Moon Angel

Chapter 42: A Ground-breaking Discovery

I searched the room. I had been sure there would be a vent or opening somewhere in the wall, but the walls were solid. I spun around, frantic, trying to see if there was anything I had missed.

The room was too small and the concrete walls seemed to close in around me. A cold fear dug its fingers into my heart, my chest tightening. I tried to calm myself down and think clearly, but it was getting harder and harder to breathe. The thumping on the door was consistent, relentless. I needed to focus, but I could barely think with the noise battering my head.

I wanted to scream! I had to get out of here. I couldn't take much more of this.

The floor started to sway beneath me, rumbling. I fell to my knees as I lost my balance. What was happening? The room was rocking, vibrating. The boxes and items on the shelves tumbled to the ground, crashing and breaking. Adrenalin kicked in and I crawled over to Cyra. Dirt came loose from the ceiling and sprinkled down around us. I pulled Cyra into my arms and tried to protect her. Another jolt threw me, the orb in my pocket tumbling out and rolling across the ground. The ceiling cracked, more plaster and dirt showering us. I screamed, fear racing through me. The orb smashed into the wall, breaking open. I reached for it, trying not to let go of Cyra. I picked it up, realising that the hit had opened up an inner compartment. A small chain poked out, and I pulled it, a locket falling into my hand. A locket with a small pair of wings etched into the front. My locket.

I pried it open with my nail and inside sat the pictures of Mama and Papa, but also a small cloth package. I pulled back the cloth to see a few pieces of white moon crystal sitting inside, shining, filled with moonlight. A breeze rippled through the room and I felt the familiar fingers of the wind wrapping around my body.

I closed the locket again, clipping it around my neck. A sense of calmness washed over me, even as the ground continued to tremble beneath me. Why hadn't the earthquake stopped yet?

I slowed down my breathing, and began to focus. As I pulled myself together, the movement stopped.

It was as if I had something to do with it, but I didn't have time to think about that.

The noise outside the door seemed to have stopped as well. I hoped that the shock of the earthquake would give me some extra time.

We needed to get out of here. Maybe the moon crystal would be able to wake Cyra up. I undid the locket again and pulled out a piece of moon crystal. I wasn't sure how it was meant to work, but the moonlight had healed me before. I hoped it would be able to heal Cyra too.

I didn't have to wait long to receive an answer to my query. The crystal shone brighter for a second, before the light seemed to lift out of it and wrap around Cyra, wrapping around both of us, and then disappearing inside of her. The crystal had gone dark now, and I put it back inside the locket. Nothing seemed to happen for a minute, but then Cyra gasped, her eyes flicking open. She sat upright suddenly, a mix of confusion and shock on her face. The sudden movement seemed to cause her pain. She looked around us, and then at me. "Selene?" she asked. "Is that you?" I realised that her words weren't in English, but like the guards earlier, I understood her.

I nodded. "I wasn't sure if you'd wake up!" I said as I wrapped my arms around her.

She pulled back, "What?"

"I said I wasn't sure if you'd wake up. Is there something wrong?"

She looked confused. "Selene, you're not speaking Lumen."

"Lumen?" As I said it, it felt right in my mouth. I recognised the word.

"Our language... I can't understand what you're saying. But obviously you can understand me, which is weird."