Servant of the Moon #1 - unedited draft

Months later...

A familiar voice spoke to Delilah. Her mother.

’Two moons move together as one moon moves away.

Opposite paths traveled every night, and every day.

Three moons shining around a temple here,

Under the clock of the stars turning near.

Three moons changing, waxing to waning, from bright to pale.

Two tidal mirrors under heaven’s dancing veil,

A secret kept safe should the fires prevail .′

Del saw herself standing on an island, green veils of the aurora borealis danced overhead. A moon above and two moons below. The constellations turned in their clock around the north star almost overhead, just like they always had behind her mother’s head. Del had not seen or heard her mother in a vision since the day they had arrived at the Eye of the Goddess. Del missed her and hearing her voice today made the ache return.

‘Go northwest, my daughter, beyond the Gate.

Seek what I could not and change our people's Fate.’

Delilah strode through the Eye of the Goddess with Louis and Kaiyou on her heels. The anger she felt barely contained in her skin, her wolf howling for blood at being denied what she had been compelled to do.

“I am sorry, Delphi, but we cannot let you leave the Temple. Not with Oracles being found dead in packs across the land. The number of oracles known to be left outside of the Temples is less than 10 now. If their own packs cannot protect them, I will not risk you on another wild chase around the world,” Kaiyou growled.

“I agree with the chief Protector, it is not safe for you to travel, Delphi. Not even between the Temples, until we can figure who is killing oracles and how,” Louis agreed.

“We know who, that damned Sunwolf and his followers.” Delilah snarled. “I need to go to the Gate and verify something I found in the Archives, something my mother showed me in a vision.”

“No.” Kaiyou folded his arms over his chest. “Esther is close to there, send her.”

“I can’t,” Del snapped.

“And why not, Delphi? She is a Wanderer, if she is injured or killed, the risk is acceptable,” Louis tries to sound calm but Delilah suddenly had the urge to slap him. She knew he hated her sister, but it almost seemed like he wanted Essie harmed.

“Esther and Zane are trying to find the Witch’s bane-totems that are hindering the four oracles of the eastern packs, the missing packs, and they are to join grandpapa in the Appalachians to see what has driven an Alpha to the point of insanity. I will not interrupt their work. I need to go to the Gate myself. Kaiyou, find a way to make it happen, I want Leon to meet us there. Louis, I am going to get some sleep, then I will see the next four petitioners,” she shouted at them, slamming the door to her rooms.

She had been seeking visions constantly since the bane-totems around the Eye had been discovered and destroyed. She was obsessed with reconnecting wolves with their Goddess. She was working herself and her oracles to the point of exhaustion.

Louis rubbed his forehead, “Do you know what this is about, Protector?”

“I do not, Coordinator. But if the Moon has spoken to the Delphi, who are we to question it.” The giant Shogunate wolf turned on his heel and strode away; unnervingly quiet for a person of his bulk.

Louis put his hand on the outside of her door and sighed, “Soon this will all be behind us, my love, I promise. And then you will be rested and happy again.”

Leon listened carefully as Delilah described the sky and landscape, she saw in her vision. Kaiyou and Ketsu had not been happy when they had landed in Montreal, only to get in Leon’s small, cramped plane with pontoons to fly north to the house Luca had built for Delilah. Leon and Delilah stood out by the edge of the water, pointing at the sky. Kaiyou shook his head; Delilah was by far the most headstrong oracle he had ever protected, even worse than her mother Tamaza. On the flight, Delilah had described the vision and the vague archive references to a hidden temple only referred to as the place of three moons. It was a place her mother and great-great-great grandmother had seen. At least, she didn’t want to go looking for the mysterious temple of the sun-worshipers that the vampire had told her about... yet...

Ketsu came to stand beside his brother. “Do you think we’ll find it? This lost temple?”

“It is the Delphi’s desire, little brother.” They stood in silence for several minutes. “You are thinking about her.”

Ketsu made a disgruntled sound, “There is never a day in which I do not think about her, especially when I am in the presence of her sister.”

“She only wishes to avoid what she has seen. Esther is not like other oracles,” Kaiyou reminds gently.

“I am a Shogunate and a Protector. If I die, it is my honor. But I will not refuse to live,” Ketsu walked away into the darkness and Kaiyou sighed heavily. To bend the will of a determined female’s heart was like trying to bend a silver-wrapped iron bar. It could only be done slowly, painfully, and with great determination. Females would do anything to protect those they loved, and oracles had stronger wills than most.

The small water plane landed on a double lake and coasted to a stop on the shore. The smell of moonlight was unmistakable. Four wolves walked around on an island located in the western lake. From the top of the ridge, Del looked out on the day image of her vision. They were here, now where was the temple? For hours they scoured the island that was so much like the island the Gate was located on. They were about to give up when Ketsu fell through planks into a cave that wasn’t a cave at all. The mine shaft led to a large underground complex, complete with living quarters, primitive wood fueled kitchens, and deep below, thermal caves for bathing and heating rooms above. The eerie part was, no wolf had ever lived here, no one had ever lived here. The place had been built and abandoned. The only clue was a plaque carved into a wall that simply read.

’Should the fires rise, the seers and servants shall be preserved.

Delphi Eva Eshuani of Benjmin-Naphtal, 1880.′

While Delilah slept, Leon, Kaiyou, and Ketsu spoke in low tones.

“I think we can agree this place must be rebuilt,” Kaiyou declared.

“But it will be difficult, no one must know or the place of sanctuary will be compromised,” Leon said. “My family and I shall do it.”

“I do not think this should be a permanent place for the Delphi, it is too isolated. The Delphi needs to be accessible to all wolves. What if this was a place meant for the archives and acolytes?” Ketsu suggested.

“The Oracles of the Moon must be preserved. If the rise of the Sunwolf comes to the whole of the world as Esther and Delilah fear, then this place should suffice until his power wanes. This should be the refuge of last resort. The Delphi and her sister can always hide among the packs or in the refuge of the Augur Vampyr, but I know the Delphi will never agree to abandon those loyal to the Moon to save herself,” Kaiyou declared confidently.

They spend the hours until dawn discussing the purpose of this place and what it could mean if the war against the Sun-worshipers goes poorly. It is a terrible thought, but it is the duty of the Servants to prepare for the worst and pray for a boon.

Essie rolled over and lifted herself up in the bed. She lit a cigarette, and drew a long slow breath. Zane snored softly beside her. He was a handsome wolf, skin the color of an espresso, short dark hair that curled crazily if it grew longer than a half an inch, and eyes the color of the ring around the moon on an autumn night. His Moon marks barely visible against the darkness of his flesh. He was beautiful, devoted, strong, and had stamina for days, but he wasn’t Ketsu. She sighed heavily, slipping out from under his thick arm and dressing quickly.

Outside, she could hear the pack coming alive. The small lumber town of Darkwood was the center of a group of loosely connected packs. The Alphas were all cousins and it was a tight knit group until they had a visitor last month. Their oracle had sent the Delphi a very distressing letter and so now Esther, Eliazar, and Zane were here investigating.

Two doors down from the hotel, her grandpapa was sitting in the cafe, enjoying coffee and a werewolf sized breakfast of steak and eggs. Esther sat down and ordered waffles and bacon, coffee and hot chocolate.

“Zane?”

“Sleeping.”

“Mmmm.” Eliazar hummed knowingly. His eldest granddaughter had a voracious appetite for life and pleasure, especially since she had begun seeing the horror of her future during the coming war.

“Don’t start, Grandpapa. I haven’t even had coffee yet,” she growled.

“Esther, when are you going to stop assuming that I am judging you? The only wolf I ever disagreed with you being intimate with was Louis. My wolf has never fully trusted him because he is hopelessly in love with your sister and she will never be able to love him back.” He wiped his plate with a slice of sourdough toast.

“Is that why you lied to him about her never being able to take another mate?” Essie stirred cream and sugar into the bitter darkness that energized her mornings. In truth, she hated the taste and smell of coffee as much as she hated her cigarettes, but she needed them or her brain just shut down and refused to function around the constant humming buzz that had existed since the night their pack fell. Her waffles came three deep and layered with whipped cream, bacon, and maple syrup. It was a mountain of golden crispy goodness and fluffy white creaminess than melted her taste buds into bliss. The waitress, an older she-wolf smiled at Eliazar as she refilled his coffee, ignoring Essie’s empty cup completely before she walked away.

Essie snorted in amusement, pointing a fork of waffle at the waitress’s retreating back. “You should tap that.”

Eliazar coughed amused, then rolled the deep sapphire eyes that ran in the lineage of the Naphtal, “I will not be ‘tapping’ anything, granddaughter. We have a meeting with three of the Alphas at 10AM. Eat your waffles quickly.”

“There is no eating this quickly, I am gonna savor every bite,” she grinned around another mouthful. But she did hurry as her grandfather asked. This meeting was too important to miss but then again her breakfast was too good not to savor.

Eliazar watched the recorded images three times. The male entered the office with a pale woman at his side, they spoke but about what they did not know, there was no audio. The visitor offered a gift of a very expensive looking bottle of alcohol, which they opened and shared then the Alpha and Beta both collapsed. The pale woman poured something into each of their mouths and appeared to be whispering over them while the male who came with her watched. They stood swaying, moments later they shook the visitor’s hands as if nothing had happened.

“And no one else knows what happened or who these two were?” Eliazar asked.

“No, Wanderer.” The oldest wolf answered. Five wolves waited for answers.

“Where are they now?” Eliazar inquired.

“We had to put them in the cells, when we and the packs voted against the alliance with the brown-furs they both began threatening and attacking those who decided nay, then they attacked Aunt Mila,” the youngest responded. “Please Wanderer, what did they do to my father and brother?”

“Esther?” Eliazar turned his head toward her and she resisted the urge to groan, she should have known this was the reason he brought her here.

“I need to go to the place where it happened,” she said quietly.

She was lead down the hall to a very masculine office, dark wood furnishings and floors, only a small window above a bookcase. She reached up and tugged the blinds. Sprinkling a salt circle on the floor, she placed her mirror in the center.

The young sable-haired Alpha watched her carefully, “You’re an oracle and a wanderer?”

“Not exactly,” she answered, stripping and laying her clothes on a couch. “Keep the door closed and no one comes in, no matter what you hear. Okay, uhh?”

“Kurt. My name is Kurt. Please be careful, Wanderer, whatever happened to my uncle and cousin was something of great evil. They never would have attacked our family or our pack.” His handsome face was lined with worry and something else as he looked her over.

“I am just looking; I won’t be walking the Tides. Now please, close the door.”

Essie didn’t want to do this but they needed to know what happened in this room. She lit the candle and placed it next to her mirror, she let herself drift, watching the candle in the mirror. In its flame reflected, she saw the pale woman pouring something into the throats of the Alpha and his eldest son, Essie watched their minds turn against themselves destroying the wolves they had been and she knew only death would free them. The witch who did it, turned and looked at her with burning eyes.

The witch smiled as if she could see her. Essie tried to turn away but couldn’t, her mate came up behind the witch. He pressed his lips into her forehead in a chaste kiss, ‘Mother, what do you see?’

‘I see the one you seek, in the place your father and I left only two weeks ago, my son.’ The witch never looked away from Esther, ‘Wait there, daughter. He shall come for you when he comes to harvest those wolves who defy us.’

Esther clenched her fists, ‘Are you going to kill them the way you killed those from the pack of the one he sent to kill me.’

The witch smiled, as her mate rubbed his hands on his mother's shoulders, ‘A misunderstanding, daughter. We did send the remedy to heal you, did we not?’

‘You tried to kill my sister and nearly killed me.’ Esther hissed resentfully then she demanded, ‘What did you do to the Alpha and his son?’

‘Only what will happen to all those who defy us. Our God will not be denied, he has waited too long to reclaim what the Goddesses took from him.’ The witch cooed in a soothing tone, ‘It is your destiny to bear the first generation of his followers in this new age. Your sons will rule this world with their father, you cannot escape us forever. Come to us, child, make things easier on yourself and surrender. We do not wish to hurt you or those you love, but we will.’

Fire surrounded Esther and smoke choked her. She looked around and once again saw her grandfather and Ketsu dead. The temple was burning around her. She was the only survivor as the flames became chains, holding her between the columns while burning wolves without souls stalked around her then ran out across the land burning all they touched. Her belly swollen, contracted painfully and she screamed as the child burst forth, in a gush of water and blood. It rolled over and looked up at her with burning soulless eyes and grinned with a mouthful of pointy teeth. Far away, her grandfather shouted her name and the roar of the Tides washed over her.

Esther jerked away from the mirror and candle. Eliazar was sitting on the couch next to her clothes; Zane was standing by the door, watching her worriedly. They both knew what horrors she saw when she waded the Tides. They both know of the evil she saw in her mate and future.

Her grandfather leaned forward and holds out a tissue to wipe away her tears with. “What did you see, granddaughter?”

She pulled her shirt over her head violently. When she looked up, Esther’s eyes were haunted, “Because they know I am here, the Sunwolf and his witches are coming for this pack. We have to get them away and to safety. They have to leave now!”

Zane growled fiercely, but Eliazar held up his hand. “There is no time; we do not have the numbers nor the resources to resist an attack from them at this time. Dress quickly, I will inform the Alphas. What of those the witch drove mad?”

A tear ran down Esther’s cheek as she pulled her pants on, sitting to tuck the cuffs in her boots. “The witch corrupted their mind and flesh, trapping their soul and wolves. They will always be this way, they need to be put down so they can go to the Moon and know peace.”

Eliazar nodded. With a determined expression, he announced, “First, we evacuate these wolves, and then we going to meet your sister at the Gate. She thinks she found something.”