Two Moons of Sera (28 page)

“Tor?” I begged.

Distant eyes greeted me. Pain and enchantment glazed over
his eyes, drowning him deeper into the A’aihea’s world. Together we knelt,
surrounded by the dancing, shouting maniacs who had done this to him, and I
reached up to lower the shroud hiding me from his sight.

“Sera, no!” Keene’s hand stopped me, as two sentries trailed
behind him. He screamed as they grabbed his arms, pulling him away from me. “You
can’t! Not here!”

But I had to know. I had to know if what I believed in my
heart was right.

As Keene struggled against the sentries’ hold, I pulled the
veil from my face. Tor’s eyes met mine, and the fire that burned deep within
him cooled.

“Tor, can you hear me? Please!” I brought both hands to his
face, cupping his cheeks, begging him to
see
me. “Tor?”

“I....” He faltered as recognition flashed across his features.
After tearing his eyes from mine, he looked down at his arm. Shock and fear
greeted me when he returned. “Where—where am I?”

“Come with me.” I tried helping him to his feet, but an
ebony hand fell on his shoulder, keeping him on his knees.

“A fish out of the pond,” the Queen declared. She inspected
me, her eyes as black as her skin, blacker than the night above, burning me in
place.

Tor shook his head, glancing from her to me. Bewilderment
etched his features.

“You being here does confuse,” she said.

“No!” Keene roared from behind me. He overpowered the
sentries holding him back and rushed forward, pushing me out of the way as
flames surrounded me.

The burning tingled, igniting the remaining fabric covering
me. I shook off the cloak, letting it fall to ash.

“You will not!” Keene crouched over me and glared at his
mother.

The Queen spoke then, harsh inflection in the A’aihea’s
beautiful language. Her grip on Tor tightened, nails digging into his flesh.
Keene retorted, but I ignored them and hung onto the last thread of hope that
my love could come back to me.

Around us, A’aihea danced and kissed. Some fell to the
ground, exploring their burning bodies in twos and threes. The stars above
twinkled with amusement at this carnal display.

I crept to Tor’s side, his confused gaze still trained on
me.

With a crack, the Queen slammed her hand against my face,
throwing me to the ground. Fire enveloped her hand as she focused her attention
on me. A wicked smile dominated her features as she approached me one slow step
at a time. “Fish do not come here. Fish are for hunting, for feeding, for
roasting.”

Flames shot from her, encircling my body. The ruined tatters
of my cloak vanished in the heat, but I did not burn.

Over the din of the celebration, I heard Keene’s scream and
Tor’s bellowing horror as he finally realized who I was. But I did not burn.

I calmly stepped toward the Queen. My fingers reached
through the flame, and I took her hand in mine. She pulled away in shock. Fury
distorted her features, reshaping her elegant form into a better representation
of her soul. Still, I did not burn.

She screamed, primal and feral in her anger. As she reared
up to attack like a stalking cat, a shot rang out into the night. Blood
splattered across my face, and the Queen lay silent before me, a hole in her
head and wet blackness pooling around her. Before I could search for where the
shot had come from, screams filled the air, replacing the chanted song as more
A’aihea bodies fell to the ground, lifeless.

Keene took my hand and pulled me from his mother’s body,
away from Tor, but I slipped from his grasp and knelt before the man I’d come
so far to find.

“Tor?”

Another shot rang out, and people ran toward the wall of
fire, slipping into the safety of Within.

“Sera!” Keene shouted. “We have to go!” He reached for me
again but stopped before touching my arm.

A low growl resonated from beside me as Tor glared at the
hand about to make contact.

I looked up to find Erdlanders rappelling down from the
crater walls. Soon we’d be overrun, and only those who could hide Within the
Fire would be safe.

“Tor, can you walk?” I tried to help him up, but he faltered
and fell back to the ground. I turned my gaze to Keene, keeping my fingers
wrapped around Tor’s arm. “Help me. Please. Help him.”

Keene gave a curt nod in response then circled to Tor’s
other side and lifted him up. Together, we supported his weight and wove
through the chaos of the space.

Sentries stood guard, ushering Within those who could
withstand the wall of fire while leaving everyone else to fend for themselves.
Erdlander gunmen took aim and plucked off one A’aihea after another. All around
us, bodies littered the volcano crater., and the ground was slick with their
blood. Children screamed as they keened over fallen parents, not knowing what
to do.

Sev sprinted past us, a small child on her back, another
cradled in the crook of her left arm, and two more trailing close at her heels.
“Come!” she commanded, her right hand pointing her spear tip in the direction
of safety, away from the commotion.

We raced through the black tunnel that led out of the
volcano’s crater. No fire lit the way, no friendly conversation passed the
time. We ran for our lives. How many times could a person be hunted for simply
existing before deciding perhaps they weren’t meant to live? My feet were
bloody and exhausted, and I stumbled over my own toes as Tor’s weight dragged
me down. But he was here with me. I knew he’d seen me, that he’d known me, but
there was no time to reunite.

When we broke through the blackness of the tunnel and into
the hut-filled clearing, crackling flames greeted us. All the homes were
ablaze. Erdlanders with guns and black uniforms ran after the A’aihea who had
returned ahead of us, picking them off one by one.

“We go to the priestess’s cave,” Sev directed.

“What about the others?” I couldn’t imagine leaving them
behind. Keene’s little village may have been prepared to kill me for existing,
but no one deserved this fate.

“No time.” She shook her head, still taking in the carnage
before us. “We live or we die.”

“Sera?” Tor’s voice was a croak, barely audible over the
roaring flames.

“I’m here.”

“The others.... Where are...?”

“Oh, gods.” Panic washed over me. “We have to get the
others! Elle, Lace, Lock! Where are they? Did Velka make it out?”

Behind us, shots echoed through the tunnel as Erdlanders
fired blindly into the dark. It was impossible to know if they were close
enough to see our group.

A strangled cry came from behind, and I whirled around to
find Velka slumped to the ground. I ran to her small form and pulled her
against me, but her body offered no resistance, only the heaviness of dead
weight.

“No!” Keene ran back to us and threw himself to the ground
at the priestess’s feet. He spoke in A’aihea, the meaning of his words clear in
the tear-soaked sound of his voice.

“Velka—”

Words caught in my throat. I lowered my head in mourning,
and though I had only known Velka for a short time, I liked her. She was
familiar, kind, and strong.

Tor broke the reverent moment with a shake of his head. “We
have to go.”

Keene looked up at him and then back at the body.

I placed a hand on Keene’s shoulder. “You’ll have time to
properly mourn her later. Right now we have to keep these children safe.”

He cocked his head toward the children clinging to Sev and
nodded. With a grunt he pulled his hand away from me and straightened, towering
above us with the authority his blood commanded.

Keene leaned down to pick up Velka’s body, but Sev stopped
him with a sharp reprimand. “No time!” Sev hoisted the child in her arms
higher, and I saw the fear in her hard-set features.

Next to me, Tor straightened and pulled his weight from me. “I
can walk. Sera can take the children. Keene, we need you to get the others.”
His voice sounded stronger, but it still quivered from the effort.

“Do barely talk,” Sev scoffed, eying his weakened frame.

Keene nodded. “I will meet you.” He threw a sorrowful look
toward Velka’s body before sprinting away, disappearing into the night.

For a moment we watched him go, unsure of what to do, and
then the little girl cradled in Sev’s arm began to cry.

“Let’s go.” Her mouth hardened into a thin line, her strong
features set in determination. Without waiting for our response she set out,
keeping close to the rock wall outside the cave.

We slunk around the edge, away from the burning homes and
slaughter. The little girl’s sobs slowed, and soon she settled her head on Sev’s
shoulder, succumbing to sleep.

“Here.” I reached forward and took the slumped form of the boy
hanging on her back and clutched him to my chest.

We would all make it out of here. We would survive. We had
to.

Tor lagged behind but kept going, using the rock wall to
maintain his balance. The two children walking on their own stayed close to
Tor, as though protecting him in his weakened and disoriented state.

At the edge of the rocky wall, Erdlanders were everywhere.
Their outlines blurred against the flames destroying Sev and Keene’s home. In
the blackness, I sensed them surrounding us.

Sev whispered to me without breaking stride. “We go to cave,
take passages deep in mountain. A way to the other side.”

“What’s on the other side?”

She shrugged into the blackness and my stomach fell. At
least we would be alive.

Trees at the edge of the forest ignited, bursting into
flames as the Erdlander attack spread. Soon the whole area would be burned to
cinders, leaving nothing behind. I prayed to any gods left that we be spared
and the others would join us soon.

A sharp crack stopped us. Bullets flew around us as
Erdlanders stalked the ground.

“Stop!” a distant voice commanded. “Hold your fire!”

Five uniformed Erdlanders stood before us, their features
masked by shadows and smoke.

The red light of the fire illuminated the clearing, casting
everything in a bloody glow. We were only a short distance from the forest’s
edge, but we couldn’t make a break for cover without first getting ourselves
shot down out in the open.

“Serafay?” one of the soldiers called out. He took off his
helmet, stepping in front of the rest. “Sera, is that you?” The voice sounded
familiar, but I couldn’t immediately place it. “It’s me, Ash.”

“Ashrah?”

“Oh, thank the gods! We’re here to rescue you. Are Lace and
Lock with you?” Ash ran his gaze over the crowd, and the rest of the soldiers
relaxed as he spoke.

“Ash,” I said calmly, “you have to let us go.”

“What? No, we’re here to take you home. My reserve unit was
activated when we learned about these A’aihea. We weren’t just going to sit by
and let our people be kidnapped.”

A harsh tension in his features told me he believed in
everything the Erdlanders were doing here. He believed that by killing the A’aihea,
his troops had carried out some kind of noble act.

Revulsion scurried over my flesh and I stepped back.

Ash took another step forward, surveying every member of our
ragtag group. “You’re with the A’aihea? It’s true, isn’t it? Tor really is one
of them.” His relieved expression hardened into a frown. “Step away from him,
Sera. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

He raised his rifle and aimed at Tor. The soldiers behind
him followed suit.

“It’s not what you think.” I pulled away from Tor and spread
my arms. They wouldn’t take him from me. Not again—he’d been gone too long
already.

“It’s okay, Sera. Come with me, I’ll protect you. I won’t
let anyone hurt you.” Ash reached out to me, but I took a step back.

“I’m not going with you.”

Ash’s expression relaxed, as did the arms holding his rifle.
“I know you care about Tor. But you can’t be Matched with one of
them
.
It’s not right. If you come with me, we can be together, and I’ll take care of
everything. Please.”

I shook my head. There was nothing for me if I returned with
Ash, and as angry as I was with Tor, I couldn’t imagine ever being with anyone
else.

One of the soldiers inched forward, his aim swinging back
and forth between Tor and Sev. “Corporal Ashrah, what are your orders?”

“I have the women in my sights,” another offered.

“Hold your fire,” Ash ordered, taking another step closer. “Sera,
come home. Please. We can be together.”

I shook my head. “I can’t go back to the camp. That’s not
where I belong.”

His face hardened but he ignored my words. “Where are the
others? Elle, and Lock, and Lace? Are they still alive?”

I nodded. “They’re fine. We weren’t kidnapped, we ran away.”

“Why would you do that?”

“I wasn’t safe there. None of us were.”

“Elle would never do that. She may have lost the baby
but....”

“Sal abandoned her and she’ll never Match again. Lock was
going to be experimented on and so was I, just to figure out how why we are
different. The way Erdlanders do things... it’s wrong. No one should be treated
like breeding stock.”

“You can’t want to live with
him
!” Anger invigorated
Ash’s words, giving them power, and the hatred in his voice struck me like a
physical blow.

“It’s not about just him. Don’t you see, Ash? All that
hate
—it’s
poison. These are the people who care about me. Sualwet, Erdlander, A’aihea—it
doesn’t matter to me. All that matters is
these
people helped me when I
needed it most.”

“That’s not true! I was
always
there for you. I would
never have let anyone hurt you, Sera. I
love
you. You and I could be
happy together. Why would you rather be with these
jikmanae
freaks?”

Heat rose in my cheeks, and in the red light of the fire,
Ash appeared more demon than Erdlander. “Freaks? You have no idea who I am. I’m
the biggest freak of all!”

I lifted my right foot and spread my toes far enough apart
for the webbing to show in the firelight.

Ash’s eyes widened larger than the ruby moon.

Sev saw his moment of hesitation, and she rushed forward,
knocking him to the ground before I could even blink.

In response, gunshots tore through the night. Tor lunged
toward me, pulling me to the ground. Rocks cut into my palms from the force of
the impact. Bullets sang overhead.

Chaos broke out in all directions. Ash’s troops yelled back
and forth while running toward us. Other boot-clad soldiers ran past us
shooting and corralling A’aihea.

Tor reached out, grabbing one of the Erdlanders’ legs with
his hand. The bloused black pants in his grip combusted into a flame that soon
wrapped up the Erdlander’s leg and torso, igniting him in a deadly blaze.

Behind him, two other figures went up in flames, another
farther back. Screams ripped from their lungs as the inferno of the A’aihea
power melted flesh from bone.

In the firelight, Keene towered over us, arms ensconced by
fire.

“What have you done?” Ash screamed. He wrestled away from
Sev’s hold, pulling himself to full height.

“Stop!” I begged, struggling to stand, but Tor still held me
down. “No more killing!”

Ash aimed his weapon at Keene, but before anyone could
react, a great and terrible howl pierced the night. A massive, dark blur rushed
through the fire surrounding us and pounced, sending Ash back into the flames.

Ash was gone, swallowed by the fire.

I reached in the direction his figure had dropped. “Ash?”

Something small broke inside me. Despite what he’d said, he’d
once been my friend.

“We have to go,” Tor urged, unconcerned with Ash’s fate.

“Elgon?” I called out.

Tor released me, and I examined the darkness for my monster’s
presence. No tears fell. I couldn’t afford to lose control, not now, but the
relief that we were alive threatened to knock me down.

Through the fiery haze, I spotted piercing green eyes
glowing in the flames. The outline of the mountain hound’s furry body towered
over Ash’s figure, limp on the ground.

The flame around Keene’s arms subsided, but it still
smoldered in his eyes, ready to burst back to life. “He... he saved me,” Keene
said, visibly shaken.

“You’re part of our family now,” I said, placing a hand on
Keene’s arm. “But where are the others? Lock? Lace? Elle?”

He shook his head. “They... they were gone, so I come back.
I... I am sorry.”

Trapped tears demanded to fall, but I wouldn’t let them go.
I
couldn’t
. I had to believe they were still alive out there somewhere.

Elgon didn’t playfully lope over to us like he usually did
when I called out to him in Sualwet. Instead he was all predator, full of
restrained power coiled to spring into action at any moment against anything
else that might threaten us.

The huge mountain hound circled around us, his adopted pack,
as we headed toward the forest’s edge. Sev darted ahead of us and leaped over
the gory obstacles in her way, her arm still carrying the A’aihea child. The
rest of us followed, leaving Ash’s body right where it had fallen amid the
flames.