Moonborn

Mt. Neverest

The sun had not yet lit the sky when Evelyn was up. Yawning, stumbling, and cursing her alarm clock under her breath, she moved about her apartment until she was fully dressed and all her baggage was near the door. It had turned out that the safe house she and Marvin were going to already had all the long-term supplies they needed, much to Marcy's joy. Instead of the huge packs she had dreaded so much to carry, it would only be Evelyn's personal bag and well as a small traveling pack.

Three raps on the door sounded shortly after Evelyn had gotten dressed in sleepy-eyed stupor.

"I hope you're not going to make me carry both of them," Marcy whispered as soon as Evelyn opened the door. She eyed their size warily.

"They're lighter than they look," Evelyn yawned, surprised at how bright-eyed her friend could be even in the unnatural hours of the morning. "We had a deal. And besides, my hands are full." She nodded toward the sleeping dragonet in her arms, who was wrapped in a blanket.

Marcy muttered a curse before slinging both bags onto her shoulders. "Just as long as I don't have to wait for you long," she called, already setting off down the corridor in a fast, determined walk.

Evelyn closed the door with her foot before following after her.

Outside, the mostly-full moon still shone brightly over the glistening dew-dropped grass, reflecting off the dragonet's scales as they made their way across. Even though Marcy was laden with the packs, Evelyn still struggled to keep up with her.

A light fog covered the air and swirled around them. Evelyn shuddered, remembering another night in which the mist was too thick to see.

They headed to the practice fields directly outside the immediate compound area, where no one snooping form a window would be able to see them. Remembering that, Evelyn paused to carefully cover her dragonet with the blanket except for her head. Her scales weren't glowing like they had the other night, but they were still luminescent, and it wouldn't do to sacrifice the mission by abandoning all caution.

Seraphine was already waiting there, but there was no sign of Marvin. Evelyn greeted her as Marcy tied the bags to the straps on her saddle.

"Hello, Seraphine. Where's Marvin?"

"On the way. I think he's checking with Aldebar on a few last minute details. Here you go, Marcy." The dragoness knelt down on the ground in order to make Marcy's job easier.

Marcy hugged her before she left. "Thank you," Evelyn whispered, closing her eyes against the well of tears suppressed in them.

"Oh, 'Lyn. I'll be fine. you'll see, soon enough this whole thing will be over and it'll be just like the old days, okay?"

Evelyn let herself believe that for a moment, a smile lurking on her lips. She nodded, unable to speak, and Marcy gave her one more squeeze before separating herself and heading back to the Compound.

Squinting into the distance, Evelyn could see another figure doing toward them: Marvin. He stopped to speak to Marcy for a moment and then started running.

But something drew her attention away. Her gaze traveled to the line of trees that bordered the training field, where shadows covered long areas of the field. She let her eyes linger there for another long moment before bringing them up to meet Marvin's.

He saw her troubled face and frowned. "Something wrong?"

"I think I saw something . . ." Evelyn let her gaze travel back to the spot, where she had though she had seen a shadow among shadows. "Probably nothing."