By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 48

When the last sun-rays of the day kiss the heathland, when the greens and purples melt into grey under the moonlight, that's when the warren empties and the rabbits are out to forage and play. They move slowly, lolloping in their ungainly way, grazing as they go. At the slightest noise they're up on their hind legs, black eyes staring in more directions than we predator animals can. Sometimes I watch them for a while, just because I need to eat, it doesn't mean I don't appreciate nature. Dusk comes to bring us moonlight, to the time of reflection upon the day passed and awaiting day to be renewed by the light of the sun. It is when the birds sing goodnight until the stars bid them to dream under-wing. Each hue deepens in noble solemnity, finding unity in the night.

Rhea woke up to find that she had not drunk the chamomile tea that had been left for her but she felt much rejuvenated than she had felt in the afternoon. But then she had return home and she knew that Lukas would be waiting for her. It was the first day of school and he would want to hear everything that had happened.

The night rolled over bringing a threat of a storm. Light was covered by the rapidly falling night. The bright blue sky transformed into an ocean of blackness. Shimmering stars illuminated the moonless, jet black sky, as if to remind us that even in darkness there is still light. The air was still and heavy, thick clouds covered half sky. A cool breeze swept the alienated street. Owls swept silently overhead. Even shadows were swallowed by the encroaching darkness. Rhea was not someone who was afraid of the dark or something like that because darkness was her element after all. She was a predator by nature but she did not realize that it would be dark so early.

The warm bronze sunlight was swallowed by the horizon. The bright sunny day engulfed in darkness. A beautiful darkness. A darkness where my laughter lines illuminated and seemed to turn from creaks to craters as I smiled at the scintillating moon. The cold night tired me and I closed my eyes. Somewhere in the distance an owl sounded, awakening the nocturnal nature. The lustrous, dancing stars glinted in the sky, brightening it even more. I feel there is no such thing as darkness, as long as the moon is iridescently shining and the stars gleam above me, I am never completely in darkness. The nightfall brought a welcome coolness to the land after the sultry day. Momma described it as like 'the breath of God after the fires of a hellish day, soothing us to sleep like a lullaby - refreshing our souls for a new journey in the morn.'

Thinking about her caused Rhea to think that how could such a God fearing and loving woman turn into such a monster within the span of a few hours. Murder was never fun and it was certainly not taught to them. They were taught to hunt for need and not for the sake of their own pleasure. But then killing someone not by accident but in full consciousness was something that no one could ever come to terms with when it came to their own parents. Rhea knew that Leah was not her birth mother but she had always known her as her own and Leah had never differentiated between her own child and the child of someone else. After all these years of staying here, forgetting her life as a Dark Sorceress and leading it as a wolf how could she take the life of an innocent and sacrifice it just to get back her powers Rhea still could not fathom.

She had thought that she would change into her wolf and run back home but then she decided against it. She had thought a walk through the forest would cool off her head and give her some time to think about everything that had been happening in the past few days. Lukas also had been seeming a bit off from last night. Rhea knew that he had a lot to deal with along with the prophecies and quests and coming in terms with his powers which were Dark Powers of magic and at the least she had a place where she could come and learn things about the family from which she hailed from but her brother did not even have that luxury.

In this nature's hug of ever open arms of brown, cozy beneath the canopy of greens, there is a welcoming spirit that calls. It is as if there is something in me the trees can feel and they chatter to it, my intuition perhaps. There is a softness to the woodland floor, to the moss that supports and springs back. The woodland is the birdsong, it is the playful light and it is the serenity of time that flows without the clocks of man. From the beech trees tumble golden leaves, even though each canopy appears so green. They come as if scattered by a happy child, surfing upon a gentle breeze. To walk through them is a joy, a nature given serenity. And in those moments, those living photographs, I am at peace. Of all the things on this woodland walk, it is the acorns I love best. They lie cold on the soil, bright against the dark rain soaked ground. Their shells glisten with drops poised to run home to earth, sitting proud on the impervious shell. They are every childhood tale, every meal for Squirrel Nutkin, the embodiment of fall. On my kitchen window sill sits a bowl of acorns from last season, dried and several hues more dull than these. With the bounty of the woodland tucked safe in my pocket I turn to take the path home.

But suddenly I felt a presence near me. And my nose told me that it was Meron who was following me. I sighed inwardly, I had thought that after that huge Oak Boy had told him off he would understand that he was not welcome and he would know his place and stop bothering me but it seemed that being the son of someone from the Elder’s Council had given him the idea that he could get away with doing anything. But he would find out tonight that every action had an equal and opposite reaction. And in my case it would much more than equal. It would be worse for him.

I did not even care for that piece of s**t but then it was night and I was in my human form and not wolf, so I was a bit out of my element and in this land of trees he was always in his. I had decided that I would not change and take my time in enjoying my way back home but it seemed that fate was against my leisure. I did not even pause as I started opening my clothes and then bundling them up in the small wrapper that I always had in my pocket for times like this. I could hear the snap of the twig behind me very close to my heels and I jumped up in the air changing into wolf with the bundle safely hanging on my throat.

I stood before Meron in my wolf form. Strangely enough, people think that a girl who has a petite figure would be also small when it comes to the size of the animal but I was almost equal to Lukas’s wolf when it came to my Amelia. I thought that I was lucky to be bigger but then I came to know that the Druid genes in me were responsible for my size. And I was damn lucky, I thought when I saw the fear in eyes of Meron as I growled at him.

He had thought that he would take me by surprise and then beat me up but my wolf form surprised him. He had never thought that I would turn and then attack him. Amelia, my wolf was a fierce creature. And she had taken a disliking to Meron from the very beginning. And now he had sealed his coffin by coming after her and trying to attack her.

“I am sorry….” Shrieked Meron as Amelia swiped her paw on his leg. It was a huge gash from which greenish and brownish sap started woozing immediately.

“I am sorry Rhea…I did not mean to scare you at all…I wanted to talk to you…I wanted to….” Meron was saying things which he did not believe in and rhea could very well understand that now he was in danger and he realized that he had taken a different approach. But Amelia was not in a state where she would either kill or maim him for life and she was not going to settle for anything less.

All the debts that you have gained for yourself needs to be paid in blood. They were taught this in the Blood Moon pack from the very beginning and this was something Rhea firmly believed in. Destiny and Fate was all in their hands and depended on their actions and Rhea had given this worthless piece of s**t more than enough chances to apologize but he had not taken her words carefully and now he was going to pay the price of his actions by blood. It did not matter if she could not go to that Academy again but teaching him a lesson was more than necessary.

Rhea was trying not to stare at his nose but she kept finding her eyes had diverted to it. One moment they were obediently on his red-rimmed eyes and the next they were rested on the bloody mess that had been a perfectly ordinary nose only hours before; so ordinary in fact that she could not recall what it had looked like. After slashing him and beating him for good Rhea knew that it was more than enough to keep him in the bed for a few months. After all the venom from the nails of the wolf would not have affected any ordinary tree but in case of Druids it was thoroughly different.

Rhea changed back into her human form and wore her clothes back in a brief moment with the dexterity which would surprise even the fastest robots.

“You should have picked someone of your own size Meron. You should have known that your Mother had called me here for a reason and seeing that you have attacked me first thing in the morning and tried to humiliate me in front of the entire class I am pretty much correct in beating you up. Be thankful that I did not tear away your throat. Go and get your wounds checked up before the venom attacks your sap stream and you become paralyzed,” said Rhea in her normal voice and then she walked back to her home skipping through the rest of the path.

She was happy that she had been able to punish the perpetrator. And she was even happier when she found that her brother was cooking the barbecue in their yard. She yelped at the sight and her mouth started watering at the smell of the marinated chicken pieces on the coal.