Fire Moon by Miss CrazyPlantLady (phonics reading books .TXT) 📖

THREE SECONDS.

It took the children three seconds to burn. I was patting the small body closest to me, trying to put my own flames out but it was too late. Their skin was charcoal and blistered. It was sticking to me like glue and the vile smell was suffocating.

Kier laughter crackled like static. He tricked me. Kier knew I would do anything to save my sister. He knew the lengths I would go to. Kier knew I would do this.

It was a speaker.

A tall round speaker sitting on a small three-legged table.

It was on fire but I knew what it was.

Alice was never in here. Kier was never in here. I killed these kids without a reason. They died for nothing.

Cries filled the air. My cries. Collapsing into Alexei's arms, I was sobbing. I killed them. My body lurched away as I vomited on the ground in front of us. The acid burning my throat as it went.

"Eden!" Alexei was shaking me, "We need to go!"

He pulled me away when I didn't respond, his cool hands on my hot skin and the tears falling harsh on my face. I killed them. Kier didn't kill them. Alexei didn't kill them. It was me. I killed them.

"You lied to me!" I screamed at him, my lungs worked to keep me breathing, "You told me Alice wasn't here!"

He kept holding onto my arm, "I didn't know, Eden!"

I didn't believe him. I couldn't believe him. I killed them and he lied to me.

Alexei rushed us out of the children's prison that was now, a crematorium and out to the hall where he grabbed the sides of my face, "Eden, I need to you to focus for a second" his voice was fast and out of breathe, "Sawyer is waiting for you at the end of this corridor and you need to be extremely fast so you can make it before they put the building into lockdown."

I was blinking through his words, my tears drying thick on my face and I turned to see the long haired Soothsayer, he waved slowly and I wanted to cry again.

Everything that happens from now on is meant to be.

Sawyer knew. He knew I would kill the children, that's why he looked so forlorn when I mentioned them and there was nothing he could have done to prevent it.

I turned back to the emerald eyed Null-Hound, "Come with us" it wasn't a question but a demand. A beg. Kier would kill him for this. He didn't deserve death yet. Liar or not, he helped me and I had to help him, "He'll kill you."

Alexei nodded with a small smile, "I know but at least he can't kill you" he shoved at me, "Now, go!"

I wanted to argue longer, change his mind but the hallway glowed with red and I ran to Sawyer. An explosion rippled through the building, walls rattling and cracking. The Soothsayer's hands grabbed me just as the siren blared to life and I turned back to Alexei to see him looking back at me. His emerald eyes doused in sadness, fear and acceptance, "Where's Alice?" I shouted over the siren at Sawyer.

Confusion clear on his face, "Alice isn't here, Blazer" he pulled at me to start running, "She never was."

My mind spun with the new information and I looked back at Alexei, who was now gone, "We can't leave without him!"

Sawyer started dragging me behind him, "Don't worry, he's coming with us!" I met his eyes in shock and he laughed, "What, you think I'm going to leave such a specimen behind? He will meet us at the east wing!"

Relief washed over me hard enough that my guilt almost left my body completely. Almost.

The halls filled with my bare feet slapping the dirt floor, my blood rushing in my ears and we rounded a corner just as the four Zetas did. Sawyer waved his hand and we ran around the four. Not attempting to stop us. They stared at us with confusion, like they knew we should be stopped but they couldn't stop us. They were frozen into compliance.

"What did you do to them?" I asked out of breath.

A shrug, "Nothing, they just think we're someone else" his dark hair swirled as he turned to look behind us, "They have no idea who we actually are."

The Soothsayer didn't let us stop or slow, he held my arm and dragged me when I weakened. I knew this hall. I held my breath as we passed Kier's throne room but the halls were silent, there was no one down here, "Where is everyone?" I rasped as we passed my old cell. The cell doors wide open and untouched since our last attempt to escape.

"I took care of most of them" Sawyer laughed, "They won't bother us."

My legs threatened to collapse but I could feel the warm air on my face the deeper we went down the corridor, the sound of the grass rustling was relief to my ears and I begged my legs to power through.

The sun stun my eyes as we made it through the doors. We were outside, the same place Alexei took me before, except the glorious wall was in ruins and a giant hole now in its place. The grass once glowing in its colour, now lied in chunks all over the ground.

My head snapped around, trying to find Alexei but Sawyer only pushed forward. We crossed the crumpled wall, sprinting to the trees adjacent and I pulled against the Soothsayer's grip, "Wait, what about Alexei?"

"He'll come" he insisted, pulling me once again, "Trust me but we need to get cover."

The sun was setting when we finally saw movement. A dark haired head peeked around the door frame of the left side building, in low light it was hard to make out if it really was Alexei.

"Is that him?" I whispered to the Soothsayer.

Sawyer was yawning and leaning on the near by tree, "Yeah, it's him" he didn't bother to get up to look, "Thank the moon because all this rescue stuff is exhausting."

I eyed the moving shadow with suspicion, "How do you know it's him?"

A sigh and I looked over at Sawyer as he rolled his eyes, "Because the Forecaster is never wrong."

"Did the Forecaster tell you about the children?" my body ached at the reminder and I swallowed trying to stop my throat from closing up.

He looked away at that. His eyes pondered off and watched the trees, "They told me about how you would try to save them and then they told me how you didn't."

"And you didn't tell me?" I hissed low. Among my frustration, I forgot about Alexei and it wasn't until he was standing with us did I remember.

"Quick, we have to go" he was out of breath.

I surprised myself when I got up and hugged him. My arms wrapped around him in relief. We made it. Only us made it. Only us. His own heavy arms circled me and hugged me in return. His warmth enveloped me.

A cough interrupted the warmth, "Escaping, remember?" Sawyer said as he rose and stretched up his arms.

We broke apart, "How far are we from August's?" I asked visibly confused. I had no idea where we were. West Stygian was a foreign subject to me.

"August's is in Anwir, extremely far north for my liking" Sawyer started to walk through the trees, "My place is closer."

"You live in West Stygian?" I asked accusingly.

Without turning back to see if we were following, the Soothsayer wandered further, "No, I live in Osmond" he angled his head slightly, "I think, I have no idea. All this old name stuff confuses me."

"Osmond is correct" added Alexei, "It's south."

"I know where it is" drawled Sawyer, "I just didn't know what it was called, Nully."

"Don't call me that" snapped Alexei.

Sawyer still didn't turn but a chuckle left his lips, "I think it's going to stick" adding a softer, "Nully" at the end.

The crowding trees smothered us in darkness, everything was coated in thick night and I had to keep glancing at the moon to remind myself that I wasn't in that room. That I wasn't in that fiery tomb. I could only make out the Soothsayer's obnoxious footsteps, he was still in his human form and from the sounds of Alexei's careful steps, he remained in his human form as well.

We walked until we reached a road, my feet aching from the shoe-less trek and Sawyer sighed heavily before continuing across the road, "Any ideas on where we are?"

"This is the edge of Kier's territory and just after the road, there should be a large split tree" Alexei rasped behind me, he sounded out of breath and tired, "We should be safe after that."

"How far is it?" I breathed. Stopping to rub at my left foot and I glanced at the moon once more.

The road was rough, cold against my feet and it hurt to walk on. I rejoiced when my feet met the soft grass of the other side.

"How are we going to see the tree in the dark?" I asked again.

All the trees blended together in a wall of black, no tree stood out and none tall enough to seem split. We came to a full stop and I squinted through the darkness to locate the tree.

"You're not supposed to see it" Sawyer was the first one to speak and I could only just make out his smug expression in the shadows, "Are you, Nully?"

A groan left Alexei's lips and I felt his body warmth as he stopped behind me, "It's scented."

"With what?" I dared to ask.

I watched Sawyer's mouth open to answer but it was Alexei who spoke, "Blood."

"I can't smell anything" my voice was skeptical and the frown on my face heavy.

"You don't have a wolf" added Sawyer, "We need to be in our wolf form to smell it."

Panic struck me and raced around my body, "Isn't that—"

"Dangerous?" the Soothsayer laughed, "It is but only for us."

"Not for me" Alexei muttered.

I finally turned to meet his eyes in the dark, "How?"

We were closer than I realised because I heard him swallow, "My scent is already in the pack, if Sawyer changed it would notify the pack and they would be here in seconds."

"But you can't change" I hissed under my breath, "I'm not mated."

A singular chuckle left his throat, "I thought that blondie was your mate?"

"He is!" I argued, "We just haven't mated yet."

Even in the darkness, I saw the look in his eyes and he took a step away from me. His eyes never leaving mine and he shifted in front of me, shadowed by the night.

If August's wolf was magnificent and glorious, Alexei's wolf was breath-taking, practically glowing with darkness and I couldn't drag my eyes away. I couldn't see him well but his fur brushed against my skin, soft and rough all at once. He ran past me, into the surrounding trees and Sawyer quickly followed.

We rushed after Alexei, branches scratching my bare feet and leaves rustling as we stepped. Alexei stopped suddenly, sniffing at the base of a tree and he turned to us with a growl. Sawyer clapped his hands with a laugh, "He found it."

It wasn't until I couldn't walk another bare-footed step when I finally stopped to lean against a tree, "I can't" I gasped, "My feet are scratched and bleeding, can we please stop?" I was begging but I didn't care.

The Soothsayer changed not long after the split tree, his wolf wasn't as big as Alexei's but he was faster and was very much ahead of Alexei and myself. Alexei shifted back once he located the tree, he walked along side me as Sawyer ran.

"Sawyer, that's enough for tonight" Alexei growled, reaching for my damaged feet.

My own hands trying to push away his, "I just need a few minutes to rest" I muttered.

"We can sleep here," Sawyer was back in human form and I could see him