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Colby · 04-23-2016, 10:00 AM

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Madeline Beaufort
and the Moon Thief

Prologue:

Sidhas stopped at the top of the hill to catch his breath, the sweat from his sprint giving off a faint white reflection that outlined his silhouette against the starry night sky. Shaking and hunched over with his hands on his knees, his legs gave out and he collapsed face first into the dirt.

The young boy rolled over and looked up, stars filling up his field of view, and beyond that, innumerable galaxies, some of which Sidhas would be able to pick out if he wasn’t having a moral crisis. There was so much out there, he knew from experience. He had only come to this planet on a fluke in the spirit of adventure, attempting to escape the drudgery of his schoolwork during the round’s break. This planet was only recently discovered by the council, and was opened for tourism only a couple of weeks prior. He was the first of his species to set foot on Earth, as far as he knew, and now he was going to die there, knowing the dark fate that would become of his homeworld and all the others that were above him, but too far away to see.

He wiped the mixture of sweat and tears from his face. I can't let it all be for nothing, he thought, I won't let it all end because of these idiotic monkeys, his sadness giving way to a bitter resolve.

Sidhas stood up. He could see at the bottom of the hill, the humans in hazmat suits were catching up to his position on foot. Blackhawk helicopters were scanning the valley below and he noted it would only take them a short time to spot him.

He grabbed his father’s tome from the pull cord on his hip. He turned to the page he had stared at so many times before, wondering how anyone could cast that spell. It seemed impossible to him, but one of his ancestors had done it, or it wouldn't be there written in blood. Sidhas knew that tonight, after what had transpired, if there was any time any person could do it, it was him and it was now. He began to recite the words.

The co-pilot of the blackhawk on the right-most flank spotted the creature at the top of the hill to the east. Redirecting the helicopter, they shined the spotlight on him and the soldiers in the backseat took aim. Machine gun fire rocketed toward the alien being, one round ripping through its claw and the strange foreign book it was holding, but it was too late; The casting was almost done. White energy radiating off the beast it said the final word. While it’ was no audibly louder than the rest of it’s fiendish spell, the pilots and soldiers swore they could hear it ring clearly.

“Selene”

Sidhas was bleeding but the pain felt hollow to him with the immense amount of energy running through his veins. Without even flinching he raised his injured hand to the sky, blood dripping down down his arm onto his shoulder and head. The hole in his hand matched perfectly with the large white celestial body overhead. The spell had been cast and now all he had to do was complete the action. He thought about his friends, and his family, and everyone he had ever met before this point, What’s one civilization compared to every other throughout the universe? All doubt subsided.

He closed his hand and the sky went dark.

An explosion of white rippled off the hill sending all the soldiers staggering backwards, and the choppers spinning on a collision course with the ground. They aimed their weapons at their monstrous target, but he was already gone, rocketing through the atmosphere in a blaze of white.

In the heat of the calamity, it took some of them a second to notice what had transpired. They were after all, soldiers, and not particularly well trained in the art of magic. But they felt it in their gut, that something was profoundly wrong. Missing. Most of the soldiers were bewildered in a silent awe, but one pilot being helped out of the wreckage of a blackhawk could be heard over the flames.

“Where is the moon?”

Chapter One: An Unusual Tea Party

Madeline jumped out of bed with the usual vigor. Her alarm began to ring as she walked over to turn it off. Going to the bathroom mirror, she splashed water in her face and brushed her teeth. Her hairbrush went untouched, as was usually the case. Throwing on a T-shirt and shorts, she pranced downstairs to the dining room table.

Madeline’s parents knew she didn’t need a babysitter even at eleven years old. The girl was independent to a fault, having something of distaste for being told what to do by her two moms, and instead elected to be so good at her day-to-day activities that her parents couldn't complain for any ‘logical’ reason. This of course didn’t stop them, as their main concern was for Madeline’s lack of friends. Madeline would simply respond to that line of questioning that if kids her age had any “adequate conversational skills” she would consider befriending them. Independance aside, she didn’t exactly relish waking up to an empty house, but it was only for a couple of days and then both her moms would be back from their mission. She was proud of what they were doing out there in space, and someday wanted to be an astronaut like them.

Madeline turned on the TV as she poured cereal into a bowl. A panel of correspondents seemed to be arguing on the news.

She flipped through to her favorite channel, trying to find her one guilty pleasure, a cartoon that would come on this time in the morning before school. It was one morning routine that she wouldn’t get to do for a long time. Different coverage of the same news seemed to be on every channel.

“-such as volcanic activity and earthquakes. Experts also say that high tides will likely shift to noon over the next couple of days. ”

The news ticker read MOON MISSING? in bold, capital letters. Madeline’s heart sank and a knot welled up in her gut. She couldn't think of anything but her moms, they were up there! Before she had any time to process what she had seen on TV, the doorbell rang.

She walked across the living room and opened the door.

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