The bolt of a crossbow fires across the dirt road, shooting from the top of the smaller building to the balcony of the massive chalet. When it lands, there is now a rope pulled taught between the two buildings, cutting through the moonlight.

  Leylin calls over to the others. “I think I figured it out, friends.”

  Emmitt and Marco look up from their respective sulking places to see Leylin standing beside the window, the grappling crossbow tied to a leg of the desk. She waves her two-pronged sword excitedly and points it towards the outside.

  “I figured it out. Not where Gabriel is or the weapons, but I figured out how we’re getting to the next building.”

  Still fuming, Marco and Emmitt look over at each other, unsure what to say. Both of them walk over to Leylin in silence.

  “Good now, we might have to leave the grappling crossbow here,” Leylin admits, “but if we can slide down the rope, we should be safe under cover with only a few seconds exposed.”

  “That’s actually a pretty good idea.” Emmitt peers out through the window, assessing the distance. The porch that surrounds the chalet is quite wide and extensive, giving ample cover from the moonlight. He tries to see if there are any guards on the porch, but it’s difficult from his angle.

  “And look, we can cover ourselves with these for extra moonlight protection.” Leylin holds up a bunch of exotic animal pelts from the trunk.

  Marco grabs the flattened form of what looks like a grizzly bear and places it over himself. “Well, I guess I was already dressed like an insane person, so why not?”

  “Bet you wish you had my scarves now, huh?” Emmitt tries for a bit of smile through his mask.

  Marco scowls and turns back to the window. He crosses the handles of his swords and grabs above the rope. “If anyone’s going to make this jump, it’s me, so I might as well go first.”

  “Step right up then,” Leylin says.

  Marco lunges through the window and slides down the rope. He leaps under the porch cover in a simple fluid motion. Emmitt, still looking a little offended, takes hold of an invisible handle and slides down after him. Leylin takes up the rear, holding her sword and shield over the rope and jumping off of the ledge. She wobbles, and several pelts fly off of her and float to the ground. Leylin lands on the porch as a laser cuts through the pelts and tears up the ground below.

  “HA! GOT YOU! STUPID ASS…WAIT, WHAT? GODS DAMN YOU. YOU’RE WASTING MY TIME.”

  There is another flash from his lasers as the building shakes violently but ultimately holds together.

  “KEEP HIDING THEN, THAT’S FINE.”

  Marco, Emmitt, and Leylin take a moment to remove the pelts and regain their bearings. At the other end of the porch, several guards are trying to figure out what is going on, running around and shouting over to each other. Most of them have

  on their shields, bearing the initials of the monocled man from the painting. Others, however, have white-gold armor with the sigil of a halo. Seraphim. Emmitt and Leylin look to Marco, whose expression is hidden behind his mask.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Here, we can sneak around the back.” Marco starts off down the porch without another word.

  ***

  Maria is scribbling furiously as the sky shifts once more with stars streaking across the tableau. When it has finally come to a rest, she takes a moment to finish off her recordings and put it all together. She takes one last look at her notes before turning back to Vilma. “Alright, I’m done.”

  Vilma comes to life as though her soul has just re-entered her body. She turns to Maria with an expectant look. “Well, have you figured it out?”

  “Kind of. The moon seems to have complete autonomous control, so there’s no direct way to predict what it’ll try to do next. But its position relative to the stars appears to be fixed. That’s why the entire sky is moving.”

  As she gets further into her explanation, we see a look on Maria’s face that we haven’t before: excitement. Her voice becomes increasingly animated as she speaks at a rapid pace. Everything is coming together.

  “If we put all of this together, we can only conclude that . The sky and the moon are following their usual patterns. It’s the globe, the planet we’re sitting on right now. That’s what’s being moved around. And it’s not just being rotated in different directions. If my measurements are right, its also shifting up and down, side to side. Our planet is untethered from its usual orbit, and the moon, Skarann I think it’s called, is controlling it.”

  By the end she is grinning under the shadow of her hood. Vilma, however, is unmoved. She has the same vacant expression as she did before. “Mmhm. So you have not figured out where the moon is going to go.”

  “Like I said, the moon, the god Skarann, he’s entirely autonomous. We can’t predict his intentions based on physics. Unless he has some kind of moon brain we can peek into. Which we can’t of course, because even though my readings suggest he’s a lot closer to us than the moon normally is, he’s still very far away, and uh yeah, we can’t predict what he does, but we can, you know, see where he is based on the stars, and um, that’s something.”

  Vilma is staring her down the entire time she is speaking. While on the outside she is beaming with friendly energy, Maria sees through the husk to the disappointment inside. By the time she is finished talking, Maria is completely deflated, her excitement faded away.

  “Can’t you normally see where the moon is?” Vilma asks. “It’s up in the sky.”

  “Well, sure, if you’re in an open field. But if you’re stuck inside or in the woods, it may not be easy to pinpoint. And if you can see it directly, you’re probably in the moonlight, which is bad, obviously. So uh, yeah. I think it’s still useful.”

  Vilma’s face does not shift. “I see. Well that is a neat trick you’ve figured out, but I’m afraid we were really hoping that you’d be able to predict the movements. I suppose we’ll just have to go back to the chalet with all of the…

  that you made and see if we can salvage anything.”

  “Oh. Alright,” Maria says.

  “There’s just one more thing I need to do before we leave.”

  Maria sinks back in her chair as Vilma walks back to the bedroom with her harpoon. This time she politely turns the handle with her free hand and opens the door. The two bandits have gathered all of their things, holding them in bags slung over their shoulders. Ready to leave, they tilt their heads in confusion as she blocks the doorway.

  “We’re heading out now, don’t worry,” The woman says.

  The man nods beside her. “We’re sorry we ever came here.”

  Vilma gives a sad smile as she steps towards them. They freeze in place as she raises her harpoon. “I’m afraid you have already committed several offenses by taking shelter here on our property. The McCappon Company does not tolerate criminal activity.”

  Maria can hear the screams from the other room.