Chapter 3

Everything was hazy. There were clouds blowing all around her, gently but persistently moving over her skin and through her hair. In the distance Margaret could see a figure, just a dark shape but unmistakably Joumon, struggling against the wind. He was trying to walk somewhere, but the fierce winds were too strong for him. They whipped him around like a rag doll. He tried to stagger forward, but the fierce tempest buffered him on all sides, thwarting any effort he made. It was strange to see him completely out of control, completely overpowered. It made Margaret's heart lurch to watch the wind batter him mercilessly. Then his face was right in front of her staring at her. He reached out his hand for her but she stepped back in terror and the wind swallowed him up again.

In dismay, Margaret fought her way back to consciousness. Even in sleep she couldn't seem to forget Joumon. Noon sunlight filtered through the cave entrance. "Good" Margaret thought. "I got a few hour's sleep, even if my mind is stuck on a loop."

To her surprise, Margaret noticed Beno sitting up, awake and alert.

"Morning." Margaret mumbled sleepily. Beno nodded at her. "I've been trying to think how we can get to the border." Sheepishly, he added "I couldn't sleep much."

Margaret smiled. "I can tell. You look like hell."

She wasn't lying. His eye's were sunk deep in his face with purple circles around them and his posture had an air of infinite exhaustion. And yet, Margaret also noticed a spark of determination in his eyes. There was still life in him yet.

Now Kariss was blinking slowly, trying to pull himself out of his slumber. He groaned as he sat up.

"Ugh, I feel like I got hit by a bus."

Beno patted his shoulder. "The worst is over."

Margaret's stomach lurched when she looked at the bruise almost obscuring Kariss's left eye. How could she have loved, even trusted a man who would hurt her friends this way? Joumon was so different when she had known him, such a good person, but there must have been some hint of the cruelty he now possessed. How had she not seen it?

Beno's voice cut through her thoughts. "There's no telling where Alistar is by now, but our best bet is to head back to the rendezvous point and see if he shows up."

"Agreed" Kariss chimed in.

"Here's what I was thinking" Beno continued. "We can skirt wide around the camp back to the edge of the plains to see if we can find Alistar. There will likely be patrols all over the place but I think our route will be mostly following the edge of the mountains and covered by forest so we at least have a chance. I'd estimate it'll take half the day to get there. Assuming we find Alistar, we can head back to the mountains and over a pass, which should put us right at the Cisilon border. Sound good?"

"That's a lot of walking for Kariss, do you think you can handle it?" Margaret said, turning to Kariss.

Kariss grinned. "It appears that my arm is out of commission" he looked down at his arm in mild concern. "But my legs sure as hell aren't broken. Heck I'll outpace both of you!"

Just then, Margaret heard footsteps crackling in the leaves outside and shushed the others. It sounded like about four people walking right past the mouth of the cave. They waited in in breathless silence until the sounds had passed.

"They must be looking for us." Kariss said. "Do you think we should wait until night to look for Alistair?"

Beno sighed. "I would feel a lot more comfortable in the dark but we can't afford to waste anymore time. If they're looking for us they will be looking for Alistair too. We need to get out of this area as fast as possible."

They waited a few minutes longer to be sure the coast was clear, then scuffled out of the cave.

Fir trees stretched up to infinity above them, and the forest was strangely quiet as they walked. Unfortunately, the quiet made Margaret's rumbling stomach seem ever louder. They hadn't eaten since yesterday afternoon and it was starting to wear on her. Maybe Alistar would have food. Everyone was on alert, jumping every time a pine cone or twig fell. At one point, they could see the dark shapes of some men walking through the forest ahead of them and they had to crouch down in a thicket until the men moved on.

After they had been walking for a while, Kariss finally broke the silence.

"Margaret, there's something I wanted to ask you."

"Yes?" She said.

"That man last night, the one who interrogated me, you knew him?"

Margaret sighed. Of course it was inevitable that Kariss would ask, but she was not eager to dwell on Joumon anymore than she had to.

"Yes, I knew him. He lived in Beair a few years ago, before the NPK was popular. We were-" Margaret glanced at Beno nervously "close friends." Margaret felt a wave of guilt wash over her. "I'm sorry Kariss, about the interrogation and how he treated you."

Kariss gave her a surprised look. "It's not your fault that he turned out to be a b*****d."

She smiled wryly. "Yeah, I guess not."

That was the end of any discussion about Joumon but no matter how valiantly Margaret fought, she could not eradicate him from her mind. One after another, memories of him paraded before her mind's eye. No matter how hard she tried not to, she imagined him at Beno's village, destroying and murdering just to prove his power. And Beno's sister, well, the sense of injustice that welled up in Margaret was too much for words.

Eventually, the fir trees started to thin out and they found themselves on the edge of the Yellow Plains. The group huddled under their last shred of cover as they surveyed the expanse of grass and scrub spread out before them. Kariss whistled. "Not a great place to hide from people is it?"

"Not at all." Beno said grimly. He pointed to a small stream not far from the edge of the forest. "I think if we follow that stream North we will hit the rendezvous point eventually."

They stayed barely inside the forest while still watching the stream and hiked on. When the sky had just started to glow orange and the sun dipped to the horizon, they came to a place where the river turned sharply to the West.

"This is the place." Margaret whispered.

They surveyed the area around the riverbend, straining to spot Alistar somewhere among the thick shrubs that sprung up around the river, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't see him." Kariss said. "You don't suppose he got captured?"

Despite Kariss's calm voice, Margaret could feel the panic welling up in him.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. If he is still here he won't be out in the open. We just have to wait for him to show up."

Beno nodded and plopped down in the leaves. He sighed with delight as he pulled his boots off. "I've been waiting to do that all day." He said, wriggling his toes.

Margaret sank down gratefully next to him. She listened to a crow calling in the distance while she stripped the bark of a twig mindlessly. Eventually, she worked up enough courage to say "Beno?"

He turned to look at her. "Hmm?"

"What is your sister's name?"

His face fell slightly before he said "Serine."

Margaret nodded. "I...I just thought I should know."

Beno appeared to be touched by her question as he watched her carefully. "I'm glad you asked."

He seemed to think for a moment, then said "You two, you were together?"

Margaret nodded. "For at least four years."

Beno's head bobbed slightly as he took in her answer, then he nodded and said "What an odd twist of fate that we should both know Joumon in such different ways."