Eclipse

A luna moth flitted around Dr. Theoden’s head. “Yes, Eclipse. It is coming. We must work faster to get Ecenta ready. Will you bring me the wrench?” 

Eclipse chirped, flitted over to a large red toolbox, and pulled open the drawer with her powerful green wings. Then, she pulled out a large silver wrench. 

“Thank you, Eclipse. Are you ready to go meet Elizabet?” Eclipse chirped again, flying in a loopty loop. “Alright. Let’s go.”

***

Elizibet rolled over in her gray comforter. Her sleep was becoming more restless every night. Tonight, her disquiet was spawned by her brother Lukka. 

“Elizabet,” Lukka said, jabbing Elizabet’s side.

Elizabet rolled over, groaning. She tucked a hand under her blue pillows. 

“Elizabet.” Lukka poked her again. 

A moth landed on Elizabet’s face and she sighed, giving in. She rolled over groggily. “Whaaaaaat?” She said in German, dragging the word out like it was foriegn. 

“Mother needs you. Get up. Get uuuuuup.” He pulled the back of her nightgown, dragging her out of her bed. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and looking around at the grayish-turquoise walls of her room. A green moth flew past her and down the hallway.

“This had better not be another of your sleepwalking spells,” Elizabet said. Lukka poked her again and grabbed her hand, pulling her into her mother’s room.

As she walked, the small luna moth flitted by her face. She was so tired she hardly noticed. She hardly even saw the gray walls around her or felt the hardwood floor beneath her feet. She tripped over a loose board, barely catching herself before she hit the floor. 

“Elizabet! Come on, get up! Eile! Eile! Hurry!” Lukka called, pulling Elizabet’s arm again and again. She stood from the floor, her feet dragging from exhaustion despite her best efforts to move faster. Finally, they arrived in the small room with soft yellow walls and plush carpet that Elizabet’s mother lived in. 

“Elizabet…” she rasped. The moth landed on the nightstand.

“Mother!” Elizabet cried, falling to her knees beside her mother’s bed. “Please. You can’t-” she sniffed, water running down her cheeks in wide streams. “You can’t go. Not yet. Not yet! They can’t take you yet! It can’t! Oh, Mother!”

“Oh Lizzie. My beloved, determined little Elizabet. It is my turn to go.” She paused, closing her eyes, to let that sink in. “I have one last gift for you and your brother. Your father left a note also.” She pulled a small package out of the drawer of the dresser next to her bed. “Take this. Whatever you must do, do not lose the key. Or your locket. It may be all that is left of us when you return. Take your brother.” Her voice grew strained and lines of silent pain were drawn across her beautiful features.

Elizabet took the envelope, carefully unsealing the top of it. She sucked in a sharp breath. “What?” Lukka said, trying to see over his tall brunette sister’s elbow.

“Mother, why? Why must we leave and go to Ecentma? Father said it was unstable, that we must not play there because it will collapse,” Elizabet questioned after scanning the letter.

“Your father only said that to keep you out of there while he finished getting everything prepared.” Her mother’s voice sounded weary and exhausted.

“You mean Father knew about the Dark Thing?” Elizabet said, her large blue eyes wide and filled to the brim with terror.

“No. Your Father did not know about the Dunkle Sache. Nor did he know that he would be among the first dead.” Elizabet watched as her mother’s eyes clouded over. 

“We will be back one day, right, Mama?” Lukka peeped, tears spilling over the brims of his brown eyes that looked so much like his father’s.

“Yes. One day, I hope that you will return here. It will not be the same as it is now though, Lukka. You must go, before the Dark Thing devours me and moves into you.”

“Oh, Mother! We must find a way to heal you! Come with us!” Lukka started to pull his mother out of bed.

At a nod from her mother, Elizabet turned to Lukka. “Lukka, we can’t. If we bring her with us, there will be no hope for humanity. You must let her go. Keep her in your heart, she will watch us with a heavenly host. Please, you must let her go. If we do not leave soon, we will not have time to fetch Martia and Johann.” She gently pulled her brother away from her mother, giving her mother a last embrace. 

“You will find Martia and Johann waiting at the door. Now, go! You must! I will be fine. Remember, you cannot leave the hidden world of Ecentma. There will be enough food to last as long as you need to grow a crop of fresh produce. The soil is more fertile there, and the plants will grow faster. You will live. Now, go! Leave. Don’t forget this place, but do not long to see it again either. Goodbye. I love you both more than you know.” With that, she rolled over, announcing the end of the conversation. 

The green moth Elizabet had not noticed earlier now rested on her shoulder. She turned her head awkwardly to stare at it. “Hello little green Motte. Are you coming?” she asked it, offering her finger. The little moth did not move. “Alright. It is settled then. Goodbye, Mother. We will miss you greatly,” she said. Her mother did not move, and Elizabet forced back her tears, taking Lukka by the hand and pulling him out the door and into the foyer of the large house they lived in. She would not cry in front of Lukka. He was only 6. He needed the reassurance that his older, more mature sister was invincible. 

As Elizabet opened the door, she could hear Johann’s deep, smooth voice comforting young Martia. She opened the door, peeking out to be sure that they were not seen entering the house. “Come in, come in. We must hurry. Mother has given in we must get to the Hidden Place. You have said your goodbyes?” Elizabet asked tenderly. 

Johann looked up. “Yes. We are ready. Show us what we must do.”

“You have brought everything of value to you?” She asked.

“Yes. I see that you have brought another friend.” He nodded towards the moth on her shoulder. 

“Mmm hmm.” she nodded. “Eclipse is harmless.” Elizabet, still holding the hand of Lukka, turned around and guided the newcomers into the supply closet that housed the Door. She pulled the four of them into the closet. “We enter here.” She moved a large stack of food and revealed a large oak door with a well-shined brass knob. She gingerly turned the knob and pulled open the door. “Follow,” she said, walking through the door.

Her friends obliged, little Martia clinging to Johann as though he was a lifeline. “Wow,” Johann breathed. Martia turned and waved Germany goodbye as Elizabet closed the door behind them. 

In front of them was a house even bigger than the mansion Elizabet had previously lived in. Two huge oak doors stood at the entrance, and a porch with marble railing in front of that. The porch was the fanciest part. The rest was made of wood and steel and concrete. They walked up to the door and Elizabet unlocked it with a silver key from a steel ring she had had in her pocket. The moth flitted off of her shoulder and into a small box above the door. As the door to the house opened, usually silent Martia suddenly blurted, “Why did you take us here?! What about our family? Why? Where are we?” 

The other three kids looked at her, and their stunned expressions appeared painted on their faces. 

Elizabet crouched to the young girl’s height, opening her arms and beckoning her into her them. “Oh Martia. Sweet, careful Martia. We had to leave them so that their legacy does not die. So that humanity does not die. We are in a special place called Ecentma. I asked the same questions.” Martia could hear the pain and sorrow in her voice. She nodded, and Elizabet picked her up and hugged her close. “It will be ok. I promise.” Elizabet said, setting Martia down as Eclipse, the luna moth, flew back over to her shoulder.