Eden, Dawn

Chapter 11

  I took the next ten minutes to reprimand myself for the sheer stupidity that led to my embarrassing fall.

  Twit! You know better.

  I focused intently on the task at hand: getting safely to the Gathering of the Clans. Falling into a hole? How dumb can I be?! On this brutal, merciless planet, one mistake could cost you your life. Worse, it could threaten the lives of your clan members.

  One mistake.

  It won’t happen again.

  I batted away the thoughts that had filled my head prior to my tumble. Now I listened. And looked. And smelt. Alert. Vigilant. Fortunately, there was no need to taste. That was only necessary when tracking or hunting. (Only hunger made me subject my tastebuds to the jungle’s pungent horrors.)

  The hot morning sunlight punctured through the dense foliage canopy high above my head, violently spearing the low-level jungle scrub with lance-like beams that ruptured into dappled pools of violet light. Then out of the blue, a jolting thought arrested my attention.

  Why now? Why all these compliments; why all these flattering words?

  I would never doubt Dixan, and certainly wouldn’t entertain the notion that Gellica’s or Nadalie’s motives were spurious. However, the tense, vexing circumstances created by Ruzzell’s insanity might be the reason.

  Perhaps they’re feeling guilty?

  They all agreed to perpetrate Ruzzell’s lie, under duress of course. Yes, that must be it. Unexpectedly, a wave of guilt crashed over me. I didn’t want them to feel this way; after all, I agreed to it.

  But why did I?

  Judd was the peacemaker, not me. I wasn’t scared to rumble another round with Ruzzell. However, doing so would have made it intolerable for the others, and more than likely embolden the doofus further.

  I guess I was hoping the truth would prevail at the Gathering, but how could it, if the clan all backed-up Ruzzell’s false allegations? I would receive my first dark points, and with it, the imputed shame. That was not what weighed on my mind, however.

  My mind was troubled by what would happen when we returned to camp after the Gathering. How strong would Ruzzell’s position of power be with me dark-marked? If I stood up to him again, and he made similar claims … then what? We were a clan in chaos. Constantly threatened from the outside, we were now tearing apart from the inside.