at peace in her rest, shut off from her inner pain. Wynn is looking out from the branches at the forest. He is concentrating.

"Why did he let us run?" I ask him. He looks over at me, his red eyes are bright.

"You should be resting Alesco." he says, and flashes me a smile. It's fleeting and brief, but the first smile I have seen on his face since the capture.

"I can't rest. My mind is full. Where's father now? Why did the human let us go?"

He gazes at me for some time before saying anything else. "I don't know." he says. "But we need to go, as Father said, East to the perpetual darkness."

"What is that?" I ask him. "I've never heard of it."

"I don't know. But we are going east and we'll keep going east until we find it." He says. He looks away, back at the forest below us. It's alive with insects and animals, birds and plants. But there's no sign of humans. "Rest now. I'll keep watch." Wynn says.

I must be resting, but my mind is still working. Why did that human let us go? Those green eyes are in my mind and I can't get rid of the picture. Why?

"Alesco, it's time to move." It's my mother's voice and I open my eyes, alert. I must have needed the rest more than I thought. It's dark now, the sun has been replaced with the moon and stars. The sky is cloudless tonight.

Wynn jumps from the tree and lands lightly on the forest floor. I follow with my mother. We move, running through the trees, heading east again, looking for the perpetual darkness that my father talked about. Wynn has already asked my mother, but she never answered, wouldn't speak. He's trying again now.

"Mother, what do you know of the perpetual darkness?" he says, as we continue to run.

"I don't know much Wynn. Your father took news from the creature's of the forest. I was never able to do that." She replies. "But he did mention the perpetual darkness once. He said it was rising to the east, a darkness that would soon break lose. I know no more." She sounds sad.

Wynn nods and we continue to run. We are running towards the moon as it rises towards us. I look at the ground, thinking again about father and Clemente and the human. I'm running on automatic now, lost in thoughts. I wonder why the hunt began in the first place.

Wynn, who is up ahead of us a little, stops. Mother and I both stop just behind him. I see why he's stopped. The forest is darker here, there's a visible border of deeper shadows. I look up at the tree tops to see what's causing it, but there is nothing visible that would block the light. The border goes from left to right as far as I can see.

"This must be where the perpetual darkness begins." Wynn says. "I don't know what to expect in here, so we're going to step back, eat, and watch from the tree tops."