Moonrise ✔ [Complete]

46 Protect (Part 1)

A/N: My sincerest apologies for such a delayed update!! This was probably the hardest chapter to write, because I had so many directions I wanted to take. But I finally managed to reach the destination I had originally planned. I hope you enjoy!

As she ran, Maeyune thought the blasts and screams were what deafened her. But it was her heartbeat that rang the loudest in her ears.

The mountain village was already in ruin when she and Reo raced through. Many of the inhabitants had already abandoned it.

Maeyune saw several villagers bolting farther down the road toward the end of the village. Others crouched underneath the remains of their homes, terror having frozen them in place. And many lay dead among the rubble.

The village guards, who were no more than uniformed villagers with pistols, fired into the sky as Wobeck aircrafts flew past. Plasma rained down atop the metal plates of their shields—shields that, Maeyune realized, were years outdated.

The hail of plasma ceased, and the Wobeck veered back upward toward the gloom for a second attack. Maeyune and Reo took their opportunity to sprint out into the village square.

The square, which once might have been the bustling highlight of the village, was now a disarray of capsized stalls and mounds of goods. For a brief moment, Maeyune pondered on its former beauty.

The village square sat directly on the edge of a cliff, surrounded on three sides by buildings. On its cliff-edge, there was a simple, metal ramp that appeared to provide only minimal protection. It might have been sturdy enough to prevent accidental toppling, but it lacked enough intimidation to discourage horseplay.

Maeyune heard the rush of water coming from the bottom of the cliff. She was sure it flowed from the lake that she and Reo had come across before.

From their position on the cliff, she saw the land below, saw the treetops that went on for miles and a strip of desert that lined the horizon. The sight had to have been beautiful once. Now, above the land, the Wobeck's gloom was an ocean of charcoal gray. There was not an inch of blue to see in the sky.

Maeyune spotted several large silhouettes that flew just below the gloom, hovering over indiscernible sections of the land.

Motherships, she surmised. Wobeck aircrafts were tiny dots beside them. The aircrafts were scattered into groups of nine or more, and it occurred to Maeyune that the entire country—and quite possibly the rest of the world—was facing a coordinated Wobeck attack.

She needed to reach the base. She needed to understand the depth of their situation. How were they faring in this war?

Beside her, Reo pointed to her left and shouted, "You get those people over there. I'll go across."

Maeyune glanced across the square at his intended destination. There were several villagers huddled beside the shattered wall of a building. They were a man and a woman with a child in between them--a boy who held his hands against his ears. Tears streamed down his reddened face.