Page 28 of Lunar Bound
His essence condensed into its most defensive configuration as he kept Poppy trapped behind him. He felt her trembling.
The operatives searched the chamber, their scanners sweeping across the walls and floor. When one of the beams passed near their position, it emitted a higher-pitched tone.
"Contact," the operative announced sharply. "Northwest quadrant."
All four turned in their direction, weapons raised. Lunar made an instant tactical decision.
"When I move, run to the right tunnel," he instructed Poppy through their connection so the others couldn't hear. "Find Solar and Eclipse. I will divert them."
Before she could protest, Lunar expanded his shadow essence explosively outward, plunging the entire chamber into absolute darkness by absorbing all available light. The Milano operatives shouted in confusion as their flashlights and scanners suddenly became useless.
Poppy did not hesitate. She slipped away in the direction Lunar had indicated, her footsteps nearly silent on the stone floor.
Lunar projected multiple shadow decoys throughout the chamber, each emitting a partial energy signature to confuse the scanners. The Milano operatives fired blindly, their weapons releasing pulses of disruptive energy that stung when they passed through his dispersed form.
One operative activated a different device, and suddenly, harsh white light flooded the chamber, powerful enough to penetrate even Lunar's shadow manipulation. The tactical disadvantage was immediate and severe. His shadow form recoiled from the intense illumination, forced to consolidate.
"Target acquired," the operative announced. "Deploying energy containment field."
Lunar did not wait to be trapped. He flowed across the chamber like liquid darkness, engulfing the light source and the operative who held it. The human shouted in alarm as cold shadow essence enveloped him. He dropped the device as he grabbed for his neck, choking for air. Lunar did not kill him. When the device dropped, he crushed it, plunging the chamber back into darkness.
The remaining operatives fired in the direction of the disturbance. The human who dropped the light was struck by several of the stray blasts. He screamed in pain.
Their energy pulses disrupted portions of Lunar's shadow field. The sensation was painful but manageable. He reacted by generating a whirl of shadow energy to confuse their sensors.
With the operatives temporarily disoriented, Lunar flowed toward the tunnel Poppy had taken. He detected her energy signature moving swiftly ahead, already beyond immediate danger. Relief filled him.
As Lunar retreated into the tunnel, the operatives regrouped, activating secondary light sources and preparing to pursue. He needed to delay them further to ensure Poppy's escape.
Reaching out with tendrils of shadow essence, Lunar located structural weaknesses in the tunnel ceiling. He pressed hard to trigger a controlled collapse behind him. Rocks tumbled down, blocking the passage without causing catastrophic failure of the entire system. Poppy would not like it, but he did it to protect her.
Chapter
Nine
On the run with an alien.
This was insane.
Half the time, she thought she was trapped in a nightmare, but then Lunar would touch her. His energy grounded her. He was the most real thing she'd ever experienced in her life.
Poppy's heart raced as she followed Lunar through the winding tunnel. The cave system had been her sanctuary for years, a place where she'd mapped and explored the hidden world beneath Duskrock's red rocks. Never had she imagined using that knowledge to escape alien hunters. Or that she would see the precious landscape caved in during it.
Ahead of them, the passage forked into three separate tunnels. Lunar paused, his shadow form rippling as he searched the area. Despite everything, she felt safe with him and his abilities.
"Milano forces have dug through the rocks and are approaching from behind," he said, his voice carrying the calm she'd come to find oddly comforting. "And I detect Solar's energy signature ahead. He's weakened and moving slowly with a human companion."
"That must be Rowan or Dani," Poppy said. "Which tunnel?"
Lunar indicated the central passage. "There. But the Milano operatives will be upon us within minutes."
She studied the three tunnels, her mind racing through the mental map she'd built over years of exploration. "The left tunnel circles back toward the entrance. The middle one leads deeper, eventually connecting to a vertical shaft that exits near my friend Mack's property. The right one leads to a narrower passage system that only someone who knows the caves could navigate."
Lunar turned to her, his darkness somehow more solid, more present than it had been before. "We must separate."
"What? No." The words escaped before she could stop them, her chest tightening at the thought.
"It is tactically necessary," Lunar insisted. "I must intercept Solar and assist his escape. He will not be doing well in this darkness. You must reach the surface and secure transportation."
