The Queen's Luna

Chapter 4

We have been racing through the mountains at high rates of speeds for a good couple of hours now. That doesn't bother us. It is likely that if we ever come into contact with any other world that we will be faster than them and also be able to outrun them. At least, Rana thinks so.

Finally we reach the path that leads directly up Fell Mountain to the palace. There are at least twenty others that do not lead to the palace. Most of them lead in the complete opposite direction of the palace, actually. To divert intruders and/or unwelcome guests. Welcomed guests would always be escorted up the mountain with all of their senses dimmed. Especially their eyesight and hearing.

Figuring out these paths was a personal goal of mine when I turned six. I would beg my father to blindfold me and then drop me off in the area that the majority of the paths started. It took me all of five hours to find the correct pathway that led directly up the mountain to the palace.

I'll never forget the look of pride on my father's face. It made me so happy, even back then. What I wouldn’t give to have that back again. To have my mother and father back. To meet the twin pups that my mother was carrying. To be a big sister and just live the life that I was born into. To belong to a pack...

Sage begins a trot up the pathway, taking us all the way to the palace. To home. Our breath catches as we take in the astounding beauty that our home still maintains. We stand at the archway that leads into the courtyards that are in front of the palace. There are three levels to the court yards. 

The lower two have a canal in the center and in the middle of the canals is the walkway that seems to float on the water. On either side of the canals there were magnificent gardens; Even up here in such a climate. My father’s beta’s mate was a FireFall Crescent wolf who had been blessed by Sol and the Goddess. She maintained the majority of the gardens. Well, almost all.

However, in the second tier canal, the bath led to a sundial of sorts. The very center of it is, of course, a sundial, but the outdoor ring is to tell when every solstice is and to track the moon's cycle. The pathway circles it on either side and on either side there is a statue of a wolf. Both are poised to howl; an Alpha and a Luna.

The top tier of the courtyards features a state of the art fountain. It took ages to build. Surrounding the fountain, there was . a garden dedicated to the Briar-Rose. My mother tended to them. She knew the most about them and passed on their knowledge to me. The can be used to healing, a sleeping potion, and when a certain part is mixed with Dogsbane, an effect poison; more so than Wolfsbane.

I take a deep breath, “What do you think? Do we at this time?”

I can feel our heart hammering in our chest and I am already well aware of the answer and that even if we thought we could, we couldn't bear to enter. Instead, we settle for staring at the, appearingly so, five floors of a castle that has been built into the mountainside. The north face of the palace is almost entirely made of a wall of windows.

The ballroom features all of the windows and a terrace that overlooks the slopes, valleys, and jagged edges of the surrounding mountains. However, if you were to watch to the east or to the west for a long enough period of time, you’d be able to have the most magnificent view of the sunrise and the sunset. I used to sit out here all day just to watch one and wait for the other. 

My mother, a herbologist, and pregnant with twin pups, would come out and join me. Sometimes, my father would have his meetings out there with me in order to treat me how to be an Alpha. The “very first female-born Alpha” he would say.

 Sage whimpers as sadness creeps into our heart. That’s when all the sadness hits us. In an uncontrollable wave. The wind picks up and the snow begins to flurry, making white out conditions. Sage takes us to the dias of the dial and sits us atop it.

Suddenly our sorrow, pain, loneliness, fear, and longing for a pack, and family to call ours becomes too much. Sage stands and we let out a heart-shattering howl. I don’t know how long we howl for, but it resonates from within us and calls out into the wind. The power of the call brings out the sky lights to the day. Brilliant blues, pinks, oranges, and greens wave across the sky above us as we continue the howl.

Eventually Sages throat is raw from the howl and we have to lie down. Tears have been streaming down our face and continue to do so as we set out head on our paws. Letting the raw emotion take us into a dream and nightmare filled slumber.