Moon Broken

by H. D. Gordon

  “For there to be a portal, there must be an anchor,” Adriel said, returning his attention to the group. “The territory of the Between Realms is in constant motion, which is why Mina is usually impossible to find. Destroy the anchor, and we close the portal.”

  This struck a chord in my mind… Some connection that was important but that I couldn’t quite grasp on to… Perhaps something that I’d read in the books I’d been pouring over for the past handful of days.

  “How could they have found us in the first place?” asked Asha. She looked to Bakari. “Do you think you were followed on your way back from the Western Coast? When you flew through the rift, maybe?”

  Bakari shook his head. “I went to great pains to shake anyone who might have been following me, which was why I barely made it back before I died… but I suppose its always possible.”

  “Has anyone been in any kind of contact with someone outside of Mina?” Asha asked.

  My heart skipped a beat as my two dream-conversations with Ryker replayed in my head. I felt my cheeks flush as all eyes in the room turned toward me.

  Gods help me, part of me wanted to lie, to take the coward’s way out and deny any culpability. “I—,” I began, and had to clear my throat and try again. “Ryker visited me in my dreams when I first arrived here,” I admitted. “He called it dream riding.”

  Asha’s hand slapped down on the table with a bang. “Son of a bitch!” she said. She pointed a finger at me. “She’s a traitor. She can’t be trusted.”

  “You’re wrong, Asha,” Goldie said.

  “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner, Rook?” Asha asked, ignoring Goldie and saying my name as though it tasted dirty on her tongue.

  “It was no one’s business,” I answered.

  Asha snorted and threw her hands up. “Really? Well, how about now? Now that our town is under attack, is it our business now?”

  “Enough,” Adriel snapped. “There isn’t time for this. We need to close the portal.”

  “To drop an anchor someone would have had to cross over into the Between Realms first,” Aysari commented, shooting me a brief but sympathetic look. The male Fae nodded in agreement beside her.

  “The arrow,” I said, speaking almost to myself.

  All eyes turned toward me.

  I cleared my throat and continued, looking at Adriel. “The arrow that you pulled out of Bakari. If there was some sort of tracking magic on it, it could technically serve as the anchor. We have to get to it and destroy it.”

  ““You hope it’s the arrow,” Asha snapped. “What the hell do you know about magic?”

  “Only what I’ve read in books,” I answered, and ignored her glare as I looked at Adriel. “It’s possible,” I assured him.

  He didn’t respond to this. Instead, he turned to Goldie. “Gather the elders and the children. Lead them to the southern edge of the Emerald Forest,” Adriel said. “Take anyone who doesn’t wish to fight.”

  Goldie was already shifting into her Wolf, and she snapped her jaws in understanding before darting out the door. I watched her exit in stunned silence, her red-gold tail slipping out of sight.

  Adriel addressed the Fae next. “Aysari, Eryx… Do you feel like fighting today?”

  Aysari and Eryx both grinned widely, their slanted eyes glittering in the green light of the torches. “Alongside you?” Aysari said, “Always.”

  Adriel nodded, but the gesture seemed to speak volumes without words. “Aysari take the south side of the town. Eryx, take the north. Ask the forest for its assistance. They’re Wolves, so they’ll be coordinating an attack that is multi-sided. They’ll try to herd us, to separate the weak. We can’t allow that. Our top priority is making sure we suffer no casualties.”

  Aysari and Eryx gave Adriel a bow while their magnificent wings peeled free of the skin on their backs and sprung to life on their smooth shoulders. They exited the hut in their unique, astonishing fashion, as had Goldie.

  I could do little but stand immobile as a statue. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was frozen because I was terrified. It had taken a few moments to really creep over me, but the idea that the Hounds were coming scared the shit out of me. I’d seen the people of Mina, and I wasn’t sure they could sustain such an attack.

  Then, a worse, even more paralyzing thought struck me: There was a price on my head. What if I was captured?

  And, worse, What if I was captured and brought back to Ryker in chains?

  No. No, I would die before I let them take me again. I would take my own life if I had to.

  While I was frozen with these terrible thoughts, Adriel was still directing those that remained in the hut. He gave Bakari a task of which I heard not a word, and did the same with Asha, who took the time to flash me a final dirty glance before departing.

  That left only Adriel and me. No more than a handful of minutes had passed between the time the Harpy had arrived to warn us of the attack and now, but it felt like an eternity. I could feel a sweat breaking out over my brow, could taste the terror on my tongue.

  Adriel turned me toward him and placed his hands gently on my shoulders. I didn’t cringe or tremble under his touch. Instead, it seemed to ground me, and I blinked up into his scarlet eyes, wondering if he could see the cowardice I was experiencing written on my face.

  “Are you afraid?” he asked. His voice was a whisper, like he was sharing a secret.

  I didn’t trust my own voice. I held his scarlet gaze and nodded.

  “Me too,” he said. “Do you want to run?”

  I released a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. My hands came up and gripped his wrists where he still held me on my shoulders. I nodded again.

  “Me too,” he repeated.

  I drew another breath, released it. I wanted to offer some kind of explanation for myself, some proof that I was not a traitor like Asha had claimed, but I couldn’t seem make any words come to me. All I could do was stare up into Adriel’s beautiful face, close enough to mine that should I want to kiss the fine curve of his lips, all I had to do was lean forward a few inches.

  Of course, I did no such thing.

  “You may be right about the arrow,” he told me. “Either way, it needs to be destroyed. I have to head to the portal, put up a spell to temporarily block it, make sure nothing gets out, and also intercept any Hounds that slip through the cracks.” He paused. “I can’t do those things and get to the arrow.”

  There was not an ounce of humor on his lovely face, only the calm control of a leader. For the first time, I understood perfectly why the people of Mina loved him so. Adriel was not some Master they cowered in reverent fear of. He was someone they depended on for protection and safety.

  As I allowed his hold to ground me, I realized he was someone I was depending on for protection and safety, too.

  I knew what he was going to ask me before he did it, and his pale hands travelled up from my shoulders to rest gently on either side of my face. His scarlet gaze captured me and held fast.

  “I know you’re afraid,” he whispered, and the scent of soap and peppermint filled my nose. “I am, too. I always am… But are you going to let that stop you from doing what needs to be done?”

  Though his body didn’t so much as brush against mine, his calloused but gentle fingers were still clasped gently on either side of my face. I didn’t drop his gaze, but I had to tilt my head back to look up at him.

  “No, I won’t let it stop me,” I promised. “I’ll find the arrow and destroy it. I’ll do what needs to be done.”

  The small, half smile Adriel gave me then was beautiful enough to make a heart break. He kissed me on the forehead, mumbled, “Atta girl,” and disappeared into thin air.

  His absence swept in like a cold wind on a winter evening. I stood in the hut for a few heartbeats just catching my breath.

  Then, I shifted into my Wolf and darted out the door, racing across the floating wooden planks that made up the path across the lake and back to the shore. I w
ould get to that arrow, destroy it, and then get the hell out of the way. It was all I could do, all I was currently capable of.

  Or so I thought.

  As I raced through the streets of Mina, I saw that people were streaming out of their homes and away from the sites of their daily tasks to gather in groups. The news of what was happening spread like wildfire, and the people of Mina were preparing themselves as best as they could.

  Still, fear and concern spread in the wake of the news, and I realized with a sinking heart that I’d been right in my assessment of the town’s readiness for such an invasion. These people were peaceful. They’d all been liberated from some sort of hell. They didn’t want to fight anymore. They only wanted to exist in harmony.

  But, often times, life doesn’t give one much choice in the matter.

  I darted through the streets, retracing the steps that would take me back to the little square with the fountain of the beautiful woman pouring water from a pitcher into a cup held by a beautiful child. Thanking the Gods for my keen sense of direction, I had no trouble doing so.

  No directional trouble, anyway.

  I knew when the Hounds had reached the town, not because of some explosion of chaos or screams and cries for help, but because a preternatural silence befell Mina. It rode in on a breeze and blanketed the surrounding area, an invisible charge that could not be seen, only felt.

  They were making an attempt at surrounding us, just as Adriel had predicted, and when they poured through the streets of Mina, they would do so from all sides.

  Most of the occupants would be hiding or following an escape route out of town and into the forest, or wherever Adriel had ordered Goldie and the others to lead them when I had been in too much shock to pay attention. I hoped they were safe, but knew I needed to focus on the task at hand. If I was right about the arrow, destroying it and breaking the anchor spell it contained would be the only way to close the portal.

  I had to get to it.

  I rounded a corner and sprinted up an alley, keeping my ears perked for any activity around me. All was silent… But they were coming. I could feel it.

  Pausing when I reached the end of the alleyway between two buildings, I darted across the empty street. There was no one to be seen, the silence such that I could hear the wind kissing the curves of the structures.

  Just a few more turns and side streets, and I would reach the square. It would take me less than three minutes to get there if I moved fast. Heart beating out of my chest, I forced my legs to move faster.

  I reached a small intersection that was similarly deserted.

  Then, I heard it.

  It came from my left side, a cry for help that was stifled before it could even be fully issued. The unmistakable growl of a Hound followed shortly after it.

  To my right, the square with the arrow waited just around the corner.

  I took a step or two in that direction.

  Then, I paused.

  Another growl echoed from the left, and my ears swiveled in that direction.

  Against my better judgment, I followed the sound of the trouble.

  14

  The two children were trapped, surrounded on three sides by a Hound in Wolf form. The Hounds were large and imposing, their enormous heads held low between their shoulders, baring their sharp teeth as they circled their prey.

  I had seen the two children before, dancing and chasing each other through the square before Bakari had fallen from the sky with the damn arrow protruding from his midsection five or six moons ago. One was a female with swirling, silver-blue eyes and claws for feet, and the other was a male covered in fur, but walking upright, sort of like a bear, but with a mortal’s face. I didn’t know what race they were, but their youth was clear in the way they moved and the innocence in their eyes.

  In that moment, it didn’t matter what race they were. They were children, and these Hounds were grown Wolves with a bone to pick that had nothing to do with them.

  I moved swiftly, forcing my body to act before my mind could further consider it. The Hounds were focused on the children they’d trapped between them, cutting off any chance at escape. The children were clutching each other, and the looks of utter terror on their faces worked wonders on any reservations I might have had about my following actions.

  While the Hounds taunted their prey, I narrowed my focus on the throat of the Hound nearest me, and sprang out of the shadows. My speed, combined with the element of surprise, allowed me to slide into range of the Hound’s throat and close my jaws around it.

  Bite. Lock.

  The sequence came back to me as though it had never been truly forgotten, as if it never would be.

  In his shock and fury, the Hound tried to yank free of my hold, same as had the Ogre in the Dead Forest, and this was to his own detriment. His movement tore the soft flesh of his throat, and the taste of his blood flooded into my mouth like thick wine.

  There was no time to react to the kill, only to position my body in front of the crying children, to snap and growl as the other two Hounds got over their surprise at my arrival. The snarls that rumbled from their throats as they focused their attention on me were enough to make the fur on my back stand up.

  There was a tiny moment where I was sure from the looks behind the Hounds’ eyes that they knew who I was, that they’d been given specific instructions to look for me.

  The moment passed. In a coordinated movement, the two Hounds attacked, snarling and snapping on either side of me. There was no choice but to meet them head-on.

  I twisted and turned, snapping my teeth at both in rapid succession to ward off the crushing force of their jaws. It was an impossible position to maintain; every time I would defend against one, the other would snap at me from the opposite side, forcing me to dance back and forth to keep from being torn to shreds.

  I had to risk my hindquarters to take a shot at one of them, because being outnumbered and trying to protect the children was going to tip the scales out of my favor within a matter of seconds. I chose my target, the larger of the two, and charged forward with the look of a devil behind my glowing golden eyes.

  I wished that the children were of Wolf blood, because then I would be able to speak directly into their minds to tell them to run. But the children were not Wolves, and they were in too much shock to know better.

  The squeals of horror they released were heart-wrenching as I made impact with the bigger Hound, and we went tumbling heads over tails in a fury of fur and fangs. We snapped and shredded, both of us trying to gain the upper hand, to get a shot at a weak point.

  I saw an opening when the big Hound twisted for a moment and revealed his soft underbelly, but as I went to spill his guts on the cobblestones, the other Hound decided to join the fray. His jaws clapped firmly around my right hind leg, and the growl that ripped up my throat was half anger and half agony.

  Those scales were tipping, and they would take me down in a handful of moments unless I somehow got lucky.

  I’d nearly forgotten about the children in the rage of battle, so when the smaller Hound who had bitten deeply into my right hindquarter was picked up by what seemed to be invisible hands, and thrown against the side of a nearby building, I glanced skyward as if some God might be leaning over a cloud and grinning.

  The larger Hound demanded my immediate attention, however, and in the split seconds that he spent being equally confused, I shifted instantly into my mortal form, remembering to summon clothes this time. Then, I took his thick, furry neck into my hands and snapped it as though it were no more than a dry piece of bread.

  “Run,” I told the children. “Go to the forest. Hide there.”

  The smaller Hound that had been tossed against the building stirred from his crumpled position, and I felt my rage fire up once more. I turned away from the children. Stalking over to him, I flexed my fingers and prepared myself to finish the job.

  But I found myself halted in my movements, and I was confused once more when I notic
ed the silver-blue haze that was encasing my hands.

  Magic.

  I glanced back at the children. They had not run. The female, her eyes churning silver-blue, had her small hand raised, and a familiar look of concentration on her face. It was the same look Adriel got when he was wielding an impressive amount of magic.

  Suddenly, I understood what had happened during the fight when the Hound had been thrown against the side of the building by some invisible force. The child had saved my life.

  “You don’t have to kill him,” she said, and the innocence in this belief made my broken heart ache.

  I sighed. There was no time for this. I needed to eliminate the threat of this Hound and then get to that damn arrow.

  “Go,” I told her. “You need to get out of Mina before more Hounds show up.”

  I pushed on the hold she had over me, but the child held fast.

  “You don’t have to kill him,” she repeated.

  “Yes, I do,” I replied through gritted teeth.

  The girl raised her chin a fraction, her silver-blue eyes defiant. Sweat had broken out over her brow, and the hand that she had raised while controlling the magic was trembling just slightly.

  Still, she didn’t release her hold.

  “We’ll run,” she promised, “but you have to leave him alive.”

  I still needed to get to the arrow, so I agreed, and we parted ways, leaving the Hound unconscious, but alive, despite my best instincts.

  Finding the arrow didn’t prove difficult, though it took longer to reach it than I’d have preferred because more and more Hounds were flooding into the streets of Mina.

  I almost ran right into a group of three more, but managed to remain unseen. I’d scarcely breathed as I’d crouched behind a barrel near an alleyway and listened as their heartbeats and the soft padding of their paws passed out of range.

  Then, I slipped around the barrel and into the small, open square, where the fountain with the statues of the beautiful woman and child was. I could feel my pulse racing in my throat, and kept my ears perked for any more unwelcome guests.