Under the Shadow of the Moon

Chapter 64

"You're saying that the kidnapped kids are there? Including Will, Euen, and Rafael? And Silas is there?" Lily asked, blinking at Colin and Razaia.

"Yes," Razaia said from her seat at what was left of the Conference Table, her tone even. "That is what I'm saying."

Lily sat back into her chair, holding her hand to her forehead and letting her eyes glaze over.

"Okay," Luna said, standing up and starting to pace. "What do you want us to do?"

"We have to go back," Colin said. "We have to get them all out."

"We could go at sunrise. They wouldn't expect us then, and we could just grab as many of them as we can and get out of there." Razaia suggested.

Luna nodded slowly. "We'll get a van, we'll get them out, and we'll take them to the DoSD building where their parents can get them."

"So we have a plan?" Colin asked.

"Yeah," Luna responded. "As long as you guys are up for it, we could go today."

"But only if you're okay," Razaia put a hand on his arm. "If you don't want to go, we don't have to go today."

Colin thought for a moment, his hand drifting to his ribs. "I think I'm okay. Let's do this."

☆★☆

There were guards stationed all around the Castle. Harper plowed through most of them with the van, and Colin and Lloyd took out any others from the ground. To their horror, they found that most of them were around the same age as they were, some even younger, and none particularly skilled with blades or with guns. One of them managed to land a shot on Lloyd, but the bullet bounced off Lloyd's uniform. All parties involved were surprised by that.

While the boys took care of the guards, Harper took out the cameras and Sylvia and Lily searched for a way in. The entrances the team had used before were all sealed in some way. Luna and Razaia ran over the plan a final time, Razaia explaining exactly what she had seen and heard over the three days she had spent inside the Castle.

Lily and Sylvia called to the others, beckoning them over to a new entrance they had found, a few feet away from the ruin itself. Lloyd pried open the door, and the group slipped inside Luna was filled with adrenaline, her blood rushing and her head buzzing with misplaced excitement.

They set out to scour the building, throwing open doors and fighting off guards.

Luna threw open another door, but found another empty room. She groaned in frustration, stepping over to the next one. It wouldn't budge. She threw her weight against it, feeling it shift underneath her.

Luna threw herself at the metal door again, finally busting it open. Her shoulder throbbed, but she bit down the feeling as she scanned the room, hoping to find one of the kids. Despite her best attempts to locate them, the room seemed empty. It was much bigger than the last room, with dark corners she couldn't quite see. She stepped inside haphazardly, looking behind her to make sure nothing was there. As she stepped further into the room, she found she could no longer see anything.

Talya jumped down silently, her feet gently patting to the floor. The rest of the room was dead silent; the dark overwhelming. Luna stood at the other end of the room, unaware of the imposing threat. Talya drew her sword, the sound of it scraping against its sheath lost in the vast empty space.

Luna stepped to the room quietly, silent as ever. She heard something, practically silent in the dark. She struggled to focus on anything, but the room was just black. Not a single drop of light for her vision to cling to. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't see anything. She thought she saw something move, but she couldn't tell. Then she heard it again, a faint sliver of a sound, a fragment of speech. The sound of feet shuffling. She focused on where the sound was coming from, as if clinging the sound would restore her vision. She stalked forward carefully, inching towards it...

The lights flickered to life suddenly, the sudden light overwhelming Luna. The once pitch black room was now fully white, and for a moment, Luna believed she was dead. Then she saw her, Talya, lunging towards her with her blade pointing at her heart.

If not for Talya's dark hair and glowing eyes, Luna wouldn't have been able to react.

Talya slashed at her with an anger unmatched, pushing her out into the hallway. Lights sparked and flickered as Talya passed beneath them, pushing Luna farther and farther back. "This is all your fault!" She screeched, raking the sword across Luna's arm.

Luna hissed, moving her sword to block an onslaught of strikes. Talya pushed her to the stairwell, landing a kick to her stomach. Luna tumbled down the stairs, catching herself at the bottom. Talya stayed at the top, sneering down at her.

Luna pulled herself to her feet, surveying the room around her. She hadn't been to this part of the Castle before. She could hear whimpering. A sound that was very familiar. "Rafi?" Luna called out, her eyes quickly adjusting to the inconsistent lighting. She could see him hunched in a corner, tears sticking to his skin and tiny White Sand uniform baggy as it hung off his body.

The small boy ran towards her, throwing his arms around her. "Luna! What are you doing here?"

"We came to get you all out, come on, we have to get out of here. Where are the others?"

"They're upstairs in the room, I can show you!" He wrapped his fingers around her hand, pulling her along as he sprinted for the stairs. Luna stared up at the top, but Talya was gone.

A shrill scream came from somewhere just outside of the stairwell. Luna looked around, trying to determine who it was.

"Lia! We have to go back for her!" Rafael started to sprint back down the stairs, but Luna caught his arm.

"It's okay Raff, just take me to the others, someone else will find her, I promise." His eyes were wide with fear, but he nodded. Luna lifted the com to her face. "Lloyd, I need you to find the girl who just screamed. Rafi says her name is Lia, and she's probably in trouble."

"Got it," came his quick reply as Luna reached the top of the stairs, following Rafael as he ran down the empty halls.

"Here! They're in here!" He pointed to a door, springing up and down on his feet.

Luna ripped the door open, breaking the lock with her sword. A dozen terrified children stared up at her. Rafael stepped out in front of her.

"Guys, don't be scared," he said in a soft tone. "This is Luna Vis, she's going to get us all out of here, just come on!"

"We don't have much time, and we have to be quiet. If we run into any problems, I'll protect you."

Luna led the kids out of the dark room, carrying whatever small things they had. Rafi stood by her side, guiding her through the building. Finally they reached the stairwell, and a dark shadow leapt from the dark, knocking Luna to the ground. She groaned, watching the kids squirm and start to back up. "Rafi, take them down, someone is waiting for you guys at the bottom, don't be scared!"

The kids ran down the stairs as she shoved Talya off of her, alerting the others of the situation. As Luna stood up, their blades clashed and sparks drizzled down from the light behind Talya. Talya herself seemed tired, her motions more sluggish than they had been each time Luna had seen her before. She was moving in an easily predictable pattern, Luna realized. A pattern that had been created specifically to counter Luna's moves. It was a good thing, Luna supposed, that she and her friends were still training every day, becoming more skilled with their swords and helping one another become better. Talya hadn't seemed to get the memo.

A scream jolted Luna from the fight, allowing an opening for Talya. The edge of her blade just missed Luna's face as she turned, and Talya stumbled forward. Luna used the opening to slip away, watching Talya fall onto her face.