Stealing the Dark Moon

The Worst Monsters Plunder by Daylight

Even immortals hated wasting time.

A night and day were lost in dragging the monstrous twenty-foot oracle toad from its swamp pond. But Lord Ash knew the sacrificed hours couldn't be helped. The warty toad's long tongue squirmed like a snake under Lord Ash's hoof, but he pinned it down fast.

"Tell me which way my treasure lies in this repulsive realm," Lord Ash commanded. "Speak only truth or I will tie your tongue to a stake and let you shrivel in the sun."

A shudder ran through the oracle toad's slimy, moss-covered body before its bulbous eyes glowed with the blue seer-light of prophecy. "The precious dark thing you seek lies at the heart of the Galefang, in a land the humans call 'Havardale,'" the toad sputtered, "A journey some thirty nights west."

"Havardale," Lord Ash repeated almost reverently. He raised his hoof and the toad's pink tongue reeled back with a snap.

"Leave it be, milord!" the toad croaked as its muscles bunched for a jump. "Some treasures are not meant to be found."

Lord Ash didn't bother killing the insolent toad as it sprang back into the murky pond with a loud splash. Its last warning wasn't a lie, after all—no one had ever survived the curse of the Grandfather Dragon. But the Red Unicorn had little interest in mere "survival." No, he would claim the fabled curse and make it utterly his own! Lord Ash tossed his dripping spire with contempt as he stared up greedily at the thin crescent moon that gleamed overhead.

"All that was yours will soon be mine," he vowed.

The ancient cloak of spells protecting the final resting place of the Grandfather Dragon's magic frayed with every second. Invisible threads snapped and sent tiny vibrations through the air that shook Lord Ash's bones to the marrow—not even this "Galefang" could keep the secret from him now.

***

Kit reeled backwards as one of the dragon's tail spikes nearly speared him in the eye. Another trick! He knew he shouldn't have trusted Aerohim's grand show of hospitality.

"Oh no!" Aerohim said with a deep-throated chuckle that bore no hint of malice, "I won't have you all bumbling around my territory like a bunch of spring rabbits. I'll take you as far as the main road that leads out of the Galefang."

Confusion coursed through Kit's tense muscles; perhaps the dragon almost impaling him was just an accident?

None of the Silver Pennies even had time for a panicked squawk as the dragon's tail encircled them in a tight noose. One by one they found themselves dropped between the spiked ridges of his back. Kit steadied his crutch on his lap as Aerohim darted forward and sprang into the thick shadows at the back of the cave. It was as if they'd plunged deep into the heart of midnight! At first all Kit could hear and feel was the powerful draft of wind caught in Aerohim's wings, but slowly the roar of water filled his ears as droplets of moisture beaded on his face.

Aerohim swung upwards sharply and Kit gasped as they plunged through a sudden cascade of icy water. The dragon shot through the waterfall and Kit squinted as a wide blue sky overflowed the horizon. Awe filled the boy as the Galefang spread below in a vast green blanket, and then, a silent sigh as Aerohim spiraled down and landed in the middle of a dusty brown ribbon of road winding through the forest. He could've flown forever!

Kit coughed in chorus with the other orphans as they all sputtered water.

"Sorry," Aerohim said sheepishly as he hooked their collars with his tail spike and set each soggy orphan on the ground. "I forgot that human hides aren't waterproof." He poked Kit in the stomach as he sneezed water through his nose. "Honestly, it's a wonder you weaklings don't just crumple up and die under the weight of your own softness! One wrong move and you're crushed like snails." He gestured down the road with a head swing. "Head south for another hour and you'll hit a smelly hamlet of your own folk. Don't stray off of the path or you'll probably, no, you'll most definitely get eaten—unless you're lucky. But I don't think you are."