Luna Brightwood's Arc

Chapter 6 of 22

Luna sat with her back against the trunk and her camera dry under her dress. The dragon dozed in her lap. The owl kept watch on the far edge of the platform. The aurora above the courtyard had faded to a thin green smear. She was starting to breathe slower when she heard the first crack below. Something heavy shifted in the branches under the platform. Not wind. Not a bird. A branch bent, then another. She heard claws drag on bark. Whatever it was, it was climbing. Luna eased forward on her knees and looked over the edge. She could not see the shape, only a wide dark movement between the lower limbs. It paused. It climbed again. She counted three branches between the thing and her boards. Then two. The dragon woke and pressed flat against her thigh. The owl turned its head down and did not move. She thought about the ladder. If she went down, she would land in the open courtyard in the dark, with no roof and no shelter, and her camera would be wet by morning. If she stayed, the thing would reach the platform in another minute. She had been told not to come down until light. She had also been told the last photographer who broke a rule was never seen again. Luna slid the camera strap over her head and gripped the ladder rail. Then the owl clicked once, sharp, and she stopped. A soft light rose from the branches on the other side of the trunk. Not the aurora. Closer. A small figure lifted into the air beside the platform, wings the color of pink glass, a crown of purple flowers in white hair. "Sit down," Lumina Dewsparkle said. "It's only her." She pointed under the boards. The pink unicorn stepped out from the lower branches onto a thick limb, gold wings folded tight, rainbow mane catching the faint courtyard glow. In her mouth she carried a cloth bundle. She set it on the platform edge and looked at Luna, the same slow look as before. Then she backed down the branches and was gone. Luna opened the cloth with shaking fingers. Eight small eggs lay inside, pale pink and mint and lavender, each one glittering under the aurora. Lumina hovered at her shoulder. "She wants you to guard them tonight," the small one said. "Until light. Then I come for you both." Luna set the bundle beside her knee. She did not lift the camera. She had not been given permission for the eggs either. She pulled her dress over the shells to keep the dew off and put her hand flat on the cloth. The dragon curled around her wrist. The owl faced outward again. Luna sat, and waited, and did not reach for the shot.