Page 34 of Solar Bound
A sudden overwhelming sense of being watched froze her in place. The flame wavered in her trembling hand as she slowly turned in a circle, searching the shadows.
"Who's there?" she whispered.
The darkness seemed to shift, coalescing into a deeper patch of black in one corner. A cold sensation prickled along Dani's spine.
"Lunar?" she hoped, her voice barely audible.
The darkness moved, flowing like liquid night until it formed a vaguely humanoid shape. "You should not be here," came a voice that seemed to emanate from the shadows themselves.
Relief flooded through Dani. She’d hug him if she could find his corporeal form. "Neither should you, but here we are.” She gave a nervous laugh. “Where's Solar? Is he with you?"
"Not here," Lunar replied. "He and Eclipse were separated during Milano's attack. I tracked them through the cave system but lost their energy signatures near an underground stream. Then I felt the energy stone."
“The what?”
He came closer and touched her wet backpack. “What is this?”
"I fell into that stream," Dani admitted, thinking he meant the fact that she was wet. “The current carried me.”
The shadow form shifted closer. “No, I feel the stone.”
“Oh, yeah, we managed to salvage some of your alien stuff from the suite. I brought it.” She started to take off the backpack, but winced as the weight adjusted on her shoulder.
"You are injured,” Lunar stated.
"I'll live," she said dismissively. "You need to find Solar before they do. Get him to safety."
"Agreed," Lunar said. "But first, you require assistance. Poppy is securing an exit point. I will take you to her."
"Not without Solar," Dani insisted.
"You misunderstand." A note of impatience entered Lunar's cold voice. "I will continue tracking Solar and Eclipse after ensuring your safety. Your injured state makes you a liability in this environment, and your human movements slow me down.”
Dani bristled at being called a liability, but couldn't deny the logic. Her ankle throbbed, her clothes were soaked, and she'd lost her flashlight and map. She was in no condition to continue searching.
"Fine," she conceded reluctantly. "But once I'm with Poppy, you find Solar and bring him back. Promise me."
The shadow form seemed to consider this. "I will locate him if possible."
It wasn't quite a promise, but it was the best she was going to get from him.
"We must move quickly. The Milano agents may double back at any moment," Lunar said. “We will shadow-walk.”
“What—?”
Without warning, Lunar's shadow form enveloped Dani. The sensation was unlike anything she'd experienced. It felt like being wrapped in cold silk that somehow supported her weight. Her feet left the ground as Lunar carried her effortlessly through the darkness.
The shadow-walking was disorienting. Dani couldn't tell if they were moving through solid rock or following passages. There was no sense of direction, only of swift, silent movement through absolute darkness.
Then suddenly, natural daylight appeared ahead, filtering through a narrow opening. Lunar set her down gently as his form contracted back into a more humanoid shape.
"Wait here," he instructed. "Poppy is nearby."
Before Dani could respond, Lunar melted back into the shadows and disappeared.
She leaned against the cave wall, taking weight off her injured ankle. The opening was too small for her to exit without crawling, but fresh air flowed in, clearing the damp cave smell from her lungs.
Minutes later, a familiar face appeared at the opening.
