Luna

Chapter One

Running is my strength. I use the wind and all its glory to carry me from sloping mountainside to nearby peaks and ledges. My feet only touch the earth for a moment at a time, and I spend the rest of my time blissfully suspended in air. I feel the power singing in my blood as the air obeys my will. I follow a pattern; two running steps toward my next mountainside, jumping with all my might, creating a gale force wind from behind me to send me sailing in the right direction, and as a landing I create a pillow of air so that I don't splat against the hard rocks below. My only worry is being followed. I am not running for pleasure today, I have to get away, and I have to escape.

From behind me I can hear the men calling their dragons. If I don't make it off these mountains before their dragons arrive I will be caught, and I can already feel the beating of powerful wings churning the air around me. In front of me was salvation, the edge of the Araki borders, just a few more steps and I will be in the land of the Fotia, the ones who controlled fire, the most unstable of all elements. I jumped one last time and instead of aiming for the mountainside in front of me I aimed downward and used the wind to slip into a small opening on the side of the mountain just large enough for me to fit into. Once inside it opened into a cave. I asked the wind to carry my scent farther in the direction that I had been heading to lead the guardians in the wrong direction. I held my breath and waited, barely peeking out of the opening. Then I saw them, four green dragons. Each dragon blending in with the ground below them. If I had been above, I would never have seen them. Atop the dragons sat my pursuers, one of which was my brother, Ark. The dragons attempted to follow my scent and disappeared from view within minutes.

I could finally breathe. I'd made it outside of the Araki borders once more. It was in this cave that I would meet with Lily, Lilly Zontanos. We had found each other almost a year ago on my fifteenth birthday. I had been wandering into the Fotia lands avoiding my family, for they were always attempting to squeeze me into lavish dresses and parade me around at large parties for all of the 'suitable boys'. I had been so inside my own head that I had run straight into Lily, and I almost knocked her over. We were somehow instant friends. A sheet of flame covering the entrance of our cave tore me from the memory and signaled to me that Lily had arrived. I used the wind to fill the sheet Lily always hid near the entrance and pulled her up to the entrance. Her fiery red hair was the first thing I saw, and then there she was, my closest and my only friend.

"Luna!", she swung gracefully forward into the cave and dropped the sheet behind her, grabbing both my hands and squeezing me into a tight hug. "They didn't follow you again did they?", her voice was muffled as she spoke into my hair. Holding my shoulders, putting me at arm's distance, and trapping me in her emerald green gaze.

"Of course I was followed, I always am.", this was the reply I always gave and I usually resulted in a pouting Lily so this time I added, "But today I was miles ahead of them you don't have to worry about me." I was rewarded with a heartwarming smile from my friend and she released my shoulders.

"I'm glad you didn't get caught today, but what happens when they do catch you?", Every time she asked and everytime I ignored her question, for I didn't know what would happen. All I knew is that it wouldn't be pleasant.

"What are you talking about 'when'? I'm the best runner in the whole tribe. They can't catch me." I said proudly, crossing my arms. She crossed her arms right back and her face grew hard.

"I won't be ignored again, I want to know what will happen, I get so worried about you." Her tone began turning from boisterous to angry so I knew that something was different today. "Yesterday I heard rumors that the Araki whip insubordinates." Her face turned all pouty again as she saw the surprise in mine.