Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 40

Luna looked around the pitch black room she had found herself in. Elijah had backed her and Sylvia into a large tree, and the ground beneath their feet had given out. She heard Razaia scream somewhere close by, so she assumed she had fallen in too. They hit the ground below hard.

Luna's eyes were having a hard time adjusting, even with the enhancement. She could hardly make out the walls of the room. It was much larger than the hole they had fallen through, that was certain. She was blinking hard, making small circles as she struggled to see.

"You know it's impossible to allow your eyes to adjust to the dark when there isn't even a sliver of light," Elijah's dark voice rang out from somewhere above the girls. Luna couldn't see the hole above them.

She started creeping towards the origin of the sound, trying hard not to walk into anything while she focused on the sound of his voice.

"What did you do with our friends?" Sylvia yelled out, spinning around until she was certain she was facing Luna.

Elijah laughed, the sound coming from the same place it had before. "You have to remember that your entire life is playing out according to plan. A plan that was put into place long before your birth. Long before mine." This time his voice came from directly above Luna. She couldn't see him, or anything else around her, but she could feel him. The beating of his wings. His warm breath. He felt close. Too close. The next thing Luna knew the lights were all flipped on, rows upon rows of fluorescent lights coming to life with the flick of a single switch, burning brightly against the dark. The light temporarily blinded the girls, causing them to fall to their knees. Luna slowly drew her sword without opening her eyes. She could feel the sting deep in her head. The whole room went completely silent, making Luna suddenly aware of all the sounds around her. The slightest sound of Elijah almost silently drawing his sword as his feet touched the ground. She heard the air moving as Elijah prepared to swing. By the sound of it, he was going to attempt to hit her with the flat of his sword's blade. But she wasn't taking any chances.

In less than a second Elijah swung. The moment he did Luna whipped around, blocking his sword with her own. She opened her eyes, blinking rapidly, ready for a fight. She studied the room, blinking away the sting in her eyes and watching Elijah carefully from the corner of her eye. Harper and Sylvia were standing right by each other, their shoulders pressed together. Razaia was standing close to them, each with their swords drawn. The room was a space much like the Arena in The Eye's Throne Room, but it was all falling apart. The metal was peeling off the walls, entirely rusted over. Every few light was cracked, not working, or missing entirely. It looked like a half-finished abandoned White Sand base.

Elijah was right in the middle of it all, a smirk on his face and a girl at his side. Sylvia recognized her right away.

Luna growled and lunged for Elijah. He was quick to knock her back and onto the floor. The floor was concrete, but covered in a few inches of thick sand. She stood up quickly and lunged again. "What did you do with our friends?" She screamed, swinging her sword repeatedly, not even stopping to think about her form. "We saw you take them. Where did they go?"

He dodged each strike easily, not even lifting his own blade. "After what you pulled last time, we were right to expect you."

"Where are they?" She pressed, barely managing to block his attack.

She slowed down her motions as his lips started to turn purple, his pale skin becoming even lighter. His motions had grown sluggish, and his eyelids had started to droop. He stumbled, the sword almost falling from his hand. Luna stepped back, looking towards Sylvia. Her eyes were closed and a determined look was set on her face. Harper's hands were on her shoulders to keep her from falling.