Blessed By The Moon

Chapter 49

Gemma's POV:

We were in the middle of training, swords clashing, when the scream cut through the air. Not a battle scream, not a warning, it was sharp, panicked, and jarringly human.

"Wait- what was that?" I dropped my sword, my heart skipping.

Uriah froze mid-strike, squinting toward the forest. "Did anyone else hear that?"

Kaiden's jaw tightened, he took a step closer to me. "Yeah. And it's not good."

Before anyone could react further, a guard came running through the treeline, dragging something, or someone, behind him. Axe. Wrapped in a slowly fading silver bubble, eyes half-closed, breathing shallow but steady. The bubble shimmered one last time before vanishing, leaving him slumped in the grass.

"Where is May?" I shouted instinctively, my chest tightening.

"Did she..?" Uriah trailed off, lost in thought.

Jordan, of course, had to make a comment. "She went on a heroic solo mission, didn't she? Seriously, she could have at least texted."

"Jordan, she doesn't have a phone." I barked, though I couldn't suppress the corner of a smirk.

"Yes she does, she just doesn't use it, such a grandma." He retorted.

Uriah answered "This is really not the time for this."

Jenny's eyes went wide. "That's... the healing bubble," she murmured. "She did this. Protected him."

"She did what?" Uriah asked, still catching his breath from training.

"She saved him," Jenny said softly. "Or tried. That bubble... it's fading, but it protected him from whatever she faced."

Kaiden's expression darkened. "So she's gone?"

I felt my stomach drop. "She... she must've went off into the forest. Alone."

Kaiden asked Jenny "If there was a time to have a vision, it would be now, do your voodoo stuff."

She glared at him "It's not voodoo and it does not work like that."

Jordan flopped dramatically onto a tree stump. "Maybe she got kidnapped again, that tends to happen a lot to her, it's almost comical."

Uriah replied "Again, not the time."

"Who said I was joking? This is me panicking. It's a skill, really," he said, putting a hand to his chest.

Uriah ran his fingers through his hair. "We can't just stand here. If she's out there fighting alone, she could be.."

"Dead?" Kaiden supplied flatly.

"Yes. Dead," Uriah said, glaring at him.

"She's not dead," I said, trying to convince myself as much as anyone. "She's powerful, and she knows what she's doing. But she's reckless, and... well, we need to go. Now."

Jordan grinned. "Finally! Action! I was starting to get bored with all the training, it will be fun to have actually apply it."

Kaiden groaned. "Jordan, focus. We need to go, we need a plan and we don't know what we might be going into, some people will stay here and guard the estate, the others will come with me."

"Focus, people!" Jenny snapped, hands on her hips. "Axe is unconscious, and we need to stabilize him first. Then we chase her. She's already out there, probably screaming and slaughtering things, and the last thing we need is to split up."