Luna Ashflow

  My body ached, and my mind screamed with a migraine I had never felt before. The spell resilience had no effect, and that terrified me. With a heavy grunt, I pulled my mother’s unconscious body across the ground. Finally, my arms and legs had enough, and I had to gently pce her on the ground before colpsing beside her against the main entrance airlock to the arcanium pnt. Beyond that door would lead me to Ruby and the outside world.

  Where had everyone gone? The Ionans were nowhere to be seen, and the incapacitated heins guard was also gone. Even Oscar and Saria had vanished. How long was I out for? I thought the Master–Shaed said we would only be gone for a few minutes in this realm.

  I winced as a stabbing pain pierced my skull, and I groaned. “Truth, do you know?” I asked, hoping the disembodied voice that had helped me in the Cerebellium would respond. “How would they know,” I muttered. “They’re me.” I sighed as no response came, except I felt something. Deep within, a stirring. Though it was most likely just my throbbing mind teasing me, so I thought nothing of it.

  Turning my attention back to the situation. It was most likely that the soldiers took the injured to the hospital. Maybe that’s what happened.

  Perhaps that’s where I need to go. Dr. Kegan might have something to help with my migraine, and Mother should get checked on. Even though I used my magic on her, she hadn’t woken up. I had dragged her from the central room up the ramp for what felt like an hour. Indeed, she should’ve stirred since then, right?

  I didn’t know. What I did know is that I shouldn’t be lolly-gagging here. The longer I stayed put, the more I feared my mother would be at risk. “Momma,” I said with a grunt as I pushed myself onto my knees and reached over to her. I gently shook her. “Momma, you need to wake up.” I winced yet again as the pain in my head spiked.

  My mother’s face scrunched slightly as I shook her. Her eyes shifted beneath her closed lids like someone experiencing a dream, yet she didn’t wake. Instead, her lips parted, and she babbled lightly under her breath, saying words I could not understand.

  That seemed like a good sign, I thought, right?

  Perhaps she was concussed. I wondered if that was the case. Wouldn’t my magic have cured that? I remembered Isa didn’t wake up right away when I cured her two weeks ago. As much as I hated it, I think I just needed to be patient.

  Should I leave her here and get help? The idea came to mind, though I quickly shot that down. If I left her, there was no stopping somebody like Putinov from returning to finish the job. As Shaed told me, that man wasn’t dead. He would be back.

  He was searching for me. I thought. He referred to me as an anomaly.

  I scowled. What was Shaed hiding from me? He called me into that realm to talk, to expin everything. Yet everything he told me reted to nothing happening outside of Putinov’s vessel. He refused to expin why I was here, what made me so essential, or why Putinov was even after me. Why was I an anomaly?

  Could it be because of Cereb? I shuddered. That thing I’m supposedly linked to that I’m an echo of. What was that thing? I shook my head. Is that what Putinov was referring to? I wondered.

  “Are you listening, Shaed?” I asked as I got to my feet and stretched. My bones cracked all over, and I groaned softly as I waited for a reply that never came. “Shaed,” I prompted him. “Don’t tell me you’re ghosting me now…” I frowned.

  No response.

  “You son of a bitch,” I snarled. Fine, if he wanted to be a petty asshole about what happened, so be it. I looked back to my mother, who I noticed was smiling. I detected brief flits of movement beneath her eyelids, and she hummed faintly as if in a pleasant dream. The sight was honestly adorable. Too bad I was going to have to drag her around through it.

  Having the small body of an elven girl during a time of crisis is probably one of the worst things to ever come to me. I had thought my days as a baby were terrible; trust me, they were. But being a child stuck dragging an unconscious adult around is physically taxing. My mother doesn’t even look that heavy. She’s tall and curvy, but that’s about it. She was wearing modest clothes and wasn’t carrying anything too heavy, but for the love of the gods, it felt like I was dragging a pile of sandbags.

  It took some work, like a lot of work. I probably shaved off at least three decades of my seemingly immortal life, but I was able to get the airlock open. I then suffered another agonizing ten minutes, dragging the dead weight of my mother into said airlock before struggling to open the next door.

  Being short sucks. This world is known for having short beings like gnomes, halflings, and kepri, who are little lizard people like kobolds. You would think structures would have accessibility features for little people like me. You know, like a handle I could reach, or a lever or something. No. These st two obstacles, doors, didn’t have anything like that.

  My mother, who is tall and beautiful, as I mentioned, couldn’t help me—not consciously. For you see, she made a great living step stool. My apologies, mother. I had my magic back, yes. Could I have used it to assist in opening these doors? Absolutely. So why didn’t I use them?

  Well, it had to do with the issue of the migraine I’ve been suffering. My magic worked fwlessly, but after performing even the smallest of spells, like a gust which could propel me upwards. My head would start to throb intensely, causing me to lose focus. Something wasn’t right with me, and I had no idea what.

  Unfortunately, I didn’t want to risk flying or even trying to cut the door open. Instead, I stepped up on my poor mother, who seemed entirely unfazed by this and struggled to open the door. Eventually, I did succeed. With all my little muscles, I cranked the rge wheel and dislodged the pots on the door.

  A sharp hiss could be heard as the door came loose and swung outward. Like an idiot, I held onto the wheel and nearly let it take me with it. Letting go, I hopped off of my mother and onto the pavement outside, where we were greeted with crisp, cool air, which certainly didn’t fit the season.

  I held a hand to shield my eyes from the sun’s rays. It had to be te evening, the sky clear save for clouds of smoke that stained portions of it to the right of me, which was west. That’s the direction of the airfield and Trentonville. My stomach sank; I didn’t know if Central Park was the closest fire burning, and I prayed it wasn’t. I had no idea who could help us if Kegan was in danger. At least someone I could trust.

  My eyes were fixated on the plumes of smoke rising above the city. I failed to notice the shadow that loomed over me and the scaled head of Ruby pushing into me. The strider head-butted me hard enough that she nearly sent me flying, and I tumbled forward with a startled gasp.

  Catching myself, I spun around to see the rge red dragon and nearly cried joyfully. To see another friendly face again, even that of an animal, was so relieving. “Ruby, thank god you’re okay. Where is everyone? Did you see Oscar, the old elf man? Or Aunt Saria?”

  Ruby listened for a few moments. Her head cocking to the side as if pondering my words, then after a few crucial seconds, she squawked and bobbed her up and down as if nodding before jutting a cw towards the gate and crowed again. I followed the direction she pointed and nodded.

  “So they left. And the soldiers?” I asked her. “There were a few down there.” I pointed inside. Once again, the strider barked and pointed. I smiled widely. “Such a smart girl.” I approached her as she leaned down and allowed me to rub and pat her snout. “Leaving you behind before was a mistake,” I sighed. "Can you help me?” I asked.

  Ruby’s eyes focused on me as I stepped back, and she tilted her head. I gestured to the open airlock. “Mother is hurt and heavy. Could you help me drag her out? Carefully, of course.”

  Ruby followed my finger and jerked slightly when she noticed Mother lying motionless at the door. Her feathers bristled, and she huffed loudly before looking at me and bobbing her head again. Ruby took a few steps towards the door and carefully bent over, and I shuddered anxiously as she cmped her jaw around the base of my mother’s neck and right shoulder.

  I was about to call an immediate halt to this before I realized she wasn’t biting my mother’s neck but hooking the fabric of her clothes with her teeth. I heard faint tearing as Ruby’s razor-sharp teeth tore the fabric as she pulled back, effortlessly dragging my mother’s body out into the sunlight. A few feet out from the door, Ruby would release her and turn to look at me before chirping proud of herself.

  I came over to the Strider and patted her leg. “Thank you, Ruby, do you think you can help me get her on your back?” I asked. Ruby cocked her head again and pondered my question. After about a minute, she chirped again and lowered their heavy frame.

  Even lying on her belly beside me, the strider’s body was as tall as mine. Looking at my mother, I gulped. I could hardly lift her up into a sitting position, let alone haul her four feet in the air and over Ruby’s back.

  Well, you don’t have a choice, I thought and sighed.

  As much as I didn’t want to use my magic and risk fring the migraine, I had to do so here. It was rough and sucked. Like, mega sucked. I’m talking hang-over plus being beaten with a frying pan sucked. The process in itself was simple. I hoisted my mother up into a sitting position facing Ruby; I then gripped her by her pits and lifted her rear up off the ground with all my strength. So far, so good, right? The next step was to use the gust spell to propel her up and over Ruby.

  That worked beautifully. The pn went off without a hitch. What also went off was my goddamn mind. After casting the spell, it was like a fshbang went off. My vision fshed, and my brain felt like it was melting. It was like the moment the ethereal storm within me touched my noggin. Stuff exploded.

  I cried and stumbled back, my hands clutching the sides of my head as it throbbed. My ears rang as my vision swam. I felt sick again, and I needed to vomit. Then I did. Unable to control myself, I barfed onto the pavement, and what I saw horrified me. It was the same bile from when I left the Cerebellium. Bck oil-like liquid had spttered onto the pavement, twisting and riling before me as if alive. It screamed with the voices of thousands in agony.

  I stumbled back. “What the fuck?!”

  The oily substance began to bubble and sizzle under the sun’s light, the screams distorting like a broken record before finally evaporating in seconds. I stood back, terrified and confused.

  What’s wrong with me? I thought. What did Shaed do to me? Did he do something to me? He had to have. This never happened before. Am I dying? Am I broken? What is this stuff inside of–

  Ruby nudging me with her snout snapped me out of my descending thoughts. I stumbled to the side, turned to her, and saw that the strider’s expression was as disturbed as mine. She chirped and motioned with her head toward my mother, slung over on her back. Immediately, I knew what she was trying to tell me: worry about her first care for yourself second.

  I nodded. “Thank you,” I said softly and cmbered onto Ruby’s back.

  “Take us back to Aunt Saria’s house. You remember the way, right?” I asked, and Ruby squawked confidently.

  The city was in chaos. The streets were flooded with panicked civilians rushing to and fro. Many were fighting towards the mag stations, hoping to buy a ticket out of Johanneson. Others were fleeing their jobs to get home, while despicable individuals took advantage of the chaos.

  “District fire reported in Helmsworth, make way for fire fighting teams!” A disembodied voice boomed overhead.

  I gripped Ruby’s spine as the strider carried us through the cacophony of it all. She was a good dragon; she barked and snarled at those who drew too close, allowing us to pass the streets unimpeded.

  Looking over my shoulder, I checked on Mother, and with an anxious sigh, I saw she was still out cold. But I did note she was still smiling and mumbling softly under her breath. I prayed that she was simply sleeping and that, in time, she’d wake up. Yet part of me knew that was a childish plea. Something wasn’t right with her, nor me.

  “Panic will not help the situation!” A man’s voice boomed far ahead of me.

  Down the street, I could see from my vantage point on top of Ruby a truck barricading the street ahead manned by soldiers. On top of one of these trucks was a dwarf in an officer’s uniform, though I couldn’t determine the rank.

  “Please calm yourselves. We are handling the situation!” He shouted to the angry crowd. There had to be at least three dozen people before him.

  “We were told our families would be safe!” An unseen woman shouted.

  “How are you supposed to protect us from those machines?!” Said another.

  “Where are the magisters!” A third demanded. “What happened to the power?”

  This is bad. I thought as I looked over my shoulder in the direction we came. The route we needed to go was blocked off, and if my memory was correct. Our district was cordoned off shortly after everything went to hell.

  “I understand your concerns,” The dwarf told the crowd. “The regional governor has his hands full and is approaching each matter as soon as he’s able to.”

  A bullshit response, I thought, and the crowd caught on as well and began shouting in unison, drowning out the soldier as anger boiled over.

  Ruby gnced back at me, and I sighed. “We’ll need to find another way,” I told her, stroking her neck.

  The strider simply bobbed her head and chirped. With that, we turned away from the crowd and headed down an off-road nearby. The street was mainly clear, save for a few families with boxes and luggage that had hastily exited their homes. A mother struggled with a child who was no older than me, sobbing uncontrolbly, begging how she didn’t want to leave.

  Further down the road, another family had a man arguing with another. The fight escated into a screaming match as they debated where they should go while the two women with them tried to soothe the situation.

  “Everything is going to hell again,” I whispered as memories of Oren fshed before me. The day the ultimatum was given, surrender your sovereignty or be annihited. Like then, the streets were packed with men and women confused, terrified, and angry.

  These people never once felt a danger like this in their lifetime. Not even their grandparents and so forth. A world mostly untouched by conflict. The news had reported on what happened on the front. Refugees had brought the horrors they had witnessed. The mass sughter, the kidnappings, and how the Veinrites processed living beings into heartless killing machines. All of that only fueled the terror I was witnessing here, for the people knew there were only two choices: flee or be sughtered.

  That’s not true. A part of me thought. They can fight. We can fight.

  “Fight?” I muttered to myself. I passed by a third family of fathers kneeling before their trembling sons as they tried to console him.

  You’ve done it once already. You saved your family from the prison and the others.

  “That wasn’t me… That was Shaed, I haven’t done anything.” I sighed.

  That’s not true. It was because of your initiative and strive to save your family that you helped the soldiers get in. You saved Isa in the doctor’s office and Varis from being taken from the machine, Luna…

  “Luna?” I blinked, now realizing. These thoughts. It didn’t sound like Shaed, Ami, or whatever disembodied being of the week in my head. It felt like me. It was like a section I locked away for years and lost the key, but now that lock was broken, and that piece screaming in the back of my mind could finally be heard.

  I’m you, dummy. You’re talking to yourself like you always do.

  “Truth?” I blinked.

  You could say so… But not really. I’m just you, Luna. We are Luna. You.

  “I’m going crazy.” I snickered, feeling oddly relieved.

  You–I’ve always had been… Look, now isn’t the time for defeatism. We have a goal, and we just need to act on it. Shaed, or not, or whoever wants to tell us what to do. We don’t need them to tell us what to do next.

  “Get, Mother to Kegan or a doctor?” I muttered.

  That’s one of the goals, but remember. Think about that thing Cereb showed me—the memory of my mother working on the project—that tower blueprint.

  “The thing in the middle of the city,” I said, realizing. “The project that Shaed said needs to be completed…” I hesitated. That man.

  I’m pissed off at him too. He cims to be helpful. He says he cares, yet he tells us nothing. And what he does say is only helpful at the moment. We need to stop being reactionary, Luna. We need to start working towards our own goals. However, Shaed might be right about this one. That tower being built near Central Park might be the key to fighting back.

  “Either that or we leave,” I said. “We keep running, like when we left Oren.”

  That’s a good pn, too, but ask yourself, Luna. Is it the best pn for you?

  I frowned at this as Ruby turned onto another busy road. Further ahead, another barricade could be seen, but thankfully, no mobs were huddled around it.

  “I don’t know…” I said. Part of me wanted to gather my family and leave; mag-rail or not, I’d make us hoof it if we had to. Except, knowing that I had a pn that could potentially save not just my family but the whole city…

  Was I selfish for wanting to save my family? Or was it selfish to save the city because I knew it’d make me feel good if I did? If I left knowing I could’ve saved the city and everyone within, would that make me a bad person?

  I don’t know the answer to that… All I can say is go with what you want, not what they want you to do. Do you want to save the city?

  “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I abandoned it,” I whispered as we approached the barricade. “If I truly have the power to stop what’s coming, I want to try and help. I’m tired of running away, I want to do something.”

  If that’s truly what you believe, then let’s do it.

  Ruby stopped before the barricade as soldiers in Ionan uniforms approached us, hands raised. “State purpose,” A tall, burly human said in broken maurich.

  “I need to get to my home,” I said in a calm tone that surprised me. "My mother is injured, and our house is in Old Town.” If I could meet up with the others, I would feel much better, as Father and Isa might know what’s wrong with Mother. If they don’t, we could cut through Old Town and get to Central Park, which is closer to Saria’s house.

  The soldier looked me up and down and then at my mother and frowned slightly. Two other soldiers fnked to my left as they did a once over us until finally, a fourth individual stepped forth. A woman in a drab green duster with short brown hair and bright green eyes, strapped across her chest was a leather satchel and belt that carried vials. She raised a brown gloved hand towards me, and her eyes fshed with ethereal light that showed blue. Clouds of ether streamed out from the corners of her eyes and evaporated into the air. She stepped closer and examined me.

  Ether detection. Mother expined this during our studies. I recalled that now. It was a spell astral sorcerers were taught which allowed them to see souls and wells of individuals… Crap

  Upon closer inspection, the woman’s brow shot upwards, and she held a hand up to the soldiers around her. Shaed, you asshole, could’ve taught me how to hide something like this, I growled. I need to go now!

  The mage would’ve seen the moment she activated ether detection, which was the massive ether pool within me. The boon Shaed had given me all those months ago, the same power that stunned Alexander. Mother had feared before I would attract the attention of those around me with my powers, and while I had been stupid in using them so openly. Now, I had just stupidly walked up and revealed myself to the soldiers.

  “Ruby, go!” I urged the dragon as the woman called to the soldiers around me.

  Ruby squawked and bolted ahead, causing me to lurch and grip her tightly as the men and women in front gasped and dove out of the way as the strider lept over the barricade. I heard shouts from behind, and my stomach lurched with fear as someone fired a rifle, which sent a bolt whizzing overhead.

  “Holy shit!” I gasped, but thankfully, no other shots came, and I didn’t bother looking back to see why.

  Well, that didn’t go as pnned. The Ionans might not know the Angel of Kencha, but the word of a girl with immense power may spread.

  “I’ll just keep my head down more,” I said, gritting my teeth.

  But for how long? The people of Trentonville are aware of your existence. Now, the soldiers. It won’t be long until those of power try to rope you into things again like that woman, Hass.

  “I won’t follow them,” I said. “From now on, I’m making my own choices.” I gripped Ruby and risked gncing over my shoulder. To my relief, no one was giving chase, at least not yet.

  If that’s the truth, then I’ll help you. Let's get home.

  “They’re abandoning us. The Red Moon comes, and we’ll be alone. The Current slows and all is loss, we’re trapped. Alone… So, so alone…”

  Name: Xangshi Chu

  Cause of death: Blunt trauma from a fall.

  Time of death: Aqui 11th, 1943, 27:30

  Time of death speech: Aqui 14th, 1943, 06:17

  Notes: The subject was a nine-year-old urchin Xing child from the city of Bonshun. The child was unfortunately caught stealing and pursued by police, who eventually led the chase to the rooftops. The subject, however, miscalcuted a jump, which resulted in their untimely death due to the resulting injuries ter that evening at the Quon Health Care facility.

  A terrified yet quick-thinking monk thankfully documented the subject’s death speech, the very man we had taken in, who had been tending the morgue three days after the child’s death. So far, this speech differs from the others we’ve acquired and frankly unsettles me greatly.