Luna

Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Council of Nine

There it was. There she was. Almost by instinct, I had tracked down and spotted the soul I'd been looking for. It's voice was subtle; soothing. Green and blue luminescence trailed from the soul as it hovered through the air before me. Golden flames could be seen deep within its form, only visible from time to time.

When I touched this thing, I would start having some really trippy visions. Hopefully the soul would bring me anywhere but that battleground of a courtyard. One trip there was enough for a lifetime.

If this was a soul, like Gate had said, was it possible that I was connecting with an actual living thing? Maybe these visions were just me looking through the eyes of something else. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. The creature in my last vision had called me Luna. Maybe I was seeing what "Luna" saw, whoever that was.

Thinking about it wasn't going to give me answers to my questions. It was time to make the connection. Bracing myself, I reached towards the soul.

My vision wavered for a moment as a new world formed around me. I was in a colossal room, lit entirely by thousands of torches, hanging in neat rows. The fires that burned on them were of many different colors, casting odd hues off of the white stone walls. Mom had taken me to a Red Sox game when I was younger. We did things like that when Dad was still around. The stadium didn't come close to the size of this cavernous area.

With no control of my body, I walked on four legs among creatures beyond imagination. They too roamed on four massive legs. Most had tails that either swung or dragged behind them. I was surprised to see one of the creatures fly over top of my head with brilliant feathered wings.

For as many creatures as there were on four legs, there were an equal amount of small, humanoid type things, floating through midair. They reminded me of the pixies I'd read about in fairy tales as a kid. I couldn't believe how small they looked compared to the four legged beasts in the room.

Before I could examine my surroundings further, one of the small pixie looking things floated in front of me. It had blue skin, pointed ears and a long flowing dress that hung below it's feet. With concerned eyes it examined me, and began to speak. I was startled to hear it's voice; its lips didn't move. Like the creature from my previous vision, it spoke directly to my thoughts, it's voice pouring through my mind.

"Oh Luna, you're badly injured! You should be with the healers. The Council will understand. Many refugees are still flooding in as it is."

There was that name again. Luna. I was obviously seeing what she saw; experiencing things through her eyes. That answered one of my questions, at least.

Luna quickly examined herself. Dark blood oozed from dozens of gashes along her body. I was surprised to see that Luna had wings too, though one seemed to be bent at a painful angle right now. She had blue and green scales, with feathers on the tips of her wings.

Luna's response filled my thoughts. I'd heard of telepathy before on TV. It wasn't supposed to be real, but here I was, witnessing it again. Maybe I really was going crazy.

"The Council won't wait Lea," she said. " I have to tell them what I've seen." There was panic in Luna's voice. Maybe it had something to do with the prophecy I'd heard in my last vision.

"What have you seen, Luna?" Lea asked, suddenly sounding afraid.

Luna hesitated before responding. "I...I don't know. Something bad. The Soulless seemed to be influenced by it. I think it has to do with Aegis leaving us."

I'd heard the names "Aegis" and "Soulless" in my dreams too. The Soulless were the ones attacking this place; wherever it was.

"Luna," Lea replied, "are you certain of this? The Council won't-"