“During Darkness, the craving for sap is so strong that it’s hard to think about anything else. Believe me. I’ve been through it. If they wake up, all they’ll think about is sap.”
“But they’re more violent during Darkness,” she counters. “If they see us, we can’t fight them all.”
“They do become more violent,” I reply, “but also more irrational. The guards will go after Jeni and Roen because they’ll be angry and won’t be able to control it. The ones who can blend their light can’t go very fast during Darkness. It’s hard to concentrate. We’ll have the cover of dark to get in and won’t have any trouble getting away once we have Tela.”
Sash looks down at the ground while thinking about what I told her. “We’ll have to trust Chase on this,” she eventually says, raising her face to the group. “He’s right that Darkness will help us get to the camp unseen.”
“What if Tela leaves her cavern?” Larn asks.
“Then we’ll wait for her inside,” she answers.
As the last word exits her mouth, the clouds covering the Barrens tumble into motion and the light fades away. With almost pitch black surrounding us, rain descends from the sky. The dark soil of the wasteland is soon drenched in water.
“Is everybody ready?” Sash asks.
“Now’s as good a time as any,” Jeni answers in a quiet, monotone voice that’s barely audible over the rain.
Chapter 36
“You two go now,” Sash says to Jeni and Roen. “Stop roughly one hundred miles away from the camp so they don’t see you. After you stop, give us to the count of two thousand to get in position. Then crash the transports as close to the guards as you can, but make sure you have space to get away. Larn and Chase, follow me.”
“Everyone stay safe and stick to the plan,” Larn says.
Jeni and Roen step to the transports and grip the handles. They briefly struggle to get their footing in the slippery ravine, but soon sail away in opposite directions.
Sash guides Larn and me up the gully to the east. As we run through a newborn stream, it quickly rises to our ankles. The gully eventually ends at the first of the smaller hills that lie between us and the Murkovin camp. After climbing out of the ravine, we jog around the hill until we reach a pile of large boulders. Sash halts us by raising one hand.
“We’ll have some cover along the way,” she says. “Much of the time, we’ll be out in the open and in view of at least one of the guards. Stay behind me and do what I do.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just travel to the camp?” I ask.
“No. It’s easier for them to see us if we’re in a blend. A few large rocks are in the open spaces. We can stop behind those if we need to. I’ll keep an eye on the guards, so watch me for any signals.”
“What do we do if they see us?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” she answers. “That isn’t part of the plan, so let’s not be seen.”
“I like your optimism.”
“It may be our best weapon,” she says. “When we reach the last of the low hills, we’ll wait there until the guards go after Jeni and Roen.”
“How far is that from Tela’s cavern?” Larn asks.
“A few hundred yards. When we get to her cavern, I’ll stay outside to keep watch. You and Chase go inside to get her. Do whatever you have to and do it fast.”
“We will,” Larn says.
“If she’s not there, come out and get me. Are you ready?”
Larn nods his head.
“I’m ready,” I tell her.
“One more thing,” she says. “Let’s try to blend in with the ground.”
She drops to her knees and rolls her spear in the wet dirt. Once it’s coated with mud, she leaves it on the ground and scoops up as much muck as she can with her hands. As she smears it over the top of her head and down the length of her hair, the scarlet streaks are gradually hidden.
“Hide the color in your hair,” she says to Larn and me.
Larn and I both sink to the ground and coat our hair with mud. We also roll our spears around in the wet dirt like Sash did to hide the shiny steel as much as possible. The torrents of rain will soon wash it away from our spears and heads, but the mud gives us some kind of camouflage to begin with. If we need to, we can always add more along the way.
Sash grabs her spear and crawls to the edge of the pile of boulders. Arching her neck, she peeks around the rocks at the northern guard. I don’t know how she can spot him through the blanket of Darkness over the wasteland. The hills around us are nothing but almost imperceptible outlines against dark, swirling clouds. Sash suddenly looks in the direction of the Murkovin on the westernmost hill.
“Get ready,” she says, tensing her muscles.
Larn and I both coil, waiting for Sash’s command.
“Now!”
Staying low to the ground, Sash bolts across the flat area between us and the next tiny hill. With the wind shrieking past our ears, Larn and I follow close behind her. Keeping watch on the guards, Sash turns her head from side to side as she runs, but Larn and I stay focused on Sash. Although we all slip in the mud several times, we make it across the quarter-mile of open space without being seen. When we reach the hill, we hide behind the cover of a steep bluff.
After we catch our breath, Sash leads us around the side of the hill. She immediately decides that neither of the guards can see us, so we sprint across the next span of open ground. Over and over, we repeat the process, zigzagging our way across the flats and hiding behind small hills and large boulders.
While crossing the last of the open
