Ch. 9 - The Tale

The wolves surrounding the travelers in a cluster led them through the shadowed woods. Dusk was falling over the trees, and fatigue from their journey began to set in. Moon Shadow began speaking, and the more he spoke, the more his voice changed from rasping and coarse to sinuous and smooth. It was almost like he was out of practice, and now his voice was growing accustomed to the words flowing through his mouth.

“It started two years ago,” he began. “We had lived among the two-legs for as long as we could remember. We had houses, wives, and children. Then one day things changed. The king banished us, and those like us – other beasts, creatures….some humans – anyone capable of doing magic. We were cast out by those we had lived with. Thrown aside like old garments; only useless items that gave pleasure for a while, and then ceased to have purpose.” Emotion entered his low growl, and sadness tinged his words like a thread cleverly woven into a tapestry.

“We formed packs and clans. Soon we were together so often, we stopped changing into two-legs; we simply retained our wolf bodies. I don’t understand why. Perhaps since we left the company of the earth children, we ceased to remember what it was like to become them. We ceased to have a use for words, when we could so easily speak in the tongue of wolves.”

Jessica placed her hand gently on the top of the tawny-furred wolf she had seen earlier. It swiveled its head around to look at her, and she saw the same sad look in its eyes that she remembered seeing earlier. “What words it must want to say,” Jessica thought to herself, stroking its light fur and rubbing the smooth skin of its ears.

Benji tilted his head to one side and asked thoughtfully, “How can you speak when all the others can’t?”

Moon Shadow ducked under a low branch, his dog-like body slinking under it gracefully like a rippling stream of black water. “I didn’t want to forget. One day I remembered it had been very long since I had uttered words in the tongue of the two-legs. I was afraid I, too, would forget. So I spent long nights by myself, fighting in my mind to remember how to speak. The others laughed at me…”

The tawny wolf beside Jessica whimpered. She stroked its fur comfortingly. Moon Shadow stared at the roots poking up through the ground, his paws dragging slightly. “It’s strange…how quickly one can forget oneself…” he trailed off in a voice suddenly weary and tired.

Andrew studied the wolf. He asked softly, “Did you have a family?”

Moon Shadow didn’t look at Andrew. “I had a wife, and a son.”

Jessica caught the wistfulness in his tone. She asked, “What happened to them?”

The wolf shook his head. “I don’t know. We lost each other in the first massacre.”

“The first what?” Benji asked.

Swiveling his head to stare at the boy, Moon Shadow repeated, “The first killing.” He saw the confusion in the youngster’s face. “You don’t know? After we were exiled, they sent men to comb the forests and kill the creatures they found. Exile was just an excuse to get us out of the city so the two-legs wouldn’t see the blood baths.”

“What?” Benji stammered, his lips parting in confusion. “I’ve never heard that before.”

“It is truth,” the wolf replied. “It happens all around. The ongoing battle. The king was afraid that those who had magic on their side would revolt against him. He sought to kill us all. It is a war we fight even now. Soldiers still raid the woods sometimes. We have learned to hide. To melt into the shadows of the trees; to seek shelter in the underbrush that cloaks our paws.”

Andrew spoke with determination. “We will make you free again,” he pledged. There was a passion in his eyes that no one dared to challenge.

“Many thanks to you, child of the earth,” Moon Wolf replied. “We are in your debt.”

Emerging from the trees, they found themselves in a small clearing with few bushes and a few misplaced boulders. The wolves sat down in a large circle in the grass, winding their tails around their folded legs. Moon Shadow turned to the travelers.

“If you wish, you may rest here tonight. We will watch for unwelcome visitors and fight them, should they threaten you. You are friends and we will not harm you; but foolish are the enemies of the Moon Wolves,” he said, his deep voice rumbling in the silent forest.

Jessica’s eyes averted to gaze at the darkened skies. The sun had set a while ago; she must have been too distracted by Moon Shadow’s story to notice. Benji rubbed his eyes sleepily and suppressed a yawn. Jessica felt a tinge of pity for him; after all, he was just a prince. He wasn’t used to traveling two days straight.

“Thank you,” Andrew said. “You have been very kind. We won’t forget what you have done for us.” Hesitantly at first, the three travelers sat down in a triangle inside the wolf circle. They passed around apples and small pieces of bread from the supply bag salvaged from the safe house. Then the three travelers sprawled out across the ground to sleep. Jessica let out a sigh and lay down on her back, stretching her legs out in front of her and interlacing her fingers behind her head.

A few minutes later, the boys’ snoring could be heard rumbling into the forest. Jessica sat up and looked around, sleep evading her. Moon Shadow could be seen across the clearing, perched on a boulder with the lonely moon behind him. Jessica rose to her feet and silently walked through the cold grass until she arrived a few feet away from the rock he sat upon regally like a king on his throne.

He hadn’t turned around, but he said softly, “What troubles you, earth-child?”

Jessica hesitantly walked around the massive rock and climbed up to sit beside the dark wolf. She peeked into his large, furry face. His keen eyes stared ahead of him, alert and aware. The vigilant protector. Jessica pulled her knees up to her chest, suddenly feeling like a little child perched next to a king.

“When we got to the city…” she began softly, “Everyone was dead.” Moon Shadow didn’t turn to look at her. She swallowed, fighting the urge to cry. She hated crying. Tears were for the weak. Yet now, when the moon was out and all was dark and still, she didn’t feel very strong at all.

“We got there…I opened the door to the safe house…and they were all gone.” She closed her eyes, fighting a wave of tears. When she had wrestled the tightening emotion in her chest into submission, she continued, “I feel like if I had gotten there sooner, I could’ve changed that. I don’t know why the soldiers killed them, but somehow it seems like if I had been there when the soldiers attacked, they would still be alive.”

She lowered her head and rested it on top of her knees. “Now I can only picture them lifeless…dead…” Jessica tightly closed her eyes and focused on breathing. She was not weak. She would not give into despair.

Moon Shadow’s response didn’t soothe her raging emotions. But at the same time he had comforted her just a little by simply listening. “It was not your fault your friends died,” he said, eyes locked ahead. “The men you speak of have been killing the cities since last moonrise. The king has heard talk of revolt. He requested help of the creatures…”

“The creatures?” Jessica repeated, mystified.

“You have not seen them?”

Jessica shook her head.

“They have joined his army. They feast on flesh…they grow from our death…” Moon Shadow’s tail twitched.

“What creatures?”

“We do not have a name for such beasts,” Moon Shadow replied. “They use our bodies as their houses. They come from sorcerers. Dark Arts. The king surely had no control over them.” The wolf’s eyes narrowed, as if in warning. “I believe they are using him because he needs their help for a while…but then they will kill him like a horse with a disease. They’ll ride him for a while, and when they have gotten all they can, such as an empty kingdom, they’ll dispose of him.”

“An empty kingdom?”

“To build their own.”

Jessica’s eyes widened. They would use his armies to kill all the people in the kingdom…and then they would take over. “A world of blackness…” she whispered. That in and of itself was terrifying.

For the first time, Moon Shadow looked at her. “There is still hope.”

“How?”

“He hasn’t taken over completely. The throne could be overthrown. The creatures may have a weakness. There has been talk of a king yet-to-come – a king long prophesied ago that would come and rule with justice and peace.”

Jessica let out a breath of air. “That’s a lot of possibilities…not a lot of certainty.”

“But it is hope.” Moon Shadow tilted his head almost thoughtfully. “Hope is not always certain, but it is always possible. There is always hope.”

Jessica rubbed her eyes. Moon Shadow turned his attention back to studying the woods. “Get some rest, child of the earth.” She didn’t have the energy to protest. It felt like the weight of the day was now resting on her, and she wearily said goodnight and crawled into the protective circle of the wolves. She cast one last glance at the regal wolf before lying down on her back.

She stared at the stars decorating the sky like jewels on a black crown, her thoughts beginning to blur with fatigue. Something plopped down next to her. Opening her eyes, she found the tawny-furred wolf resting next to her.

Jessica smiled to herself and stroked the wolf distractedly. It yawned, and she got a fresh whiff of doggy-breath. The creature rested its head on its paws peacefully, and Jessica realized how incredibly safe she felt sleeping amongst the wolves. It was strange to think about. Maybe even ironic. She didn’t want to think of how or why; she was too tired. Closing her eyes again, she soon felt herself falling into her dreams. And so the hunted slept with their hunters as if they were a family.