The Path of the Protector

History

Heather left Emily to ponder on her words for a moment, as Emily was treating her sacrifice as if it were not even a true choice. That she had decided to face pain, war and death on a scale rarely seen before, instead of a life of peace granted by a Goddess.

'You may not see the choice you were given as much of a choice, but it was more of a choice than you knew. Mother would have granted your human life, and completely stripped your wolf from you. You would have never known that the Wolf Nation was falling apart, and had a husband with many children. You freely chose the path of war, for there were 3 other candidates mother could have given me too. Your cousins would not have been nearly as powerful, but they would have survived the joining most likely.' Selene told her before withdrawing from her mind again.

"Artemis, Goddess of the Moon, I know you are weak and what I ask may not be possible, but I needs must speak with you." Emily said aloud before she was whisked to the Celestial Plane.

'What my child?' Artemis asked from the shape of the moon in the sky bathing her in its warm glow.

'Is what she said true?' Emily asked knkwing Artemis would know ehat she referred too.

'It is child, and surprise me you did.' Artemis replied soothingly.

'I do not understand what it is I supposedly sacrificed. Can you show me the life I refused? I assure you it will not change my decision.' Emily asked her.

Emily saw the most wonderful life that she could have imagined pass before her eyes. It was exactly what she had dreamed living as a human would be. Her career and family wanted for nothing, and peace and love were the foremost thing she felt as she saw the many years pass before her in a flash.

She opemed her eyes and felt the tears fall as she knew she would never be able to choose that life when it meant the end of all werewolves. 'Your sacrifice is greater than you know, however this life will not be without its own rewards. You will face far more dangers, that is true. You will bear more pain and anguish than any being should be forced to bear. Should you succeed however, your children and grandchildren will thrive in a world where they will not have to hide who they are. You will receive far more blessings than you would have if you chose the life of peace. Do nkt focus on what you have lost, do nkt allow fear, pain and hatred cloud what will be a bright and promising future.' Artemis said before returning her to her body.

Emily opened her eyes to see Heather kneeling beside her, meditating while she was having her vision. "Apologies, I had to ask a question." she said.

"Never apologize for seeking the clarity and knowledge the Moon Goddess can offer us. She would not have answered in the manner she did if it had not been important." Heather replied as she slid a small leather pouch to Emily. "Each of our villages has a momento of Selene that is held for her journey, and presented to her host either upon her arrival or the completion of one of her tasks. This is one for your arrival, and normally symbolizes the life you leave behind as you progress forward from this point. As you are a warrior however, I am not sure what this would symbolize for you." she said as she opened the beautiful necklace and wrist bands that Selene was almost always depicted wearing.

"The life I sacrificed to do what I am, that is what Artemis showed me just now. The life I would have had, had I accepted the life of peace she offered." Emily said as a tear fell as she recalled the 4 children she had in the vision.

"So you do now realize that what you have chosen is a true sacrifice?" Heather asked her as She grabbed the necklace.

"I do." Emily said as Heather slid the necklace over her head.

"Good, what you have done is no small thing, even if you were a warrior before. Leading and uniting the two wolf nations will be far from an easy task." Heather said as she stood and gathered the bracelets for Emily.

Emily nodded as she was still feeling the emotions linked to the life she had turned down for what she was doing. It would take her many weeks to be ok with the decision, believing at the time it had been no choice at all. She could not understand how someone would choose a life of peace when they could help save their own people. She did not know how long she knelt at the altar, but she knew that the light was beginning to fade when Ashley was finally allowed to enter.

"Milady, the villagers have returned and the feast is prepared. However they will not begin without you." Ashley said respectfully behind her.

Emily nodded, and finally used her skills to supress the emotions that had welled up inside of her. 'It was a beautiful life, and with that I will be able to share a few things with you this evening. As mother said however, we will be far more blessed for rising to the occassion, than the life you would have been given.' Selene told her as her eyes dried and Selene healed her so you could not tell she had spent several hours crying.

"I am ready now, it was just too much when Artemis actually showed me what I would have had." Emily said as sje stood and turned to her friend. "I just hope that through my decisions, the children and love will not be lost." Emily said firmly as the two women walked from the temple. It was a beautiful place, but Emily swore she would never step foot inside of this particular one again.

Several hours later Emily was taken to her quarters, and she was emotionally exhausted from her day. She quickly stripped off her armor, and lay down before Selene said anything.

'The records do not recall it, but this will actually be my 7th time here. The first was my mortal life, and you would have lived through a version of it. The version before Sehkmet killed my husband, children and father. It was after that I swore a life of vengeance, and the Moon Goddess accepted me as her Protector. Each remaining time I have had to endure this journey to strengthen the Mortal Soul, and each time after we faced a threat that required the entire wolf nation. That is part of why I am also known as the Unifier.' Selene informed her.

'Selene, before we begin, I need you to know my life. No more can we blindly go through this, if we are to survive we need to be whole and complete before the tasks are finished.' Emily said as she forced the wolf to go through her memories. She fell asleep through the process, and Selene assurred her it was much easier as her dreams suddenly became the medium that they shared information.

Selene was impressed with all the training she had done, and knew their test tomorrow was going to be a thing of beauty. They had the records of the last 4 lifetimes here still she recalled, and she hoped to smash every one of those records without a lick of training from this pack this time.

'Well my friend, you got to show me what you are capable of. Unfortunately my saga is a lot more compilicated. I agree with you, and although it is dangerous without the full moon, or outside Ahnkara, we must finish this fusion of our souls.'

Selene showed Emily each and every one of her lifetimes, the villages placed exactly where she had first assumed her wolf form. Even sharing their memories and fusing their souls early, they would still have to travel to Ahnkara. The next time she came, the caves would now be the first stop along the path, and she would build another village that would stand the test of time.

Each time after the battles were complete she was allowed to live the life of peace with her soul mate, the husband that had been killed at Ahnkara. It was her eternal reward for doing what was necessary to save the people of the one she had sqorn to protect for all time.

'Now you know, everything you must. Now it is time to get up and go show these Wolves what is what.' Selene told her as the sun began to rise and it was indeed time to get up for her exam.

Emily walked into the training fields before any of the others had awaken, and stretched so that she was ready flr what they had prepared. She could feel her link to Selene was much stronger, and that she was much more attuned.

'Oh this is going to be so fun, they won't be expecting this.' she said as she remembered everything that Selene knew as well as Emily. The warriors of the village were surprised to see her standing there going through the forms of combat that they were about to test her in.

She was executing the stretching forms perfectly, and she heard them approaching as she flowed into the final form. As they gathered around her, she stepped to the side and allowed them to do their warm ups so that their muscles would be ready for what was to come.

They did so within 15 minutes, and she was in the center of the main sparring ring when they approached ready to begin their sparring matches. The Beta of this pack was a bit shocked, as Ashley and Brian were with the other trainees.

"Majesty, may I ask what exactly you are doing?" Beta Preston asked.

"Issuing a challenge to the best warriors you have with each weapon. I believe that is the final test for me, is it not?" she asked him as most of the warriors looked among themselves.

"It is indeed, however I believe it is up to me to evaluate you before that." Preston said to her.

"Than let us begin Beta, which weappn is your specialty?" she asked him as she stood up in the ring. He had not missed the challenge in her voice.

"I suggest each of you pair off and begin your sparring for the morning. Apparently the Queen has decided she does not need rraining and will be sparring with me this morning. The sword is my specialty, and yes, I am the most skilled swordsman in this Pack." Preston replied before going to the rack and grabbing a training sword.

"Beta Preston, you should-" Ashley began before he growled and she shut her mouth standing next to Brian. "This will be interesting indeed, she has that look about her." Ashley said refusing to begin sparring with Brian. She was not going to miss a second of this match as Preston entered the ring with her.

He went through several warm ups really quickly beforenhe settled into a ready position. "I suggest you draw your training sword Majesty, would not wish to injure you this morning." He said with a smile on his face.

"I will draw my sword when I am in need of it Beta Preston, and not a moment before." she said settling intona ready position of her own.

Ashley smiled as she had seen this once before, and knew what Emily was planning. "Challengers ready?" she demanded getting the attention of the entire facility. Most of them used the excuse tonstop and watch. Preston settled into his stance a touch more, and Emily nodded. "Fight!" she hollered as soon as Emily had nodded.

Emily would give it to him later, that his sword work and skill was nearly perfect. Nearly. For several minutes he tried every trick he could think of to strike her, and she dodged every attack. They watched as she twirled around his blade, sometimes watching the tip of it catch her hair before she rolled away from it, and not once did she draw her sword in the first two minutes.

"Times almost up Beta, and you haven't landed a single hit yet." Emily taunted him laughing as the clock that was ticking neared the 3 minute mark. It took as much time as was needed, but they kept detailed records of every challenge. As soon as the clock struck 3 minutes however he noticed a shift in her stance, and with near blinding speed she drew her sword and intercepted his with a quick parry that threw him off balance.

He caught himself as the shock wore off, and he knew just by what she had just done she was far more skilled than she had been letting on. He renewed his attack, and was surprised that she had toyed with him so far. Now that she had drawn the sword he knew she was a challenge that would not go down easily.

The Lycans watched in amazement as they were barely able to follow the blur that was the blades in the center of the ring. Their record fight for swords had been 5 minutes, and these two blew past that mark by a wide margin before the first hit had even been scored.

Preston had dropped his guard at the wrong moment, and her blade had come in while he was helpless and broke his sword arm with a crack that echoed all over the grounds. A few seconds later the tip of her training sword clattered to the stone, and Preston howled in pain as it finally hit him what had happened. It was not his first, amd would not be his last, he was just glad it was a training sword. He would have lost it above the elbow had she been wielding a true sword.

"I yield Majesty, and must say I am very impressed." Preston said bowing to her respectfully with his left hand over his heart in a gesture of respect. He saw that each and every one of his Warriors had witnessed the event, and he was a little angry until he looked at the clock. Their display had lasted 9 minutes and 22 seconds from the time Ashley gad said fight. They had fought for much longer than most sword fights lasted, amd he knew he had not dcored a single hit on her. He was satisfied she had only scored one on him though.

"Thank you for the match Beta, and apologies for the injury." Emily said as he tossed the sword to the side of the ring. He did nkt see it, but by the time it stopped moving it had seperated into 3 seperate pieces.

Preston laughed as the medic approached and set his arm before his healong abilities healed it wrong. "Warriors, our queen has challenged the best of each weapon. She has clearly demonstrated her ability with a sword, and as such must be tested according to the final test. Who will be next?" he demanded as a roar went theough the crowd.

Emily undid the sword belt and threw both aside, laughing when her training sword broke into dozens of pieces with something as simple as a light toss. She laughed as the warriors broke into two groups, and it was clear which ones were now spectators, and which were competitors. She watched as the stands around them filled, the results of her sword fight spreading through the village like wildfire on the Pack link. She knew they all wanted to see this, as never before had a Protector known these skills before arriving here.

It took several hours for them to fully test her on each weapon, and only 3 of the Warriors had managed to make even the smallest impact on her. She had not toyed with the others as much as Preston, and avoided any further broken bones. The 8 warriors she faced in the ring however generally left battered and bruised, as Ashley started each match with the same ritual she had used when it had been Preston in the ring.

Emily was finally spent after the 9th match, her energy reserves nearly depleted from so many different weapons. Preston finally stepped into the ring, as it was now an hour past the standard time for breakfast to have started.

"Warriors of the Plain, we have witnessed a first in all of our years and preparations. Never before has a Protector arrived to us trained for battle. As such we must humbly honor her, and bless her departure from our great halls. We shall feast this evening, and on the morrow our future Queen shall embark on her journey!" he said to great cheers.

Emily was. ot aware of it yet, but Ashley and Brian had recorded the entire thing, and it woukd be uploaded for the world to see.