“My grandfather—he said my parents gave me away to keep me from you.” I stuttered, now knowing that it couldn’t be true.
It was the Twin Thunder Boys that they feared.
“Your grandfather…” He stared down at the floor, perplexed. “I was there. The Wendigo…” He whispered, losing himself in his thoughts. “Melissa, he didn’t survive.” My heart stopped in my chest.
I wondered how the old man could stand the cold.
Connor.
Chapter Twenty
A Grave Exchange
“Melissa! Wait!” Kana’ti shouted to me as I turned and bolted toward the terrace doors and threw them open, suddenly blinded by the sunlight that came pouring in. But I ignored him, dashing down the stone steps and past the marble pillars that lined the pathway and cast massive shadows on the ground. A towering gate of bronze waited for me at the end of the path, and I pushed it out of my way and darted out into the street. A horse-drawn carriage sped past me, carrying a gust of wind with it; and I stopped, frantically looking around at the world that came to life before me.
Rynmoor was a different city during the day. And then I realized.
Horses—even now, both of my worlds seemed to have so much in common.
I raced past the carriage as it slowed until it halted altogether, not bothering to see who stepped out of it and onto street. Not until he spoke.
“In a hurry, are you?” He quipped, and I looked back at him to see a man with dirty blond hair that fell just above his shoulders dressed in a trench coat as black as iron. His amber eyes widened when he saw me, truly caught sight of me for who he knew I was; but I didn’t have any time. I opened my mouth to speak, but my legs carried me away before I could. The sun-drenched stone buildings blurred by as I ran, past the domes and arches and over the glass ferry that sailed beneath the Bridge of Water and Earth. The shadows of the trees swallowed me as the civilization of Rynmoor gave way to the serenity of the forest, and I called out my Old name without hesitation.
“Moonshadow!” I leapt into the golden wall of words and through the rift that opened up before me.
And I was instantly met with darkness.
“Connor?” I blinked, my eyes still adjusting to the inexplicable night.
How could it still be dark here if the sun had already risen in Rynmoor?
“Connor!” I yelled for him again when the woods finally came into view.
There was no one else here.
“Connor!”
“Melissa,” the sound of his voice brought the breath back into my lungs, “you’re back. W—what happened?” He was holding his arms as he emerged from the trees to my left.
“What time is it?” He looked down at his wrist at my question, only to find that his father’s watch was no longer there.
“Sorry.” He sighed. “It’s probably five o’clock, now.”
“Five o’clock…” I whispered to myself, staring at the ground.
Rynmoor was three hours ahead.
“Where’s Mr. Oakman?” I lifted my eyes to search the blackness for anything that might have betrayed him, but there was nothing.
“He left to take a couple blankets he brought out back to his boat. Why?” He gestured toward the lake before returning his attention to my face. And then to my dress. “What are you wearing?”
“It doesn’t matter…” I breathed, grasping his hand. “We have to go.” I pulled him towards the rift; but he hesitated, standing still.
“Whoa! Where are we going?” He exclaimed. “And what about the girls?”
“Rynmoor.” I tried to explain, trying not to waste any time. “It’s safe there. Heather and the others will be waiting.” I paused when he suddenly loosened his grip and dropped his hand to his side. “Connor, we have to go!”
“Why would I want to go back?” I watched him shrug his shoulders and gaze up at the stars, and a sinister smile crept its way onto his face. “I like this place so much more.” And then he stared at me, grinning as I looked at him in horror. He brought his hand back in a fist and struck my temple in a dizzying blow.
And everything went black.
“Melissa! Melissa!” My ears were ringing. “Melissa!” My eyes fluttered open as I lifted my head up from the ground, and I brushed off the dirt that had refused to leave my skin. I squinted my eyes at the figure running towards me, trying and failing to focus on its face. It grew bigger as it came closer; and it stumbled onto the forest floor beside me, placing its hands on my shoulders. “You’ve gotta stop making me chase you into dangerous situations.”
Kana’ti.
“Sorry.” I winced as he helped me up; but my knees buckled as I stood, and he kept me from falling.
“It was the Wendigo, wasn’t it?” He didn’t have to ask. I’m sure he already knew.
“Yeah.” I held my hand to my forehead and grimaced, barely uttering the words. “Connor—it’s Connor.”
“Are you sure?” I nodded my head as an answer. “Okay.” The rustling of leaves in the distance sent him staring in the direction that it came from, and he took his bow from over his shoulder and nocked an arrow. A shape slowly revealed itself from the darkness of the trees that surrounded us; and I expected to see Connor’s devilish smile, but it wasn’t there. He was limping.
“Melissa…” His face was pale, as if he’d just seen something horrible. And the right leg of his jeans was soaked in blood. Kana’ti aimed the point of the arrow at his head, and Connor raised his hands in terror. “Caleb? How did you get here?”
“Stand back!” He commanded, and Connor reluctantly did as he asked.
“Melissa, it’s me. I swear.” He hurriedly stole a glance over his shoulder and brought his eyes back to me once again. He took a step forward, only to be met with a handful of light at the ready.
“How can I be sure?” I gazed at him, uncertain of what I should believe.
“Ask me something—anything.” He stuttered, blinking his tired green eyes; and I stared into them in pursuit of something that I recognized.
“What did you say to me after you pulled me out of the water?” Kana’ti turned his head to look at me as I spoke. And a moment passed as I waited for his answer. Connor’s eyes sparkled as he smiled a little, and I didn’t even need to hear the words.
“I love you.”
“Kana’ti, it’s okay.” I set my hand on his shoulder before racing to the edge of the clearing to wrap my arms around Connor’s neck, and he grunted in pain. “I’m sorry.” I let go, whispering. “I thought you were the Wendigo…” He wrinkled his forehead in confusion.
“What’s a Wendigo?” He’d missed so much.
“It’s an ice giant of the north woods,” Kana’ti explained and joined us by the trees, “a shapeshifter that feeds on human flesh.”
“Wait, what?” Connor asked, and I turned to face him.
“You didn’t tell me that.” I remarked, but he shook his head.
“It wasn’t important at the time.” I opened my mouth to respond, but Connor’s voice kept me from speaking.
“If Mr. Oakman was this Wendigo the whole time, then why hasn’t he already killed you?” It was a good question—one that I knew the answer to.
“He wants us all together…” I murmured, almost to myself; but the both of them heard me anyway.
“I offer you my congratulations.” The three of us whirled in the direction of the voice to find what looked like Connor standing directly behind Kana’ti in the moonlight, and the grin he gave me sent a shiver down my spine. The Hunter pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back in an effort to strike him; but the Wendigo threw his hand across his chest, sending him hurdling into the pine tree and tumbling to the ground.
“Stay away from me!” I shouted and held my hand out to conjure up as much light as I could to keep him at bay, but he simply smiled and stepped towards me regardless of my warning.
“Or what?” He buried his hands in his pockets, eerily resembling the boy who had leaned again
st the lockers every morning before History class.
“I know who I am now!” I snapped at him and raised my voice, no longer trembling at the sight of him.
“Is that so?” He questioned me and narrowed his eyes, and it unsettled me how much I wanted to believe that it was Connor. But he was standing next to me—where he belonged.
“It is.” I let the moonlight leave the palm of my hand and directed it towards him; and with a yelp of surprise, he collapsed when it hit his side. I stood there for a moment, stunned at what I had done; but Kana’ti stirred at the base of the pine tree, and I ran to him. “Are you okay?” I asked him as I helped him stand, and he nodded his head.
“It takes more than that.” He reassured me.
“Good to know.” I breathed.
Somehow, I kept forgetting what he was.
Connor hurried to join us and gestured to his doppelganger lying on the ground.
“It’s not over.” He warned us. I looked over to the Wendigo and immediately saw that he was right. It pulled itself up from the sylvan floor, clawing at the ground with hands that stretched and gnarled into bony fingers with nails like razors; and as it straightened its back to stand before me, I knew that I was seeing the monster that Kana’ti had described.
Like the skeleton of Crybaby Bridge, another stared back at me; but this one was so much more terrifying. It gazed through me with a pair of sunken yellow eyes, its shallow breaths pushing its leathery ash gray skin up from the ribs that encased its blackened lungs. The only hint of flesh was the stomach that protruded unnaturally from its gaunt figure, a sign that it would never be satisfied. It was riddled with abscesses and sores; and as it drew closer, the sickening stench of death and decay filled my nostrils. Wordless, it towered over me, rotting in the silence like a walking corpse; and I was horrified.
I lifted my hand again, nearly paralyzed by what I was seeing. And grinning, it seized my arm and threw me across the clearing, into the frigid dirt that I had found myself in more often than I would have liked. Before I could catch my breath, it wrapped its fingers around my neck and forced me against a bole of a tree; and it smiled with its tattered, bloody lips.
“I’m going to tear you in half,” it savored the words as it spoke them in my ear; and only cold breath left its mouth and reached my cheek, “but not before your friends know the taste of your entrails.” I whimpered as I pried at its fingers with my nails, ripping nothing but skin from its bones; but its inhuman strength was too much to overcome. It tightened its grip around my neck, and my lungs burned as I struggled to breathe. But suddenly, it lurched; and it turned its head as it released me, sending me dropping to my hands and knees. And I saw it as the creature faced its attacker.
An arrow.
“No more!” Kana’ti demanded, aiming another shaft at one of its eyes. “You’ve killed enough!” He shouted, and I crawled past the monster and into Connor’s arms. In the darkness, I saw it smirk.
And I couldn’t understand why.
“Not yet…” I could barely make out the words in its raspy voice before Connor called out my name in a panic, and I flailed my arm out for him desperately.
“Melissa!” Our fingers grasped for each other, but to no avail. And he was no longer beside me.
“Connor!” I screamed, hysterical. The Wendigo clutched his wrist and grinned with its graying teeth.
“One more…”
“Stop!” I shrieked, and everything was silent. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I watched Connor shake his head vehemently. “Stop.” I whispered.
“Melissa, it—it’s okay.” Connor stuttered.
“No, it’s not.” I told him and stared into the Wendigo’s yellow eyes. “You can have me.” Kana’ti took a step forward, but I held him back. “Just let him go.”
“Melissa, let me die—” He pleaded with me, but I wouldn’t let him.
“No.” I answered.
“Let me die!” He screamed at me, his voice cracking in his throat as he did. But I did everything I could to ignore him. The Wendigo beckoned for me as it nodded its head, loosening its hold on Connor as I moved towards it. But he gazed at me miserably, as if I were already dead. My heart beat loudly in my chest as I eliminated the space between us step by step, and the terror only magnified the sound.
This is it. This is how I’m going to die.
But I paused as I witnessed Connor move his lips, quietly but as clear as the night sky.
‘I’m sorry.’
Before I could act, he pulled something out of his pocket; and a bright red flash erupted from whatever he had been holding. Tendrils of black smoke carried the smell of burning flesh to my nose, and I blinked away the tears that formed in my eyes.
“Connor?” I called his name, but he was staring at the object in his hand. “Connor?” He looked up at me in shock, not saying a word; and he staggered forward, my eyes widening in horror when his own didn’t blink as he collapsed. “Connor!” I screamed, and the Wendigo let two small bones fall from its bloodstained claws and onto the ground. And it turned its back and bounded into the trees.
“Stay here!” Kana’ti told me, nocking another arrow before darting after the monster and leaving me in the silence.
Connor lay lifeless on his side, his back saturated in crimson around the gash where the Wendigo had torn part of his spine from his body.
I fell to my knees, gazing at Connor’s face as his eyes stared blankly at the moss that climbed the roots of the pine tree; and I grasped his hand, squeezing it earnestly.
“You didn’t have to…Why did you do it?” I sobbed and held him in my arms, knowing that it was my fault.
All that I had done to keep him safe—none of it mattered.
“Why did you do it?” I pounded his chest with my fist, as if my anger alone would bring him back. “Why did you do it?!” I caught sight of the flare gun lying beside him, and I picked it up and threw it as far from him as I could.
The air felt so much heavier, like it was crushing me underneath its weight; and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t breathe. All sound had abandoned me, leaving only my own weeping for comfort; but it wasn’t enough.
And I realized that drowning felt nothing like this.
Something bubbled inside me, burned through my veins. And it tore at my insides until there was nothing left but anger. And all I saw was white.
Slowly, I stood and walked through the clearing and into the shadows where the Wendigo had disappeared; and I found it several yards away and leaning against a tree for support, holding one of its claws over the wound that Connor had sacrificed himself to cause.
“Melissa, stay back!” Kana’ti stretched out his hand in warning and returned to his previous stance, raising his bow up from his side and shooting another arrow into the arm that covered its chest. But I continued, not missing a step, and finally stopped in between them. I lifted my right hand over my head and towards the sky, towards the moon; and as I brought it back to my face in the form of a fist, the silver light of the moon no longer fell through the canopy of the trees, leaving only darkness in its wake. Willfully, I uncurled my fingers to reveal the light of a thousand stars in the palm of my hand; and I set my eyes on the Wendigo with a grin. Kana’ti dropped the bow to shield his eyes from the light when it suddenly exploded, destroying every shadow in its path. I held up my hands as if I was rending the veil between worlds itself, but it was the Wendigo that was torn to pieces. Its yellow eyes filled with the radiance that I had unleashed upon it, and its skin tightened around its bones as it let out the most bloodcurdling shriek. One final chilling, animalistic wail erupted into the night as I erased it from existence; and when the light died down, there was nothing but ash and the smoldering tatters of its leathery skin drifting to the ground. The fire in my eyes was lost, and I looked to Kana’ti to see him staring at me in astonishment.
Or fear. I wasn’t sure.
I left him standing there, the moon returning to the sky as I stepped backwards, breaking i
nto a run to race back to Connor’s body.
Healer’s blood. It was the only thing I could hold onto.
I stumbled onto my knees and held my hands over his chest, letting everything I held inside me leave my fingertips. He convulsed with the sudden surge of energy, but nothing happened.
“Come on…” I murmured to him. I sent another blast of light through his system. “Come on.” Again. “Come on!” Again. I gathered it all into my hands until it burned every cell in my fingers and released it, screaming from how much it hurt.
“Melissa!” Kana’ti took hold of my shoulders and shook me. “You can’t bring back the dead! That’s not your gift! Kaliveia, maybe, but not you!”
What good was it? What good could I do if I wasn’t powerful enough to stop him from dying? The Morkoa were dead—all of them but me. And I was so alone.
He held me close as I sobbed, burying my face in his chest; and he kissed the top of my head and whispered.
“You are so much more than I could have ever imagined.” He trembled, causing me to look up at his doleful eyes.
I hadn’t seen him take the arrow from his quiver—or plunge it deep into where he had intended. But I had felt it.
“What have you done?” I caught him as he swayed forward, growing limp in my arms; and I gazed down at the fatal wound that he had inflicted on himself.
“You need him more.” A tear streamed down his face as I held him; and he flashed me a clever grin as he caressed my cheek. A soft breeze whipped up his dark brown hair; and he vanished into a wave of golden sparks, carried away into the darkness with the wind. I sat there—in the quietness, staring at the place where he had been.
Two hundred years.
I jumped when Connor’s body suddenly gasped for air behind me, wheezing and coughing in a panic. And I turned to look at him as the last of hundreds of embers tumbled from his skin and out of existence, not sure if it was real.
But it was.
“Connor!” I breathed as I scrambled to his side, and I clutched his hand in an effort to calm him. “It’s okay.” I reassured him. “I’m here.” I couldn’t keep myself from smiling. My tears fell from my eyes and found their place on his cheeks, streaking his muddy face as they rolled away and onto the ground.
Moonshadow Page 19
