Moonchild

By Jo Lee

★The Epic Fantasy Adventure★

 

Seven-year-old Luna is encouraged by her adoptive Aunt Maple to hide her unusual traits, especially as Luna is about to be taken, along with other children, to the Institution run by the tyrannical Archons; a Secret Society of other worldly beings. There her true nature as the Moonchild is discovered, leading to terrible danger from which she escapes through a magical fireplace to another world. Pursued by Archons in this strange, fantastical world, Luna is rescued by pirate captain Harry Paye and his crew. From them she learns that her destiny is to return the Moonstone to Crystal Mountain before the approaching prophesied eclipse (Doomsday for both worlds). Facing many obstacles and dangers, Luna, ageing by the day, perseveres, making friends along the way due to her kindness and compassion, but can she find and replace the Moonstone? And what secrets might she uncover as she pursues her quest?  

 

This fantasy novel is perfect for Middle Grade – Young Adult.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jo-Lee
• Release date: Apr 5, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393654544

Jo Lee

Jo-Lee is an author from Dorset, England. Typically specialising in writing his own screenplays, he ventured forth adapting his own scripts into novels in order to gain more exposure to his work. His ethos is to educate, entertain, empower, and enlighten his readers through the power of story.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

Mum, Steve, Dad, Bro for all the support.

Dale L. Roberts, (the self-publishing guru) for all the mentoring.

selfpublishingwithdale.com

Mark Graham for the amazing cover design.

www.markgrahamartist.com

Table of contents

Luna | 1

Separation | 8

The Institution | 16

Moonchild | 24

Sink or Swim | 33

Behind the Fireplace | 36

Nibiru | 45

The One | 52

Ascension of the Fathers | 64

The Screaming Hills | 77

Hippopotomoporridge | 87

Jumped | 92

The Lost Children | 97

The Lighthouse | 103

Crystal Mountain | 108

Training | 117

Leviathan | 121

The Underworld | 129

The Dark Palace | 136

Battle of the Moonstone | 146

Total Eclipse | 155

Home | 172

‘You have come a long way, Luna, do not falter now...’

–anonymous

Luna

OUAHE, A FANTASTICAL EARTH-LIKE COSMIC OASIS so precious that many want it from far and wide. Its unspoilt blue waters bountiful of fish and all marine life made this planet desirable to all aware of its existence. On land, the birds whistled their sweet melody, welcoming the dawn...a new day just like here on earth. Peace, order, tranquillity was its natural state until the barbaric actions similar to that of Man intervened.

Under a smog-filled night in a small rural village, a fiery glow flickered on the horizon beyond the rich meadow pasture as if ominously smouldering its way across the breath-taking landscape like some molten silent spectre of the night.

Trinus, an old grey patchwork teddy with a missing button eye perched on the window ledge of a small bedroom at the top of the old mill and placed as if staring up at the full moon. The bedroom was small but cosy, especially with the warm glow of the flickering candle dancing – casting its shadow and silhouette onto the cobbled walls and low wooden beamed ceiling.

Beside Trinus, amid these dancing shadows, Luna, a little girl of only seven years of age, knelt on her wooden bed in her white nighty illuminated by nothing but this dancing candlelight. She was so beautiful, what with her thick, straw-like blonde hair and bright emerald green eyes that contrasted with her pale face.

Scribed onto her window was the moon’s trajectory; a line following a slight curvature. Luna etched the current moon’s position with her right hand because, for now, a small piece of rope had tied her most preferable left hand tightly behind her back.

Was she a witch of sorts?

Finishing her etch of the current moon’s position, Luna noticed a dip. A wobble. She gasped at Trinus in disbelief when the subtle smell of a hearty dinner of roasted vegetables and a good broth interrupted her moment as its delightful aroma made its way deep into Luna’s nostrils where she inhaled long and hard, and just as her stomach was about to rumble, did the motherly voice from downstairs arise.

‘Luna! Supper!’ shouted the voice followed by a morbid heavy chesty cough.

Luna broke away from the moon. She grabbed Trinus with excitement, shimmied off the bed and disappeared out onto the dark stairs landing, hurrying down the wooden staircase.

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▲▲

Old Aunt Maple stood before a fiery open hearth and peeped into a steaming iron pot hanging over the roaring flames. She wafted the aroma into her nasals but the hot air’s sensation entering her lungs felt like a thousand pinpricks, causing her to cough violently and uncontrollably into her handkerchief, staining it a deep-red with splattering specks of blood.

Upon hearing Luna’s little feet tipper-tapper down the stairs Aunt Maple managed to quell her uncontrollable cough to that of a steady wheeze and hide the hanky all in the name of not frightening little Luna. Aunt Maple was more of a nanny figure than an aunt. Old, motherly and very domesticated. She had dedicated her whole life to Luna whilst upkeeping the Old Mill right up before retiring.

Luna’s urgent footsteps hurried along the creaky floorboards of the dark hallway and into the cobbled kitchen.

Heavy iron pots and pans hung low from iron hooks. A steaming bloomer of bread rested on the wooden breadboard on the wooden kitchen top.

‘Aunt Maple, the moon!’ cried Luna, panting in short bursts almost to the point of hyperventilation and tugging on her aunt’s apron for her attention. ‘It’s wobbled more tonight! We must hurry! Time is running out!’

Aunt Maple cleared her hoarse throat, unhooked the steaming pot from the roaring flames, shimmied Luna away from the boiling hot broth with her foot and carried the simmering supper to the wooden table.

‘Oh Luna, dear, don’t panic yourself silly! Deep breaths,’ replied Aunt Maple, spooning the hearty broth into the bowl. ‘The moon is wobbling, you’re right, and so is our planet. Something has happened to cause this unbalance, but it has been happening many-a-year now.’

‘But the wobble. It’s speeding up! Right before our very eyes!’ said Luna, pulling yet again on her aunt’s pinny.

‘You and I will be nothing but mere stardust by the time of an apocalypse, I’m sure.’

‘But the poor moon! What’s causing it? Can’t we save it?’

‘Oh Luna, stop with your imagination.’

‘I can’t!’ said Luna, spinning Trinus round and round. ‘It whirls and it twirls until I get all dizzy and hurl!’

Aunt Maple chuckled, pulled out a wooden chair and peeled Trinus from Luna’s safe arms. Luna clambered one-handed onto the wooden chair and licked her lips at her favourite dish—dumplings!

‘I thought I’d make your favourite as it is your last supper after all,’ said Aunt Maple, hiding her look of dread from Luna.

Luna halted mid-chew. ‘Do I have to go?’ asked Luna, feeling her heart turn heavy.

‘Yes. Every child must. Besides, you’ll make lots of friends at the Institution.’

Luna plonked her spoon into her bowl and shook her head up at her aunt. ‘I heard they put you in the dungeons if you’re bad or even the gallows.’

‘Aww, no, that’s not true,’ said Aunt Maple, coughing into her hanky.

‘It is, isn’t it, Trinus?’ said Luna, holding Triuns up to her ear as if to be listening to him. ‘See? Trinus heard it, too.’

Aunt Maple knelt before Luna and pointed the dreaded finger at her. ‘No talking to Trinus, remember?’

‘Was he...really hers? Mumma’s?’

Aunt Maple nodded proudly. ‘Handmade by your grandmother when awaiting your mother’s arrival into this world.’

‘I feel close to her. I wonder what happened to his other eye,’ said Luna.

Aunt Maple clenched her fist. Her knuckles strained white as she frowned out the window into the darkness. ‘I don’t know. He had two before he went with her to...the Institution.’

Luna lit up, kicking her legs out. ‘She went, too? Maybe I’ll find her!’ squealed Luna, but after a moment or two, her smile dropped. ‘Though I may not recognise her. It’s only in my dreams I see her because when I wake up her face is gone. It’s why I like sleeping...to be with my Mumma.’

The incessant thought of the moon came forth back into the light of Luna’s consciousness. ‘Hey! Did you know that a selena...selene...’ Luna tried with all her might to get the word right. ‘...selenophile is someone who loves the moon and that the word astronomer also spells moon-starer?’

‘Nope,’ replied Aunt Maple, coughing and wheezing whilst peeling Trinus yet again from Luna’s loving grasp and replacing him with the wooden spoon. ‘But I guess that makes you one, my Moonchild. Now eat!’

Luna grinned at the thought of being a Moonchild (whatever that meant) whilst arranging, one-handed, the salt and pepper pots perfectly yet obsessively in line. ‘Hey! Will I be allowed to be a moon-starer where I’m going? They might select me for astronomy!’

Aunt Maple sighed, knelt beside Luna, taking the salt & pepper pots from her. ‘Luna, listen to me. You must act normal there, leave things be, stop compulsive obsessing and—'

‘—not use my left hand, I know.’

Aunt Maple’s look of concern pierced Luna’s innocent eyes. ‘Never—ever! No mention of the moon. If you see things out of place, just leave them be. Do as you’re told there,’ Tapping Luna’s head. ‘And keep that imagination locked away upstairs, okay? Stay in that left brain of yours—it’s what they want.’

‘Oh, but that’s soooooo boring!’

‘Luna, listen to me. You mustn’t draw any unwanted attention. Promise me. It’s for your own good!’

‘I’m frightened!’

‘Promise!’ Luna nodded, shoving spoonfuls into her mouth whilst humming her little tune as if the intensity of this conversation hadn’t happened at all.

Aunt Maple placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow at Luna. ‘Now, eat up, we have a busy day tomorrow.’

Luna dropped her spoon and put up her hand to speak. ‘Oh-oh! Can I check if the chrysalis has hatched? It will be for the last time.’

Old Aunt Maple told Luna she could once she had eaten up all her supper.

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▲▲

Luna hurried out into the cloak of darkness barefooted with Trinus under her arm and with a lantern in hand. She made her way into a small decrepit outhouse. Inside was dark, gloomy, and musty. Its leaky ceiling was covered in thick cobwebs where big, fat spiders dwelled, waiting patiently for its next meal to arrive. The walls were covered in a black mould from the rising damp inside which caused the walls to flake.

Luna, with a look of anticipation, wandered past the old overgrown glass jars and broken terracotta pots and stopped beside a potted plant on the floor. Its bearing fruits glowed a mystical dark blue, but even more majestically, nestled amid the safety of the leaves was the tiny chrysalis hanging upside down from a small stem part way up the plant. The chrysalis shimmered a pearlescent silicone-like warm glow where inside a very high-pitched squeal arose from inside.

Luna awed. Her spellbound eyes grew wide because at a closer glance amidst this blue hue, a wriggling could be seen fumbling around inside and from a little incision could a minute hand be seen pulling and tugging on the chrysalis’ thick skin to break free. Moments later, a fragile yet elegant glittering lacy wing popped half-out and tried to flutter.

Luna jolted, spellbound in surprise to the fantastical sight unfolding right before her. She remained planted, enchanted until she noticed, in fact, the struggle that was taking place before her.

The squeals’ pitch intensified. So did the struggle and little Luna with the big heart couldn’t bear it any longer.

She set the lantern and Trinus aside and snatched a pair of rusty scissors from the wonky wooden table. She unsheathed the scissors and delicately started to make the incision bigger, cutting away at the chrysalis all in the name of helping the struggling creature inside. She was soon distracted when the soul-destroying coughs from Aunt Maple came her way.

‘Luna, dear, what are you doing? It’s bedtime.’

Luna gasped and hid the scissors behind her back.

‘I—I didn’t want it to suffer!’ said Luna much to her aunt’s confusion.

The beautiful little faerie girl fell to the ground and squirmed around with a jittery broken wing, crying a high-pitched sound.

‘Oh Luna, don’t you see? The fairy needed to suffer.’

‘Why?’ asked Luna.

‘To grow stronger and to transcend,’ said Aunt Maple.

‘What does that mean?’

‘...Fly, Lunetta.’

‘Oh, we don’t understand, do we, Trinus?’

‘You will one day, Lunetta. You will one day.’

Luna glanced down at the little faerie cowering behind a broken pot.

‘I’m sorry, little faerie, I didn’t want you to suffer.’

Tears filled Luna’s eyes. Her teary eyes yearned down on Trinus and tears began to fall as she knew very well what it was like to suffer.

Aunt Maple knelt beside Luna and peeled the scissors from her shaky hand. ‘Luna, I know your yearning for your mother hurts—'

‘It doesn’t! I hate her! She left me! She...she doesn’t love me! Nor must my daddy!’ shouted Luna through her tears, booting Trinus along the ground.

Aunt Maple was taken aback by Luna’s sudden outburst, and the only time she ever saw a true fire in young Luna was when the subject of her mother was raised.

‘Of course she—'

‘Then why did she leave me?!’

Luna sobbed and sobbed for the anguish was far too much for her suffering heart to bear.

‘Luna, listen to me—listen to me! Hush now...listen!’ said Aunt Maple, shaking sense into Luna, calming her. ‘Do not make your insatiable and insufferable love for your mother turn to hate, for it leads to the Dark Ways. Love is too precious. Sacred. Okay?’ Aunt Maple placed Luna’s hand on Luna’s beating heart. ‘Calm now, Lunetta, calm.’

The poor little faerie trembled behind the pot. She had only been ‘hatched’ for not even a blink of an eye. She cowered and trembled, fixating up at Luna who was controlling her breath to a gentle simmer.

Aunt Maple coughed into her hanky causing Luna to spot blood.

‘I want to stay here. Look after you,’ said Luna.

‘There are Watchers everywhere,’ said Aunt Maple, coughing heavier.

‘But, you’re all I have,’ said Luna, knowing she’d be orphaned if anything ever happened to her aunt.

‘I’ll be here upon your return, okay?’ said Aunt Maple, not wanting to frighten sniffling Luna.

Luna couldn’t leave the faerie here all alone as the faerie wouldn’t last long, what with a broken wing and all the creepy-crawlies and furry, sharped- tooth hunters lurking in the shadows of the night. An injured faerie would be an easy catch to say the least, and with not much convincing needed, Aunt Maple allowed Luna to take the faerie inside to incubate.

Separation

‘You will be called Nara!’ declared Luna who was so delighted to have a new friend. She carried the faerie delicately in her palm whilst Trinus took the reluctant squashed under her arm position.

Having spent a little while watching the full moon pass across the lonely night sky with Trinus and Nara, Aunt Maple finally managed to get Luna to bed. Luna prepared a little makeshift bed on the windowsill for Nara which consisted of stuffing a shoe with tissue paper.

Finally, Luna hopped into bed and snuggled beneath the sheets with Trinus. Aunt Maple blew out the lantern for the very last time, leaving only the moon’s glow to illuminate the room.

‘Aunt Maple, do you ever feel like you don’t belong in this world?’

‘Oh Lunetta, what makes you think that?’

Luna shrugged and sighed deeply. ‘Oh, I don’t know, it’s just a feeling, in my tummy. Aunt Maple, would you tell me a bedtime story? One last time? The one about Selena? That’s the best one!’

‘Oh Luna, I’ve told you it a thousand times.’

Luna huffed and puffed and crossed her arms in a huff.

Aunt Maple coughed and coughed to clear her throat, perched onto the edge of the bed, and cast her solemn eyes out the window and up at the moon.

‘Well, once-upon-a-time on the night of a rare thirteenth Blue Moon, an ordinary couple, a lumberjack and a maid, gave birth to a rare Moonchild. The two had tried to have a child but couldn’t and so she was conceived through Light Conception. A gift from the Gods they assumed. They named her Selena. Why she had come to them they did not know, but the Higher Spheres had sown the seed. As years passed it was soon ever more apparent that Selena, was in fact, a Moonchild; left-handed and highly imaginative—'

‘Like me!’ interrupted Luna with a giant fixed grin.

‘Just like you, yes,’ said Aunt Maple continuing with the story. ‘Feared by all, especially the ruling power. Execution or life in the dungeons would soon follow for the Moonchild. Why so feared no one really knew, yet ancient scriptures prophesied Moonchildren to have been sent by the Moon Gods to save the moon from a dark race.’

‘But that’s a good thing!’

‘Not for those who want it gone. So, the Institution cast false fear on all people, pretending Moonchildren were to be feared,