Night Lords

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

In the main meeting house, Greatorex, Tasha and Brett were holed up downstairs talking to Thrin while I was upstairs with two guards standing outside my door to a very cramped and bare room. My banishment was 'on hold' until future notice, which I found interesting. I think it was perhaps they wanted to study me, ask me questions about my life, or perhaps find out more about the conversation I had with the Deemon.

I didn't resist my re-arrest. When the Deemon had vanished into the forest, I'd returned to the town and was immediately taken back to Thrin. I explained to him in great detail what information we had exchanged. Greatorex was not happy with what I had said, but Thrin was intrigued by the information I had gathered. As it was too late to send me away for fear of me burning up, they locked me away upstairs while they debated on what the next step was.

It was past noon, and I heard their quiet talking abate. Going to the door, I knocked and asked about Max. 'I know he was injured last night. I wish to know if he is alright.' There came no reply. 'Please?' Hitting the door in anger, it split partly in the middle.

'Watch it!' one of the guards shouted.

'Well, answer me then!' I spat back. 'Just please, find out for me.'

Irritated and with nothing to do, I lay on the hard floor and tried to rest. It was the only thing I could do. I hadn't taken in any moonlight from last night and felt "hungry". As strange as it was, my body craved it. I was fatigued from running and fighting. Greatorex told me I was still quite young, and for the next century or so, I would have to adapt to soaking up as much moonlight as I could and storing it until a time when I needed it. This was one of those times when I had no storage of energy, and I was beginning to feel it. My legs and arms felt like lead weights. My head was too heavy for me to carry it on my shoulders. Splayed out on the floor, I closed my eyes and only felt the vibrations of mutterings and footsteps below me.

Sometime later, there was a knock on my door. 'Yes?' I croaked. It opened, and Greatorex was quickly by my side.

Brushing my hair back, he touched my cheeks. 'You are drained; come, the moon is rising.' Picking me up, he hastened out of the building. I felt him jump up onto the roof and gently placed me down. 'You can hear me?' Barely able to nod my head, he said soothingly, 'Take a deep breath in, feel the energy and take it into yourself.'

The moon was a prominent part of our existence, yet it was an anomaly. No one knew why we took energy from the moon, but without it, we wouldn't be able to function.

'Keep taking deep breaths. Pull that energy,' Greatorex told me softly. As though electricity coursed through me, I jolted and sat up, gulping down air like I had stopped breathing. 'Easy, easy,' he sat, putting a hand on my shoulder. 'Stay sitting; just try and relax and breathe slowly.'

My head swam. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes. 'I'm sorry. I have never felt like this before.'

'It's called Moon Bane. We can get it now and again if we don't replenish our energy. You have been fighting for two nights, and as I recall, the past few nights before that were cloudy.' He sighed heavily. 'It's my fault. I'm sorry. I should have known.'

As though drunk, I tapped him on the arm, waiting for this strange watery sensation in my head to leave. 'It's not your fault. It's mine. I'm old enough to know you've shouted at me always to store energy, and I didn't. Please do not blame yourself. Just leave me here for a bit. I'll replenish and go to the caves.'

'No.' I opened my eyes to see him staring at his hands, his shoulders were hunched, and his head hung low. 'You are not going back there. Thrin's group have gone to check to see if your story is proven true. Some of them have expertise on whether humans are diseased, even when stripped of flesh. What you said has shocked us, Petra, and it's made us worry.'