Disclaimer: the only thing I own in this story is the characters I made up. The rest belongs to its rightful owner
The blessing of the moon
Chapter 10
Nobody spoke for a long time after Cynder left, staring in shock at the Hades cabin where the furious new camper had stormed into.
"What happened out there?" whispered a voice next to Keriss' ear, and she looked around to see, Catelia, hair swept back into a messy ponytail and smears of oil wiped carelessly on her jeans. The daughters of Hephaestus' eyes were filled with concern as she questioned Keriss.
"Hellhound." She stated simply, glancing back towards the forest, which was still smouldering lightly. Catelia winced sympathetically and shuddered.
"Horrible things." She stated, before looking up sharply as Chiron's voice rang out clearly in the crisp, morning air.
"Keriss, come here, and explain to me what happened in the woods this morning." Keriss also looked up to see the centaur, a stern expression worn on his face, looking directly at her. She straightened her quiver to avoid it slipping from her shoulder, and walked over to Chiron.
"I heard an explosion from the woods early this morning, so, I ran to see what it was. I saw a girl being attacked by a Hellhound, so I shot and killed it. The girl's name is Cynder, and she is a child of Hades, or at least claims to be. She is currently in her cabin." Keriss gave Chiron a swift summary of the events in the woods. Murmured conversations rippled through the crowd, and the centaur looked grimly at the ground.
"Keriss, I want you to go and talk to Cynder, and try and persuade her to come and speak with me." Keriss looked up in surprise.
"Do I have to talk to her, Chiron? She isn't exactly friendly." The centaur flicked his tail irritably, and nodded in the direction of the Hades cabin. The expression upon his face read clearly as saying: Do it or you'll be on clean-up before you can say 'But Chiron-'. Keriss sighed, before turning and trudging away towards the imposing, obsidian structure pressed into the far reaches of the cabin-circle.
The Hades cabin emitted such a dark aura, that Keriss could almost feel it engulfing her as she walked closer. She placed a hand against the door, and forced it open with a firm push. The first thing that struck her was the darkness. It was almost too gloomy to see, thick shadows writhing unnaturally over the floor and walls, obscuring the bunks from view.
"Hello?" called Keriss uncertainly, before concentrating hard and letting a small column of flame rise from her palm, casting a dim, silver light through the darkness. Sweeping the room with the star-fire, Keriss looked for Cynder, but there was no sign of her. Suddenly, a silhouette passed over the far side of the room, and Keriss urged her star-fire to become brighter. It rose upwards, spitting a few sparks into the air, casting a gradually more powerful light around the cabin.
"What are you doing in here!?" Cynder's voice startled Keriss, and she whirled around, and found herself face to face with the daughter of Hades. Blackness began to creep at the edges of her vision as she caught Cynder's deep brown eyes, and she struggled against it, but she was plunged into a scene, a sunny garden, starkly contrasting the dusky gloom of the cabin. Keriss looked around to see two people, deep in argument, however there was no sound; their mouths were moving yet no words came out. Keriss looked closely at the two people. One of them seemed only to be about eleven years old, a girl with raven hair and dark eyes… Cynder, Keriss realised in a jolt of surprise. The other was an adult, who had thick, black hair and bright green eyes, but was looking at Cynder in disgust, shielding a smaller girl, with long blonde hair and blue eyes protectively.
Cynder's mother? Mused Keriss. Suddenly, a look of hurt passed over younger Cynder's face, and she slammed her foot into the ground. Keriss looked in shock as a huge crack, heaving open the earth, splintered through the earth. Hatred passed over the adult's eyes, and she yelled something, jabbing a finger towards the door, before swinging her gaze to rest on something in the corner of the garden, a boy, the same age as Cynder, clutching a large black puppy, clearly frightened. Younger Cynder was crying by now, tears of rage, as she stormed forwards, seized the boy's hand, and ran into the house.
The scene changed.
This time it showed Cynder and the boy, running through the woods, fear in their eyes. The boy was running alongside the puppy, which seemed to have grown between the scenes. The boy looked similar to Cynder, with dark hair and eyes, but seemed ten times more scared than Cynder, who was running confidently, a bread knife in her hand, hair tied up with a piece of string. The two of them seemed to be talking, but no sound was made. Suddenly, a creature- a fury- burst into sight, but instead of running, Cynder and the boy rounded on it. The boy whipped out a meat-tenderizer from his belt and Cynder brandished her bread knife, before charging the fury. The boy clubbed it on the head with the flat piece of metal in his hand, and Cynder stabbed it, until it collapsed into dust.
The scene shifted again.
This time, the puppy was almost the size of a Great-Dane dog, and the two people in the scene seemed older too, but also petrified. They kept glancing backwards, muttering to each other worriedly. The cause became clear within seconds. Silent expressions of terror erupted in Cynder and the boy's eyes, as a huge creature, spiked tail lashing, raced at them. A Manticore. Despite having taken down a fury with nothing but kitchen appliances, Cynder and the boy were utterly terrified, and picked up the pace, suddenly, a spike whirled towards Cynder, and lanced past her arm. She let out what looked like a shriek of pain, and the boy, who was running ahead, stopped to see what had happened. Seizing an opportunity, the Manticore lunged forwards, grabbed the boy, and ran into the forest, Cynder screaming silently as she could do nothing but watch.
Suddenly, a bright flash flooded Keriss' vision, and she found herself lying on the floor of the Hades cabin, the room seeming to rock side to side violently. She pressed a hand against the back of her head, and sat up, to see Cynder, crouched just beyond her feet, staring grimly.
"How much did you see?" she asked hesitantly, worry visible in her eyes.
"I saw… you in a garden, arguing with someone, then the ground split open. Then… you were running… with this boy… who was he?" Shock seemed to radiate from Cynder, and she bit her lip as if nervous about something.
"He-he was m-my brother. My twin brother, Ash." At the mention of the boy's name, Cynder looked at the ground, and sat back on her feet, burying her head into her knees. She stayed there for a while, unmoving, and Keriss considered speaking, but as soon as she opened her mouth, the daughter of Hades jerked her head up. Keriss was shocked to see Cynder's eyes glistening with tears.
"H-he was taken. B-by a Manticore." The dark-haired girl suddenly seemed afraid and fragile, so different from the arrogant, sarcastic girl on the forest. Keriss began to feel sorry for Cynder, and reached out her hand comfortingly.
"I'm sure he would have gone to-" Keriss was planning to say 'Elysium'. Surviving a Manticore attack would be near impossible, but Cynder cut her off, defiance in her eyes.
"He's alive. I can tell." Keriss was about to ask how, but Cynder spoke again, seeming to read her mind.
"I can tell, because, if he dies, so do I."
Review! All rights to Cynder and Ash go to NutellaFox!
