Disclaimer: You know the drill… I don't own anything from Esca but I do own the characters not mentioned in the series so ask before you use them! Thanks!

Death Moon Rising

I would like to take this time to dedicate this story to someone special. She's touched my writing and has encouraged me to go places where I never would've thought possible. Like Crimson Fire, she helped me get to where I am today. Kae Noel, this one is dedicated to you!

Chapter 4: Nighttime Monsters

Kat stood in the small field just behind their cabin. The cabin was located in the secluded part of a large meadow that bordered a forest in front of a mountainside. The cabin was tucked into the wisps of the forest with one side against the mountainside and the front facing the meadow. It turned out that Nicole and Alex had built the 6-room cabin by their selves.

"It took a long time even using our powers," Alex said, patting the cabin lovingly. "It's our home away from home, you know?"

"How'd you do this?" Kat asked, awestruck as the pure work that had gone into the cabin-in four days they had had it done.

"Our powers have matured a little," Nicole said sheepishly.

There was a kitchen, two dens and three bedrooms. It was nice and roomy in the little cabin even though the cabin was small the rooms held a large presence. Kat could complain about nothing and she had to admit that there was a sort of "House on the Prairie" feeling to it.

She smiled as she settled into the house. That night she stared up at the moon sitting on top of the roof. Dilandau.... what are you doing now? She wondered as the silvery moonlight cast it's unearthly glow on her. I'm sorry I didn't get to tell you about what's going on… maybe I'll be able to get let you know soon. Until then be well.

Nicole and Alex.... I haven't seen them in what seems like forever. All ready their powers have gotten stronger. They must've been practicing back on Earth. Unlike me, caught up in my own affairs, she thought.

There was a small rustle of bushes from somewhere to Kat's right. Must be the wind, she thought as she turned around and looked seeing nothing. Nothing was out of the ordinary. She sighed and turned back to the moon, closing her eyes and remembered the night before she left.
~FLASHBACK~

Kat stood in her room, packing her things. God, she hated going off to college with Nicole or Alex… she hated being here. There was a soft knock at her door, signaling Kat of her mother's presence. "Yeah?" She asked, turning around.

She saw that her mother had a weird look on her face. It was like she wasn't sure if she wanted to say what she had in mind or not. Kat frowned at her mother, her eyes showing her confusion. "Need something mom?"

"Honey, I have something to tell you," her mother gently. Kat stared at her mother, her frown turning into a horrified look. Her mother never spoke gently to her unless she was really scared or was about to do something she didn't want to.

"Since your father is.... well, dead, I've started dating again. I just started a few months ago. I know you're probably wondering why I didn't tell you but you seemed a little distracted and I didn't want to concern you. You seemed like your mind was elsewhere.

"But I met this really nice guy. I think you'll like him," she said as she stepped into Kat's room revealing a man behind her. Kat's mouth hit the floor as they guy her mother was dating stepped into the doorframe. It was Kat's real father; the one that got her mother pregnant with Kat and then hightailed it out of the family. She had seen his pictures around the house when she was little, pictures taken on dates before her Mother married the man that she had called "Dad".

"Oh.... My.... God...." Kat whispered.

The man smiled at Kat.

"Mother.... he's.... he's my real father...." Kat said hoarsely.

"Yes," her mother trailed off.

Kat gave her mother a look that crossed between horror and fury. There was no way… why would her mother not tell her she was dating again and then go and start dating the man that had made her life miserable and not even look back; the man that had left her mother in pain and fending for her herself.

She reached over and grabbed the dagger she kept by her bed and pulled it free of its sheath. It had been a gift from Dilandau before she had left. In an instant her mother saw what her daughter was doing and backed up to the doorframe fear on her face. "Kat..." she whispered, her eyes wide.

But Kat wouldn't stand for this. Maybe her mother still had feeling for the man that had gotten her pregnant but she wouldn't allow her mother to get hurt again, especially not by the man that caused her a lifetime of pain. "GET OUT! GET OUT NOW!" She roared at them, still holding the dagger in her hand.

By God she would use it if she had too. The man suddenly disappeared down the hall and her mother disappeared with him seconds later after giving her daughter a backwards glance. Kat slammed the door shut behind them and then collapsed onto her bed, still holding the dagger.

Her first clutched the leather handle as she fought for control over her emotions. What was she feeling? Hate? Betrayal? Distrust? Pain? She couldn't sort out everything before the tears came.

She was sure her mother and the man had gone now. No one came into her room and no one tried to comfort her. Between the sobs and the sniffles, she could hear herself chanting "Dilandau" and "come back" over and over again. She was crying for the sake that her real father had come back into her life, after so many years of being alone with that psycho fake father of hers, and that now she hoped he would leave her. Things were better without both men in her mother and her lives.
~END~

Kat blinked away the tears that prickled her eyes. She would not cry over something in the past. The only thing that mattered now was what was going on. She had a world to protect, after all that was her job. But… she wanted so badly to have Dilandau hold her and tell her everything would be all right. "God, why'd I agree to stay here? I want to be with Dilandau," she whispered into the night. Because the fate of Gaea depends on you, for now you have to put aside your own desires and do what's right for Gaea, a small voice told her.

"KAT! KAT!" A frantic voice cried out. Kat stood up and ran to the edge of the roof, looking down on a frantic Nicole running towards her followed closely by an angry looking Alex. "What?" Kat asked as Nicole neared her.

"Come on, there's a dragon coming this way! Come on!" Nicole said hurriedly.

Kat didn't hesitate as she jumped down off the roof and landed next to Nicole. "But won't the dragon just find the cabin and burn it? Why are we hiding in the cabin?" Kat asked as she ran into the cabin.

"There's a spell over the cabin, nothing can find it. Hurry!" Alex replied.

Kat froze as she saw someone who looked exactly like Miguel run down the hall that led to the extra bedrooms. At least, the back of Miguel-this guy was wearing socks, black pants and a blue shirt. His hair was a bit longer but was the exact shade and style as Miguel's was. "Uh… why are we worried about the dragon and who was that?" Kat asked, looking down the hall after the figure.

"Who? I saw no one," Alex replied as she shut the kitchen door and locked it.

"Me neither." Nicole said.

"But I just.... Never mind," Kat said, not trusting herself just then. What was it that she had seen? She was sure that it was Miguel. But he's dead, she told herself as she listened to Nicole's explanation of a dragon's unique sense of smell and how if they weren't inside the cabin the dragon would either see them or smell them and start torching everything. He can't be alive if he's dead. I couldn't have seen a ghost. It looked to... alive. So, what was it that I saw? She wondered.

"Sir, we've searched everywhere and we can't find her. It's almost as if she just disappeared off the face of the planet," James stated. "We've gone through any spell that might be covering her whereabouts and tried every counter spell but unless they're using some sort of ancient or foreign magic that isn't recorded to hide their presence, she's not anywhere on Zaibach boarders." He and Tyler had spent the last couple of days researching all kinds of spells and searching for Kat.

He was rewarded by a death glare from Dilandau. "We'll keep looking until I say we stop," Dilandau growled at him. "Now leave."

James nodded and quickly left his Commander in his chambers, alone.
"Kat, where have you gone?" Dilandau asked his quiet room. He got no answer from it.

Staring at the fire roaring in his fireplace he thought about how much he missed her. God, he missed her. What was it about her that made him crazy about for her? He shrugged to himself. "Kat's Kat," he stated to the fire. "If she doesn't come back I'll...." He trailed off, not sure how he'd react if Kat had been harassed in any way. Sure, he would beat the crap out of the guy who had done it, but other then that, how it would change them he wasn't sure.

You'd do what? There's nothing you can do to that girl. You're too afraid of losing her. She's the only thing that makes you human and you're too overprotective of her and this is making you weak. You hate to be weak so why are you allowing this girl to make you weak? A voice in his head told him.

Dilandau growled in reply. Yes, he hated to be weak. Weakness meant you were inferior and he was not inferior. But Kat was different-she didn't make him weak she made him strong. She's gone and now you are a weak, groveling puppy begging to be taken in before the storm, the voice said in a superior tone.

"I'll show you."

Show me what; that you can do tricks without her around? Admit it, you're a pathetic dog just waiting for the next woman to come around and whip you.

"I'll show you how strong I can be… without Kat," he growled in response. He stood up and left his room.

Kat slowly awoke to a very strange sound. She sat up in the dark room that she shared with Nicole and Alex, her eyes all ready adjusted to the dark as she scanned the room. Technically, this was her first night in the cabin, being aware of going to sleep and waking up at least, and for all she knew the noise could've been a creature of the night. But somehow this felt different-like it wasn't a normal sound you'd hear in the night.

Grumbling about stupid noise Kat got out of her cot and walked out into the hall. No need to wake Alex and Nicole if it turned out to be nothing she decided. Navigating the hall that led either down to the other two bedrooms (the doors on the left side of the wall) and the den, which connected to the other den and then to the kitchen or up to the kitchen she walked through the dark house until something made her stop. She stood in the hall, listening.

Thud.

Kat's ears picked up a soft sound coming from the kitchen. It sounded like sometime dropping something onto a counter. She checked to make sure she had some sort of weapon on her; luckily, she did. Drawing a small dagger that she had subconsciously grabbed from underneath her pillow, she quietly made her way to the kitchen. "Sh! Someone will hear us!" A voice hissed, the sound coming from the kitchen.

As Kat stopped at the end of the hall she pressed herself against the doorway and listened. She had to make sure there was only one in the kitchen. There were whispers, too quiet for her to decipher, then another sound. This time it was a knife chopping something.

Holding her breath, she stepped into the kitchen. "All right, freeze," she said softly but loud enough for the occupants of the room to hear her. Her eyes widened in surprise and she almost dropped her dagger she held. She found herself staring into the surprised and shocked faces of Dalet and Guimel.

They stood there, frozen, staring at each other. "B-b-b-but you're d-dead!" Kat forced the words out. What was going on? Was she dreaming this or imagining it? Were they ghosts?

"Correction, were," Guimel replied as if what she had said was an insult. He received an elbow in the ribs from Dalet.

"Come on B-b-b-b-a-a-a-a B-b-b-b-a-a-a Boy!" Dalet hissed, imitating the bleating of a sheep as he used Guimel's nickname, grabbing Guimel's hand and pulling him out of the kitchen, down the hall. Kat watched them go, too shocked to anything to stop them, and then turned away as they faded into the shadows.

She looked to the kitchen and saw that there was the making of two sandwiches on the counter. She walked up to them and tossed them out into the night through a window. "I need to lay off the milk before bed thing," she muttered, shaking her head and heading back to bed.