The Prophesied Luna (completed)

Three Holy Laws

Third Person POV

            “The werewolves of the State of Arkansas object to this malicious injury of our community. We have done nothing wrong and upheld the agreement of the first session of this Grand Tribunal. Witches in our States enjoy the same rights as werewolves and how is it fair to insult our generosity towards the covens and lone witches who have come out of the shadows? The redistribution of land and official allocation of land to covens and packs was a means to officially recognize the right of covens to reside on their allocated land, preventing anyone with ill intentions from attacking them!” The booming voice of the Arkansas werewolf representative echoed in the main hall of the former Council grounds and the man was red faced from his impassioned speech. 

            “Hear, hear!” shouted a few werewolf representatives after the aggrieved Arkansas werewolf representative took his seat again. Murmurs filled both sides of the aisle as werewolf representatives and witch representatives remained undecided on what they had just heard but the feelings on both sides were mutual. Everyone knew that the honeymoon period after the first convening of the Grand Tribunal had come to an end and the mutual accusations between the werewolf and witch representatives of the State of Arkansas was its death knell sounding. The accusations made by the witch representative of the State of Arkansas about werewolves using the guise of land distribution to force covens off their ancestral lands in Northern Ozark would explain why so many covens from Arkansas are fleeing the State and as its neighbor, the situation was evident to anyone with eyes in the State of Missouri. The former Council’s grounds were right in the middle of Missouri, making the situation especially intractable. All of the representatives had arrived at least the night before and anyone with eyes could see that the forested areas near the former Council’s grounds were now overpopulated as fleeing covens and witches tried to find available land to settle on. To refute the Arkansas witch representative’s accusations would be blatantly lying but to accept it without any proper investigations was like a slap on the face of the werewolf community of Arkansas. Even the members of the Werewolf Council had received a fair trial, if the Grand Tribunal acknowledged the accusations of the Arkansas witch representative without a formal investigation, it’d look like the scale of justice was unfairly tilting towards witches in general and that was something that no werewolf, regardless of which State they were from, wanted to see. 

            It was clear to the leaders of the Alliance seated at the front of the hall that the situation was spiralling out of control as sporadic accusations were thrown across the aisle and they knew that they needed to say something before things spun out of control. 

            “I have something to say, if I may?.” An old lady with snow white hair asked in a soft but firm voice as she stood up gingerly. The leaders of the Alliance exchanged looks with one another and nodded their approval. Everyone was worried that further exchanges between the werewolf and witch representatives would escalate the situation but not allowing a witch representative to speak right after an accusation of defamation from a werewolf representative also would not inspire confidence within the witch community in the effectiveness of this Grand Tribunal. 

            “My name is Willa Davidson and I represent the State of Illinois. As you all know, my State does not border the State of Arkansas but it is close enough that if our sisters were fleeing the injustice in Arkansas, our State would not be unaware of it. And to date, I have not received reports from covens regarding unusual activities around their lands and I dare to ask my counterpart, werewolf representative of Illinois, Alpha Lewis, to corroborate my statement.” 

            Without hesitation, a burly middle aged man stood up from across the aisle to deliver one simple statement. “I’m Alpha Lewis of the Big River Pack and werewolf representative of the State of Illinois. I confirm the statement of my counterpart, representative Davidson.” Before the werewolf representative of Illinois had even taken his seat, the main hall was in an uproar as some voices called for an investigation into the state of affairs in Arkansas while others called for justice and some voiced the need for restraint and understanding. 

            “That’s enough!” roared Alpha Walker of the Erie Lake Pack, the largest Pack in the country. He was also the oldest amongst the werewolf leaders of the Sacred Alliance and after the first convening of the Grand Tribunal, he was elected by all 11 leaders to be the leader of the werewolf packs represented in the Sacred Alliance. Immediately, the hall of representatives fell silent and everyone looked to Alpha Walker, hopeful for a decision aligned with their interests. “My brothers and sisters, we gather here today as children of the Moon Goddess to search for common ground so that we may live side by side in peace, so that our children may live as the Moon Goddess intended us to. Do not insult the memory of those who have sacrificed their lives over the centuries and in the battle against the Werewolf Council to lead us to where we are today.” Hearing no objections or renewed murmurings in the hall, Alpha Walker walked to the middle of the aisle and appealed to the representatives in the hall.

            “Six moons ago, we fought the good fight and uncovered the truth of the past on this very grounds. The work to impound the Council’s possessions was just completed before our meeting and I welcome all of you to take a look at the evidence that a team made up of werewolves and witches from all over the country have collected. I know that centuries of lies cannot be undone overnight and for those who doubt the version of history that Brenna of the Tahoe Coven recounted, I understand you but I implore you to look at the evidence with your own eyes before making judgement. I know also that centuries of persecution and discrimination cannot be forgiven overnight and I don’t want to insult your intelligence by assuring you that the beliefs and prejudice that led to them will disappear overnight. In this hall are werewolves and witches of all States, representatives of diverse backgrounds representing diverse interests. I stand here today to ask of you to lay down our differences and focus on our common grounds so that we may forge a lasting peace. I ask of you to make official the equal status of all of the Moon Goddess children by pledging your State’s support to enshrine this into law for both werewolves and witches. I ask of you to make it official that all of the Moon Goddess’s children were created equal by using real actions to promote equality and respect in your States. I ask of you to honor our forefathers by dedicating yourselves to the cause of our Creator so that those who have sacrificed for this cause shall not have died in vain and that our communities, with the blessing of the Moon Goddess, shall have a new birth of freedom and peace.”  

            Alpha Walker’s moving speech was met with a deafening silence and uneasiness rose in the hearts of the alliance leaders until one by one, representatives on both sides of the aisle stood up to show their support for the Alpha. The standing ovation stunned the alliance leaders but they were thankful that again, another step towards progress had been made. Finally, with the support of all representatives gathered, a set of laws governing both werewolves and witches could be written and passed. In order to ensure maximum support, only laws with unanimous support from the representatives could be passed. It was no easy feat but in the end, after three days of heated debates, the Grand Tribunal finally settled on the three holy laws for all children of the Moon Goddess:

            All children of the Moon Goddess were created equal and enjoy equal rights in this world. The children of the Moon Goddess shall not intentionally harm humans, unless it was for self-defense. All crimes committed by werewolves or witches against their own communities shall be prosecuted by the governing bodies of their own kind, but crimes committed against the other community or crimes against the peace between the Moon Goddess’ children shall be prosecuted by the Grand Tribunal.              With the three holy laws in place, it was agreed upon that the grievances brought forth by the witch representative and werewolf representative of the State of Arkansas would be formally investigated by a task force put together by the Grand Tribunal. In the interest of transparency and fairness, the task force would be democratically chosen by the Grand Tribunal and consist of six werewolves and six witches. The task force would be given six months to conduct their investigation and could apply for more time after this deadline if necessary. Upon the conclusion of their investigations, their findings would be presented before the Grand Tribunal and a verdict would be handed out. As the second convening of the Grand Tribunal came to a close, there was renewed optimism in the supernatural world that the new order is here to stay and that the new reality could only get better and better.