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Running as fast as she could through the thick trees and underbrush, Luna wanted to make sure her assassin would be lost. How could they have found me in this amount of time? She looked down at her hands which were filled with ash and soot. She then thought her clothing was filled with it.
Luna was a sixteen year old girl with auburn hair and mysterious grey eyes. She was not that tall, but it fit her figure. Luna brushed her hair out of her face as she continued to run, gripping the object in her hand even tighter. Stealing the 'inimitable object' was harder than she thought. But, it was for the greater good and in this case, she needed this object to fix the problem. Continuing the wild chase, Luna suddenly halted to a stop in the middle of the forest.
"DARIUS" she hissed, "DARIUS, I know you're HERE!"
As she kept turning left and right looking around the trees and the brambles, a soft wind was blowing in the direction to the North. Suddenly, a flash and then a visible figure strode towards Luna.
"Well aren't you overly late." she exclaimed.
The boy, Darius, simply stared at her. His impenetrable green eyes pierced Luna's. She hated when he did that, it was almost as if he was reading her soul, her every thought.
Darius sighed, "Lunavoir, I am not late. I am just simply running off schedule."
"'Running off schedule?'" spat Luna, "And never call me Lunavoir, I told you that!"
He bowed his head low, "My apologies."
Darius was Luna's long life guardian. She never knew about him until a couple years ago when he appeared to her when she was involved in a car crash with her parents. Since then, Luna has never seen her parents for they passed on.
Pacing and trying to keep her train of thought, Luna continued, "I got it, I stole it."
The calm gaze on Darius' face was now solemn, concerned, "I thought Beta told you not to steal it until the forth full moon. It's only the second."
"I don't go by the moons anymore, Darius. You should know, that by now, it would be too late. Besides, I don't think my assassin goes by the moons."
Darius swung his head around. His jet black hair moved with him, "He's still present? He chased you all the way out here?"
Luna nodded.
"You led him here?" Darius inquired.
Luna nodded again, "Beta would want him to be brought here because of that reason! He's after the object, Darius, the object."
Darius looked at Luna incredulously, "That object contains Beta's life, Luna. That 'object' you hold in your hand is a replica of the –"
"– moon, I know." said Luna finishing his sentence.
Darius cradled his face in his hands. His muffled voice issued, "Luna, you can't keep acting rational like this. It's a matter of life and death, you know that."
"It's not like that! I wanted to help destroy–"
"Is that all you want to do? Destory Bayterin?" Darius interrupted.
"No, but..."
Darius' rage flew upward, "You can't keep playing hero, Luna! You're going to end up dead. Then, when I have to tell Beta that you're dead, what do you think she's going to say? 'Oh thank you Darius, thank you for telling me Luna's dead, our Light of Athernon is dead.' Give me a break, Luna. If you parents were still around, I don't think they would want you to act this way. You're putting your life over the line when it is already on it!"
Luna just looked down to avoid his gaze. Darius was right and she knew it. Deep inside, she wanted to fight and slaughter Bayterin's army and followers. Luna never would admit Darius is right for that reason.
"You have to understand. You are our key to defeating Bayterin. But we don't need you part of the fight." Darius reasoned.
Luna gave a great sigh and looked up at Darius, "That will never happen Darius. I will always be apart of the fight no matter how much my life is on the line. If I die, so be it. The Light of Athernon will still exist... spiritually."
Before Darius could retort, footsteps crashing on bramble were sounded from afar, "Our bout ends here, Lunavoir."
Luna snarled, but Darius ignored it issuing his attention over to the sound of the footsteps.
The raspy voice of Luna's assassin spoke, "Come out girly. Just hand it over and you will go on your merry way."
"Get behind the boulder." Darius instructed to Luna in hushed tones.
He pointed to a jagged and rough rock that had to be about three times the size of both of them combined. Luna heard his instructions but did not move.
"Dammit Luna, get behind the boulder!" Darius ordered.
Rolling her eyes, Luna did as he said to make less trouble. She wanted to get in on all the action, she wanted to see what Darius was really capable of. Hopefully, Beta wasn't lying about his abilities.
The assassin came into view. He was a tall man with sunken eyes that made him resemble a skeleton. He had pure white hair except for a black streak that crossed in front. He was skinny as a stick wearing a tight black long sleeved shirt and tight black jeans.
"Ah, so the guardian has come to save the day again, eh?" he said, amused.
Darius smiled, "I believe the guardian already saved the day, Pronous."
The assassin named Pronous looked around, "She's still here somewhere, guardian. Give me the Moon Stone, and I will be off giving you no trouble."
Pronous' voice left Luna quivering in fear. She had heard of him prior to this night. He was one of Bayterin's supreme spies and could catch anyone off their guard. She was surprised she had slipped away so fast from him. Luna peered over the boulder's harsh edge to see that Darius and Pronous were standing in a dueling sequence.
"I hate to break it to you, but she won't be here for long and the Moon Stone will be gone with her." Darius said.
Pronous' eyes seemed to have turned a shade of red, "I will catch her. And when I do I will kill. But, I won't kill you, not just yet. I will just tie you up so you could watch me slowly sink a blade into her heart."
Darius was patient with the blood thirsty Pronous. He needed Luna to get out from behind the boulder. But shouldn't she know that the boulder is the passage way through to the next realm? Pronous continue to berate Darius, "And when she's killed off, then the Moon Stone will be Bayterin's and we will rule this disgusting human world and your filthy traitorous realm."
Luna couldn't stand to listen to this horrid conversation anymore. She wanted to be out there, to help Darius fight. As she continued to look over the edge again, the boulder trembled slightly. As she continued to look, she saw a shadow from underneath the boulder. A pair of eyes were looking out from underneath. Startled, Luna backed away so fast that she feared Pronous might here her movements. The eyes blinked and a muffled voice issued from underneath the boulder, "Lunavoir, The Light of Athernon. Greetings from her highness, Queen Beta of the Zomera Realm."
Luna cut the voice off, "Just please help me. Her majesty inquires to see me, yes? Please get me to her right away."
The eyes simply blinked at Luna as a pale arm extended from underneath the boulder, "Please grab."
Luna did as the voice told her. As she grabbed the figures hand, Luna sank into the earthen ground. Shocked at what she was seeing, she held onto the Moon Stone tighter than normal. Absorbed into the ground, Luna squinted her eyes. Bright lights shone everywhere in the passage that she was in. As her eyes adjusted to the light, Luna saw the figure that helped her through. It was Queen Beta herself. Luna felt her face turn a royal shade of scarlet. If she knew, she wouldn't have been so short with the Beta.
"Finally!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Luna.
Luna returned the gesture and let go of Beta. She hadn't seen the queen in the longest time which was the day her parents died in the fatal car incident.
Beta was a strong woman, but beautiful. Her eyes were white speckled with purple. Her skin was so pale that it actually emitted a soft aura around her. But the best feature of Beta was her long white blonde hair that touched the back of her knees. A soft grey satin dress covered her delicate body. Beta was only three years older than Luna, which wasn't that bad. But all the more, it made Luna resentful for she wished to acquire the many beautiful features of Beta.
Before they had the chance to talk, Luna heard an impenetrable scream up above. It made the hairs on the back on her neck prickle. As Beta turned to go forward, Luna stopped her, "Beta, Darius is up there with Pronous."
The queen turned slightly to look at Luna, "Darius is a guardian; therefore he is capable of controlling the venomous Pronous."
Luna had a sign of doubt on her face as she looked up at the tunnels marble ceiling.
"Come," continued Beta ushering Luna through the tunnel, "We shall get you changed out of those clothing and give you food to fill your stomach."
As they continued into the depths of the tunnel, Beta broke the silence, "And the blood curdling cry you heard earlier wasn't one that belonged to Darius."
Luna smiled.
They progressed along until the passage way led off to a doubled wooden oak door. Beta knocked on it three times and then held her hand up to it. Slowly but surely, the doors opened to reveal a glowing city. As Luna looked around, she noticed how the buildings sparkled in the intricate sunlight. Beyond the city was a pure blue ocean that stretched out all the way to the horizon.
Taken aback, Luna announced, "Looks like you renovated the wall."
The last time Luna was present in this wonderful city, it had no glow, no ocean. Instead, the ocean was barricaded off by a thick cement wall to protect the city from invasions. Some of the buildings had been boarded up as well as were some of the roads.
Beta smiled, "Indeed we did. The time of invasion is over," she gestured to her immaculate palace that dominated most of the city, "The time of peace and the reign of my kingdom have come."
Beta then looked at Luna and began to walk downwards to the elite city. Luna took one more good look at the city and then looked down at her right hand where the Moon Stone 'object' lay. She completely forgot to give the item to Beta. Deciding to give it to her at a better time, Luna continued on. "The time of invasion is going to begin again." she sighed sadly. She then took one more good look at the exit of the tunnel as if expecting to see Darius pop out. Then, Luna looked ahead towards the magnificent city as she followed Queen Beta down the sloping hill.