Luna and Helios manage to seek refuge in the Duke’s castle closest to the meadow like all the other villagers closest to it as well, and like every other night since the first time she saw them, the darkness came again, stealing light from the sky till colors bled out of the kingdom, rendering it cold, dark and unforgiving.

The sea of siren-flowers that hummed at the gate of the castle wilted long ago, their bright blue colors that were once reminiscent of the summer sky was now a pale grey. Luna couldn’t remember what life was like outside the castle walls.

“Arm the gates!” A guard yelled as he dashed past her. “Arm the gates! They’re coming!”

Luna could feel her heart pumping faster in her chest. Was it fear? Was it adrenaline, she couldn’t tell but she gripped her dagger firmly beside her. She wasn’t going to go down without a fight this time.

She stepped out of the grand hall where all the villagers had gathered since the attack started. The castle’s big strong walls gave enough protection from the dangers outside and those that were not lucky enough to get into the castle before the gates were shut suffered gruesomely at the hands of the beasts outside… The shadow creatures. They devoured everything and anything. Luna couldn’t decide which she feared the most, the darkness or the creatures it birthed. The monsters came in all shapes and sizes and she had learn a few things about them from the fearful whispers of the villagers that she slept next to.

The weaker ones were smaller in sizes and they traveled in packs, they destroyed crops and livestocks and were quick to retreat into the darkness after they were done rampaging, the more dangerous ones moved alone, confident in their destructive abilities. They devoured humans leaving behind only bones and they attacked till there was nothing and no one left standing.

“Where are you going?” Helios asked from behind her. His gray fur glowed a soft color under the light of the flickering candlesticks that lined the wall of the castle.

“To the gate. The shadowlings are coming, if they breach the gates I’m going to fight them off with the rest of the guards.”

“Oh,” His eyes seemed to narrow in concentration and his whiskers twitched on their own as they often did wherever he was deep in thought. “I’m coming with you,” He said and hopped a little closer to her as if to prove his point.

“What? No. It’s dangerous out there—”

“Which is why you need me. You need me as much as I need you,” He said.

Luna looked down at her companion and couldn’t help but smile at the warm feeling that his words triggered in her chest. He always had that way of calming her even when she didn’t know she needed to be calmed.

“Fine. But you head back immediately you think you can’t handle the fight, okay?”

“Pfft. I’m not as sensitive as I look,” Helios said. He had a certain glint in his eye like he was telling a joke only him could understand. Luna had given up a long time ago trying to understand Helios.

“I heard the capital is still standing. The darkness hasn’t reached that part of the kingdom at all,” A woman whispered in a hushed tone as she walked past Luna and Helios, hand in hand with a man that looked like her husband from how firmly they held each other.

“If the castle falls. We go to the Capital, it’s safer there. The Queen’s guard will do a better job than this Duke’s washed up farmers pretending to be guards.”

“The Queen hasn’t addressed Arcadia in months. Some say she’s gone crazy,” The man whispered.

“Don’t say that about the Queen,” The woman whispered back harshly.

“Oh please, you know something’s wrong with her head.”

“Something is seriously wrong with your head, girl,” A voice hissed in the back of Luna’s head. It sounded so familiar, like she had heard it a million times before.

“She and her familiar have not attended any of the meetings the High Mages have set up, how are you so certain the Capital is going to be safe?” The Man continued. The lady beside him turned her head around to see if nobody heard her partners blasphemous words and her eyes widened when it met Luna’s. She squeaked in fright and urged the man along the dimly lit hallway of the castle.

“You okay, champ?” Helios asked from below. Luna clutched her dagger girdled at her waist. “Yeah. I’m—”

BOOM!!!

Something slammed against the gates so strongly that it rocked the entire foundation of the castle making both Luna and Helios lose their footing. Luna gripped the cold stone walls to keep her balance while Helios skidded to a stop.

“They’re here!” Helios yelled, his eyes were wide open in shock and if he didn’t look so terrified, Luna would have thought it looked comical.

“At the gate?”

Helios shook his head just as a couple of guards dashed past the both of them.

“They’re on the castle grounds.”

“Heavens!”

She dashed off immediately, her dagger left it’s prison beside her waist and it glinted in the light as she brandished it with a yell.

She didn’t get to the gate before she saw the first beast, it slithered up the staircase with it’s mouth wide open as it hissed. It’s tongue was almost twice the length of her hand. It had razor sharp teeth and the body of two full grown crocodile. It’s long tongue came at her first, doubling in length like a chameleon trying to catch a fly and her body moved on instinct, her blade whistled through the air slashing through the organ with a speed that was too fast for the creature. It let out an unholy screech that would have sent anyone in their right senses running in the opposite direction. It rang in her head, making her wince as the pain brought tears to her eyes.

“Get away from my head!!” Luna yelled and tackled the creature, her dagger going through his body as they tumbled down the staircase it came from.

“Luna!” Helios yelled after her.

She crashed in the middle of the battle, loud cries and inhumane screeches filled the air, she could smell sulphur, it clung to her like a second skin. The grey grass of the castle ground was turning a vivid red as more guards lost their life to the claws and fangs of the beasts, they fell one after another. Warm blood sprayed against her face as a guard beside her lost half of this throat to a gorilla-like beast with claws that curved to a dangerous point. She moved just as the guard’s body dropped, pushing herself of the ground with one foot and slamming into the beast, knife-first, while he tried to lick the blood of his latest victim off his hand.

Luna tore through the battlefield like a storm, black blood spilt every time she moved, it was an elegant dance of death for all the monsters that crossed her path.

There was no hesitation, there was no deliberation, only steel and blood. But as more beasts she dropped, it was beginning to look like two more took it’s place, but she wouldn’t give up. She couldn’t .

A slime covered tongue wrapped around the hand that held her dagger and she dropped the steel blade, catching it with her second hand before it hit the ground and she spun around in the same second, slicing the tongue with her dagger that now rested in her second hand.

Oil-slick blood sprayed her face, adding a new coat of monster blood to her sweat covered face.

Luna paused to catch her breath, exhaustion was creeping into her bones slowly and the beasts weren’t slowing.

A tongue shot around her hand, this time before she could cut it off, another shot around her second hand. Two shadow creatures slowly slithered around her legs, holding it in place. They were holding her down!

“Helios!” She yelled for her companion over the cry of the battlefield. A few villagers had left the grand hall to join the fight, it didn’t solve their problem though but it slowed the monsters down.

A large slug-like creature that was almost twice her size crawled up to her, darkness bubbled across it’s skin and Luna knew the other creatures were holding her down for this… this thing.

“Let go of me!!” She yelled and struggled against the monsters that held her down.

The slug blinked at her, it’s antenna peered directly into her eye till she felt like it was going pop open her soul.

It’s mouth didn’t move—not that it had any she could see, but she heard it’s voice in her head, just like the screech of the monster from the staircase.

For the first time since the darkness came, she felt fear. Pure, unadulterated, fear stronger than anything she had ever felt in her life. It creeped up her spine and squeezed her heart till she felt like it was going to pop out of her chest.

“You’re weak, broken,”

“You are nothing, girl!”

More voices joined the ones in her head already, it felt like she could hear the screeching—No, the voices of every shadowling around her. The pain built in the back of her head and it brought pain to her eyes to badly that it made her want to scratch them out.

“Please…” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“Stop. Why are you doing this? Why are you doing this to me?”

The slug moved closer, it’s body pressed against her skin and she felt the darkness on its body slowly start to give way. It was absorbing her!

“No! Let go of me! No!! Somebody help!”

The castle walls were broken, the protection it offered no longer existed, shadowlings chased after women and children that hid in the castle, ripping them from limb to limb and tossing the bloody carcass to one another. The glee on their faces could not be missed as their fangs and claws tore through flesh and bone.

The beast was slowly absorbing her and her senses began to fail one after the other. She could no longer smell the sulfur and blood that lingered in the air, the screams of the villagers slowly began to muffle till she couldn’t hear a sound anymore, her sight when black and she waited for the nothingness of death… It didn’t come.

She was drowning! She didn’t know how, but she could feel the waves knocking into her over and over again, dragging her down even as she continued to struggle. She had never felt what it was like to drown before, the feeling was excruciating. She wanted to breathe but her brain held off as long as it could, her lungs were burning from how hard she struggled, she clawed at her chest, she didn’t know why but she continued.

“Breathe! Just breathe!”

“Just take deep breath’s,” A familiar voice said at the back of her head, it was a gentle female voice. Somehow it felt like she had heard it all her life.

Pain intensified behind her eyelids and she could feel tiny needles pricking her brain. Something flashed behind her eyes and the saw a flurry of white coats carrying her as they raced somewhere.

Where they angels? Was she finally dead?

She had always thought death would be pain free but she could still feeling the pain in her brain and a crushing weight in her chest. A wave of darkness slammed into her again and everything went dark.

Helios. Where was Helios?

“Helios!!!!!”

Bright light emanated from a distance ripping through the shackles that weighed her down instantly. She crashed on the bloody field, gasping for breathe while Helios stood beside her. His fur still glowed softly. The light came from him.

“I’ve got you buddy,” He whispered. “I’ve got you.”

–––––––––––––

“I’m weak and pathetic!” Luna yelled and screamed into the air.

“Every time we fight the shadowlings I always lose.”

“You can’t win against an enemy you don’t know, Luna,” Helios said in his usual somber manner whenever he was about to deliver a speech. But she didn’t care for it.

They had been traveling for days, fighting the darkness and the shadowlings it birthed but they always over powered her, Helios always came to her rescue. They were supposed to be partners, for once, she wanted to rescue him too.

“I don’t want to understand them. I just want them gone, but I can’t even learn how to summon light.”

“Whoa! Easy there, big guy. Channeling isn’t just something you learn in a few days, it took me years to be able to channel light. I know you want to fight the darkness, if anyone can do it, I’m sure it’s you,” Helios said and nudged her gently with his nose.

“Now, come on. Again.”

Luna shut her eyes and tried to focus on pulling the energy she needed from the air, energy thrummed between her fingers but the most she got were sparks.

No big bright light capable of eliminating shadowlings.

“Oh forget it!” Luna scoffed and stood up from where she sat to head further down the road.

Arcadia had quickly turned from the garden of the Gods to their battleground as the darkness ate at it's beauty. The once clear blue skies were now streaks of red permanently painted on it and the sun had rescinded it's beautiful yellow color and was now blood red. It's heat that once caressed the skin and gave live to Arcadia now threatened to be it's undoing as it burned away at the soils, causing the once beautiful green grasses to die out. Life was slowly slipping away from Arcadia with each second that passed.

Even the birds no longer chirped and sang, their once melodious voices now replaced by the hissing of vultures as they circled around looking for any carcass they could feast on. The air smelled like burnt sulphur and it made breathing very difficult. It wasn’t just Arcadia that suffered, Luna looked like life was being sapped from her as things in Arcadia worsened. They needed to get to a safer part of the kingdom.

Through out their journey and their battles with shadowlings, Luna had tried severally to summon light, but it was almost like the talent eluded her out of spite.

They had been wandering the forests for days with no where in mind as a destination. Her tummy twisted in hunger as she walked. Her last meal was yesterday when they came by some wild fruits which she ate with no care in the world. Helios had tried to convince her that the darkness could have infected the fruits but she threw caution to the wind. They could be damned if they ate, but they were most certainly damned if they didn't. Her fear and pain slowly grew with each passing second as she walked and she knew even Helios wasn't enough to help hold her hold the reins.

“Is something bothering you?” Helios as he hopped beside her.

“It’s nothing,” She muttered, more to herself than to him.

“Come on, talk to me. Are you still bummed that you can’t channel?”

“No—I mean I want to learn to channel, but that’s not what’s bothering?”

“Come on, talk to me. Do you want me to kneel? Might be a little difficult with this paws but I will if you say the word.”

Luna sighed, she knew Helios was only trying to cheer her up but it wasn’t working.

"I'm scared, Helios. I know I don’t show it, but I get really scared sometimes. I just… I just—I want to go home," Luna cried out as they made their way down the forest with trees that had lost their leaves, leaving them naked and exposed.

"Home? You mean the meadow?"

The meadow wasn't home and she knew it, her instincts and guts told her so. She felt she had a past, she had to have one but the memories seemed so distant and it caused her head to ache every time she tried to remember.

"I don't know, I wanna be anywhere else but here. Everything here gives me the creeps," she said as she stopped walking, afraid that if she took another step, the darkness will creep out of the skies again. She hated that she was scared. She wasn’t supposed to have fears. Warriors don’t have fears, right?

If only that could be true.

“Do you hear that?” Helios asked as both his ears perked up.

“No,” Luna answered but she gripped the dagger beside her waist. Helios could always sense whenever the shadowlings were around, it would be foolish to brush off his senses even though she couldn’t hear anything. She was scared, yes. But for now, her fears would have to wait till later. She had a job to do.

“Listen closely,” Helios said.

“Forget what you’re seeing.”

She closed her eyes abs listened closely, that was when she heard it, the sound of women wailing and rushed footsteps as people scurried around for safety.

“I hear it,” She breathed out. Her eyes scanned the empty forest, “But where’s it coming from?”

"There!" Helios said, pointing forward. "The noise is from over there," He added as he raced through the forest, urging Luna to keep pace with him.

"Wait! Helios," she screamed as she struggled to keep up.

They ran a small distance forward and came to the edge of a cliff.

"Woah! Careful Luna!" Helios yelled as manifested a wall of light to keep Luna back, preventing her from tripping over the cliff by her momentum.

"Thanks Helios,” She muttered as the construct shimmered away. “What's going on down there?" She asked. Ignoring the jealous pinch in her stomach at how easily Helios could manipulate light.

"I can't make any sense of it, it's all chaos," Helios replied.

"Let's go find out. But how do we get down there?"

“ We jump,” Helios said, giggling as he spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Are you nuts? That would be the end of us. What’s the point of running from shadow monsters if we’re just going to end it all on a cliff?” Luna yelled.

“You want to learn how to channel, right? Trust me,” He yelled as he jumped off the cliff.

She could hear him giggling as he fell. Luna gulped hard as he tried to make sense of what she was about to do. Stranger things had happened in Arcadia and at this point she was certain nothing could surprise her anymore. She walked closer to the edge of the cliff and dared herself to look down. The distance to the bottom seemed so far away as she looked around and tried to locate Helios’ gray fur.

“Stop looking for me and just jump!” he yelled, the wind seemed to carry his voice over to her making it feel like he was standing right next to her.

“Are you in one piece?” She yelled back.

“Hurry and join me, you're asking too many questions,” Helios scoffed, amusement softening his tone.

She took few steps backward as she prepared herself to follow Helios’ lead. She was certain that Helios wouldn’t do anything that could harm her and if he made it down safely, so could she.

“Trust me, Luna.” He yelled again, urging her on.

Luna increased the distance between herself and the edge, muttering to herself in inaudible words that even she couldn’t make sense of then she paced off, allowing her momentum and adrenaline push her, drowning out her fear and sense of reasoning.

She screamed as she fell freely, the wind slashed at her face forcing tears to well up in her eyes. She shut them to relief herself and when she opened them she was on the ground, standing. No broken bones or torn skin. She examined herself as Helios stood before her, chuckling slightly at her bewildered expression.

“How did that happen. How am I not…?” she trailed off.

“Dead?”

“Yes, I should be a lot more dead right now.”

“That’s easy. You trusted me.”

She checked herself again to put away her doubts then pinched hard at her wrists to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. She had seen her life flash in her eyes as she jumped, the precious little remembered of it. Not that there was much to remember.

It made no sense. How was she still alive? How did “trust” save her? And how did Helios know she could make it to the bottom alive if she jumped down.

She exhaled and let her thoughts fly with the air.

Stranger things had happened to her in Arcadia, and there was action to get to.