Moonlight Prince (Vampire Girl #4)(38)

I can't help but laugh. "You make it sound so simple. But, it's hard knowing what is right."

He shrugs. "Eh. Only if you overthink it."

Tavian and Kayla find us. "Are you ready to seek the moonlight steel?" asks the traveler.

I think about all that Fen said, and I nod. "Tell me what to do."

***

Tavian guides us deep into the woods, to a place where beams of moonlight fall from the sky, so thick you can run a hand through them, and the wind sings a solemn song. A guardian awaits us there. A great stone beast with wings that do not fly, and eyes that are ever watching. I would call it a gargoyle, but this beast is more majestic than any gargoyle of my mind. It feels eternal.

And it makes me tremble.

"Who seeks the moonlight?" asks the guardian, voice like grinding stone.

Tavian steps forward first. "I do."

The stone creature studies him. "Hmm. A heart of kindness you possess, but too afraid of yourself are you. Too afraid to let others know you. The moonlight, you will not possess."

Tavian bows his head graciously, stepping back. "Thank you, great one."

Kayla steps forward next, her hands firm.

The guardian watches her. "Strong you are, and brave. But torn between two worlds. Are you the Shade, hiding from greatness, or the Druid, leading her people? The moonlight, you will not possess."

Dean taps his chin. "Think I'm seeing a trend here." He steps forward next. "Great stone beast, I believe I am worthy."

The guardian looks at him oddly. Then at us. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, it was a long shot," says Dean turning back.

Well, that leaves only me.

I step forward, trying to keep my hands from shaking. "I seek the moonlight steel."

The gargoyle bends down, his green eyes on my level. "Interesting. Very interesting. You have a pure heart, but does it know what it wants?" His neck moves like a snake, coiling around me. "You have strength, but can it be controlled?" His stone eyes gaze into mine. "You have courage, but have you ever truly conquered fear?"

He pauses, then pulls away. "The moonlight, you will not possess."

I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding and turn to my friends. "I'm… I'm sorry."

Dean waves his hand. "Come on, it's not like we did any better."

Kayla crosses her arms as Riku perches on her shoulder preening himself. "I'm starting to doubt anyone can appease this guardian." She points at the gargoyle. "Are you looking for a perfect person, is that it? Well, perfect people don't exist."

The guardian stands taller. His voice booms loudly. "I do not seek one without flaw." He speaks softer. "But one who isn't blind to the truth."

"And what truth would that be?" yells Kayla.

The guardian says nothing.

Yami snuggles against my neck, purring to soothe me. "Thanks, buddy." I say, petting his head. "But, what do we do now?"

Tavian shakes his head. "This I do not know. Without a moonlight sword, we cannot defeat the Darkness."

I sigh, walking away, my tone hardly cheerful. "Well, at least we have a lot of time here, right? Maybe one of us will figure it out."

"Perhaps Marasphyr and Fen should try at least," Dean suggests. "It couldn't hurt."

I'm about to speak, to argue why Fen at least would not pass this test. He is too internally conflicted. But Tavian beats me to it.

"They did not come because they already knew the outcome," he says. "We must find another way."

While the others discuss possible alternatives to our plan, I stroll back to the pond, wishing for a quiet place to think. When I find the pool of water, I see Marasphyr has already taken my rock. "Hey. I think that's my spot. Because—"

Marasphyr isn't responding. Actually, she's clutching her knees to her face and… crying?

I approach her slowly, putting a hand on her back. "What's wrong?"

And just like that, she sits up straight and wipes away the tears. "Nothing. What do you mean?"

I try to be as delicate as possible. "You seem melancholy."

"Do I? Perhaps it's just the lighting." She chuckles at her own joke. Then her voice turns serious. "I saw something. A field of corpses. Thousands dead. I… I can't get it out of my mind."

I sit down beside her. "When did this happen?"

"Just now. Not yet." She smacks her hands against her lap. "Sorry, that doesn't make sense. I see things that have not yet come to pass. Only, it's more like I remember them."

I hadn't really heard much about this power before. "So, it's like you're a fortune teller?"

She rolls her eyes. "Fortune tellers are simply perceptive individuals. What I see is true. Real. But I cannot choose what I remember. It is always random, and often dreadful."

I look into the pond, into my own sad reflection, thinking of what the future may hold. "Have you ever tried to change it? Your visions?"

"Of course," she says. "I could not see a child die and not try to save them. I could not witness a war and not try to stop it. But every time, no matter how hard I tried, or what I did, I changed nothing. My memory would always come to pass. And so, one day I stopped trying. Perhaps it is even why I'm so bitter. Hope seems a false concept to me."