The blank sheet stared up at Kala.

　　She forced open her hand, but the stylus was already broken. She threw the pieces and they bounced off the sheet, leaving marks which only made her angrier.

　　She wanted to be mad at Talon for doing what he`d done. She wanted to be mad at him for allowing their daughter to go. She wanted to mad at him for not taking her.

　　All she wanted was to ram that spear into Gris chest and twist it so he knew how this felt. She wanted to take a boat upstream so she could tear him apart with her bare hands. Could she blame Talon or Sosa for having the courage to act on the exact same urges?

　　If Talon did anything else like that, she`d kill him.

　　Most of all she was angry with herself. She had stopped them going into the forest after Halo because she had been frightened of losing them, but it had been Talon and Sosa, not the giant hearther Devon, not the hunter Arella, not the tough old angler Korassi and not their fellow fielder Rem who had come back. It was her husband and daughter. If anyone could have gone after Halo and found him it would be those two. But Halo was gone and this time there was no trail to follow, no direction they could take. He`d not accidentally found a ruined town and survived, he`d gone from the far side of the village, half asleep and led by the ki. Her son was forever gone.

　　If she`d let Talon go after him, maybe&

　　If she could not have him back, there was nothing she could do to the ki who took him, but she could take revenge on the man who caused it all. The man who hurt her baby, who gave him to the ki in the first place.

　　Gris&

　　Fingernails dug into her palms until they almost bled.

　　Are you certain you should be here now?` It was Elder Jode. He might have been an interfering old man, but the former chief had been kind to Kala since she stepped up to chronicler at too young an age. You`ve been through a lot lately.` He paused and for a moment Kala`s mind stuck on all the things she had been through that he did not know about. Unless he knew more than he was saying.

　　She thought carefully. Jode was no fool, but neither was she. Before now, she`d dismiss any clever thoughts as dangerous, but it was time to start using her brains before they faded like Grammawe`s.

　　I can`t stop thinking about Halo& and Gris.` She didn`t need to feign the tiredness behind the sigh. There`s been so much sacrifice of late.` She gave him a sad smile. Jode had lost his position but it was because of Kala that the old man was still in the village. He did owe her. She risked an idea. I was wondering. The old record must have reference to Gris in it, maybe something that would corroborate what you said. We might be able to&` Jode was already shaking his head, & to get you reinstated as chief?`

　　There is nothing in the record.` Jode said, sadly. It is fadi to allow Gris to remain in the record.`

　　What?` Kala looked confused. But no one ever told me about that. How was I supposed to&`

　　Jode waved a hand to pacify her. No, no it isn`t forbidden to write about it. It is only forbidden for a chief to allow it to remain. This is supposed to be a secret. Talon`s mother never knew, but after recent events, perhaps you deserve to.`

　　The record gets altered?` Kala was horrified. She was not allowed to view her own record, or any other and it was taken away for storage as soon as she wrote it, keeping it safe from fire. But it is a sacred text, surely it cannot be&`

　　Jode nodded, looking almost apologetic. It was my role as chief to eliminate Gris from the record. The fadi was mine to keep, not yours.`

　　The chance to view the old record - to find out how to kill Gris - was slipping away.

　　Even so, there may be some mention if him indirectly perhaps? Something a chief less diligent than yourself may not have removed, some mention, or something?` Anything? Kala bit her tongue to stop more desperate words revealing her true desire.

　　I appreciate that, Kala, I do. And it is a good idea, perhaps I will look at the records. You know we don`t let anyone view them.`

　　You would if I was an Elder and I am doing the job of an Elder, so surely&`

　　Kala you are very kind to be so concerned about me when you have so much going on, but I insist you leave it to me.`

　　You have no intention of looking, do you? Perhaps he knew there was nothing, or perhaps he was happier now he had stepped down. Maybe this retirement suited him.

　　Leave this, you can update the record any time,` he said kindly.

　　No, Elder Jode,` she said. Thank you, but no. But I wonder if I might ask a favour?` If she was going to be clever about things, she needed to be smarter than him. I am having trouble separating events that I should record. As I was so involved it becomes hard for me to decide what was important and what was important to me.` The record was not cluttered with births and deaths, only large events that affected the whole village were chronicled. I wonder if you could help me?`Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

　　Jode smiled and found a seat. Together they recounted the key events of the last few weeks and Kala scratched the glyphs into the sheet until a nice short objective record had been made. Kala marked the sheet with her own symbol and a glyph that would put this sheet in the appropriate sequence, then handed it to him.

　　Thank you, Elder Jode.`

　　You know it should be chief Hora who really receives this now?`

　　But would she follow the fadi?` Kala asked.

　　No. No, she would not. Not all of them. There has been a sad shift in our village and I hope it is not to our detriment.`

　　I know recent events have set a wedge between my family and the Elders, but I hope that is now in the past?` Kala said. Jode smiled again and she felt guilty at taking advantage of what was just an old man trying to hold on to what he thought was right. She slid her arm through his and they chatted as she let the old elder lead her through the council building.

　　He thanked her and it felt genuine. He probably never got to chat to people like this any more. The guilt returned, but she pushed it aside.

　　As he had overseen every word, the sheet needed no alteration. He should take it directly to where it was stored. Kala took her time in leaving until she saw where he was headed, then hurried home.

　　Talon and Sosa were preparing food. Grammawe hacked slivers off a waternut and crunched away on the hard outer flesh. Life may have stolen her mind, but it had left her with teeth.

　　Kala didn`t say anything to Talon; there was nothing to say. She`d found nothing out and he`d only tell her not to take risks. She`d get angry at that and probably hit him again. Instead she slid her arms around her husband from behind. He stopped cooking a moment then turned to reciprocate.

　　There was a look between Talon and Sosa, then Sosa gave the slightest of nods at him.

　　What?` Kala`s chest tightened. Oh, what have you both been up to now?` She eased herself away from Talon so she could stare at him.

　　Okay, sit down,` Talon said.

　　No. Just tell me,`

　　Here, Mmawe, please just sit.` Sosa handed her a bowl, pulled the cover over the doorway and sat with a bowl of her own.

　　Talon sat opposite. I don`t want you to be angry.`

　　Kala looked at the bowl of food, and put it down. She was going to be sick. Drawing up her knees she rested her head on them. Tell me what you`ve done. Now.`

　　We`ve not done anything.` Sosa said.

　　Talon looked uneasy. Well, we have, but that`s not the bit you`re going to be angry about.`

　　Kala`s head felt light. I`m going to throw up.`

　　No, Mmawe. It`s okay. Listen.` Sosa placed her own bowl down and took Kala`s hands. We`re fine, I promise.` Her daughter looked at her. You remember when you found me and Pawe at the edge of the forest?` Kala nodded. Well we noticed something about the spear.`

　　That rotting spear. Why haven`t you melted it down yet? Talon you know it`s fadi to keep&`

　　Mmawe!` Sosa`s voice was sharp. Please, just listen to me.` Kala nodded and took a deep shaking breath. We think the spear has some power over the dark. Back in the ruins when Gris was chasing us and the boat was full of bodaki, well, Pawe&`

　　The boat was full of&?` Kala started to get up. There was much more to their trip than they had told her, she knew, but this? She`d just hugged Talon to say she almost forgave him, or at least that she understood, that she shared his feeling, and now&

　　Kala, listen,` he said. There were bodaki and there was dark, but the spear is what kept us safe. We didn`t realise at the time. It was only when we went into the trees that day and&`

　　We both saw it. We felt it.` Sosa added. It pushes the dark back, it keeps the bodaki at bay. It is the reason we survived, we`re sure of it.`

　　Okay, I get it,` Kala said. You don`t have to get rid of the spear, but you need to never mention it to&`

　　Sosa squeezed her mother`s hands. Apparently it wasn`t just about this. Mmawe, when Halo& when he&,` Sosa choked back tears. I wanted to look for him, and Pawe, well he wouldn`t let me, unless&`

　　You`ve been going back into the darkforest?` The earlier fury she thought she had quenched rose again.

　　No,` said Talon firmly. No.` He said again looking at Sosa. We went no further than the first row of trees and while it was still very light. We were only looking to see if we could find any sign.` Kala knew from his expression that there was nothing to grow hopes on.

　　I`m sorry Mmawe, we didn`t ever find anything. We hoped maybe a body we could bring back or something, but&` Sosa shook her head.

　　Kala wanted to be angry at them, they`d risked so much already, but it was hard when she felt was a swell of pride for Sosa that she`d done so much to try and find Halo. Talon, who would normally shy from her stern gaze, calmly returned it.

　　I`m sorry, Kala.`

　　So he was gone. Kala realised she`d been holding onto the hope that he`d come back, or maybe that Talon would find him, but& The weight of grief crushed her to the floor. Arms gathered around her and she was cradled in Talon`s firm hold. Together they knelt and shared tears.

　　The grief waned briefly in her exhaustion and Kala was left with an anger, though not at her husband. There she felt pride. He had tried. He had been brave and he had looked for Halo, risked much to try and bring him back. He had confounded the elders, braved the forest multiple times. Yes he`d risked their daughter, but it was not Talon who attracted her ire. It was the bastard who`d tried to kill her son.

　　He didn`t try. He succeeded, she realised.

　　She looked at her husband, his tears mingling with her own. I hate him.` She pulled Talon close, and reached out for Sosa too. He nearly took you from me as well.` Devon, Arella, Korassi, Rem; all dead. He`s just going to get away with it, isn`t he? Like everything else he does.` Helplessness and frustration built up inside her until she wanted to scream.

　　That look again. It passed between her daughter and her husband. This was not all they had wanted to say.

　　Well&` Sosa said. Mmawe, I feel the same. I felt like there was nothing we could do to avenge Halo, or any of them, but&`

　　Actually, we`ve an idea,` said Talon. His eyes did not drag across the floor, but held hers firmly.

　　Are you going to get him? Get Gris?` She should be frightened, but looking at Talon`s calm eyes, she wasn`t.

　　No,` he said, and meant it. Not unless you agree.`

　　We`re not safe here any more,` Sosa said, and she was right. How many more would he kill? How many more before Halo`s death was forgotten among them? She took Talon`s hands in hers and looked into his eyes. There was something she`d never seen before in the meek fielder, something she felt in her own heart, something that told her whatever he had in mind, he could pull it off.

　　But how?` Despair fell over Kala. If they went after Gris again, they would be slaughtered just like Korassi, Devon, Rem and his sister. He`ll kill you both.`

　　We`re not going after Gris,` Sosa said, a grin spreading. We`re going to get some help.

　　Talon looked grim but certain. We`re going to Ego`s village,` he said. We`re going to find Eleris. We`re going to find the guardian.`