Book One Chapter Ten: Luna

Nick is rescued at the last minute by a mysterious white haired girl named Luna. Who is she? Why did she save Nick?

Chapter Ten Luna: I had a nightmare. I was chained in the position that I was in when I first awakened after Saja captured me at Kao’s Cuisine. Saja stood in front of me, slowly walking over to me. Her expression was that of a cat stalking a mouse. Her lips were turned upwards into a small grin. Her red eyes watched my every move, her brain calculated dozens of different ways to kill me in that very instant. I frantically pulled at my bonds, desperate to get away from Saja. Saja saw my attempts to get free and she laughed quietly. When she laughed I could see her razor sharp fangs that would no doubt be sunk into my neck in the next few seconds. I tried to talk, to beg Saja not to bite me. I hated the feeling of weakness that followed her bites and I hated having my blood stolen from me by her, but I couldn’t talk! It was like someone hit the mute button and silenced my voice! Saja stalked closer to me and she leaned in close to my neck. I desperately tried to break my bonds but to no avail. I felt Saja sink her incredibly sharp fangs into my neck. I felt her bite down and apply pressure. My neck was in agony and I felt Saja drinking my blood. I screamed and thrashed around, trying to throw her off of me but she did not budge.

I woke up screaming. I thrashed myself into an upright position. Man, I had to stop being so afraid of Saja. Even though it was a very, very reasonable fear, I couldn’t let her get to me. I looked around at where I was. There was a fire burning somewhere close in the cave but it was out of sight. I certainly wasn’t in Saja’s prison anymore. I had done it! I had escaped! The walls of the cave were dark brown stone, so was the ceiling and the floor. The ceiling was about eight feet high. The walls were about ten feet apart. As I replayed the events of my escape I remembered the white werewolf that saved me. Where was it? I heard a noise behind me and turned around quickly, expecting to see a huge white wolf bearing down on me.

What I saw was no wolf. Instead I saw a petite white haired girl sitting across from me and looked puzzling at her. She had a small, frail build, white hair, soft blue eyes, and well outlined features. This girl looked small, and she was lean, but she did not look too bony. She was short, shorter than me and probably shorter than Saja, which put her at around 5”3’. She saw my puzzled expression, and her blue eyes softened.

“I am Luna. I saved you." Luna said, her voice was soft and steady, filled with sincerity.

Gratitude filled me.

“Thank you.” I said, amazed that she had managed to save me.

Wait a second, something didn’t make sense. She said that she saved me, but it wasn’t a girl who saved me, it was a wolf! I saw her white hair. The wolf had white hair. Was this girl and the wolf somehow connected?

“Luna, you didn’t save me. A wolf did.” I said, feeling stupid for not thinking of it earlier.

Luna nodded as if in understanding of my confusion.

“Oh, I can see that you do not know that I am a werewolf. Well, I suppose it is quite obvious, seeing as I could never have done it in my human form.” Luna said.

“Why did you save me?” I asked.

“Saja is a very evil vampire, but I presume that you already know that, yes?” Luna asked.

“Yes, I know.” I said with a small amount of venom in my voice.

“Saja abducts mortals and questions them relentlessly about the Chosen One and Tigiti. If the mortals resist, she tortures them with her bites until she gets what she wants, I am quite surprised that you are not dead, to be honest. I can see that Saja has bitten you.” Luna said, reaching out to my neck.

I felt her warm touch on my neck just beside where Saja bit me for the very first time.

“Oh my!” Luna said, running her fingers over my bite marks that I could feel on my neck.

They still hurt a little, and Luna’s touch on them made them hurt more. I instinctively recoiled away from her touch.

“Oh, my apologies. Did I hurt you?” Luna asked sincerely.

“No, no. They are still sore, that’s all.” I said, not wanting this mysterious girl to get upset.

She did save me, I owed her that much. I was still groggy from waking up, and still stiff and sore from my experience with Saja.

“Were you really that white wolf... thing?” I asked.

Luna’s gaze on me softened even more.

“Yes.” She said, nodding.

Okay, something didn’t add up again. The medieval castle, vampires, werewolves, this was madness!

“Where am I?” I asked, feeling confused.

“We are in a cave not far from my village.” She said.

Did she just say ‘village?’ This brought me back to my question: Where was I?

I sat up and groaned because I was stiff from being chained by Saja for so long, but also because I had ten holes in my back from the other wolf, each hole was fairly small, too small for those huge claws. The claws must have only sunk part way into my back. If it weren’t for Luna, I would most certainly be dead.

“Thank you again for saving me from Saja, if it weren’t for you, I would be dead.” I said sincerely.

 

“You are welcome.” Luna said.

 

I felt the claw marks on my back. Luna motioned for me to sit down. I sat down.

“Your injuries are Lexan’s doing.” Luna said.

Lexan? I recognized that name.

“The big brown wolf?” I asked, recalling Saja calling its name when I escaped.

Luna nodded.

“Yes, he is the disowned son of the werewolf royal family. I will take you to the village and you can see a healer.”

I agreed and we started off. Wait, a healer? Where was I? I decided to ask.

"Eh, Luna, where am I?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"Well, what year is it, for starters?" I asked.

"The year is 1690." She answered.

Confusion struck me. 1690? Has I gone back in time with Saja? I looked around. All I saw were flat plains of green, and the occasional rock, boulder, or hill. This didn’t look like Earth!

"Am I on Earth?" I asked, fear filled my voice.

"Earth? What is Earth?" Asked Luna, cocking her head.

That stunned me. How was this possible? I certainly wasn’t on Earth, that was very obvious.

"This is Ectoclis." Luna said slowly still looking confused by my question.

"What is Ectoclis?" I asked.

"It is the name of this world." Luna said in a completely surprised tone.

I was in a different world? I was confused beyond belief. How did Saja get me here? This is crazy!

“Come. We must go to my village.” Luna said, taking my hand and leading me across the barren green plain. I could see a mass of buildings in the distance. Was that her village? Luna led me towards the village and we arrived at no time at all. It was a village with a looming stone castle. We entered the village. I looked around in wonder. I was starting to belief the fact that this was a different world. The place looked totally medieval! There were people with swords walking around, there was a blacksmith shop, armor and weapons shops, inns, and people wearing simple leather clothes going about their days. Luna took me into the castle. A thought crossed my mind and I stopped.

“Won’t the king have a problem with two commoners walking into his castle?” I asked.

Luna shook her head.

“Not when one of them is his daughter.” She replied with a smile.

Woah, plot twist.

“You didn’t tell me that.” I said with a grin.

I was relieved that we wouldn’t get beheaded for walking into the castle. Luna led me through some passages until we got to a grand looking throne room. Atop the thrones were a queen and a king. The queen had white hair, like Luna, but she couldn't have been more than forty. She was wearing a lavish robe. The king was a bigger man, he had black hair, a small beard and a moustache. He too, was wearing an ornate robe.

“Father. This one was injured by Lexan.” Luna said.

 

The king nodded.

“I see. Come up here, boy." The king said.

I hesitated, feeling doubtful, but Luna motioned for me to go. I stepped up so I was facing the king. He touched me and his eyes seemed to turn into liquid, but stayed in his skull. I could feel my cuts heal, and the holes in my back sealed, they were not big, but they were deep. They missed my vital organs though, or else I wouldn't be here, at this castle, surrounded by human wolf... things. I felt a lot less stiff, overall, I felt better. 

“This one also knows our secret.” Luna said. The king stopped and his eyes returned to normal.

"Does he?" The king's thunderous voice came.

“Please! Do not kill him father!” Luna pleaded.

The king sighed.

“Very well. If you trust him, I reckon I should trust him.” The king said.

The queen stayed silent for the last few minutes. I wondered what she was thinking about.

***

 

An hour later we were in the dining hall talking and eating a grand supper.

The king looked at me.

“Seeing as you already know about us werewolves, do you know the vampires?” He asked.

“Yes, I was held captive by Saja.” I answered.

The king scratched his beard.

“Hmmmm. Do you know anything about their royalty?” Asked the king.

This sparked a memory from my imprisonment.

“Yes! Saja is planning an uprising and will overthrow the vampire royal family.” I blurted out.

The king dropped his fork. The queen looked extremely worried.

“This hasn’t happened since 1266.” The queen said.

It was the first time that she had spoken since I saw her. Her voice was smooth, like her daughter's.

“We must think carefully.” The king said.

“There are no second chances.” He added.

“So do you change into a wolf every night, or just on full moons?" I asked, desperate for a subject change. The king's face showed less tension than it had a moment ago.

“Us werewolves are not restricted to changing only at night. We can change into our wolf forms night or day at will. Sadly, there are not many of us werewolves left. The wars previously fought on Ectoclis has taken a toll on our kind. Our kind is almost completely forgotten in human history, and in vampire history as well.” The king explained sadly.

“I see, well that is certainly a shame.” I told him.

 

The kind nodded his head. Though I knew I would have to bring up the subject again, I tried to dwell in the present and not worry about the future. The queen then spoke.

 

“You are welcome to any of the accommodations here, you must be so tired after being held captive by Saja.” She said.

I nodded.

“Thank you.” I said graciously.

After the meal, I roamed the castle halls for a little while. I thought about my situation. How would I get home? I was starting to get homesick already, I had no idea how far I was from home, and maybe this was Earth in 1690? I had no idea. After remembering my ordeal with Saja and remembering being chained up, I just wanted to lie down on an actual bed.

 

I soon found a decent looking room, and a few seconds later was on top of the bed, my back felt so sore, so did the rest of my body. It felt so good to not be chained anymore. I looked out the window and saw the moon. I wondered what the king and queen and Luna were doing. I fell asleep easily that night. I awoke to see the moon. I did not know why, but I felt compelled to take a walk, I went downstairs and was careful not to wake the king and queen. I went outside and went for a walk. It was like I wasn't even moving, I was so tired that I did not feel a thing, not even my own footsteps. Was I dreaming? I walked past a cemetery and saw a figure sitting on a gravestone but when I blinked it was gone. Yep, I was probably dreaming. I continued on. I passed a grassy plain with deer and cows grazing. Maybe I was still on Earth? Probably not.  No, definitely not. It was hard to understand that I was actually on a different world. How did I even get here? I decided to look on the bright side; as terrifying as the concept of being light years from home is, who else from Earth would ever get to come to this world, Ectoclis? I decided to make the most of it. Now that I was free from Saja’s prison, maybe I could actually enjoy myself a little? After walking around for a while longer, I went back to the castle. I went upstairs and went back to sleep in my bed, hoping that it would wake me up from the dream.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think :)