Goddess Of Shendhea

14

Suddenly, the memories floated together, and I knew where I had to go. I believe Luna found Veondra's locket near the north tower. The same place I brought Luna.. and where we found the small good luck charm that Veondra kept on her at all times. I gasped as a thought slipped through my mind, Kailani did a pretty bad clean up job. It made me even more furious that he had betrayed us, had us believing that the goddess had just disappeared. He played so innocent through all of this even though he knew exactly where she is. I'm going to kill that asshole! He needs to pay.

I sprinted through the quiet corridors to the north tower. Okay now where to go next. I thought to myself as I stood staring at three doorways; one leading up the tower, one leading down, and another through the center. I closed my eyes, trying to recall anything that would help me figure out where the goddess is being held captive. "A dark, damp place.." Aha, that's what she saw in her vision. I decided on the door that led to the dungeon.

I descended the twisting staircase as quickly and quietly as I could, but after a while it became hard to see much of anything. I can fix this. I thought to myself as I instinctively snapped my fingers and a small ball of fire appeared, casting a bit of light around the stone corridor. Ah, that's better. I smirked, loving the feeling of the power pulsing through my veins as I used my magick.

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, I noticed another three corridors leading in different directions. Shit. I've never been down here, I don't know what's even in this part of the castle. I frowned, realizing this mission just proved more difficult than I imagined it would be. I was starting to feel frustrated, thinking of all the different pathways there must be. I thought of her, she would be reassuring me right now, saying "just keep calm, you can do this". I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. After a few moments I felt a wave of terror wash over me, except it wasn't my own that I was feeling. Luna, please be okay, I willed as I sensed a strange pull leading me through one of the creepy corridors.

What is this? I thought as I followed the pulling sensation down the dark passage. Oh yeah, I remember Maxwell saying this happens when you imprint with someone. But we never did the deed, so how...whatever, this isn't the time. Putting my thoughts aside, I followed the pull down the winding pathways until I found myself at a door. Instead of turning the knob to enter, I pressed my ear to the wood, trying to hear any talking or movement. As I couldn't hear anything, I slowly turned the creaky door knob and stepped into the dark room. It smelled musty and I couldn't see much beyond my little circle of light my personal fire was giving off. Walking around the room, one corner held a small table and the other corner held nothing whatsoever. This room appeared to be nearly bare. I slowly inched to the third corner, sensing something moving. My body reacted in an instant when my light reached a figure laying on the ground, long-silvery hair draped around her face and body. I dashed to the woman, "Luna!" I whispered under my breath.

She was lying face-down on the damp floor; her head turned the opposite way. I carefully rolled her on her back and sat her head in my lap. "Luna..." I breathed as I brushed a few stray strands of hair out of her face. "I-" Wait a second. Something's not right. As I gazed down at the face of this woman, I realized this wasn't Luna, her face was slenderer than Luna's. Then I noticed tiny movements as she began to stir, suddenly opening her eyes to meet mine. "You- You're..." my mouth gaped as I saw her dull emerald eyes. I knew them like the back of my hand, but they had more of a spark to them long ago. She smiled wearily and opened her mouth. "Yes, Julius. I'm Veondra."

My mind was racing a mile a minute. I finally chose a thought that stuck out, He's had her down her all this time. "Julius calm down." Veondra's voice cut through my own voice in my head. "I can see your eyes getting darker and I know exactly what you're thinking." She sat up and supported herself against the cold stone wall. "Listen, we don't have much time, you need to know-" and a movement caught her eye. I followed her line of vision to the smaller figure on the floor. Is that... I scrambled across the floor on my hands and knees to her. She gazed up at me with wide, scared eyes. "Luna," I whispered softly. "You don't have to be afraid, I'm here to protect you. I watched the tears gather in the creases of her eyes and instinctively wiped them away with my thumb. She suddenly flung herself into my lap and let out gasps as she shed her tears on my shoulder. It killed me that I couldn't do anything but hug her tightly and stroke her hair in an attempt to calm her down. After she finally did, she pulled away, wiping her eyes on her sleeves and looked back up at me, smiling. "Thank you so much, Julius. It means so much to me." and then she stood up and took a seat next to Veondra. "Don't worry," she mentioned soothingly. "We will find a way out of this. We can do this".

I glanced at Veondra's face, she looked as though she was about to burst into tears, but she looked so proud. Wait a second. I glanced back to Luna. Same hair color..same eye color. I let out a gasp, both women glancing quizzically toward me. "I thought you didn't have a daughter..." I replied to Veondra.