Lady Moon, Sha'tan #1

Chapter 1 Eddy

Dana opened her eyes, startled awake by noise from her cousin's bedroom. It had to be late morning, the sun was already reaching the foot of her bed. She had overslept. Her guardians must already be in the glasshouse, harvesting the vegs, and didn't bother waking her up. She had stayed up late the previous night, but still wished she had joined them. At dawn, in summer, the islands in the bay seemed to be floating on clouds of mist .

Another sound, followed by a thump on the wall. Her cousin's bed was on the other side, and she wondered if the girl was having a nightmare. Dana stuck her ear on the smooth wood and recognized muffled sobs. Of course Eddy would be crying, she was only five years old, not quite as mature as herself, who was nine.

Then came the words. "You little bitch, you bit me! Don't you do that again or else..."

Dana's eyes narrowed. This angry male voice was not her uncle's, or anyone else she knew.

Something was seriously wrong.

Now was the time for any other child her age to scream and hide under the furniture. But Dana Sand was NOT any other child.

Jumping from her bed, she grabbed her sword. The edges were blunt, but the tip was sharp enough to go through a straw bale, given enough thrust. She had been fencing for the past three years, and was better at it than most of her classmates, likely because she was so ridiculously tall.

She walked out of her room, her bare feet stepping silently on the cool lava stones. At her cousin's door, she paused and gathered her strength, hands shaking from the adrenaline rush. She was brave and never the last one in a fight, but this was a grown up man she was going to take on, and for a brief moment she doubted herself. God, she couldn't even fully warp yet!

One, two... Dana took a deep breath and burst into the room, slamming the door against the wall. And froze. Eddy's nightgown was on the floor at her feet, ripped from top to bottom. Eddy herself was on her bed on the opposite end of the room, naked, legs apart. A huge man stood between them, trousers down. His long red tunic covered his bottom, the front part spilling over her cousin's belly, below his bulging stomach. His bleeding hand pressed on Eddy's nose and mouth, suffocating her. He turned to Dana and gave her a wicked grin.

Anger overcoming her fear, she shouted at him."Get off her you bastard, or I'll kill you!"

"Pretty and feisty, my favorite!" the man laughed, "Don't worry, I'll do you later..."

Something snapped in Dana's mind. Wielding her sword she launched herself at him, warping at full speed for the first time. In a split second she was on him, stabbing him in the guts with all her might, using the momentum. The sword went in like butter, up to the hilt.

The man collapsed slowly to the side, mouth opened, staring at the wound in disbelief.

Dana's eyes widened in horror. She had killed him. Really killed him. Someone had to fix it. Her uncle. She had to get her uncle.

Her trembling hands pulled her cousin to her feet and dragged her after her, running to safety.

Dana woke up gasping for air, heart pounding widely. It took her a while to recognize her bedroom at Rej's Military Camp. She couldn't believe she was having this nightmare again, eleven years later.

In the end all had been well, mostly. The aggressor hadn't raped Eddy; Dana interrupted him just in time. He did not die either. The blade had caused extensive bleeding, but missed vital organs. He lived to be branded a criminal and abandoned at sea. Dana was not allowed to attend when they applied the red iron to his face, she only got to watch the tiny boat towed away from the shore and abandoned in the arctic current.