Pure Moonlight

Hi everyone!!

Welcome to chapter 16 of Pure Moonlight! It is my first submission for 2015. It has taken me a long time to polish this chapter, but I have been trying to get back into writing in amongst my many other commitments.

A huge thank you to my readers who have been sending encouragement, thoughts and hopes for the series. You have kept me motivated and writing. I really appreciate your encouragement, comments and feedback <3

I can't make any promises for delivery of the next chapters, but I hope it shouldn't be too long a wait for you all.

<3

Shadowsung

~~~~~~~~~~~

Ally stared dumbfounded. What were these people on about? Goddess of the moon?

Luna passed her mesmerising eyes across Ally and she felt a shiver course through her body.

"What has happened, child?" she asked gently, "How did you reach this place?"

"I don't know," Ally frowned, trying to recall anything before her awaking at the cliff. Her memory was so foggy. Her head hurt and her heart ached as she tried to remember. A cloudy face hovered at the edges of her memory. It was important, but it just wouldn't come.

"The last thing I remember is waking up at the bottom of the cliff over there and climbing up." She gestured from where she had come.

The birdman stood up, looking over at the cliff before addressing Ally, "How in Luna's name did you climb up from limbo, Alluna?" Asked the birdman curiously.

"A golden ladder appeared," said Ally with a shrug.

Everyone stared in surprise, "She has talent in this world despite never being here; how curious," he muttered.

"This world?" asked Ally.

"This is the god's realms," he explained, "Home to the children of the stars who oversee the mortal plane; where you live."

"Enough," said the man Althain commandingly, "We are running out of time. Our daughter has been here too long already."

Ally stared at the man and her mother in disbelief. He was her father? A question she had asked her entire life had been answered in a casual comment! What did this mean? Her brain still felt fuzzy and was so sluggish in absorbing information.

"You are right, Son," agreed Luna, "but we must understand what has happened." She approached Ally, who backed up against the invisible barrier.

"Be at ease, child, I will not harm you." Luna promised gently. She pulled off her white glove and held it by Ally's face, "You must trust in me and not fight this."

A single fingertip touched the centre of her forehead and Ally felt power surge through the foggy haze, burning it away. Images and scenes flashed past her eyes in a confusing cacophony of sound and colour that left her breathless.

Less than a second later the hand was removed and Luna backed away.

Ally shook her head to clear the images, leaning against the barrier for balance. Her mind was clearer than ever. She looked around again. Her mother, her father; the family she had always wanted were almost within touching distance yet untouchable.

Ally's mother took half a step forward, but Althain gripped her tighter and rubbed her back. "I know you want to, dear. Believe me, I want to touch her too, but we must exercise restraint. It is for her own good."

With a sigh Kara nodded and relaxed into his hold, her eyes never leaving her child.

"It is worse than we feared," said Luna gravely. "It appears that Alamihr has reared his head despite our previous warnings."

The birdman hissed angrily, "We banished him to the mortal realms a thousand years ago. He is powerless."

"Not as powerless as we had hoped, it seems," replied Luna. "He has robbed our Alluna of her golden light that came from the meeting of god and mortal. She has but a seed left. It is a miracle that she could even make it here from limbo."

"Then Alamihr has the power of a demi-god?" asked Althain, "I have never heard of this. Is it even possible?"

"It is," replied Luna gravely, "It is forbidden, but we all know that wouldn't stop him. It seems there are still tomes that carry the dark arts in the mortal world."

"But we destroyed them all" said the birdman.

"Clearly we missed some, Brother," Althain said dryly.

"Clearly we have missed a lot," he replied with a sigh, "I forget how fast time in the mortal realm flows."

Ally felt so lost in the conversation. They were speaking English, but she just couldn't follow them. Instead she drank in her mother, who was doing the same.

"We must retaliate, Mother" said Migisi, "Alamihr has broken the conditions of his punishment. We kept him alive on the mortal plain, but he must now face annihilation in the face of this continued treachery!"

"We cannot," said Luna, "our laws forbid it. He is now of Demi-God status and therefore not of our authority for justice. Now he is no longer mortal he is no longer bound by theirs either. He must be brought to justice by those in between. Only another demi can deliver it rightfully."

"Mother, you know there are no more Demi-gods left in the mortal realms after the havoc they wreaked in the dark ages!"

"That is why we must deliver Alluna back to her mortal form before her soul is anchored here," replied Luna, turning her striking eyes on her granddaughter.

"It is time we ended this. I am sorry, granddaughter, I had always wished to meet you and spend time together and allow you the same with your parents, but we are bound by our laws." She said wistfully. "Come. I will escort your soul back to your body. Let us hope we are not too late."

She approached Ally once more, dropping her glove and peeling off the other. Angling Ally away from the fence, Luna moved her around so she was facing her parents. With both hands bared Luna gently touched two fingers to Ally's side and collarbone.

The goddess pressed the two points and a shock surged through Ally's body suddenly, causing her to cry out. She felt a tug that pulled at her at the same time Luna pushed, almost jerking her off her feet.

"Clear!" called a foggy voice in the distance and another shock coursed through her body. A monstrous force pushed her backwards and the tug she felt intensified. Her feet left the ground and she flew backwards, Luna still pushing her along by the fingertips to her body while the tug kept their course.

Ally watched as her parents and their house grew smaller. She watched as Althain pulled the sobbing Kara into his embrace. Her arm stretched out, wishing she could have stayed even a moment more with her mother.

Together Luna and Ally were pulled across the field she had travelled across. Wildflowers blurred into streams of colour as they sped past. The wind pulled at her hair but she was too terrified to scream. Luna's face was impassive as she used her fingertips to alter their course slightly.

The pair reached the cliff with blinding speed and without a second's hesitation fell over the cliff and plummeted. Ally found her voice and screamed until she had no breath.

The clouds grew bigger as they got closer at a blinding speed. Ally shut her eyes against the impact that would be the ground she had woken up on, but it never came.

Ally opened her eyes just as they hit the cloud and went through. There was no ground, but more sky. She felt Luna pushing harder, moving her onto her back. Ally watched over her shoulder as the ground became closer and closer. There was a huddle of people, cars and flashing lights directly below them. Ally could see a body laying flat on the ground at the centre of the cluster.

Just as the ground was imminent, Ally heard a voice shout "Clear," through her body. She closed her eyes braced herself for impact as another jolt of energy surged through her. She felt herself slam into the body ground as she sat up, with a huge gasp for breath.

Hands pushed her lying back as voiced shouted around her. Through her hazy vision of faces, Ally could see Luna hovering above them, transparent and smiling.

"Luna," She whispered as her vision darkened and she slipped into unconsciousness.

~~~

Caitlin's tears finally subsided when her shivering reminded her of her chilled surroundings. She spared a look at the old coroner, still frozen, but for how long she didn't know. It would certainly be hard to explain her miraculous resurrection.

Hopping down from the cold metal table, she looked about the room. Her big toe constricted and she saw a tag tied around it. She pulled it off and left it on the table. After searching the room, she found a pair of track pants and jumper. The pants were much too big and fell down. She settled instead on a gown given to patients. She then went about removing herself from the system, collecting up all her clothes, the tag and paperwork she had found on the desk.

Caitlin then moved the old man like a mannequin to his desk chair and folded him gently into it, hoping he would wake up and think it was a dream. About to leave, she spotted his recording device on the trolley and took the tape out.

Sticking her head out of the door, Caitlin found herself in a deserted corridor. She ducked out and walked as calmly as she could towards the exit sign. She surreptitiously dropped her bundle of tattered clothes and paperwork into a bin along the way, keeping only the chess piece. Halfway along the corridor, she spotted an elevator.

Pressing the "up" button repeatedly, she nervously waited for it to arrive, her hand clenched tightly around the black queen. Voices from around a corner alerted her sensitive hearing, giving her time to dive into the stairwell beside the elevator and duck out of sight. It was two security guards that were patrolling the level.

With a sigh she began climbing the stairs. She knew the entrance lobby would be far too busy for her to get out dressed as she was. About to get out at level three, she heard someone approaching the door to her hiding place. She sprinted up another two flights before she reached the next level.

She stepped out cautiously and made her way down the corridor, trying to remain inconspicuous. Walking by a nurse's station she was stopped by a larger woman with a strict hair bun and a stern face. "Who are you?" she asked suspiciously, "What are you doing out of bed?"

Making a split second decision, Caitlin did her best to look confused.

"I-I got lost. I wanted to go to the bathroom, but it was being used, so I went looking for another. I have been wandering around for ages, and I can't find my bed."

The woman's face softened, "Ok, dear. Wait here, I will get security and I will start making calls for a lost patient, ok? You wait right here, deary." She was deposited into a waiting chair and gently patted on the shoulder before the nurse retreated to the nurses' station, keeping herself in view of Caitlin.

Caitlin panicked; she knew that she would be caught out if the nurse did some calling around. As soon as the nurse turned her back, Caitlin got up from her seat and walked quickly down the other end of the hall and into another ward.

She paced the corridors, completely lost. The calls and music playing over head drowned out and the lights of the passing rooms blurred. She prayed to Luna for guidance, hoping that the goddess had not abandoned her too. Her hearing picked up on footsteps approaching her way.

She felt a quiet voice caress her mind; ~this door; go inside!~ It sounded like wolves baying to the moon and wind pouring through a field of wicker-grass. She ducked through the door that was calling to her. Closing the door, she turned around and was nearly blinded by light.

Squinting through the pure white light, Caitlin made out a figure. A regal woman with white hair and billowing dress and cape with a wide hood stood with her arms wide and her eyes closed. She opened them, her gaze falling on Caitlin. Her eyes were blazing emeralds with silver edging, and there were delicate and complex green and swirling patterns adorning her face.

"I never abandoned you, child," she whispered, her voice soft. It was the same mesmerising voice that had urged her into the room, "I had to step back to let you learn your life's hardest lesson; but never would I abandon you."

"Luna," Caitlin whispered, tears falling freely at the sight of her goddess. She dropped to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground with her arms out and palms up, "I do not deserve your light. I have betrayed my pack, committed terrible acts and-"

"And you have remorse," the goddess gently interrupted. "I see your heart and it is as pure as the light from the moon. I am here to offer the guidance you need and to offer you redemption."

"Am I worthy?" she asked, her forehead still against the ground. Hands as soft as clouds lifted her from the ground. She kept her eyes on the floor, scared of such brilliance. The cloud touched her chin, forcing her gaze up.

"Are you willing?" asked the Goddess quietly.

"Yes," she whispered, transfixed.

"Then you are most worthy, my child." With a gentle smile, the goddess took her hand and led her over to the bed. Caitlin hadn't noticed the bed or its occupant. She had almost forgotten they were in a hospital.

The pretty human on the bed was battered and bruised and there was a taint in her scent. "Who is she?" asked Caitlin quietly.

"That is not important right now. What she will become is very much so. She has been turned without consent and will need guidance and friendship. She died for a short while and We are not sure how much she will remember or how it will affect her. We want you to be her mentor and her friend. Guide her through the Change; it will be very hard on her. Help her to realise her destiny. Do this for me and your atonement will be complete."

"I will," she promised, looking hard at her new companion.

The goddess took her face in her hands and gently kissed her forehead. Caitlin felt energy pour through her soul, washing away the fear and the sadness that had almost consumed her.

Caitlin blinked and the goddess was gone. Looking down, she found herself in her favourite pair of jeans and top. She smiled and sat down next to the unconscious woman, the beeping in the room lulling her into an exhausted sleep.

~~~

The beeps surrounded the darkness, like gentle bells in the distance. Slowly she stirred, her body slowly rising from the depths of unconsciousness. Her vision cleared to show a woman smiling expectantly down at her.

"Welcome to the world of the living," she said with a smile, "Took you long enough."

She blinked slowly. Her head hurt and she couldn't recognise the face of the woman. Looking into her memory she realised, even more disturbingly, her own identity was a mystery.

She looked up at the woman, her brows knitted, "Who are you?" she asked, "And... Who am I?"