Queens of Ice

Chapter Eleven

Moon opened the door to the house silently, closing it again behind her. She slipped across the floor like a shadow, and listened for voices. She heard muttering from below and pressed herself to the floor. She recognized Beluga's, Avalanche's and Orca's voices.

Avalanche, she thought. I won't have time to explain, I'll just have to rip off the talisman and hope they give me time to explain. And hope that they can stop me if Taiga still has control.

Moon walked over to the desk and prepared to push it out of the way to reveal the hole, but hesitated.

I have to try, she told herself. If I don't, Taiga will learn about the entire resistance. If I do, and Taiga takes control of me, Then she can only destroy these dragons. My friends...

Moon hardened her resolve and shoved the desk aside, plunging into the underground room. Shouts of surprise and anger broke out as she hurled herself at Avalanche. She collided with the older IceWing and knocked her off her feet. Moon grabbed at her ankle as she felt claws rip into her shoulders. She kicked back and heard a grunt as her attacker was thrown off. She wrenched the anklet off Avalanche's leg and hurled it to the floor. She hit it with frostbreath again and again until it was fused to the floor.

A heavy weight landed on Moon's shoulders and she was pinned to the floor. Talons closed around her horns and her throat was pressed hard into the ice.

"Traitor."

Moon recognized Orca's deep voice.

"I can explain," she gasped, not struggling to free herself.

"I don't think so," Orca growled. "You're not going to feed us some lie you concocted in the days you were betraying us to the queen."

His grip shifted from her horns to her lower jaw, ready to twist. Moon tensed, talons digging into the floor, but Avalanche interrupted.

"Stop, Orca. I will hear her out."

Avalanche moved into Moon's line of sight. "You have some explaining to do, Moon Stone."

Moon briefly reflected on the bizarre reality her life had become. She had a feeling that there were very few times in the history of Pyrrhia that a princess had been interrogated by a citizen of her tribe, even under such understandable circumstances as this.

"The talisman," she choked out. "If you're wearing it, Taiga can see what you see and hear what you hear. I had to get it off quickly; she thought I was dead and I didn't want to tip her off."

"Where were you?" Beluga blurted, interrupting Avalanche.

"Taiga captured me," Moon explained. "Avalanche was wearing the talisman when I told her I would go, so she knew I would be there. She set a trap, and I walked right into it."

She turned to Avalanche. "But what you need to know is that anything you've done, heard, seen, or said with that bracelet on could be in jeopardy."

"So why hasn't your sister come after us?" Orca demanded.

"She was going to wait until you'd revealed the rest of them, then kill you all at once."

Avalanche nodded. "It's what I'd do in her place." She gestured to Orca. "Let her up."

"You believe her?" Orca said in a low voice.

"It would explain a lot," Avalanche replied. "And she is our princess."

Then to Moon; "Did you learn anything about the queen's animus capabilities?"

Moon closed her eyes for a moment. She would have to tell them. "I think," she began, standing up. "That Taiga has found a way to enchant dragons, not just inanimate objects."

"That's impossible," Beluga argued.

Moon shook her head sadly. "No. She enchanted- She enchanted me. She was able to control me. She kept me from moving at all for days, and then she was able to make me move in the way she wanted me to. I'm afraid she may be able to make me attack you if she wanted to."

"Why wouldn't she want to?"

"She may not be able to reach me from this far away, or it's possible she thinks I'm dead." Moon gave them a quick summary of how she'd escaped the guards by pretending she had drowned. "But as long as I'm with you, we can't assume you're safe. Taiga may figure out I'm alive, and make me hurt you. And I wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. After I leave, you should change your plans, relocate your dragons, change them up as much as you can so Taiga won't know what you're planning."

"You can't leave!" Beluga cried. She jumped between Moon and the exit. "You're the only one who can stop her! The only thing we can do is have you challenge her for the throne! Without you there's nothing we can do!"

"And what can you do with me?" Moon said bitterly. "Get killed, that's what. And Taiga will probably make me do it, too. I can't take that risk."

"Moon, wait!" Beluga cried, but Moon walked around her and flew out the entrance to the house, leaving them behind.

Moon waited until nightfall on an ice cliff, then took to the air once more. She didn't look down at the ground as she flew, instead looking straight ahead. Moon doubled back and turned randomly in the air, trying to get herself lost. If she saw a landmark she recognized, she turned around and flew the other way.

If I don't know where I am, it'll be all the harder for Taiga to find me, Moon thought.

Eventually, Moon found a cave in the middle of nowhere, and settled in for the night. All she knew about her location was that she had passed the Great Ice Cliff several hours ago. But she had twisted and turned and gotten herself turned around in the clouds so often that she could have flown over it several times since then. She had flown very slowly down from the sky with her eyes closed tight. She didn't know if Taiga could see through her eyes, but didn't want to risk anything.

As she landed clumsily on the ice, she opened her eyes, staring down at the ground. She looked around, without raising her eyes too far, and saw a small cave in the ice. She walked towards it, not looking away, and pulled herself far enough into the cave that she couldn't see the entrance. She curled up on the floor, and fell asleep.

Moon's dreams were not comforting. She heard Taiga taunting her, felt her claws move of their own accord to slash through the neck of a shadowy, faceless dragon. She was lost in the dark cave again, her sister's voice echoing around her. She raced for the exit, lit by moonlight, but when she reached it, the light turned dark blue, like an IceWing's blood. The cave mouth slammed shut, and the cave filled with dark, choking water. Moon clawed at the ceiling, and the image of the cave dissolved, replaced by Taiga's triumphant face on the night she'd captured Moon. The spear she had held seemed to grow until the point was inches from Moon's eye. The point was broken off, but Moon was terrified all the same.

Moon jerked awake, clawing at the cave floor.

What if Taiga sent those dreams? What if she knows I'm alive?

Moon shook her head, feeling paranoid. Taiga hadn't found her yet. If she knew Moon was alive, wouldn't she have come for her already?

"She's an evil animus queen, who can use her powers as much as she wants without going insane. You would be crazy not to be scared," Moon said aloud. "But maybe she does know, but is letting me torment myself for her own amusement?"

Great. Maybe I really am going crazy.