Moon's Arc

Chapter 4 of 5

Moon pressed her palm flat against the crystal. The gold jewelry glinted deep inside, close but locked away. She could not reach it with her hands. She would have to use her magic. She closed her eyes and drew on the bracelet at her wrist. A thin thread of power crawled up her arm and pushed against the stone. The crystal did not crack. Moon pushed harder. Her arm shook. Sweat ran down her back. A tiny line spread across one facet, no longer than her finger. Then her magic guttered out. The line stopped. The stone held. Moon slumped, breathing hard. Her weak magic was not enough. It would never be enough. The tiger nudged her leg. She looked at him. "I can't," she said. "It's too strong." Then light poured down through the mist above. Two shapes dropped from the sky and landed on the wet rock. They were tall and brown, wrapped head to toe in gold. White wings folded at their backs. Twin faces, the same in every line. Moon stepped back. She had never seen anyone like them. "The song is inside," one said. She pointed at the crystal. Her voice was flat and sure. "We came for it," said the other. "A thief pulled it from the sky. We followed it here." Moon looked from them to the stone. "There's jewelry in there," she said. "Gold. I've been trying to break through." "You cannot," the first twin said. "Not alone." She did not soften it. The two angels stepped to either side of the crystal. They raised their hands. Then they began to hum, low and even, one note held between them. The sound was not loud. It was steady. It sank into the stone. Moon felt it in her chest. Cracks spread across the crystal. They branched wide, spidering from top to base. The hum climbed higher. Moon covered her ears. The tiger crouched low. With a sharp snap the crystal split open and fell in bright pieces across the rock. The gold jewelry lay in the wreckage. So did something else. A small thing of light hung in the air where the stone had been, thin and shining, faintly ringing. The twins reached up together and cupped it in their hands. The ringing stopped. "Our song," they said as one. Moon knelt and lifted the gold from the shards. It was a necklace, heavy and warm. It was not her bracelet. It was not her magic. She turned it over and found strange marks cut along the band, marks she could not read. The twins looked at the necklace in her hand. Their faces changed. "That is not yours," the first said. "It belongs to the one who took our song," said the other. "And she will come for it."