Descendants of The Moon

Chapter 5: Welcome to Liberion

Ariel was taken through the shadows, and believe me it was not a nice way of transportation. It was like she had become devoid of all her senses except her hearing and touch. The darkness made her blind, and whispers surrounded her, filling her head. She felt alone and cold, and she was scared of how long she would be like this, when a small light shone in front of them and they stumbled onto solid ground. "Take deep breaths," the prince murmured. For a second she left her anger behind, and just focused on not throwing up. "Feeling feverish is a common symptom for someone who has never harnessed the shadows. Don't worry, you'll get you used to it, later on." He managed a smile. The wolves by his side growled, and he motioned for them to go ahead without them. She swallowed, glaring up at him from the floor. "I don't get it--you were an evil Shadow Prince on Earth, and now suddenly you're Mr. Nice Guy??" She said, exasperated. "Why are you helping me?" At first he didn't reply, furrowing his brows and putting his weight on his other foot. "Would you rather I go back to 'Evil Shadow Prince'?" He asked, holding his hand out to help her up. She ignored it, grunting as she stood up. "I would rather you tell me why you kidnapped me and brought me here, thanks." She grumbled, rubbing her wrists, now free of the rope. Ariel scanned her surroundings, seeing that they were in a dark alley. The floor was made up of cobblestones, all the way to the main square, where old fashioned street lights lit the the place up with warm light. Her eyes widened. "Not what you imagined, is it?" he said, breathing in the air of his home. Ariel went back to scowling. "You haven't answered the questions, your majesty," she grumbled. He looked taken aback. "Oh, you don't know? Your presence has been requested by the king," he said, his gaze turning serious. "Wait what? Why?" She muttered, exhaustion suddenly taking a toll on her. Instead of answering her question, the prince was left staring into the distance, where the dark silhouette of a castle rose. The night was clear and the stars were painted across the sky. Ariel was fighting to stay awake, a feeling of suspicion nagging at the back of her mind while she tried to figure out an escape plan. Maybe if she ran, she'd make it to the forest... She feared that if she fell asleep then and there, she'd wake up freezing and alone in a cell in one of the towers of the castle. Caleb's gaze flickered to her for a fraction of a second, seeing her withdrawal of energy. "We need to get going, the rebels usually decide to attack any noble member of the kingdom at this hour of the night." Ariel furrowed her brows. Rebels? She saw the motion of Shadow wolves with armor, stalking the alleys. Guards. She muttered something incoherently, her eyes heavy. She wanted to demand what these people wanted from her, but couldn't seem to form words. The prince said something, or called out to someone else hiding in the shadows, but she just couldn't make sense of it. She caught sight of a cloth from a green cloak, a woman's voice echoing around her. "Well, brother, seems like you are useful after all." She murmured. A hand gripped Ariel's chin tightly, tipping her head upwards and making her drink something. "Roen, take her to the castle, I need to have a word with Caleb." she said dismissively, and Ariel sunk into a dark abyss.  

The city of Brooklyn was asleep as the three teenagers walked, shivering from the brisk night. Briar sighed, giving up. Erik kicked a tin can on the floor, the others cringing at the noise. Vidia hissed at him to be quiet, scanning the dark depths of the alleys. She was expecting to see a pair of glowing eyes, but just two rats came out of the shadows. "Alright, it's getting very very late, and it looks like the Shadow wolves are at a party so, yeah..." She mumbled defeatedly. "Right, let's head back then," Erik said, stifling a yawn. Briar still had a glint of hope in her eyes, but she shook her head, dismissing the idea. Vidia abruptly stopped in her tracks, and Erik ran into her. "Something I've always wanted to taste: Vidia's hair." He said sarcastically, his gaze sliding over to the far wall. Something was trickling down the stone, glimmering in the darkness. "What the heck is that?" He grimaced. Briar stepped closer to the wall, lifting up her hand. "Briar don't touch--" Too late, her hand grazed the wall, the liquid trickling over her palm. A second later she screamed out in pain, wiping her hand on a tissue. Erik and Vidia sprinted to her in alarm. Vidia took her wrist, turning it upwards to see her palm. She cursed. "Liquid silver, Aragon," Briar chuckled uneasily, fighting the pain. Erik rocked back and forth on his heels worriedly. "I'm fine, Erik. It was a stupid impulse--"  he hugged her tightly. "Erik, for god's sakes, she can't breathe!" Vidia groaned. He stepped away, smiling sheepishly. The moment was ruined when something rumbled behind them, and a new wall of stone was blocking their exit. "Its fine its fine, we can go upwards," Vidia muttered, panic seeping into her. "I hope you remember werewolves don't fly, Vee." Erik said. Briar gasped, and the wall started seeping with silver. "No no no we need to get out of here--" Whispering filled the outside, and Briar came to a sudden realization. "Werewolves..." A soft whimsical voice echoed. Vidia was breathing raggedly, the silver tainting the air. "What does she want from us??" Erik coughed. Briar rolled her eyes. "Selene, let us out!" She yelled up. The whispering stopped. "Briar Rosewood?!" The calm voice said in shock. The stone walls crumbled down, and they bore the sight of a small pixie girl floating a few inches off the ground. Erik frowned, scratching his head. "Are you a witch?" He asked. Vidia fumed in outrage. "Really? She just tried to kill us and that's what you're asking?" Erik furrowed his brows, opening his mouth to reply with something more offensive but stopped when Briar shot him a look. "What are you doing here? Wait you--you kill werewolves now??" Briar yelled at her. The druid looked taken aback. "No, I just like playing with them," the girl shrugged. "Ok, look, we have very important things to do--our friend was kidnapped--" Selene scoffed. "Yeah, kidnapped by more werewolves." Vidia took a step forward in warning, but Erik held her back. "Well, right now you're helping some werewolves, so cut it out...all powerful sorceress." She smirked. "Oh, I missed you, Rosewood!" She hugged her, still floating in thin air. Vidia stood like a statue, obviously miffed. "So...how can I help you?" Selene grinned. They all went back to serious faces and grim looks. "We were uh, separated from the pack and stranded here--" "Look, we marked a human girl and the Shades have taken her back to Liberion. Long story short: we need a way back home." Vidia cut in. Selene's eyes went cold, scrutinizing Vidia's every move. Ignoring her, she went back to talking to Briar. "I'm only helping you and the cute boy over there. This one not so much." She leered. The Alpha's daughter gripped a dagger in her hand. "That won't help you in any way, dear. Now, I have an idea for the lot of you. Well, it's more like a magical rock, but you know where I'm going from there," she chuckled. "No, not really," Erik frowned. It's a small obsidian rock, very rare but the druids always seem to have some in stock. Vidia told him telepathically. I have a bad feeling about this girl, Erik. Don't trust her. He nodded in understanding. "Okay! So I just need to steal it from my mother and you lot are good to go," she grinned, a strange sparkle in her eyes. It was going to be a long night...

There was a knock on the door, and a second later it swung open silently, letting in an unknown person. Ariel gasped and woke up, hitting her head on the bed post. "Oh, my, I'm not that frightening, dear." Ariel groaned, blinking the bluryness out of her eyes, and squinting against the bright sun from outside. Her senses overwhelmed her: the noise of carriages and people talking outside, swords clashing, the smell of breakfast--her stomach rumbled. "Since you are obviously hungry, I brought you breakfast, madam, hope you enjoy." The lady bowed, turning the cart around. "Is this a hotel? What..." A throbbing headache sprung from behind her eyes. "God, I hate not remembering, headaches..." The woman looked at her in alarm, slowly backing away. Ariel sighed, looking outside helplessly from her bed, wondering if she could just jump out the window, land on her feet, and find a way back home. Huh, she was now in her friend's place, but backwards. They wanted to come here, to the realm of Liberion, and she just wanted to go back to the human realm and be with her family, who must be worried sick by now. She imagined her missing posters all over the lampposts back in Brooklyn, a lump forming in her throat. A different knock sounded on the door, and her train of thought was interrupted by the prince entering her room. She groaned. "It was nice forgetting who you were for a second," she said. He looked taken aback. "Was that a compliment?" Ariel glared at him. "Yes, a compliment for the guy who kidnapped me back to his kingdom, pulled along by his wolves. Thanks again, for that," she said sarcastically. He raised an eyebrow. "You're welcome. Now!" He clapped his hands together, looking around the small room. Ariel cleared her throat, waiting for him to continue. "Now what?" She said. "Well, nothing special. The ambassadors from all the Packs and clans will be coming in three days time for the royal ball--" Ariel burst out laughing. Caleb frowned. "What's so funny?" He asked. "You actually have royal balls? You're not making this stuff up?" She said, her smile drooping. He shook his head. "Ok, fine. The magical kingdom of Liberion has annual balls. Continue, your highness," she said, waving a hand around. "You are to get ready for the ball, and learn the customs of our ways before that." He said, lifting his head. Ariel stared at him, mouth agape. "You're asking me to learn everything by three days??" He opened his mouth to explain, but she cut him off. "What will happen if I don't learn all of that? I'm guessing your right hand will torture me or something, send me off into the woods all alone at nighttime before releasing some sort of shadow demons--" A whoosh sounded, and no noise came out of her mouth. A figure appeared by the door, with the same dark green velvet cloak from last night. Her face was shrouded, but Ariel sensed magic coming off of her. "Brother, does she ever stop talking?" She lowered the hood, piercing blue eyes meeting Ariel's for a second. "You couldn't have brought back the Alpha's daughter? She might've been more useful--at least that one knew how to harness her powers, understood the laws of the packs." She motioned with her hand, and Ariel was able to speak again. She shook, suddenly cold. A sense of fear edged up her spine, and she wondered if the Shadow princess was making her feel this or she was just scared in general. The young woman maintained eye contact with Ariel, letting her blonde braid fall out from the hood. It was weird, she acknowledged her, but didn't speak a word. She spoke to her brother as if Ariel didn't even exist. "Three days, brother, or father will be furious and won't let you forget it. See you later," she strode out of the room and disappeared. Caleb sighed. "I see making a grand entrance and grand exit runs in the family," she said, shuddering. He managed a smile. "I should be leaving, you have fresh clothes behind that door." He nodded towards it. "And Roen shall come pick you up at around noon, we'll meet up at the training circle and see how good you are with weapons and magic. Until we see each other again, Moonclaw." He bowed, leaving too. Ariel was left processing, still sitting on the bed in pajamas. She was starting to connect the dots, slowly, but it was all making a little bit more sense. At least, more so than before.

It's been a long while since I last updated so I'm very very sorry for that but I worked a lot with this chapter and hope it came out nicely ahh. Oh, and that you all enjoyed it :) Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote!