We're All Stories In The End by Megan Rees (book club reads txt) 📕

The sword sunk into the stuffed model, the black hilt lowering as the blade continued to enter the ‘body’.

“You’ll have to be faster than that, Luna,” a young man shook his head at a younger girl. “Demons are nasty creatures – they will tear you to shreds in seconds.”

With a sigh, the girl yanked the sword out and dropped it on the floor with a clatter. “Killing is a horrible sin, Thorn. I, for one, don’t enjoy it as much as certain people.” she pointed out.

“You can either get killed or kill,” Thorn remarked icily. “Now, do me a favour and find Rune. She’s 10 minutes late and I’m not willing to stick around waiting for much longer.”

“Rune’s with Rosco and Horace in the library; you could probably get her yourself.” Luna replied, gesturing one hand over to a building not far away from the training area.

Thorn rolled his rare hazel eyes at her. “Fine. Have a good day.”

Waving, Luna headed over to a moderately well-sized log cabin with a sky blue sign above the door frame. On it in large black lettering said ‘Girls Cabin 2’. This cabin was one of the largest girls cabins, with 9 girls including Luna staying in it. Luna knocked twice on the door with her knuckles.

A black skinned girl with brown eyes appeared at the open window within seconds. “Hi there, Luna!”

“Hi, Naomi,” Luna responded politely, smiling. “What is everyone up to in there?”

“We’re playing Monopoly. Clarissa’s winning, naturally.” Naomi said, pulling a face.

“That’s Clarissa for you,” the teenager sighed. “Anyway, can I come in? I need to return a library book and I’m going to redo my hair - those 4 year olds Lucy looks after were yanking at it for about half an hour while I was sleeping.”

Naomi smiled at her, tossing her own lovely black hair back. “Of course.” she said, rattling the lock before opening the door.

Luna slipped her trainers off and lay down on her bunk, taking in the constant pine smell that engulfed the cabin. She loved everything about being out in the woods – the beautiful smells; the tame animals; the breathtaking views… everything was just supreme.

Turning over, she instantly noticed her quilt had obviously been cleaned today. It carried a soapy and soft scent while also being as soft as a cloud. This cloud hid away a black leather coated book with fancy gold lettering, which Luna had hidden earlier this morning to stop the other girls and their prying eyes from discovering it. Rosco – the librarian – had found the book while cleaning a few weeks ago and had allowed Luna to take it out. The book was entitled ‘Allies Of The Pureblood’ and Luna had found it a very interesting book. It contained short stories of battles long forgotten, some maybe as old as time itself.

“Do you want me to do your hair?” Naomi asked, skipping over to Luna’s bunk. “You look exhausted.”

“I’ll be fine,” Luna insisted, undoing the very messing ponytail that the toddlers had done for her and brushing it out, scowling at the curls. “I hate having wavy hair.”

“Straight hair is boring,” Naomi insists. “Wavy is more exciting and lot prettier.”

Another girl with short brown hair and an icy blue glare approached the two friends. “Ash was here looking for you earlier. Can’t imagine why.” she snorted.

“Thank you, Clarissa,” Luna dismissed her shortly. “Go back to Monopoly.”

As she slumped off, Naomi followed her, leaving Luna to sort herself out.

~

Luna sat down on one of the library chairs, a cup of sweet-smelling tea clasped in her hands.  Opposite her, a raven perched on a bookshelf, his beady eyes watching her cautiously.

“Only me, Horace,” Luna assured the bird, whistling the raven over. “Rosco knows I’m here, no need to worry.”

Horace cawed, pecking at the cup in Luna’s hands. He obviously likes the smell of my tea.

“Horace, stop pestering our guests,”

Luna looked up from her cup to see an elderly man leaning on the closest bookshelf, a wooden walking stick in one ancient hand. She rose from her seat and nodded to the man. “Rosco,” she acknowledged him.

“Hello, Luna,” Rosco replied, nodding. “How did you find that book?”

“It was very interesting,” Luna remarked. “Especially that battle against the Normals which decreed that Purebloods should be kept away from the real world and in Nighthollow.”

“Ah, that one is a personal favourite of mine,” Rosco agreed. “Now, I was wondering if you knew something about three very special objects – collectively known as the Phoenix’s Treasure?”

The blank expression on Luna’s face made the old man chuckle. “Never heard of them, I’m presuming? Well, you’re in luck today, as I happen to have found a book about them. As I have no use for it, you’re very welcome to keep it.”

“Are you sure?” Luna was both amazed and anxious. “I mean, your books are virtually parts of your body. To loose them-“

“This isn’t much of a book,” Rosco interrupted. “It’s like a notebook. There’s no real story as such:  just an explanation about each Treasure and how the Phoenix granted them to the Purebloods. I’ll get Horace to make himself useful and find it for you.”

Whistling, the raven suddenly took flight, heading towards Rosco’s desk and grasping a small wad of paper in his talons. Luna watched as Horace returned swiftly and dropped the package, releasing a cloud of dust. The elderly librarian wiped the excess dust off to reveal that this hadn’t been recorded down on paper – it looked more like the crispy, yellowing parchment that were rarely used today, unless the user was particularly old.

Luna gazed at the lettering on the front. Written in very neat handwriting was ‘The Phoenix’s Treasure: What We Know’. There was also something at the bottom of the page, but it had been scribbled out.

“This could be about 500 years old.” Rosco remarked proudly.

“Wouldn’t this not be in such decent condition after 500 years?” Luna asked, confused. “I thought it would have turned to dust or something by now.”

“I found out that a spell had been put on this parchment to keep it in reasonably good condition,” Rosco explained, flicking through the pages with his wrinkled hands. “Ah, here we go. ‘Before the Phoenix fled from the Demons, he left three objects:  a golden staff, a silver locket and a bronze hilted sword. The first Purebloods called these the Phoenix’s Treasure to commemorate their old ally and fiercely guarded these precious objects with their lives. For centuries, the Purebloods fought off Demons and other undesirables who were looking to steal the objects from them. All three Treasures still remain in the safety of Nighthollow in a small cabin near the infirmity.’”

 He handed Luna the precious parchment. “You keep this safe, Luna. Don’t let it fall into the wrong hands.”

“Thank you Rosco!” Luna called before leaving the library.

“…and I hit the target, with a stroke of luck!”

Luna fiddled with the grass in her fingers, staring at the blazing fire in front of her thoughtfully while listening to a black haired girl sharing the story of her day.

“Targets are basic training exercises designed to get you better at knife-throwing, not gradually worse,” a tall boy pointed out, leaning back against a tree casually. “You’ve been training for goodness knows how long and you’ve only just managed to hit a target that was inaccurate and also was an extremely lucky throw. Thorn even said pretty much most of that himself.”

“Rune’s a pacifist, so actually having the guts to throw a weapon is pretty good going.” another boy with glasses retorted.

The taller boy rolled his eyes. “I was being logically correct, Atlas. Even you can hit a target and you spend half your life reading.”

“Give it a rest, Ash. You’re starting to sound quite horrible now,” Rune murmured in her soft voice. “You might be able to hit the target blindfolded with three knives, but you don’t need to mock the rest of us.”

“Actually, I haven’t said anything mocking about Luna’s knife-throwing abilities,” Ash replied, staring over at her. “She’s not bad at it herself, actually.”

Luna met Ash’s peculiar dark green gaze steadily as she spoke, choosing her words carefully. “There’s still no need to insult Rune. She’s been trying really hard; you can’t ask for much more than that. If she’s chosen to be pacifist, that’s her choice and no one is going to force her to change it.”

“Fine!” Ash snapped. His words were like deadly poison. “Be that way, then!”

“Ash, come…” Rune broke off as the blonde-haired boy disappeared off into the shadow of the night, not looking back at his so-called friends. Atlas hitched his glasses up and blinked in genuine surprise. “Ash isn’t usually like that. He’ll pull fun out of people, but he isn’t one to stomp off like that.”

“That was my fault,” Luna sighed, playing with the grass again. “I suppose I’d better go looking for him. Knowing Ash, he might venture off to kill a rogue Demon or something.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Atlas agreed, nodding his head. “Underneath all that sarcasm and whatever else lurks, he’s a good and selfless person.”

Jumping up to her feet, Luna threw the parchments Rosco had given her over to Atlas. “Your father gave this to me earlier this afternoon. Would you be able to study it over and tell me about them? I can’t understand some of the terminology used and I’d like to know what all the objects do.”

“They don’t call me the geek for nothing,” Atlas chuckled to himself, shooting a grin at Luna. “Off you go, before it gets too dark. And don’t  use your powers in case a Demon is lurking!”

“Yes Sir.” Luna teased, giving him a mocking salute before soldiering on into the shadowed forest.

Within only seconds of venturing into the depths of the woods, Luna heard what she believed to be a shrill cry for help. It sounded pained and desperate, but then she heard an ear-splitting howl of war. Demons!

Luna instantly broke from walking to running, following the crying and howling. It seemed to be leading her to the river which was the border between Nighthollow and the real world, which made her shudder. Was this an invasion attempt?

Once she eventually reached the river, a hoard of Demons leapt across, their eyes filled with malice. Luna froze in terror, her feet rooted to the ground. She didn’t know if these Demons had harmed Ash, or if they were going to kill her.

“Food, Alpha,” a Demon with one eye hissed, flicking it’s poisonous tail at Luna and licking it’s lips greedily. “Easy.”

“Stay back!” Luna yelled, trying to sound threatening.

“Girl foolish.” the Demon growled. Glaring at it, Luna realised this Demon was in the form of a black panther with a poison tipped tail like a sword and huge teeth. This Demon would be hard to sustain damage to.

A large black dog with red eyes and fearsome features snarled at Luna, his overhanging jaws dripping with saliva. Luna knew that this particular Demon was