Terra Firma

His eyes

A gentle crackling buzzed through her ears. Every few seconds, a loud pop snapped through the air. A deep, choking smell crept through the air and settled deep into her lungs.

Smoke.

Fire!

Luna's eyes wrenched open. Curling red flowers filled her sight; everywhere she looked the fire was leaping, growing, snarling. She wanted to scream, to run, to do anything, but her feet were frozen to the ground and her jaw was clenched shut. Everything was burning. Luna looked down at her feet and saw the flames reaching up towards her, twisting around her ankles.

Luna choked in a breath, forcing her eyes open. Her breath came in ragged gasps and every time she moved, fire seared across her abdomen. Luna's voice came barreling back, but instead of screaming a mix of Spanish and English swears came flooding out.

"Luna! You're alive!"

Eli's cry rang out from beside her and abruptly shocked her into silence. He sounded so relieved, and there was a note of something else in his words — was it fear? What happened?

"Eli?" Luna tried to push herself to her elbows, gasping in pain and slumping back down again. Something squeezed her shoulder gently. She looked up to see Eli's worried face smiling shyly down at her.

"What..." Luna's lips were so dry that it took a couple tries to speak clearly. Eli pressed a small flask to her lips and she drank the water greedily. It had never felt so good. "What happened?"

In one corner of the room, a small fire crackled, turning the window panes into dancing orange and red shadows. Bookshelves lined the walls from the floor all the way to the ceiling. It felt like being in a dream.

Eli's face twisted as if he was struggling to find the right words to say something.

"Where are we?"

"Foreign Collections, circa the late 1700's." The quiet voice rang through the room like a bell. Luna recognised it from before, and everything came rushing back.

"You!" She forced herself up, a growl building in her throat. Eli's grasp on her shoulder tightened briefly like he was holding her back. "You shot me!"

Joe held up her hands, a guilty frown parting what was an otherwise pretty face.

Her almond eyes glinted a steely grey, and her wild hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head. A red bandana was knotted by her ear to keep the loose strands from falling into her face. Though it was easy to see the wiry muscles of her arms through her shirt, all of her clothes were a few sizes too big, and patched neatly up in more spots than Luna could count.

"You must understand," she began in a soft voice, her eyes flickering to Eli briefly then back to Luna, "how difficult it can be to protect yourself nowadays. There's not many of us left out there, you know, so you kinda stop asking questions first, if you know what I mean." Joe shifted from one foot to the other, folding an arm over her chest and biting at her thumbnail. "I saw his eyes and all I knew was I had to protect us." The way Joe said his made it sound like the dirtiest word Luna had ever heard.

She opened her mouth to snap back a retort when a door slammed loudly against the wall.

The little girl from before ran in, her hands a flurry of action. Her porcelain face was twisted with urgency.

"What? How far?" Joe turned to Lilly, signing as she spoke.

Lilly shook her head, making a couple more signs before her lips pressed into a firm line.

Luna was too tired to focus on Lilly, she could understand sign, but everything was happening too fast.

Joe swore softly. After a second, she sucked in a deep breath and silently signed something to Lilly. The little girl pulled a lock of shiny black hair over her shoulder and began to twist it through her fingers. She bit her lip so hard Luna was surprised it didn't start bleeding.

"What's going on?" Eli let his hand fall from Luna's shoulder and got carefully to his feet, picking up a book from the floor on the way and holding it to his chest. Luna saw its golden name glint in the firelight and couldn't keep a grin from her face. Shakespeare.

Joe signed something to Lilly, who nodded and rushed to the doorway. As she passed through, she paused, smiling shyly at Luna and Eli and raising her hand in a sort of wave. As quickly as she had come, she was gone. When they were alone in the room again, Joe sighed.

Eli walked off pacing around the room holding the book across his chest tightly. He could feel something had changed and felt nervous with Luna injured and not ready to leave yet they were at her mercy.

Luna winced in pain as she tried to sit up. Her hair clung to the sweat on her forehead. She felt funny as the room seemed to spin again.

Joe quickly raced over and helped Luna to lay back down "You're burning up Luna, you need to rest, please"

Eli quickly raced to her side "What did she say?"

Luna was stirring in and out of conscienceless. Joe looked concerned as she moved closer placing her ear closer to Luna "She saying a name, I can barely make it out. George,I think?"

Eli looked puzzled. Luna had never mentioned a George before but he knew whoever George was, he must be important to her.

Joe checked her wrist as she glanced over at Eli. He could see she was on edge, even more than before. She ran the strands of loose hair that fell from her bun through her fingers.

"Something's wrong?" He raised his voice at her hoping she would talk.

Joe bit her lip as she looked toward the door "Our friends are back and well, when they see what's happened and see you both" Eli stood up slowly almost shielding his body over Luna

" They have to be nicer than you, right? They can't do much more to us" He pointed down at Luna sarcastically.

Joe let out a nervous smile at Eli's remark and looked over at Luna again "I'm so sorry about Luna, and you're right. I will tell them exactly what's happened"

Just as Joe had finished her last word the door flew open.

A deep voice hummed like an engine across the room.

"Joe, who are these people and what have you done?" He lifted his hand up to his weapon as his dark eyes glared at Eli. His mouth twisted into different shapes as he waited for Joe to respond. The colour of Eli's eyes sent rage into his body.

Joe held her hands out as she stumbled closer to him as quickly as she could.

She reached for his arm that rested on his weapon quickly.

"Its ok Theo, they are all good, let's wait for the others and I will explain everything"