Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 33

"Luna! Luna can you hear me?" Razaia's voice cut through the ringing in her ears. Razaia was holding Luna up in a half sitting position, patting her cheek as Luna's vision danced. "Luna, we've got to go, now is not the time for a nap!"

Luna blinked, pulling herself to her feet, Razaia steadying her. "We have to get out." She scanned the room, pointing towards a staircase leading to the ledge above the room. "There."

Robyn ran towards them, stopping right in front of them, putting a hand on each of their shoulders for balance, her breathing shallow. "We have to get out, now." She nodded up towards the ledge. "There's a door up there, there's no way to lock it, it leads to a window. That's our way out."

"That's convenient," Razaia muttered.

Luna took a breath, lifting herself off the floor, carefully extending her wings. "Guys! Let's go!" She shouted, looking down below her.

"Lloyd! We have to go! Now!" Lily was shouting, shaking Lloyd's limp form.

"You guys go ahead! I'll catch up!" He yelled back.

"Lloyd, this is no time to be a hero, let's go!" Luna yelled at him, flying over to where he was, struggling to stand up and grasp his sword.

Elijah ran—or whatever you would call what he was doing, lumbering perhaps—towards them. Colin grabbed Lily by the arm and pulled her out of the way. Not letting go, he started to run towards where Sylvia and Razaia were trying to escape. The door was open, and there was a thin metal staircase on the other side. Elijah backed up for a moment, giving Lloyd the chance to stand and run. He took his sister's hand, and together they made a mad dash for the window at the top of the stairs.

Elijah spat at the floor, glowering.

Luna threw herself at the window, feeling it shatter against her body. Her wings wrapped around her, blocking out any glass. She fell into a safety roll after hitting the ground, her wings disappearing and her sword tripping her. She steadied herself on her hands, looking up slowly. The others were right behind her, as they had been since they had left Base Camp.

They ran for the woods and didn't stop until they had put almost half a mile between them and the castle. Luna hadn't noticed that they had been leaving a trail of red to their position. Lily however, had noticed, alerting the rest of them by letting out a small scream. Her hands shot up to cover her mouth. "Lloyd..." she gasped, slowly reaching out to grasp his arm. Luna looked, spotting the gash running down the length of his bicep, the canvas-like material of his uniform torn. Blood was spilling from it and dripping down his elbow.

"Lloyd," Luna warned. "Don't move."

He furrowed his eyebrows, reaching for Lily's hand. "No, no! Don't move!" Lily exclaimed, gripping his other hand. "Does it hurt?"

"Does what hurt?"

She let his hand go, reluctantly touching a finger to the end of the gash. He hissed in response. "This."

He turned his arm over scoffing. "Must have cut myself on the glass, although it easily could have been that guy, who was he, your ex-boyfriend?" He didn't sound accusatory, just curious, as if he was trying to distract himself. "He seems a bit old for you."

"No, I used to see him as an older brother. He and one other guy stepped in to fill the 'father' role when they were teens. Then that one, Elijah, turned on us..." She looked at her feet. "He's the reason my mother is gone... he's the reason you'll never meet Euen..." she added in a whisper.

"Lily, I'm so sorry," Lloyd apologized, taking her hand. "I didn't mean to bring that up."

"It's fine," Lily jerked her hand back, wiping Lloyd's blood off of it. "How did you not even notice you were bleeding?" She asked, refusing to meet his eyes. "We ran for like five minutes..."