Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 66

Luna barely moved as the dark truck drove towards the Castle of The Eye. The troops were fighting all around them, turning the peaceful night into a battlefield. Gunshots and such rang out around the van as it used the cover of night to reach their location.

The others were silent too, none of them making an attempt to lighten the mood. Lloyd and Lily were holding hands between their two seats and the others just sat silently, all of them staring either at the floor or at their knees. Sylvia's eyes were fully glazed over, focused on Harper's hands which were fidgeting in her lap.

Luna looked around the truck wearily, keeping track of exactly how many Special Forces Agents were going in with them and how many weapons were on board.

The inside of the truck was dark, with just a colored red light situated above their heads, casting an eerie glow over their sullen faces.

The truck stopped, the door being thrown open suddenly. Luna and her friends slipped out first heading to their assigned positions, hiding behind whatever they could as they headed towards the entry points. Soldiers were shooting at each other all around them, playing a deadly game of hide-and-seek. The Special Forces Agents burst open the front door to the Castle, pushing past the guards and letting Luna and her friends in behind them.

Razaia was tasked with finding any kids that may have been left, Harper and Lily went to find Skye, Lloyd and Sylvia were sent to distract Elijah, and Colin and Luna would hold off Talya while the six Special Forces Agents made their way inside to detain and arrest Marcus Contreras. Since virtually nothing within the Castle was working anymore, since the group's last two attacks, all they had to do was capture him and stop the White Sand. Without their leader, they couldn't do anything. Without long-distance coms, they couldn't call for reinforcements—if they even had any left. It seemed like the entirety of the White Sand was gathered around the building now. This would be the last battle to fight in the war. The last time anyone would have to risk their lives to stop the White Sand.

Luna took a deep breath as she climbed down the stairs with Colin in tow. Razaia was a few steps behind, checking every possible place for the kids. Luna closed her eyes, slowing down as not to fall down the spiraling staircase. She tried to find Talya, the way she could sense her friends. Colin and Razaia were behind her, she could feel their presence. It was... familiar. She stopped entirely, looking around. She could feel something. Like a tug of energy unfamiliar to her... too soft to be Elijah, too damaged to be Skye. Too artificially green to be anyone else.

She opened her eyes, gasping as she looked around in the faint light of the stairwell. She nodded to her friends, and they continued their descent.

Once on the floor, the three split, Razaia checking every door for the kids, Luna heading towards the source of the energy, and Colin making sure no one else was following them. The lights in the halls are off, all except for the glowing exit signs at the end of every few side halls. The dark doors and obnoxiously patterned carpet overloaded Luna's senses with blue as she stalked through the main hall silently, ensuring her feet made no sounds. As she moved closer to where Talya was, the lights would flicker more and more often, throwing Luna off each time.

Finally they spotted one another. Talya was standing at the end of a white hall, the light above her flickering on and off, her head angled toward the floor. She drew her sword, running towards Luna, the lights bursting and she passed beneath them.

The two swords clashed, sparks shooting off the metal in all directions. Razaia's blood curdling scream was the first sound that had rang through the hall after the swords collided, and the hall grew eerily quiet again. Colin was ready to back her up, but ran off when he heard Razaia scream, leaving Luna on her own. Colin's running feet shuffled across the carpet, making far more sound than they usually did. Talya's heaving breaths became audible as Luna turned her focus back to the fight at hand.