Moonrise ✔ [Complete]

49 Mortal (Part 3)

They left the cavern and returned to the tunnels. Celestials turned as she and Reo passed by, shifting off to the side to allow them space. Maeyune scanned their faces and witnessed the hope that briefly shrouded their fear.

"We've all been forced underground," Reo began. His expression was grave. "Right now, we're about a hundred klicks into the Goldhorn Mountains. The base we were trying to reach in the north is gone. Completely eradicated. While you and I were stuck hiking, the Wobeck destroyed most of the military bases across the country—the ones above ground, at least. That's why none of the Beran gunships could come rescue us."

They moved around a group of land celestials who began carving a new cavern. Families in civilian clothing waited along the tunnels for the completion.

A new space to act as a temporary shelter, Maeyune thought.

"Councilor Daylana Hart is here," Reo said. "Since she's the last surviving member of the Council, she's acting Head Councilor. She's in the control room with a few others right now, including General Soras. They'll be happy to know you're awake. There's also a General Amora here. Your...Nomenian captain friend said you know her?"

The word "friend" sounded forced from his mouth, but Maeyune nodded and considered the rest of his news. She drew from memory. While she and Reo had confronted the aliens upon their arrival, General Amora was the leader of the Nomenian rebels who'd overthrown the last of the Iron Prophet.

Reo continued, "I told them everything that happened. They know about the ambush and the trap--about the Overlord, the Ranhabeck, the Guardians. Everything."

A few armed soldiers ran past them, and Maeyune's eyes followed their dark green uniforms before they vanished around a corner.

Reo nodded after them. "It's a little strange seeing the Nomenians here, at least the ones we know who fought against the Iron Prophet. It's like the past twenty years of tension never existed between our countries. But the Nomenians say that we can have their tech, as long as we treat their people like our own."

"Mankind has a common enemy now," Maeyune murmured.

He glanced down at her as they walked. "It's kind of sad how it all came down to that."

"And what of Suolan? Have you heard anything from my country?"

"We're trying to reestablish comms with them," Reo answered, and his eyes shadowed with regret.

A hand snatched Maeyune's wrist, and she was sent hurtling sideways into a cot. The hand belonged to a man with crimson-red bandages wrapped around his head, covering an eye—or lack thereof.

She refrained from squirming. She saw the tears that drenched his blood-smeared cheeks.

"Please," he wept. "Please, moon warrior. My family is all gone. All gone. I don't want to live with this pain. Make me forget. Make it all go away."

Anguish speared through Maeyune's chest. She sputtered. "I'm sorry. I-I don't—"

She couldn't finish. She couldn't make the admission.

Family. Pain. Loss. Fear.

Aunt Lyn. Her friends.

The grip on her wrist was unrelenting, holding her as if the man's life depended on it.

Reo's hand hovered into view. It rested atop the fingers that bound Maeyune, and Reo cast a gentle golden-emerald glow. The man's head flopped backward onto his cot, and the grip slackened. Soon, he was fast asleep.

Maeyune rubbed at her wrist, hugged it to her chest. The soldier's grief haunted her.

"What did you do to him?" she asked Reo.