Luna stared at him. "I-I don't understand."

"Child. This is not a physical plane," Meden sighed, continuing to walk. Luna had to run to catch up with him. "It is a mental plane. I believe you humans refer to it as a dream. Currently, I am working with what little power I posses on earth to bring you back. I would let you go, but I've invested too much time in you already."

Luna huffed indignantly, folding her arms across her chest, the brim of her hat flopping down over her eyes. She frowned, taking it off. It was the hat she'd given Nyx, but this wasn't right, she'd seen it in the alley outside of the Hunter's society headquarters. The society...Rai and James were...

"They are not dead child. Like the rest of my army they have been taken by the earth and are stuck between life and death."

She raised an eyebrow. "And me?"

"Your body is clinging to life, if but faint, the traces are just there," Meden explained slowly, like he was a bored adult talking to a child. "You seem somewhat comfortable despite the circumstances."

She shrugged. "I guess I'm still in shock. You said we had stuff to discuss?"

His left head nodded, glancing down at her. "You humans believe we are gods, me and my brother. We are not. Yes, we are giants among insects and yes, we created your people, but we are far from all powerful deities. We need you to do our dirty work for us."

"Is there a point to this?" Luna asked, getting impatient. She was suddenly very aware of the fact this could be the last thing she did before she died. She took off her hat, studying it. It was definitely the one she had given to Nyx, but didn't understand why she had it.

"You are like your great uncle," Meden chuckled. "To an extent, like your parents as well."

Her heart stopped and she held her breath. Meden didn't seem to notice.

"They were good people, your parents. Kind and warm-hearted," he continued with a sad sigh. "I believe that was their undoing you see. I made them too kind, too accepting."

Luna gulped before she managed to choke out, "what happened to them?"

"Fire, my child. They let my brother's people, his clay abominations, into their home. Willingly, I might add despite their appearances. They found out they were members of the society, high ranking members at that, so they burnt that estate to the ground. Your parents begged me to save you."

"And why did you?"

"Because Hatchet had already warned them. Vienna had already informed him of Pasirima's awakening, he has been clinging to consciousness for decades, and they had promised you to me. Sworn your life to me from the moment you were born so that you could take over your great uncle's position in the society. Since that day I have slowly been pouring my will into you ready for the day Hatchet would move on and you would have to take his place."

Luna blinked, confused. This was a lot to take in but stupidly the first thing she asked was "who's Vienna?"

Meden's right head smiled whist the others remained passive. "A friend of your Great uncle's. She's been waiting for him, just beyond the mountains. All of them have my child. You must find the final two guardians. Stop my brother from taking them. You must go to the heart of the north and open the cave. You must finish what he started."

The world flickered, the poppies replaced by ash and grass, before stabilising again.

"Child. We have little time, there is one more thing you need to know."

"What?"

"There is a liar in my house," he sighed, padding off. "I hope you appreciate the trouble I went through to get you that," the middle head nodded at the hat in her hand.

"I don't understand. How did I get this back!" Luna shouted to his retreating form, trying to run after him but finding they she couldn't move. It felt like she was laying on her side, curled up in a ball. She struggled to raise the hat in her hand.

"Promises must be fulfilled by both sides for them to mean something. One half was fulfilled, and thus I commanded the second to be too. Once fulfilled, all promises are empty. No ties, no promises. No reason for you to find him."

"Find who?" She choked. But he was already gone. So were the poppies, and the clear blue sky and the clean air. The faint smell of smoke reached her nose. She could feel his hat on her head. Her eyes stung as she opened them, blinking back the tears as the name left her cracked lips.

"Nyx."

~

Quin wanted to cry. He wanted to scream and sob and yell to the sky that life wasn't fair. But instead he trudged after Nyx and Charlie, moving slowly through the undergrowth as he recalled the previous night's conversation, replaying over and over in his head.

"We can't wait any longer. It's been three days," Mendax had sighed. "they're not coming."

"They will!" Nyx had growled back, running a hand through his hair, still clutching onto Luna's scarf. "We just need to wait a little longer."

"It's no use Nyx. If we wait any longer those...those things will find us," Winston sighed, stomping what little they had salvaged down into a rucksack. "Leave a message by the wall. We'll head to Penen and work out a plan of action from there."

"And you think that'll be enough?" Nyx snapped back. "Maybe I should just look for them..." he trailed off at their expressions.

"Come on Nyx!" Charlie pleaded. "I'm sure they're fine. Just like Gemma and Jags and everyone will be fine."

Quin gulped back his protest. Mendax had already explained the situation; everyone had simply vanished. Why they'd been spared was beyond them, but one thing they did know was that suddenly monsters had appeared and started to hunt them down. They'd already moved camp seven times, trying to throw the clay...things, off of their scent. It was clear that it wouldn't work, but Mendax theorised if they made it back to Penen they could at least seek the aid of the locals.

So now Quin, Nyx, Charlie, Winston and Mendax were making their way, slowly, towards Penen. He sighed and rubbed his weary eyes. The other's would would be fine. They'd get the message and they'd all meet back up in Penen. He was sure of it.

Even is no one else was.

~

Minx felt Luna stir and lifted her head slightly.

"Nyx..." Luna mumbled, still seemingly asleep. She was crying, tears trickling down her cheeks. Minx brushed them away.

"Shhh. It's ok Luna. We're here," Minx whispered, glancing over her shoulder at Jags and Axel. Minx had found Axel wandering around naked, injured and confused. Jags was in a similar situation, the fur on his right side singed black. Pretty soon they'd all come to an agreement to get her what the could and move out after sweeping for survivors. They'd found Blueberry and August on their first night of looking, and Luna on the second. She'd been in a pretty bad way.

S

he still remembered the way Axel had treated to kill himself out of shame when Luna had stopped breathing.

Minx could still see the large scab covering her tamer's face, like it was mud, but even that was slowly fading. Minx looked over her shoulder to where Axel was sitting, wideling away at a stick with his knife whilst talking to Jags. Luna stirred again, groaning and opening her eyes.

"She's awake!" Minx called out. Axel looked up from his work before hanging his head.

"Thank Meden for that," he sighed, just loud enough for her to hear. Minx just nodded. After three days it had become clear that Axel was slowly tearing himself up from the inside over his actions, and killing another of his squad would push him over the edge. They were just lucky that Blueberry had stumbled across a patch of wolf's bane growing wildly where they set up camp two miles west of Grey-Castle.

"Where am I?" Luna whimpered softly, curling up into a tight ball. "What happened to the others?"

"They're..." Minx trailed off, looking over at Axel and Jags for help. They refused to meet her gaze. "Nyx, Quin, Mendax and Winston have left, they left a message. I think Medax did it, but he didn't say where they were going. Axel's here. So's August and...and Blueberry."

Luna didn't respond, instead she coughed and wretched, her skin tight and pale. Blueberry came over carrying a canteen. Minx raised an eyebrow and her just shrugged.

"She hasn't had anything to drink in three days," he said bluntly. Minx took the canister and looked at it.

"What do I do now?" She asked.

"Give her the water?" Jags offered with a sly grin. "Duh."

"I got it," Luna huffed, taking the canteen with shaking hands and painfully sitting up. She gulped down the water before handing it back. "Where did you get this?"

"One of the houses."

"I meant the water."

"Oh. Axel went to the river earlier."

"Axel did?"

"Hey," Axel saluted, still refusing to look at them. Luna rolled her eyes.

"Look Axel, it wasn't your fault, ok?" She grimaced, wincing in pain. "Someone opened your door."

He finally turned to face them. "I didn't break it down?" He spluttered.

"Yeah, and I think I know why," she replied, trying to get up but falling back down. She clutched her head and groaned. "I had this weird dream. There were poppies and...and something. Something about North and Mountains and someone named Vienna. But I'm pretty sure it was a warning."

Axel sat up now, fully alert. "Warning?"

Luna just nodded. "There's a traitor in the society."