Felix Thomas, notorious thief Flashbang, couldn’t explain what had just happened to him.
He was taken away by the police after being caught by Moon Girl. After processing he was expecting to be taken to prison but as soon as he was in the transport van, he knew something was off. His guards were young and dead eyed; some barely looked old enough to hold a job. He felt a strange momentary sickness and when the van doors opened, he could swear he was in another world.
He was pulled along streets, stared at by creatures that hovered above the ground. They were humanoid, two legs, two arms but their skins varied in colours, not just the pink and browns he was used to but reds, yellows and other parts of the rainbow. Their eyes were larger than they should be and almost pure bright and vibrant colour.
The icing on the cake that convinced him the police must have drugged him or something was the wings. They all had wings. He’d heard Ad talk about a lady with bullet proof wings but these weren’t the feathers he had described.
They were large rainbow wings he’d only seen on butterflies and moths. Now he saw them on…people!? People who flew in the sky and wore loose dresses of fire colours.
The place he was being led through was maybe some kind of town or city? The architecture echoed Iwon city but rather than the tall skyscrapers being made of metal, these were made of wood, and covered by entwining vines that glowed soft colours. The taller the building the thicker the vines were as if to support the structures, some growing wild enough to branch out and sprout a few paint-splatter shaped leaves.
He looked up; surely the sky at least would be familiar? But he didn’t see a sky when he looked up. Rocks weaved with those vines that grew into a bright clump, an eerie green sun on the strange world he stepped into.
The green sun disappeared to a roof and he brought his gaze back down to a lavishly set out building that looked like he’d stepped into some kind of royal palace. Red carpets, golden stair cases, paintings of a grand sun design.
Generally, the place screamed to be robbed as far as he was concerned.
He was shoved to the left. One of the dead eyed guards opened a beautifully carved wooden door before him and he was led down, down, down.
The wooden stairs he was on didn’t creak, but the lights started to dim and the grandeur of the room behind him faded away to bare rock and a cold chill.
Still unable to appropriately process the situation, he could only snigger as he thought of how cliché it was to be led down to a dungeon. Maybe they’d even cut his hands off or something. Was that the kind of medieval fantasy world he had landed in?
The pulsing wire-like vines were his only light as another door was opened in front of him and he was faced with exactly what he was expecting.
A dungeon, four cells of stone, two on each side.
At the sight of it his brain clicked. He didn’t want to be a prisoner. He made to struggle against the guard holding him but stopped. Even if he got out, where the hell was he supposed to go? Did people here even speak the same language? Where even was here?
Only one way to find out.
“Hey.” He snapped, giving the one holding him a shove as another went up to a cell.
The guard didn’t seem startled by his sudden movement. In fact, it didn’t react at all.
Felix gritted his teeth, “Hey! Where the hell are we?” He snapped.
Again nothing. He glared at the guard but a sound made his head snap to the one by the cell. The bars looked like they were made of stone or something but they bent to the side to make a way for him to enter.
He felt the guard holding his arms start to push him forward but he’d recovered somewhat now. He had the sense to start fighting back. Felix planted himself where he was, pushing back on his guard. Suddenly, he felt burning where the guard gripped him.
Felix winced, his footing forgotten in the pain and he was thrown to the ground before he could recover. When he looked up, the bars moved back to their original position.
“Fuck.” He hissed.
The guards turned away to leave and he darted to his feet.
“Where the fuck am I?” He barked at their backs.
They ignored him, walking away and leaving him alone. As the door slammed shut behind them it started to set in. He was alone, captured, whereabouts unknown…
Felix took a deep breath to try calm the wave of fear that hit him. His thoughts scrambled for escape ideas and eventually landed on thoughts of his brother.
His brother might have technically been the reason he was here in the first place but...even still, he would try to visit him. He would realize he was gone, realize something was wrong. Even if they didn’t see eye to eye, even if the two of them found themselves on opposite sides of the law lately, Felix had faith he wouldn’t be abandoned.
“Make like the hero you are and save me, Olly.”
I hope you enjoyed the preview of Moon Girl 4: Rift. You can get your hands on the full book on Amazon and other online retailers:
COMING SOON!