Excalibur

The Man in the Moon

KANE WAS ON high alert.

White salt lined the threshold of the cave. A faint shimmer, a barrier, separated them from the outside world. It was meant to keep anything or anyone with ill intent from crossing over. Regardless, he kept an eye on the terrain in an effort to try and spot anything nefarious before it reached them.

The fire he tried to make from carefully harvested sticks and twigs was beyond pitiful. It burned weakly before swiftly evaporating into a cloud of smoke. His ears were burning as he apologized with bumbling words and shaking hands. The sharp words he expected to be lashed with never came, however. Instead she pointed at the bag and mentioned something about a lamp.

Tempest's drooping eyelids were halfway closed by the time he fished out the small lamp. It was similar to the one Silver kept in the sentient taxi. When Kane placed it between them, a pale green light oozed from the unlit candle.

Magick seemed to have a mind of its own seeing as how the lamp turned on without anyone doing anything.

Kane laid down on his cot, feeling somewhat guilty that Tempest slept on the cold ground. Tempest had said that she needed to be closer to the water from Lake Glass to maintain control over it. He understood that. Yet his bleeding heart still felt the need to check on her wellbeing despite that.

Exhaustion marred her beautiful face. There was a gentleness to the downwards slope of her brows that couldn't be found in her waking moments. The way her full lips fell into a pout then thinned as she breathed steadily was new.

It was the first time he'd ever seen her look so peaceful.

Tempest's mouth moved and a whisper emerged.

Kane rose, propping himself up on his arm. Missing what she'd said, he leaned a little closer. "Tempest?" he called out in a soft whisper. "Are you up?"

Her lashes fluttered. Before Kane could react she was peering up at him. Sleep clouded her vision, giving her green tainted eyes a dazed expression. She wet her lips with her tongue. Kane couldn't help himself from following the action.

"I said, I can feel you watching me. Please stop."

Kane's cheeks blazed with the scorching heat of the sun. He flopped on his back like a lifeless fish. In the simplest terms, Kane ignored the shame of being caught and became a tree. He didn't move and barely breathed.

A deep sigh cut through the silence of the night despite Kane's best efforts to melt into the ground. "You should rest too. I can stay awake while you sleep."

Kane gnawed on his bottom lip. He let out the breath of air he'd been holding because he'd gotten it in his head that he'd been breathing too loud.

"I can't," he admitted, staring at the cave's ceiling. There were blue dots covering it like the glitter and sparkles he used on school projects. It used to drive his grandma crazy. No matter how hard she cleaned, months later they still found little dots of the rainbow in their house. "Sorry for staring. And talking."