Chapter Five
Luna
and Merrick talked the whole time catching up for the many years that they had
missed as friends. Finally, the
questions arose to
“It’s
a very long story that probably wouldn’t mean that much to you,”
“Well… I’m a good listener.”
“That
doesn’t sound too complicated…” Luna trailed on to lead him into more
speech. She just loved his voice,
but he seldom talked and when he did he was very quiet about it.
“It’s
not complicated- just cumbersome.
At age ten I was ordered out of the house, my birth certificate was
destroyed, and I was removed from his and mom’s will.”
“
“I
banded together with three others who had met the same fate at some point in
their lives, and we all pitched in to buy the house that I now occupy
alone. They left some time
ago…”
Finally,
they reached the city that had seen for a long while back. The shining lampposts, clean well-lit
streets, and well numbered street corners gave Luna a better feeling of
security once they got to the more organized part of town.
Looking
around as the light of day faded and the moon rose to the top of the sky,
“What
are we doing
“Don’t
speak.”
Her
eyes adjusting to the darkness, she suddenly got the urge to kiss her childhood
friend. She thought that he might
have felt the same way hence the fact that they were in a dark alley away from
public view.
Once
In a
blink of an eye, Merrick flew around Luna to protect her against the person
with loud footsteps that were quickly approaching them. In defense, or amusement, Merrick picked
up a rock and chucked it with stunning accuracy at the intruder.
The
rock hit its mark, “Ouch!
Who’s throwing rocks at me?
That’s not cool!”
The person speaking was obviously male and the footsteps now started to
sound like someone staggering up to them.
“
“I
am! My name is Darien Omertio and I
don’t appreciate being hit with sharp rocks!” said a boy with crisp
blond curly hair and bright green eyes.
“I’m
Luna and this is
“I
have no home after they expelled me from my sophomore year for failing every
class, including lunch. Ever since
then, I scrounge for what this restaurant throws away in this dumpster! That’s pretty smart of me,
huh?” He asked as if he were
actually proud of the meager accomplishment (in his eyes) that he had
done. Being kicked out of school
for stupidity and eating trash was not what Luna and
“You
can return to your trash surfing and stay here in peace. Let’s go Luna.”
“Wait! Could I come with you? I’ll be really good- I
promise! I know how to cook, so you
won’t have to waste money or time at restaurants... Please?”
“You
may come with us. But,” and
Luna made it very clear that there was a downside for him, “you must stay
quiet except when we speak to you unless you can actually enlighten us and you
must use what cooking skills that you have to fuel this little group until we reach
Camp Licentia. After
that, you are on your own! Got
it?”
“Of
course! I’ll leave right when
we reach that place and find a way to earn my own living so I won’t be a
burden at all! Thank you so much
Luna!” he said bouncing into a hug- much to the dismay of
“Leave
her alone.”
Too
bad that
And
with those words, Merrick finally lost his temper, hauled off and punched
Darien in the face before angrily stating, “If you ever lay even one
finger on her, you’ll be regretting it for a full five minutes before I
kill you.”
“
“We’re
coming; I was just having a small chat with
If
Luna even noticed that
They
were about to get onto the ride of their lives and Merrick wasn’t about
to let
* * * * *
By
dawn of the next day, they had stopped for
“
“Sure! You and Merrick try to sleep and in the
morning we’ll get going and finish the trek to that camp place. I don’t need to sleep for another
week. I’m an insomniac who
only needs to sleep once a week to be fine!” He explained to Merrick and Luna, who
had already started to pull out their blankets and settle down to sleep on
opposite sides of the clearing.
Laughing to himself,
* * * * *
“Tell
me why you want to go to Licentia!” a voice boomed from no where.
“Who
are you? Where are you? We’re going because we were told
to!” Luna shouted to the sky
in hopes that they would tell her who they were.
“I
am Eleni and I am where I always am.
Stay away from that camp or else little one!” she roared. If her name was supposed to ring any
bells, then she was deaf…
“What
do you want with me, loser?”
Luna asked trying to add boredom to her voice to cover the fear. Not being able to see the enemy was
scarier then anything else…
“To
chat- tell me who sent you!”
“I-
I don’t know!”
The
voice cackled above, telling Luna that she wasn’t being believed,
“I’m sure you do. Maybe
you need a little… persuasion?”
At
her final word, Luna felt as though someone had lit her on fire. She crashed to the ground and pulled
herself into a ball as the world faded away into agony.
* * * * *
In
the real world,
Upon
his motion, Luna awoke with a start from her dream and noticed that it was
Merrick’s stony presence that had saved her before settling back into her
cover and grabbing his hand again, falling back into a dreamless, and now
painless, slumber.
For
the rest of the night
In
the morning, Luna woke when Merrick moved away from her. She had her chance to thank him, but
didn’t. He beat her to it,
“You were trapped in a dream made by a monster called Eleni. I already have protection against her,
so being near me gives you the protection as well.”
“Thank
you then, for helping me. Who is
she anyway?” Luna asked as
she got to her feet and turned away from
He
remained facing the opposite direction and continued to speak, “Eleni is
no savior. She is the
second-in-command for the queen of our enemies, and she has no authority over
me. She stole Cavos before I could
tell him that he should resist her.
That’s why he left.”
“Tell
me about Cavos. What does he look
like?” Luna commanded as she
finished changing and grabbed some food that
“Cavos
was kind-of small for his age. He
had deep brown hair and dark eyes,”
“You’re
speaking in past tense?” Luna
asked.
“He
left shortly before freshman year and never came back…” He faded off from his last sentence and
changed his shirt quickly before
“I
think I saw him recently.”
She said.
“You
couldn’t have. He never came
to the high school.” He waved
the statement off to Luna’s dismay.
“I
know I did! He was the only one to
stand up and clap when you were walking across the stage during the graduation
ceremony. I wasn’t sure who
it was but now I’m quite sure that it was really him. He came back to watch your speech and to
watch you graduate!” She
exclaimed before immediately taking a very large bite out of the cooling
breakfast.
“Good
to see you two awake!” A
voice drawled from the opposite end of the clearing. There
“Where
did you get that? You don’t
have a stealing problem, do you?”
Luna asked suspiciously of
“Kleptomaniac…”
“Relax. I just went and did some housework for
the locals while you slept. They
were very kind in rewarding someone for cleaning their house so that they don’t
have to,”
“You’re
a really odd kid, you know that?”
Luna asked as she abandoned the empty plate in the hot embers. Merrick followed suit and they repacked
their stuff before replacing the bags on their shoulders and heading away from
the clearing- Luna walking next to Merrick and
As
the day went on, Luna was haunted by the dream she’d had. Why did someone want them to stay away that
camp? How did she get into her
dreams and hurt her? Some things
may never be answered, but Luna was hoping that these were among the things
that would be answered in the end.
After
a while, the sun sank low into the sky.
“Finally! Thanks God we made it here in one
piece…” Luna stated
excitedly. She dropped her bag on
the ground and put her arms up to the sky laughing.
“Ego sum gauisus ut vos es commodo…” Merrick stated quietly before continuing, “We
should really get going if we are to make it before nightfall.”
The
group continued on, but when night fell, they were still about half a mile from
the camp. This in itself was bad
because as soon as night completely fell, Merrick heard the terrorizing noise
first, followed by Luna- who shivered subconsciously and clung tighter to
“We’re
almost there I’m sure of it.
We’ll be just fine!”
A
branch snapped behind them and they all jumped closer together in a bunch
before someone or something overtook them and grabbed Luna by the shoulder from
behind.
When
Luna screamed and jumped a foot in the air, the group swiveled around to face
the large male standing behind them with a flashlight and a grim look on his
face.
“What
are you doing here, vam-”
“We,”
“How
can I be sure?” he asked darkly as he shone the flashlight into
“Do
you question my motives in sending them here?” the voice stated in amusement. Luna now knew this person to be the
goddess Rathael, the one who always talked to her in her dreams and otherwise
about her fate.
“N-
No Dea Rathael!
It’s just that we cannot be too careful when we are on the verge
of the rite! It’s just not
smart! I shall let them pass if
they are by your grace,” he spoke as he fell to one knee in a half-bit of
bow for Rathael.
“Good,
send my goodwill to your mistress in this upcoming battle of sorts and that
I’ll be meeting with her personally quite shortly. Farewell!” Rathael
exclaimed, and with another flash of intense light the spot that she had
occupied was now as empty as when they had happened upon the site.
“So,
I am Derek and I will see to it that you get to Licentia without harm. After that, I will take you to see Domina Karine to find a spot for you to rest tonight,”
the man explained in a huff while they watched and walked on in amazement that
they were very nearly barred from their final destination.
A
small while later, the group made it to Licentia. They had to be cleared by Derek, who had
to file a claim that said that Rathael had demanded that they be let in, before
they could get into the gated camp.
They had made it to