Chapter One: Luna

I dashed through the blackness, desperately looking for a place to hide. My bones ached with effort and the muscles in the back of my legs burned. How long had I been running? The trees leaves, dyed silver in the moonlight, blurred as I flew past. I could hear their ghostly laughter as they gained on me. Green and red lights flew by my head as they shouted ugly words that I couldn't understand. The balls of burning light crashed into the trees, raining down on the landscape like an omen of death.

Sweat covered every inch of my skin, causing my clothes to stick to me like a second layer of skin. My lungs felt like they were about to collapse as I pushed myself to keep running. "You can't run forever!" A voice taunted, followed by chilling laughter. "You can't hide from us!" I gasped as my foot fell through a dark hole and slipped over the edge. Rolling violently down, sticks stabbed at my skin and jutting rocks tore at my legs. I cried out as my side collided with a tree. Dots clouded my vision and I felt myself losing consciousness. Warm liquid seeped out from the gash in my forehead and I dabbed at it gingerly. My blood looked black and I found myself fascinated by it.
The trees around me blotted out the moon and it felt as if I was truly swallowed up by the earth, a part of me felt relieved, the part of me that just wanted to sleep for a thousand years. The part of me that wanted to heal. The voices had stopped, and I knew now was my greatest chance.
I discarded my backpack regretfully, but it wouldn't be any good to me dead, either. Pushing myself up from the ground I started again, ignoring the trembling in my legs. The newly pulsing adrenaline gave me a burst of determination-and fear. My heart pumped so loudly in my chest I was sure they could hear it. I felt it hammer against the inside of my chest with an intensity that had a part of me wondering if it would suddenly stop. I hoped it wouldn't. I had to get back to him. I promised him I wouldn't be gone long. Branches snapped under my feet as I bolted in any direction.
My shoulder slapped against a tree and it spun me around, giving me as nasty bruise. Yep, I'm gonna feel that in the morning. If I made it until morning, that is. I ran in the direction that it spun me, not even sparing the tree a glance, hoping it was a blessing and not a curse. The moon came into view ahead, big, beautiful, and cold. The moon had never given me any comfort. Many nights I had spent in blackened rooms, content with daydreaming that I wasn't alone, only to have it's rays flood through the windows revealing me.
And only me.
The air greeted me as I broke free of the confining forest and I could almost taste freedom. Almost. My feet skidded to a halt and I looked down in horror at the drop in front of me. The icy black waters stared back at me, reflecting the moons unforgiving rays. A dead end. I couldn't believe it. I spun around, trying to back-track, when my body froze.
My mind registered the numbing amout of black figures dotted around the clearing. They stalked ever closer, clutching strange sticks in their hands as if they were wielding dangerous weapons, cruel smiles twisting their features. It was then that I knew I was done for. It was over.
I was lost.
I stumbled backwards, but not enough to go over the edge. It was silent for a moment, and then they broke it. Howls of victory shattered the silence. They all began talking at once, congratulating each other, mocking me, wishing me a happy end. The fear consuming my heart and mind vanished in the same instant. I didn't know why.
I knew I was going to die.
Why they had chosen me as their victim, I didn't care. How they were planning to do it, didn't matter. Were they going to poke me to death with their sticks? Stab me? Burn me with their balls of fire? All of that was irrelevant. Because a face entered my vision.
His eyes were black and held no compassion. He held himself with such importance and authority that it was hard to resist His commanding gaze. His face was handsome and positively evil. It was engrained in every nook and cranny. Every feature and expression, every gesture. His whole being was consumed by it. But I knew Him. I didn't know His name, or where He came from. But He was familiar to me.
"I know you."
The words came out of my mouth before I could stop them. It seemed to slice through the noise, letting silence bleed through it once more. "You know me?" His charismatic voice floated over to me as He moved forward. The crowd parted instantly. That chuckle made goose bumps creep over my skin. I suppressed a shudder.
His grey eyes met mine then and His mouth opened to mock such a statement. Until His very words were cut off. I could tell this Stranger felt it too. The invisible pull.
"You only wish you could know our Great Lord!" A female with fiery red hair screeched from his side. I felt like I only had to look at one face to know the faces of everyone there. I could see they were all dressed the same as I looked at them for the first time. Each of them wore a half mask, resembling a gruesome skeleton, with heavy dark cloaks that obscured their figures. The cloaks floated in the wind, giving me the impression of black smoke. To be frank, they looked like...death. The embodiment of death.
Tension seemed to squeeze the air around me as the silence stretched on. Lord..was that his name? Surely not? Either way He continued to stare at me, His eyes slightly widened. Until the word drifted from His mouth. " You.."
And I knew that was my cue.
I slowly edged closer while they shuffled restlessly about. "Is it time, my Lord? Is it time to kill her? She is the last right?" A voice literally quivering with excitement pleaded, no, more liked begged. She gazed at me with hungry eyes and licked her lips disgustingly. Her heavy breathing was mirrored by few and suddenly I didn't feel like their victim, instead I felt like their prey. But I wasn't going to make it easy for them.
A smile of defiance curled my lips and I spun around swiftly. I bolted as fast as my legs could take me. The edge of the clearing came to greet me..and then I leaped. Air flew by my face, cooling the curning gash on my head. My mind seemed to process everything ten times faster and my senses became sharper. Because I noticed several things at once.
One, His voice pierced the night is a such an involuntary cry that it seemed to echoe inside my head as much as it did in the night air. Two, a bird, one with giant, blazing wings entered the sky at the same time. The light it emitted blinded me with its beauty and a new voice became entangled in its very being. Three, the black water was approaching me with frightening speed. Four, my left shoe was untied and threatening to fall off. And lastly, the moon. It looked down on me with a knowing gaze. Closing my eyes against its glare I braced myself.
Then I hit the water.