Lost Moon

by Dana Davis

  “How can you not see it?” She reached down to the items and her hand came up with a—book! “It’s right here.”

  Larisa and Jakon mimicked Kepriah’s gasp. Sard it all! “Do that again. Put it down and pick it up again.”

  “What? Okay.” When Patrice’s hand released the book, it disappeared. She picked it up and Kepriah could see it again, a small, velum-bound book with straps at the spine.

  Kepriah took a step toward her youngest sister. “You said you kept forgetting what you read from it, right? Well, I could not even see that book until you picked it up.” Larisa and Jakon confirmed her own experience. “You said Damon had it? What is in there that magic has been protecting?”

  “I found it tucked behind other books in Damon’s library. It looked as though it had been there a long time, undisturbed.” Patrice’s thin fingers opened to a page. “I’ve read this book so many times but I didn’t remember that until today. I also remember wanting to share it with you, but whenever I took my eyes from the pages, I forgot what I had read. I guess it was some sort of magical amnesia. Anyway, I remember everything now. This book has instructions.”

  “Instructions for what?”

  “The hoisting.” Patrice tucked the book in her skirt pocket and headed outside.

  Kepriah’s jaw went slack as she followed her youngest sister out into the dimming daylight. The sun was near the western horizon and the two moons had risen in the eastern sky. The familiar blue star was beginning to peek out from its daytime cover, accentuated by the aurora lights that undulated around it. The fight before the wedding had delayed them, but Kepriah had not expected it to be nearing sunset already.

  There must have been another time shift. Jabber shit! This day is nearly over. A surge of concern waved from her sisters.

  Patrice led them to a dead grassy area that gave them a clear view of the aurora. “This is the best place, I think. Our instincts were right about the triangle. We need to stand in that formation.” They took those positions, just as they had before. Patrice didn’t seem too damaged after her encounters with Nyanan. In fact, she seemed strong. The smile she offered revealed that she knew exactly what Kepriah was thinking. “I do feel strong.” But if we don’t learn how to block our thoughts, this new ability is going to drive us all crazy!

  Agreed. Kepriah heard Larisa’s thoughts mirror her own and she shook her head as her eyes landed on the aurora again. “Enough chatter. Let’s get to it.” She motioned to Patrice, who began reciting the book’s instructions in her head.

  The instructions only went as far as telling them how to access the magic they needed for the hoisting. It did not tell them how to do the hoisting, though, just how to touch the magic. Maybe the ancestors did not know or maybe they were not allowed to write it down. Either way, Kepriah hoped beyond hope that the magic would instruct them in how to find the hidden moon. Otherwise, they were all in very big trouble.

  They concentrated on their respective Faytools then on the aurora that was becoming more visible with the darkening sky, just as the book instructed. The two moons looked benign against the purple backdrop of evening but Kepriah felt something caress her senses like dry cheesecloth. Her sisters acknowledged the sensation, and their thoughts came much like a great archer shooting arrows in rapid succession until Kepriah began to get a headache. She ignored that discomfort and concentrated on her scepter, her power, the aurora, and the two moons that hovered in the eastern sky.

  The air around her grew warm and the ground she stood on moved, as if traveling through time. Back and back, the life around her changed, reversing itself, falling back into the earth, replaced by that which came before. Kepriah began to feel dizzy and disoriented but she planted her feet and the sensation began to lift. Her sisters’ thoughts grew closer until she could no longer tell who was thinking what, and the air around her body tingled with more power than she had ever felt.

  The sudden flying sensation nearly caused her to lose concentration but she held on, taking her sisters with her. Together, merging in thought, spirit, and power, they were no longer young women, born a mere twenty-five years ago. They were ancient and magical. The sacred Trine. Answers to some of life’s most mysterious questions pranced in their heads. Kepriah let herself fall into the power center that was now the Trine, along with her sisters. She—they—felt loved here, complete.

  The three sisters thought as one being now and sensations crossed between flying and stretching their limbs to the point of discomfort. The power they emanated propelled them toward the sky until they hovered above three bodies standing in the form of a triangle and connected by brilliant blue light streams. Something pressed at them from the aurora. At first, the sensation felt mildly enticing.

  After what could have been minutes or hours—Time had no meaning here—the sensation grew until they could no longer resist its pull. Images of science, math, and magic swirled inside their collective brains and the Trine recognized them all. The sister world, Earth, left a dark mark upon their senses. Sickly. Dying. Expelled of magic, with Selenea its only hope of survival. Magic must remain on Selenea. We must restore magic.

  They reached out with their collective minds and grabbed onto the heavy sensation they felt from the aurora. Power pulsed in and through their bodies, their souls, as ancient words formed and danced in their memories. Their mouths expelled the words as their supremacy grew and the world around them seemed to fall away.

  We must return magic to this world. We must keep it safe. We are the guardians. We are the Trine.

  Nothing mattered now except the magic. The Trine pulled, pushed, wrenched, and tugged at the enticing form that held their attention, becoming one with it, then falling back, and becoming one again. This tug of war went on and on until they felt another, more powerful, sensation, one that reached from inside them to encompass the form ahead. The lost moon now in their grasp.

  A massive wind ripped through their collective bodies, tearing them from their cozy Trine existence. Kepriah heard someone scream and realized it came from her, from her sisters. Fortunately, the wind did not last long and soon the hostile sensation receded. They continued this power exchange, giving and taking magic in a foreboding tug-of-war, for what seemed an eternity.

  Trine as one with the lost moon. Lost moon as one with the Trine. Trine as one with Selenea. Lost moon as one with Selenea. These thoughts flitted in and out of their collective consciousness, giving and taking images of the past on both Selenea and Earth. Ancient peoples, ancient languages, ancient magic. Kepriah felt some semblance of herself buried within the collective Trine, but her mind grew slippery and her thoughts mingled with her sisters’ once again. Until, at last, they found the origin of magic, the seed, the very beginning.

  Blessed magic! Behold its power! The Trine reveled in its supremacy. How wonderful, how blissful! How divine! The seed began to grow as they instinctually pulled the magic into their bodies, wrenching it free from its long-ago hiding place. Excruciating pain shot through them, as though the force would rip them apart, and they cried out as one.

  The struggle continued as the Trine tugged the magic forth like a baby unwilling to come into the world. They implored the seed to grow. They nurtured it, caressed it, protected it, like an unborn babe as it grew. Then they birthed it, together, and pure magic pulsed through them. Ecstasy! Everywhere glowed and sparkled with blue veins of light, connecting them and everything around them to magic like a giant spiderweb. The most amazing sight! Within the blue veins, they saw patterns. Patterns that they could manipulate with their powers. So this is how it works. So simple, yet so complex. Peace filled the Trine and they felt safe with each other, loved, satisfied. And finished. We are done.

  One final blast ripped the sisters apart until they were no longer a collective consciousness. The pain seemed unbearable but lasted mere seconds. Kepriah floated weightlessly above the world she knew as Selenea. So strange to see it from so far away, like a marble from a child’s street game. She c
ould not see, feel, or hear her sisters and panic swelled. Before she could think another thought, she began to fall at a tremendous speed toward her distant home. She watched in wonder as she sped among the blue magic veins toward her world. It really was a beautiful sight but she would never survive such a fall. She also knew she would not suffer with such an impact. Death would be immediate.

  In silence, she prayed to the Moirai to usher her sisters’ souls and her own swiftly up the river to their next life together. She hurled through clouds until mountains and seas came into view. She never realized how much water existed on Selenea before now. Trees and homes began to take shape as blue veins blurred around her and she continued her fall. She saw the land, the damaged castle, where her brother now ruled. Where she and her sisters had performed the hoisting ritual. That was her last thought before a loud crack rattled her senses and everything went black.

  Chapter 45

  Kepriah’s ears roared as the world spun and she struggled to keep her senses. I am not dead. Thank the Moirai! But how? She lay on the ground but could not figure out which way was up. Her limbs did not respond to her commands and the loss of her sisters’ constant presence left a profound ache in her gut. Her eyelids would not open but she could feel herself spinning and nausea threatened to make her sick. Suddenly, just as she opened her mouth to cry out, everything stopped. Birds sang, the sun felt warm on her face, and a breeze cooled her hot skin. The air and the land vibrated with magic.

  Applause and cheers rang out from nearby. She wrenched her eyes open only to slam them shut against the bright sunlight. This must be how newly born babes feel. Part of her longed to go back to the collective Trine where she felt safe and loved. Is that what death is like? Someone took her wrist and pressed fingers against her neck. She opened her eyes again, squinting up at the figure that hovered over her. She expected to see Larisa, but an older woman stared down at her. A healer. She recognized the woman from the Cities of Sleep. Larisa had bought herbs from her. I am alive.

  “Go slowly, Noble,” the healer said.

  “My sisters?”

  I need you, Kepriah. Larisa’s voice. Hurry!

  She staggered to her feet with the aid of her scepter as anger, loss, and panic slammed into her senses, letting her know the Trine bond was intact again. All those around them had gone silent, watching, waiting. Kepriah felt each of them, their presence more than anything, and faint blue veins flickered here and there in her corner vision. Magic. Everywhere. Connecting and nurturing everything around her.

  Jakon helped her to her sisters and she tried not to flinch as she passed through several veins to get there. This is going to take some getting used to. Those thoughts fled when she saw that her Earth sister lying still and pale on the ground.

  Larisa gazed up with watery eyes. “She is dying.”

  Rage and grief threatened Kepriah’s concentration but she shoved the emotions aside, lifted her scepter, and laid it flat in the air above her youngest sister. Without hesitation, she drew in the magic and blue veins flowed toward her and into her. It was sweet and fragrant, like edible sap flowing from a tree. And it was easy, hardly any effort to call it to her now. Magic tingled from her fingertips, licked her hair like a summer breeze, lifting her off the ground. Or so it felt. Weariness fled and the power drew her close to her sister’s body. Patrice’s spirit was slipping and the Earth woman stood with one foot in the Hollow.

  Larisa placed a hand on Kepriah’s arm. Instantly, Larisa’s magic mingled with her own and she sent it into Patrice’s body to permeate every particle of her youngest sister. Weariness clawed at her but magic kept it away. Death stood at her back. Patrice’s spirit began to pull away from her, from life. Get your ass back here right now, Patrice Aurora Gray!

  Patrice’s spirit hesitated. But only for a moment, then she moved on again.

  Stop, Patrice! Larisa’s thoughts cried out, causing Kepriah to flinch. I command you. Halt! Ancient, magical words flew from her lips.

  Patrice began to struggle, as though death physically pulled at her from the other side. She missed her world. Missed her family. Part of her wanted to stay here and part of her wished to leave, to die. Kepriah’s heart pulsed against her temples at the onslaught of her youngest sister’s emotions.

  Come to me, Patrice. Larisa’s magic engulfed Kepriah and she felt just how powerful her middle sister had become. I command you. Come to me.

  Patrice’s spirit turned toward them again and magical veins began to encase her like a moth caught in a web. Magic tugged at her.

  Larisa’s magic—I can see it working. Kepriah held her breath. That’s it, little sister. Get your bloody spiritual ass back in your body. You hear me?

  Patrice moved ever so slightly toward them and stopped. Kepriah and Larisa uttered magical words together that left their thoughts as soon as they left their mouths, pleading, commanding. All the while, their fear mingled together until Kepriah wanted to cry out against the intense emotion.

  The three of them remained in this struggle for what felt like an eternity. Finally, like a timid child, Patrice’s soul grew nearer. Closer, closer, painfully slow but steady now. Once her soul got within ten hand spans of them, it dove into the prone body. Blood began to pump, lungs filled with air. Patrice gasped.

  Once satisfied the Guardian of the Hollow would not get their sister today, Larisa released the magic that had bound them.

  She then released Kepriah’s arm and dropped to the ground, checking Patrice over. Moist, blue eyes came up and pale lips drew a smile. “She is fine, Kepriah. Strong heart. Strong lungs.” Larisa wept with relief and Kepriah placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

  “What happened?” Patrice uttered in a raspy breath.

  “You tried to leave us, sister,” Kepriah said, as weariness slammed down on her.

  A look of shock found Patrice’s face and she said, “I’m glad you pulled me back.”

  Kepriah laughed and sank to her knees, taking her sisters in an embrace. The moment did not last as cheers erupted all around them. Jakon stood over them, like a sentry. Kepriah looked up at the dark-skinned man and realized the sun hovered near the western horizon. How long had they been gone?

  Before she could ask, a woman put a cup of water to her lips and she drank greedily as her sisters did the same. “Thank you.”

  The woman smiled. “Thank you, Trine.” One hand pointed to the eastern sky behind her.

  When Kepriah twisted to look up, she sucked in a surprised breath. A large sphere with dark areas on its pocketed surface gave off a blue glow and hung just above the other two moons, creating the form of a triangle. Blue veins sparkled here and there, winking in and out of Kepriah’s vision as she moved her head. The northern sky filled with lights, undulating and waving as though greeting the returned moon. Magic! It is Breathtaking! And just as the Moirai originally intended. All was as it should be now. Her sisters’ silent agreement filled her mind.

  Kepriah turned her head to find Patrice, Ched’s arms wrapped around her, staring at the sky with a huge grin. Larisa lifted her brows at the reclining couple and offered a warm smile. Exhaustion waved through the link, but no one would have suspected Patrice had just come back from the Hollow’s doorway.

  Damon and Gail sat forward in lavish chairs someone had brought outside, looking relieved. Their followers sat or stood around the area, which displayed the green grasses and blooming flowers of early summer. No snow. No dead trees. All around them people watched, smiled, pointed, whispered. Palith stood nearby, eyes intent on Kepriah, and she thought of his brother, Manry. He gave her a smile and she nodded, taking in all the familiar men around him, especially Hale, whom she gave a slight smirk and a wink. As a fellow warrior, he knew better than to comfort Kepriah in public, but he would do that and more during their next private tryst.

  Her hand brushed against her scepter, which lay on the ground beside her, and she saw that the blue stone gave off a slight glow, much like the moon above. Her scepter, P
atrice’s ring, Larisa’s talisman, each containing a blue stone, all pointed to this day. She had not realized the significance until today. She also had not realized the importance of the blue star that winked in Selenea’s sky each night. Until now. It was no longer visible because it had never been a star in the first place and she overheard people in the crowd commenting on that very subject.

  Most of the ancient knowledge the Trine acquired during the hoisting had disappeared, but Kepriah could feel a shift in magic, like a thin veil of fabric concealing a massive cave entrance. With the right magic, she could move the fabric aside and enter that cave of knowledge. There was a lot she needed to learn, but knowing the information could be called upon in time gave her hope for a new world. The Trine had saved Selenea, which meant the sister world, Earth, also survived, just as prophecy told. Patrice caught that thought and gave her a wan smile. Sadness drifted to her through their link but not like before.

  Patrice gazed up at the moons again. “Beautiful, aren’t they?” Her elation at the moons pushed away her disappointment about Earth.

  Kepriah’s eyes found Jakon again. He stood gazing down on them with arms folded and a concerned look on his dark face. “How long were we—out there?”

  “Since yesterday evening, First Noble.” He gave a worried glance to Patrice, and Kepriah knew he had feared the Earth woman would die. Strain was all too apparent on his face. Or else, I have learned to read him that well. He smiled and gave a bow. “Welcome back, Nobles.”

  That set off another round of cheers and, “Hail to the Trine!” resounded from all around the clearing.

  Two small children ran forward and with moist rags in their hands. Kepriah reached for one of the rags but the child holding it stepped back, just out of reach. The little girl, who looked about seven, uttered a word that disappeared from Kepriah’s mind as soon as she heard it. The child giggled as the rag floated from her small hands to Kepriah’s outstretched one. Though she could see the blue veins of magic at work, Kepriah did not hide her surprise that a young child had demonstrated levitation.