Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound ✓ [when the moon lies]

Ch.28: Glow in the Dark

"Ah, I can feel your magick!" Thereanbold exclaimed while Daero grimaced. "How extraordinary! Ooo!" He stomped his feet. "Exciting, you're going to unmask that when you get to the gates, aren't you? Frumph! Curious, curious, now," He turned to Pinti, "let's see you."

He snatched her paw with a chuckle. Giving a solemn nod he said, "Young Kathula, take care now. Don't trust so easily around here. Sorcerers are quite the conniving bunch. Except for me. You can trust me." His black eyes didn't waver, and not a hint of a joke peppered his face. Here was a Sorcerer, at long last, that meant what he said one hundred percent.

"Thank you, really," she said, suddenly feeling a little shy. He patted her head.

"That's a 'no problem!' from the old man to you, youngster." He raised his eyebrows and grinned. "Just doing the right thing." His mustache wavered as he laughed through his nose.

"Daero," he said in a stern, deep voice.

"Yes, Lazyrrin?" Daero smirked.

"Ha-ha! Oh, come on." Thereanbold's shoulders shook. "I was trying to sound serious! Anyway, keep your wits about you. You might have some skills, but you should be careful." He took a step back and looked at them both. "Ah, from here, just two Kathula. I wish you luck. I'll be waiting at the mansion for your return."

He raised his hand and waved once, then he rippled and disappeared. Pinti and Daero turned their heads to the path. A hushed quiet enveloped them with fog.

"Well, shall we?" Daero said and Pinti nodded. She focused her senses on the unfamiliar land in the fog. It should have been morning by now, but the foggy lands were shaded from sunlight's absence. The white-blue moon, Nyliell, was their guide, illuminating most of their surroundings in an eerie hue. Pinti had never seen Nyliell so close she could make out its shallow craters. Usually, only the deeper craters were visible from the sky.

Under cold moonlight, Pinti and Daero trekked down the path as it stretched deeper and deeper into the fog until it surrounded them. She caught an owl's hoot and some other bird's screech but couldn't see either of them. Wings fluttered in a frenzy. A crow zipped overhead, disappearing again into the fog.

Silence filled the area. Pinti twitched her ears. She and Daero ducked at the same time as seconds later a craze of crows came right and left. A surge of beating wings and angry cries filled her ears.

"Heizak!" Pinti hissed at one that came for her head. It glared at her with yellow eyes.

"GRAWK!" said another one close to her ear. Its sharp talons grazed her cheek.

"Let's get out of here!" Daero hissed and ran down and up the hill. Pinti tried to keep close, but her senses were distracted with crows. The crows seemed to scream after them, chasing them through the fog.

Hissing in frustration, Pinti pushed her legs up the hill as the crows cawed in a chorus of haunting sounds behind, but they didn't come any further. At last, the peak was in sight and just on the summit, Daero was standing.

"Those were some angry crows," she said, slowing to a walk. He was staring intently at something in the scene below them.

She followed his gaze. Cracked gray tiles lay across the flatland below. A circle of stones made up the basin around an old fountain. There was a little tower with a bell keep. Those were the only two taller structures standing. Everything else had been crushed. Wreckage of wooden houses surrounded the area, and everything was covered in a haze of gray and black as if a fire had once swept through here. When Pinti sniffed the air, a hint of charcoal touched her nose and made her sneeze.