Beneath a Flaming Sky - Book Three (Moon Child Series)

Chapter Two

Mia's POV

“A long time ago there were a king and queen who said every day, "Ah, if only we had a child," but they never had one.

But it happened that once when the queen was bathing, a frog crept out of the water on to the land, and said to her, ‘Your wish shall be fulfilled, before a year has gone by, you shall have a daughter.’”

A loud broken cackle breaks through my father’s words and I turn in shock towards the sound to find a tall man in a long flowing black cloak, its hood hung low over his face, obscuring it from my view.

“Finally, the little princess is within my grasp.” His voice was grainy and crackled as he spoke, and his broken cackle made me grit my teeth as if it were nails on a chalkboard. “Rise my little ones, collect my prize.” The temperature around me dropped several degrees as the air began to vibrate. A screech rippled through the night sky, making my hair stand on end at its sound. I shivered as they came into view to stand behind the man. There were three of them, and they were grotesque beyond all reason. They were skeletal in nature, their flesh hanging off of them in random places, grey and moulding. Their movements were jerky, their eyes hollow and hungry. Their jaws hung slack, holding razor sharp teeth that dripped with black goo. The sight of them had my stomach churning with bile. They were like death personified.

“Go get my prize.” The man cackled as the creatures screeched and stepped towards me. I didn’t think, I just ran. Instinct took over and I shifted and was off before they could reach me. Their flesh crawling screams followed me as I ran. I don’t know how long I ran; I don’t know how I kept going, but I did. The sound of my father telling me his story continued as I ran, until he’d finished and with a kiss atop my forehead that I’d felt vividly, he left the room, and I was alone with nothing but silence as I ran. Aside from the screams of the creatures that pursued me. I could feel my lungs burning for air, my muscles screaming for rest, as I saw the sun begin to peak over the horizon. As the sun brought the world out of the darkness, I heard pain filled shrieks from the creatures behind me, and I chanced a glance behind me. My eyes couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The creatures turned from the sun, their bodies beginning to smoke before they vanished into thin air. I came to the realisation then that they were averse to the sunlight and only would be able to attack at night-time. I felt a bit of hope at that thought as my body gave up beneath me and I collapsed to the grass below. My lungs were on fire as I tried to catch my breath.

After an hour of laying in the grass and letting my lungs and body recover, I made my way back to the pack house and up to my room where I grabbed all my magic books out that I could reach and began to research the creatures and other spells that would come in handy whilst fighting them.

Four years later and I was able to fight the creatures off with potions I created and was able to hide myself for an hour or so with each cloaking spell before I had to run again, and that’s where I was now. Hiding behind my cloaking spell. They allowed me to rest for a little while before I ultimately had to run for my life again. I sat beneath the small canopy of trees, resting my head on my paws as I listened to my father reading me the same story, he’d been reading for four years now. It never got old, hearing his voice. It gave me comfort when they spoke to me, like I wasn’t alone. And it allowed me to know that their lives hadn’t stopped just because I was under a sleeping curse. When my dad had finished the story, I was a little disappointed, until I heard my brother speak, his voice bringing me comfort.

“Do you mind if I have a word with her, dad?” I heard him leaving the room and the creak of a chair as my brother took his place. Silence fills the air as I listen out for his next words.

“Hey sis, how’s things with you?” I smirk and rise to a sitting position as I look up into the sky to give my answer.

“Oh, you know. Same old, same old. Running for my life every night.” I gave a sarcastic chuckle as I stood and stretched.

“I have some pretty big news. And no its not a wedding date. You know that Amelia refuses to get married until you wake up.” My ears perked up at his words and dropped when he said it wasn’t a wedding date. My heart broke at the thought of them waiting for me to wake up. I’d rather them just get married and be happy. I’d resigned myself to an eternity in this state, and I didn’t want them to put their life on pause because of the slim chance I might eventually wake up. I hear his soft chuckle and it makes me smile.

“I’m really hoping you’ll wake up soon, because my baby is gonna need an aunty like you in their life.” My heart nearly stopped, and I felt excitement bubble up inside of me in the form of a celebratory howl. That was a big mistake. At that exact moment, my cloaking spell wore off and the screeching in the distance informed me that they knew my location now. With a frustrated huff I ran, all the while thinking about what he said and listening to him as he continued.

“I know it’s not within your control to wake up, but I really need my twin back.” my heart broke at those words. He had no idea how much I wished I could just wake up, hug him, spend time with him. And I could hear the pain in his voice. “I don’t want to have a family without you in it. Please, wake up.” Tears flooded my eyes, blurring my vision and that was my second mistake of the day. My eyes were too blurred that I didn’t notice the creature standing before me, skeletal fingers ready to grab. I collided with it, its bony fingers cutting into my skin as it grasped at me. I shifted back to human form, happy that in this dream world it meant my clothes stayed on. Another creature came to my other side as I struggled to release myself from their grip. But it was no good. My heart beat a rapid pace as the hooded man appeared before me, his face still hidden. The stench of the creatures was overwhelming my senses making my eyes water.

“At last, my prize is here.” A hand blackened and malformed reached forward to me and pressed over my heart. I felt coldness grip me as he sucked my essence from me. My eyes began to droop as I gave up.  I couldn’t run anymore. At least with me gone Luca and Amelia would be able to move on and actually live their lives....