The Blue Moon by Madeline Gottlieb (top ten books to read txt) 📕

get up.” Christian hissed, opening the cell with the key he’d stole from the sleeping knight. As John stood up, Zach slipped one of John's arms over his shoulder, careful not to hit the whip lashes on his back. Christian looked at the two and nodded before grabbing Zach's arm and whispering something in French.

Before he knew it, they were out of the castle and standing on a large hill, surrounding by burnt trees that still seemed to be growing. From where they were, they could see the castle and the lower town, along with another forest to the left of them. The creek that was near them sparkled as the sun began to come up. “John!”

Zach turned to the unfamiliar voice and stared at the girl who was now beside him. Her long curly blonde hair fit with her dark green eyes perfectly. She was on her knees next to him and was carefully helping him sit up.

“That’s Meri, the one that John loves.” Teriha whispered, standing beside Zach with crossed arms. He’d forgotten if anyone had mentioned her earlier, since she ended up at the castle without him, but obviously it didn’t matter anymore.

Her silver eyes were still emotionless as she looked at the two lovers. “He was to be hung for loving Meri? A normal girl?”

Teriha shook her head. “No, Zach. He was to be hung for loving an elf and for not reporting her to the knights.” She pushed her hair behind her ear and Zach felt his eyes widen.

“Is everyone around here a damn elf?” He muttered, letting out a sigh.

She shrugged. “As far as I know, Cara, Meri and I are the only ones who stayed behind and didn’t get caught.” She whispered with her eyes now on Cara and Christian, who were in an embrace. She turned her gaze back to the trees. It got quiet and everyone was sitting around, gazing at the trees as well. “There is a legend that the Black Hills were once home to the most ancient wizards in history. To enter the Elder Woods beside us would be death.” Teriha looked at Zach. “But we have no choice if we don’t want to get caught by the knights or Eiko.”

--

The Elder Woods: home of the most ancient wizards who are said to still be alive, but in hiding. The legend was created after two boys from the lower town went into the woods with a girl to see what it was about, and only two came out. They said that the trees moved and spoke and brought other things to life, and something had taken the girl. When they returned to the lower town, the legend had spread instantly and the King sent knights into the woods to see if it was true. When they did not return, everyone knew instantly there was something wrong with those woods, so unless you wanted a slow death, no one was allowed in them.

Everyone had walked for a couple hours until we’d come to the entrance of the Elder Woods, and by that time, the sun had set and the sky was dark. The walk was long and hard, but everything on the way was beautiful. There was a river that went from the Black Hills and to the entrance of the Elder Woods, and at all times it shone in the sunlight. The only problem was it was hard for John to keep up, so they had to stop and have Chris use some of his magic to heal him. It was weird, seeing that the people Zach had grown up with were actually magical beings.

“I think we should camp out here tonight, just in case.” Carla said with her eyes still on John. Christian and Chris agreed, but Mere and Teriha didn’t even nod.

Zach agreed and Chris stood up next to him. “You know Zach, none of this was supposed to happen. This prophecy was supposed to never happen, but it has, and there is no turning back.” He closed his eyes and whispered, “Et dar fyre.” When he was done, a small fire appeared at once and he turned his gaze back to Zach.

“What prophecy? I’ve heard of only one,” He whispered, watching as Meri sat close to John and wrapped an arm around him carefully. Cara and Christian sat together as well and that’s when Zach realized how lonely Teriha and Chris must be.

“Ver et ahi laer rhesti daryk.” Zach stared at Chris for a moment. “It means: ‘the light will become the dark it despised.” His eyes searched Zach's and by light’ Zach knew he meant Eiko.

Zach groaned. “But that doesn’t make any sense. She called me to protect her; she wants to end this war.”

Chris simply shrugged. “It might not make sense, Zach, but it has happened. Who said that she would end the war on the side of light?”

He realized that Chris was right. “Chris, what about Seyren?”

When Zach mentioned her name, Chris' eyes got dark and his whole face seemed to show anger. “Cara said she would be safe as long as she played along with Eiko’s plans. But if she doesn’t, then I’m going to worry until this war is over.”

Without saying anything else, he went and sat down next to Meri and began talking to her about John. Sighing, Zach took a seat next to Teriha. Her silver eyes were staring at the moon, her arms around her knees. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It would be, if there was no war we had to worry about.”

Teriha glanced over at him. “You need to sleep, Zach. You’ve been through enough and Cara already said she’d take the first watch.”

He absently nodded. “Well, if you need me, wake me up.”

With that, Zach got on the ground and tried to get comfortable. He closed his eyes and tried to clear his head, but all he could think about was the fact that Eiko had possibly betrayed them.

The Elder Woods & the Elders

“The Elder Woods are dangerous, Teriha. You should return home, to Ceruhia.” Cara’s voice was quiet. “You’re far too young to be involved in this war.”

Teriha laughed emotionlessly. “Cara, this war isn’t just against the Royal family and their servants. It’s against anyone now. We are outlaws.” Her voice was hard and full of anger.

Zach kicked at the ground as the two argued. They were still debating on whether or not to send Teriha to a small town called Ceruhia with Meri and John, or to let them come. So far, Meri and John had no problem and Christian planned on going with them. But Teriha wanted to stay.

“Look, she doesn’t want to go.” Chris finally spoke up. “If she wants to fight for her freedom and for this war to end then let her.” There was a slight edge in his voice. Cara and Teriha finally stopped arguing and the two sat down as Chris came over to Zach. His eyes were dim and he had bags under them. “Christian is going to stay with John and Meri to watch over them. I’m heading back to Ahuson to see if I can get Seyren out.”
Zach nodded, knowing that there would be no way to argue with Chris. “Good luck,” he murmured, giving him a smile and hoping that he’d see him again. Chris simply nodded and ran his hand through his messy red hair before walking over to Meri and the other two. Zach stood by Cara and watched as the four of them disappeared.

“So what do we do now?” Teriha asked, coming up to stand beside Zach.

He glanced at her. “Now we go into the Elder Woods.”

--

The woods were quiet as they walked in. There were no trails to walk on so they all hoped that they didn’t get lost. Cara walked in front of Zach with Teriha, her hand always on her side where her sword was resting. Teriha had her hair pulled back and Christian had given her John’s sword. There were leaves all over the ground and the trees all looked the same. The only difference was a small pond that went into a cave.

“Zachary, do you know where we’re going?” Cara asked, glancing over her shoulder.

Looking around, it only seemed to him that they’d been going in circles the whole time. “I’m not even sure where we are, Cara.”

It is because you are no longer where you belong, warriors.
All three of them stopped and looked around for the voice that echoed through the woods. “What was that?”
The light in these woods is beginning to dim.

Teriha took another step forward and ignored Zach's hand as he tried to pull her back. “The Elders of the woods are speaking to us, Zach.” She turned to face him. “We need to find out where they are.”

“We don’t have time for that, Teriha. We are in the middle of war.” Cara hissed.

The war will not end as soon as you wish, warrior.

Cara rolled her eyes. “Fine, if you want to help the Elders then are my guest. But we need to hurry. The longer we sit around and wait, the more time we lose to end this war.”

Warrior, there is nothing you can do about the war. We will lose, no matter what.

Zach watched as Teriha took another step forward. “Zach, we must find them now.” Her silver eyes met Cara blue ones. “I know you can feel that the woods are dying.”

“I can feel it, but there is nothing we can do for the Elders.” Cara sounded sad and her eyes showed pain. “The High Elves are no more, Teriha. There is nothing we can do for these woods.”

Zach let out a sigh. “I agree with Teriha, Cara. There’s nothing we can really do right now about the war.”

The light is flickering in the hearts of those still in Ahuson. Find us and we will help you.


The woods got quiet, even the birds were no longer chirping. Cara had her arms crossed and Teriha was staring towards the cave. “I think the cave is deeper than it looks.”

“Let’s go then.” He took his sword out of its sheath and held it, stepping into the shallow water and into the mouth of the cave. The cave was dark, not that Zach didn’t expect it, but it was also eerily quiet. Walking into the entrance, he’d expected a bunch of bats to come out, but nothing happened. Cara chuckled, as if she could read his thoughts. The steps they took were small and careful.

They were quiet as they went further into the cave. Zach made sure to step carefully and keep his hand on the wall since they weren’t able to see anything. Teriha was a little ahead of Cara and Zach and he didn’t expect there to be holes in the ground, but when she screamed, he knew there was.

Cara muttered the same words Chris had to start a fire and soon her hands were lit and Zach was able to see where Teriha was. About four feet ahead of them was a large gap, and Teriha was hanging from the edge. He ran