Palace of Moonlight

by Payton Taylor

  She met his eyes and found his gaze surprisingly distraught as he surveyed her situation.

  "Can you pull me out?" she asked, reaching up.

  Leo looked doubtful and she didn't blame him. It had taken Sunny and Westin together to free Marzanna using Westin's Combatant strength.

  A determined look crossed Leo's face. He reached down, grabbing Jo's hands in his.

  The moment their skin touched, Jo felt energy spark through her, like lightning crackling through her veins, only it was pleasurable rather than painful.

  Leo froze, his eyes widening.

  "Leo, what's wrong?" Jo asked.

  The grip on her ankle yanked and she pulled Leo with her, snapping him out of it.

  He dug his feet into the ground to keep them from sliding any further. He pulled, his muscles shifting beneath the thin material of his suit, but Jo didn't budge. The grip on her ankle was strong, and she began to feel the effects of it cutting off her circulation as she lost feeling in her foot.

  Leo's eyes flashed. "I have an idea. I'm going to try to channel my intangibility through you, the way I can with the invisibility."

  Sweat dripped into Jo's eyes. "Do you think that will work?"

  The creature yanked again, and Leo strained to keep hold. "I don't know! I've never done it before. Just. . . I don't know, think loose!"

  Think loose? Jo thought. What did that mean?

  Leo closed his eyes in concentration, and she felt a slight tingling along her skin, the way she sometimes did when Leo was really focusing his invisibility.

  Okay, think loose, she thought.

  Could she do that? Did she trust him to hold onto her without her help? She looked into his eyes. He had helped her escape Ettria. Twice.

  Jo released the tension in her muscles, allowing herself to go limp as she gave up all resistance. The tingling seemed to seep into her skin, and she lost all feeling of the dirt around her. Then she lost feeling of the grip on her ankle.

  The only thing she felt was Leo's grip on her hands, the current of energy that still seemed to pulse between them.

  Leo gave a heave and she slipped from the dirt. She shuddered as she felt the disconcerting feeling of something foreign passing through her skin, muscle, and bone. It was vague, though, like the brush of a ghost.

  They collapsed in a heap, Jo half sprawled on top of him. She looked down at him as his hands came to rest on her hips.

  Leo looked up at her, his dark eyes bright. "You know, if you wanted to get closer to me, there are easier ways."

  Jo smiled, rolling her eyes, and pushed herself up, fighting a blush.

  Looking around, she saw that Khione, Kian, and Zahra were now free, tears and bloodied marks scattered across their skin and suits.

  Seren was still stuck, Westin and Sunny pulling desperately on his arms. Seren's eyes slammed shut in pain as his body sunk a few inches deeper.

  The rest of them grabbed onto Sunny and Westin, adding their strength.

  They pulled and the ground around Seren broke, coming up with him as he was finally released.

  He groaned as he cradled his arm. He breathed in and out slowly, preparing himself, before jerking his arm up and back. The bones in his shoulder popped as he put his arm back into place.

  Kian and Zahra were at his side immediately, helping him with supplies, and offering their help, but Seren silently stood and put some distance between him and everyone else.

  Kian and Zahra shared a look, and Zahra patted Kian on the back, whispering reassurances.

  Dirt had caved in at the place Seren had been, revealing a wide underground nest with several connecting tunnels. Whatever made them had to have been huge.

  Jo caught a flash of brown fur as the animal that had held Seren fled down one of the tunnels.

  The nest was littered with the bodies of dead animals and those of a few humans as well.

  "What were those, some kind of jacked groundhogs?" Sunny asked, still breathing hard.

  "Whatever they are, this is the first I've come across them," Westin said.

  They looked to Seren, but he was holding his arm, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. Jo sensed he didn't want to be disturbed.

  They were about to turn back when Jo heard a quiet chirping. Edging closer to the hole, she searched the mass of bones and bodies but saw nothing.

  Then she heard it again and saw a pelt shift.

  "Uh, Jo, what are you doing?" Sunny asked as she leaned down.

  Jo didn't reply as she moved the pelt aside. Beneath it was a small black bird. It chirped again, wiggling as Jo cupped it in her hands.

  It looked up at her with big black eyes and Jo gasped as its thoughts brushed hers. Though it was only a baby, she could sense that it was extremely intelligent.

  Pictures flashed in its mind and she saw what had to be its mother, a huge black raven-like thing, disappearing beneath the earth before it was yanked under. It had hidden under the pelt to avoid detection, too small to help its mother.

  It nuzzled its head against her hand, and she was lost.

  Jo turned to the others. "I'm keeping him."

  "Is that really the best idea right now?" Khione asked, her voice gentle.

  "I'm keeping him," Jo said again, looking around and daring anyone to stop her. Sunny and Leo both shrugged as if they knew it was useless to argue.

  They started off again, Jo's new bird perched contentedly on her shoulder as she fed it bits of peanut from her pack. She sensed it would prefer meat, but peanuts were all she had at the moment.

  As they walked, she looked over to Leo, her thoughts lingering on that strange electricity that had run through her skin when he'd held her hands.

  Had he felt it, too?

  Leo glanced up as if feeling her eyes on him. He glanced away quickly, and Jo frowned. She tried to catch his eye, but he refused to look at her.

  Now what? Jo wondered.

  Chapter 17

  Sunny

  Writhia, 5220

  The Wastes

  Sunny now had two ghosts following her.

  There was Gordo, of course, but now there was an old woman following her as well.

  A chatty old woman.

  She had appeared the day Sunny had arrived in the Wastes when she was throwing up her guts due to the stress of seeing Westin again. Of fighting with him.

  She had run from his hut, her belly roiling with nausea, unable to concentrate on anything other than her churning stomach and the fact that Westin hated her much more than she had ever dreamed.

  The vomit had been almost a relief, an expulsion of all the tension and guilt and anger inside of her.

  "Give him time, girl, he'll come around," a voice had spoken behind her.

  Sunny had whipped around, vomit dripping from her chin as she reached for her staff, only to find a tiny, ancient woman standing before her. She reminded Sunny of some kind of nature sprite. Small, with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  But something else snagged her attention. There was something off about the woman, something she couldn't quite put her finger on. The woman was a Necromancer, Sunny could feel that much.

  She was also dead.

  But that wasn't what Sunny sensed. There was more to it, she was sure of it.

  "Who are you?" she asked, Gordo appearing beside her. He had left, disappearing to wherever ghosts disappeared to, to give her time alone with Westin, and only returned then because he had sensed her alarm.

  The woman huffed, "I'm an old friend of your man in there. At least, I assume he's yours, judgin' by the looks he was givin' you. I'm Daiya-" she cut off abruptly, swatting at Gordo who was reaching out to touch the halo of white curls that floated around her head. "Touch my hair again, boy, and I'll kill ya twice."

  She turned to glare at him and that's when Sunny realized what was off about her. When she turned her head, her neck moved strangely, the skin loose and twisted. Her head bobbed as if she couldn't hold it still.

  That's when
her death flashed through Sunny's mind. Tears lined her eyes as she watched Daiya ask

  Westin to kill her, to keep her from suffering any more from the illness ravaging her body.

  Watched as Westin held Daiya close, his strong arms comforting around her even as he killed the only friend he had known in the hellscape she had sentenced him to. Snapped her neck to keep her from suffering even though he knew it would kill a piece of him along with her.

  No wonder he hates me, she thought, I would hate me, too.

  And she did hate herself a little more with every passing second.

  Daiya must have seen the look on her face because she laid a gentle hand on Sunny's arm. "He'll come around. He's a good boy, my Wessy. He just needs time to heal from the hurtin'."

  Though Sunny had nodded and dried her tears, there was still a large part of her that found the old Necromancer's words impossible to believe.

  And now, days later, Daiya and Gordo trailed after Sunny and her friends, bickering incessantly. Daiya had decided to adopt Gordo as her own. Gordo apparently wasn't having it.

  "So, what should I name him?" Jo asked, looking to the small black ball of feathers that rested on her shoulder, causing Sunny to drag her attention away from the arguing dead. Away from the memory of Westin's face when she had told him that Daiya was still with him, watching over him.

  He had avoided her for hours afterward. Wouldn't so much as look at her.

  "Tweety," Sunny answered Jo's question, forcing herself to focus on the present. "I did, I did taw a puddy tat!" She used her best Tweety Bird impression.

  For some reason, that sent Jo and Sunny into crazed giggles. They were trying not to draw attention to themselves, trying to stay quiet, but that made it harder to stop laughing. Sunny felt like she was in grade school again, trying not to laugh at something another child did.

  It was the stress, the heat. Everything was always wet from the humidity.

  Jo had a crazed look to her. Her hair was always curly, but now it was wild, untamed. The way Sunny permanently felt nowadays.

  Jo's skin was extremely red, the small amount that was showing, at least. Everyone's skin was burnt, but Jo had the lightest complexion. Sunny felt herself automatically wincing every time she stared at Jo for too long.

  At least Marzanna kept them well-stocked on some sort of herbal lotion similar to aloe vera.

  The group had decided that Sunny, Jo, and Westin would take to the front, leading the group. With the use of their staffs, it helped to clear vegetation, ants, spiders, and snakes. Westin had the best senses and marked trees as they passed to ensure they weren't walking in circles.

  Sunny knew they weren't.

  Ever since that awful vision, Sunny felt something, a force of sorts, pulling her. She didn't know how she knew, but she would feel it when they arrived wherever it was they were going.

  Sunny felt Westin's eyes on her as she laughed with Jo. He observed her with no love in his gaze. Her mouth tightened, and he looked away. When Sunny's gaze strayed back to Jo's, she was glancing back at Leo who was dutifully staring away.

  God, everyone is a mess.

  Sunny wanted to ask what was wrong but decided she would let Jo come to her when she was ready.

  As they traveled along, Sunny felt as if they were being watched. There was always something, a dark blur out of the corner of her eye, but as soon as she would look at it head on, it wasn't there.

  She shivered even though her body was drenched in sweat.

  "What's wrong, Sunny?" Gordo asked, trotting up to walk next to her.

  She sighed. "Nothing, I just feel super creeped out here."

  Their group was used to her talking to invisible people by now, so no one batted an eye at her talking to herself.

  Her gaze slipped to Westin against her will.

  "Nothing is going the way I want it to."

  Gordo eyed the Combatant distrustfully. "Are you sure he's your Match? Do you want me to knock him around for you?" He cracked his knuckles before turning his neck, trying to crack that too, "I can take him."

  Sunny laughed and heard Jo snort behind her, listening in on their conversation through Sunny's thoughts.

  "I'm good, thanks."

  But Gordo stopped and held out his arms and before Sunny knew it she was stepping into them, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder, hugging him back. He squeezed her tightly and she fought the tears that threatened to spring to her eyes. She was a mess.

  "Umm. . . Seph, why does your sister look like she fell asleep standing up?

  Sunny pulled away and looked to Leo, forcing a grin. "It's a talent of mine, I'm all rested now."

  She sucked a breath in, counted to four, then let it out. "It's getting dark, why don't we rest for the night?"

  Then, she turned away, needing privacy.

  *****

  The sun went down, and all of their stinky and sweaty bodies huddled together in the tent they had packed.

  Sunny hated sleeping. When the darkness came, and fatigue sauntered into her brain it felt as if a giant claw was scratching down her spine. She would think about how the king smelled. Her rage rising because she actually liked it. He never stunk, and she despised him for that. A man so dirty, and gruesome, but the smell. It was something her brain thought of every night, and Sunny would start to panic. Fear setting in, thinking he had found them.

  She knew she needed help, needed to talk to someone. Maybe even needed medication. But she felt lost. Whenever her lips moved to try and talk about it, they went numb and the words suddenly died and fell back down her throat, fizzling in the acids of her stomach, never to rise again except through her actions.

  Suddenly, everything changed.

  Where she was just staring at the ceiling of the tent, she was now in a black and red room.

  The king's room.

  "No," the word came out in a gasp.

  She looked around and saw the king smiling at her, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

  Azmodeous sat on the bed, legs crossed, his head tilted to the side. He had heavy-lidded eyes, and he was excited. It was like a hormone-crazed teenager watching a sex scene for the first time.

  Sunny looked down and gasped, covering herself up.

  Shame and anger battled together with anger claiming dominance.

  She was wearing the same lingerie she had worn the night he had made her dance for him.

  He had threatened to punish Jo unless Sunny would give him "everything he needed.”

  Sunny had done her best impression of a strip tease for him, with the promising words of "The anticipation will make it better on the full moon." His expression then had been pure ecstasy. Now, it was a hurricane of lust and rage.

  Vomit tore its way up her throat, and she dry heaved onto the carpet.

  Her head was pounding, and she couldn't remember where she'd been.

  "How am I here?" her voice came out foggy, like she was drugged. She didn't feel like she was in control.

  "I can sense you now, my dear."

  Sunny's eyes widened and he went on, "You see, at our beloved Match ceremony, before you decided to ruin it," he said through gritted teeth, "I drank some of your blood. So, you're my Match." His grin was triumphant. The grin of someone who had just won the lottery.

  Sunny’s hand flew to her chest rubbing over her heart which felt as if it was about to burst through her ribs. "That can't be right," she whispered.

  He stared at her with that crazed smile. "Oh yes, I can sense that you fear me, and my oh my, do I love that. It means you'll be an excellent subservient Match."

  Sunny bit down on her tongue so hard, blood filled her mouth. That same blood was hot and boiling and rushing between her ears causing her hearing to go in and out.

  "Wait a second. . ." A thought popped into her mind.

  "You only drank my blood. We didn’t. . . finish it."

  His smile faded.

  "And you drank mine. I am inside of you now, Eleyna. A
nd when I find you, and I will find you, I will finish what we started at our Match ceremony. And then you will be mine, body and soul."

  Sunny swallowed but refused to look away. He knew exactly how to get to her, exactly which words would set her knees to trembling, keep her lips from shouting back.

  It was odd how someone who didn't seem to even know her real name knew the words that would cut her the deepest.

  And he was right, wasn't he? He had taken her blood at that ceremony. She had swallowed his, too. She still tasted it on her tongue every morning when she woke up. Still had the mark of proof on her arm.

  She had drunk his blood. He was inside of her, would remain there, no matter how far she ran.

  And she had run from him. She would continue to run, no matter how close she felt him get. Until her legs gave out. And then she would crawl.

  She wouldn't let him get her again. She started to laugh.

  "Wow, you just can't catch a break, can you?"

  The smile slipped from his lips, encouraging her to continue.

  "You took my mother, the real Eleyna, and she ran. She may have cared for you once, may have even loved you, but in the end, she ran. She ran so far you couldn't find her, and she died without ever having to see your face again.

  She won."

  "And now?" she continued, warmed by the stinging ice in his eyes, "Now I'm running. You thought you had me, but I got away. And you'll never get me back, Azmodeous. I'm going to win. Like my mother."

  He was on her before she could finish. His hands around her throat, her feet dangling in the air. She couldn't breathe. There were white spots in her vision.

  "Noelani!" She heard Westin's voice, and suddenly she was back in the tent with the others.

  Chapter 18

  Westin

  Writhia, 5220

  The Wastes

  Noelani's night terror woke him.

  Westin had been tossing and turning in a fitful sleep when panic had shot through him, jerking him from whatever half-formed nightmare his mind had conjured that night. A cold sweat broke out along his skin as he scanned the tent and sleeping forms around him. His legs itched with the need to run, but he wasn't sure why.