Becoming Luna novel Chapter 9

Voices whispering amongst themselves broke through Danica's pain-free oblivion. They seemed to be coming from right beside her, but she couldn't make out exactly what was being said as her head remained foggy.

Vaguely, she felt soothing fire running up her arm as she slowly began to feel a hand tightly grasping hers.

The agonizing fire that had been consuming her before she blacked out seemed to be gone, and in its place was a dull ache.

'Why?' The voice in her head came in just a whisper. 'Why...' 

It sounded absolutely lost as it repeated the same word, filling Danica with an emptiness that she didn't quite understand. It was almost as if a piece of her was missing entirely.

Groaning, she forced her eyes open to see exactly where she was. The room around her was lit by a small fireplace and candles. Flickering warm orange and red light danced around the interior, which was made of wooden logs and what looked like mud.

To the right of the room was a desk with a shelf above it. The surface of the desk was covered in papers, along with beakers and glass bottles.

On the other side of the room, there lay a couch with a table in front of it; the table was littered with various papers and a small reading light.

".....not normal." 

The two words drifted to Danica's ears, drawing her gaze to the two men standing beside her talking.

Mason stood hunched over so he could hear the small, white-haired man that stroked his beard as they spoke. He wore a white tunic shirt and brown pants that seemed to be made from some sort of animal hide. His wrinkled face was tense as Mason said something to him, and he responded with a frown.

Not wanting to interrupt their conversation, Danica remained silent, closing her eyes once more. She was exhausted, and her entire body hurt from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes from her inability to change. All she wanted was to drift away once more.

"Don't pretend to go to sleep,"  Mason warned as he squeezed her hand. It seemed he had already been aware that she had woken up.

Opening her eyes again, she found him watching her with a look of relief on his face. The old man beside him had also turned his attention to her and was looking at her curiously. His dark eyes held no hint of emotion and reminded Danica of bottomless pits. Just the sight of them sent a shiver down Danica's spine. Not able to handle their depths much longer, she turned her focus back to Mason.

"What happened?" she asked, trying to ignore the burning gaze of the old man that still studied her like she was some two-headed creature. "Why couldn't I change?"

Frowning Mason ran a hand through his golden locks.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "No fledgling has ever run into something like that before. That's why I brought you to the shaman," he said, motioning towards the old man beside him. "If anyone can determine what's wrong, it is him."

Hesitantly, Danica moved her eyes to the unblinking black eyes that unnerved her.

"What's wrong with me?" she whispered, bracing herself for whatever was about to be said.

The old man began rubbing his beard again as his bushy white eyebrows furrowed.

"I can't be too sure," he said, his voice monotone as he spoke, "but I think someone may have cursed you."

"Cursed?" Danica repeated the word as if it were foreign to her. "What do you mean cursed?"

"Do you have any strange marks on you?" the old man while his dark eyes took in what exposed skin he could see.

Did she have any strange marks?  What kind of strange marks was he referring to? Maybe a strange etching on her skin or an odd-shaped birthmark.

BIRTHMARK!  Danica did have a serpent-like birthmark on her hip. Could that be what he was referring to? But as long as she could remember, she had had the mark.

"Would it come across as a birthmark?" Danica asked.  "I have a serpent birthmark on my hip."

Mason sucked in a breath as the shaman continued to look calm and serene.

"Serpent, I see."

Turning, he began making his way to his desk.

"Could it be one of them?" he muttered aloud as he began flipping through the papers in front of him.