Riwenne and her team of warriors are still on the moon. After sleeping in the garden, Riwenne goes back to the Moon Goddess’s home to find out where they will train today. But the answer surprises her.
Waking in a Strange Place
When I shut her out, Quilla left me alone. I curled up again inside the shelter of the leaves and cried myself to sleep. Thankfully, I didn’t dream.
I woke up again when that strange faint sunlight broke through the leaves with the dawn. Rubbing my eyes, my first thought was that I’d missed the morning ceremony and everyone else was going to be mad at me. But then I looked around at my strange surroundings and the memory of yesterday came rushing back to me.
I was alone, lying on the ground, in a giant garden on the moon. Kyra and all my friends were still back on the planet. The only people here were the planetary warriors and Quilla, all of them bloodthirsty and willing to kill anyone who got in their way. And I’d run away from them in a childish tantrum. That was only going to make it harder to go back and find a way to deal with the problem.
Quilla had tried a different tactic with me last night, showing me a softer side to the goddess of death. But in the end, she was still set on killing Chysa and she would order me to do it. If I didn’t do what she said, she’d just make the planetary warriors do her dirty work against my wishes.
The harder she tried to convince me that killing Chysa was the only way to stop her, the more I knew that I had to find another way. Especially once she’d compared her situation to mine with Nexita. My life had gotten so much better since I’d made up with my sister and we’d overcome our conflicts. If I’d killed her instead, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. Why couldn’t Quilla and Chysa find a way to make peace?
I stood up and brushed the dirt off my clothes. Surprisingly, my body felt refreshed and full of energy despite the unusual place where I’d slept. With a spring in my step, I jumped in the air until I caught a glimpse of Quilla’s home, then set off to find the others.
No sign of the moon goddess in her home. The planetary warriors were seated around the table again, eating fresh fruit for breakfast. A few of them glanced up at my return, but Fairuza kept her gaze pointedly on her plate.
“Good morning,” I said brightly, dropping onto a cushion without waiting for an invitation. I reached for a plate of pink berry-looking fruits and bit into one. A tart juice filled my mouth.
Fairuza turned to Namburo and said to him, “Seems like a good day to go explore that forest. We need a bigger challenge for our training, and if there are dangerous creatures there, I’d like to find them.”
I froze at the thought of fighting against the souls of the dead. Weren’t they supposed to be here to rest?
