The feeling of someone shaking her shoulder roused her from her sleep. Dev blinked and turned in her bed to look and see Jayl leaning over her. His brow was creased and he looked scared.
"Jayl, w-what`s happening?"
"Get up. Start packing your things," Jayl ordered her as he crawled over to wake Prika.
Dev looked around and saw her mouchim collecting her things while Yang helped to roll up their mats. Sitting up, she could hear the sound of feet moving, animals being called and men shouting.
At that moment, her fader entered the tent and urged them all to hurry.
"We must leave at once," her fader ordered.
Dev rubbed her eyes and stood up so she could roll her bed up. Yang, who was finished with the mats, scooped them up and rushed outside. Dev looked to Prika who was pouting but packing her things.
"Dev!" Her mouchim called out, making her turn and frown as she was gesturing to her bag," Pack now, my child."
Nodding, she rubbed her eyes and tried to pack as fast as she could. Something had happened. Something big. It had to be something big if it got everyone in her camp moving around this dark in the night. When she was done, she rubbed her eyes before standing up with her bag. Jayl had her move out so he and her older siblings would pack the last of their things before taking down their tent. As she stood outside in the morning cold, she shivered slightly and watched as everyone moved around in a state of urgency. Some tents were already down and everyone was saddling their horse. What was confusing to her was that all the fires and torches were put out.
"How will we be able to walk in the dark?" Dev whispered to herself. Her fader coming up to her to take her bag shook her from her thoughts.
"Devina, come, "Yousef ordered his daughter. The little girl stumbled after him in the dark before they stopped behind their cart. He put her pack on the back before turning to lift her up. After gently depositing her on the cart, he kissed her forehead and leaned back," Help to put the things your brothers bring."
Dev nodded before Yosef left to help his wife.
Jayl came up to her and handed her wrapped skins and bags for her to put into their cart. She knew which item would be placed. She was aware of how they did things when they needed to move their camp but still, something did not feel right.
They only moved when it was time for them to move, not out of nowhere in the middle of the night. This was very odd. She moved their things around finally their tent was brought down and packed into the cart. Once everyone was ready, they moved left without so much as blessing to thank the land. This was even odd for her. The sun still wasn`t up and the places was cold. So cold that even her shawl wasn`t enough to keep her warm.
Dev huddled in the back against Prika who didn`t mind. In fact, she had put her arm around her and pulled her in close.
Jayl and her fader were both riding their horses while her mouchim and Yang sat in front driving the cart. They were running. She could see no other reason why their entire camp had to move so suddenly in the night.
It wasn`t until later that she would find out the reason why they were running. She heard her fader whisper to her mouchim in the night. They were called the Other Landers. They were making them run because they were harming her people every time they came across any of their clan's people.
For weeks, they have received messenger raven`s about attacks on the other clans. The attacks were frequent and with more of their people being captured the Chief was adamant that they keep moving. Further away from the Blue. Dev had overheard her fader saying that perhaps they move to Ulsa. The Tree Fortress where the God Inka was rumored to be living. It was sacred land and they would be safe if they were near the home of their God.
Dev sighed up and looked around the fire place as she waited for her mouchim and fader to return from the Chief`s cart. The tribe had stopped so the animals could rest and they as well. But they couldn`t stay long. They would need to move soon. Her stomach turned as she watched her siblings from her perch on the cart.
Prika was trying to boil some greens so they could eat it quickly before moving again. Both her brothers were sitting under the trees sorting out some fruit for their mouchim. The red Kuku berries would take the pain away from her when her little brother or sister arrived. Her fader mentioned that it would soon be time. Her mouchim had looked worried. Her little sister and brother shouldn`t come while they travelled. It would be bad.
"Jayl," Devi called out softly. Her bother humming let her know that he was listening," What do the Other Landers look like?"
"Devina!" Prika hissed as she looked up from the pot she was stirring.
Yang and Jayl looked up at her curiously while Dev shifted nervously. She gulped before continuing, "I just want to know so if I see them, I can run."
"You will run no matter what," Yang told her. Dev nodded.
"A little girl is not to be told of such things," Prika snapped at her brothers.
"Then what is she to be told then?" Jay asked his sister who turned back to the pot she was tending to," Ignore what you see, hear and feel, everything will be alright?"
"She is a child, Jayl," Prika muttered with her head bowed.
"She won`t be any longer."
"We don`t know what they look like Dev," Yang told her.
"But I heard…that one of the clans wear blue. Another clan wears black clothes," Jayl admitted. Prika looked towards her older brother who sighed, "They carry big knives and they bring harm. They wear metal over their clothes and they…they have magic we do not possess."
"Magic? Like what God Inka has?" Dev asked.
Jayl shook his head," No. Not magic like Inka."
"So, you`ll remember to run, right? "Yang questioned her.
Dev didn`t answer. She simply gulped and asked, "What if you are all not with me when I see them?"
"We would want you to run," Prika admitted which made Dev turn to her older sister," As long as you are safe and hiding. It will be fine."
Dev sniffed," I don`t want to be separated."
"No one will be separated," Prika insisted," We will reach Inka`s home land and we will be safe. There will be no need to worry."
Dev nodded slowly at her sister`s words but she didn`t believe them. Running a hand along her face where her marks ran, she wondered why her ceremony had to have happened before they left. Didn`t Inka want them to be happy and not running for their safety?
Seeing no answer, she stood and pulled up her skirt so she could jump down from the cart.
"Devina! Skirt down!" Prika warned her as she landed beside her sister`s pot.
"Where are you going?" Yang asked.
"To pick a flower for mouchim," Dev answered as she pulled her dress down and walked," She needs to smile."
Yang stood from his work," I`ll come with you."
"Let her go," Jayl told his brother who frowned," She won`t go far. She knows not to."
"Be back before we leave!" Prika yelled after her sister who waved to show that she heard her. Dev walked through the carts and nodded at the familiar faces of her tribes' people. Everyone was sitting around their carts and eating while some fed the animals. They were all in a state of unease.
Dev stopped when she came near the Chief`s cart. His family wasn`t with him but she could see her fader along with several other men of the village surround the Chief. Her mouchim wasn`t be seen. Maybe she was with the other women?
She ducked down and listened as one of the villagers read a message. She heard him sniffle before closing it.
"Is it arcuate? They can change shape?" She heard her fader ask.
"Yes, there are some who can also summon weapons and draw light from their palms," The villager answered.
"This magic is beyond us, we do not stand a chance against them," Her fader said to the Chief.
"We must make haste and move soon," The Chief said. Dev blinked away tears as she crawled away from them. They were going to die. They couldn`t do anything. Their only hope was to get to Inka.
Why? Why did those Other Landers want them? Why did they come to their land?
These questions rang through her mind as she stumbled away from the cart and ran to the get to the edge of the camp. She kept blinking and pushing back her tears. When she stopped at the edge, she fell to her knees and wiped at her eyes furiously.
This couldn`t be what Inka wanted for them. Her gaze then fell at on a small clump of white flowers. Sighing, she muttered a small blessing as she picked one and held it up.
"What do they want from us?" Dev asked the flower she held in her hand," Why do they hunt us? And why do they have strong magic?"
From behind her, she heard someone clear their throat. Glancing over her shoulder, her eyes went even more teary at the sight of her fader. Yousef was on his way back when one of the villagers mentioned that Dev had run past them looking very sad and close to tears. He immediately went after in the direction she took. Now, he needed his family close to him.
He had found her on the edge of the camp sitting in the grass with her back towards him and he had heard her sniffles.
"Fader? Is something wrong?" Dev asked as she turned on her knees and watched her fader approach her. When he was close enough, he picked her up and smiled at the flower in her hands.
"Nothing is wrong, are you okay?" He asked his youngest.
Dev shrugged and continue to study her flower.
Seeing how silent she was, he walked further out and stopped in front of a small grove of trees that he knew his daughter was familiar with, "Devina, do you see those of grove tees?"
Dev looked up and scanned the trees before turning back to her fader, "Yes."
Yousef smiled, "Do you remember their names?"
"Witchka, the Sacred tree of God Inka."
"Exactly, they are the trees of Inka, when you drink the juice made from their leaves, you will be healed from any injury and your life force shall be extended," Yousef explained the same thing he had told her the first time she was introduced to them.
"But we don`t use them, right fader?" Dev asked.
Yousef nodded and turned with his daughter to face the camp, "Yes, we can only use them if one of our people is dying or hurt to the point where they are close to the Spirit word."
"And only if everyone agrees," Dev recited.
"That is right. Life is precious, and we respect that, like all the trees and plants of our land, we don`t take unless we need to. That is something the Other Landers do not and will not understand."
"That is why we are running from them? They need us to get the trees and plants abilities?"
"We must keep each other and the knowledge of the land safe," Yousef told his daughter who nodded.