The Rise of Lunar's Light (The Story Before Mateless)

Guinevere’s Pov:

“My Queen, the wolves found our location,” the voice called through the silence of the cool night air, waking me from my slumber. “How long until they are upon us?” I demanded. “Guardian, my best calculation is that they will reach us this afternoon,” the scout panted.

“Take rest, I will inform the Queen,” I ordered. The bright, cold glare of the moon drew my attention.

I couldn’t help but wonder if worshiping two Goddesses was the wrong thing to do. Since their joining, we were under constant attack.

“My Queen,” I announced myself before kneeling at the side of her bed. Alarmed, she bolted awake, her cold eyes locked on me. “Guardian, why did you awaken me?” she hissed.

“A scout has returned; the wolves found us. We will be under attack by mid-day,” I relayed the message. “Are you sure?” my queen asked, pulling the furs off of her.

“The scout was absolute,” I replied. “Leave me, I need to consort with the Goddesses,” she demanded. I bowed before I took my leave.

My heart hammered against my chest, and I tried to collect my thoughts and breathing. Was this the day we were waiting for? We were the Amazon’s. The favored people of the Goddesses, so favored that the Woman’s own sons lived amongst us.

Although I was not sure what this young Alpha thought he was proving by attempting to destroy us. As we endured hardships longer than any wolf realized. We would remain long after they reverted to their primal ancestors. Or we would, as we did to so many others before, destroy them.

Nevertheless, my Queen worried about this Alpha, something about a fate we couldn’t deny. But we were Amazon’s. We were stronger than the strongest man, faster and smarter than any wolf. I waited outside my Queen’s tent for orders.

“Guardian, send for the Elders,” the Queen commanded me through our mind’s bond. “Your will be done,” I replied, stripping down to shift. While the sons of the Goddess lived with us, they kept to themselves.

I couldn’t deny the urgency in my Queen’s voice. This was no ordinary meeting. There was far more to this than I knew. “Children of the Goddess, my Queen requires your council,” I announced my arrival, and entered their domain.

“What is it, Guardian?” the youngest asked. He appeared to be no older than 20 years on this earth. Although something told me he was far older than we realized.

As quickly as I could, I explained all which happened up to now. A few of the Elders awoke as I relayed the night’s events.

“We will leave for your Queen’s quarters immediately,” he growled, kicking some of the still sleeping men awake.

Within minutes, we ran towards my queen. Something in the air felt heavy and damp with the approaching dawn. Consequently, some servants awoke from the commotion of the night’s events.

One young girl caught my eye as she ran errands for her mother. She was a servant of the Coven. The young girl wasn’t more than 3 or 4 years old.

How were we to manage with all these non-warriors? At one time, the Amazons were all one force. But now we were mixed and expected to protect those who could not protect themselves.

Together we burst into the Queen’s chambers. Only to discover her face was somber and ashen. “Come Guardian, there is much to discuss,” she said.

I kneeled to her, crossing my right arm across my chest. Before I took my position next to my Queen, I realized the atmosphere was grim. From the expressions on the faces across the room, none carried a spark of hope.

“But my Queen, we could meet with the son of the former Alpha of Shadow’s Light. And do our best to persuade him once more, that this is the will of the Goddesses,” the young elder insisted with fire and passion in his voice.

“Especially since we know their location, we could run out and meet them. If they still choose to continue their advance, then we will call upon the coven to move those that require protection,” he insisted.

“No Elder, the Goddesses have spoken. We will ride out and meet the wolves head on. We are to be the start of their punishment. This is our Goddesses’ will,” My Queen said dryly.

“A wise choice, my Queen,” the older elder bowed, earning a weak smile from my Queen. “First, start the evacuations of those with small children.” My queen’s eyes fell on to me, filled with hurt. “And make sure the coven erases our true numbers.”

“We all have our roles to play. We must use haste in order to complete our tasks,” the Queen whispered. “I dismiss you.”

I was raised to serve the Queen from childhood. Even then, we were the best of friends. In all that time I’ve known her, I’ve not seen her so distraught. Her pain hurt me nearly as much as it hurt her.

“Wait,” she whispered, grabbing my arm. Her eyes pleading. “How may I serve my Queen?” I asked, taking a knee. Carefully, I took her hands in mine, giving them a gentle squeeze, hoping to comfort her and her unknown pain.

“My dear Guardian, you’ve been my most loyal friend and lover. You even forsaken a male mate in favor of our brief encounters. Further more, you accepted my choice to take a male lover without question. For this, I have never told you how grateful I am. You’ve always been my rock,” she confessed, tears flowed down her cheeks.

“You know, to serve you is my honor. As always, I live to serve my Queen in any capacity I can.” I bowed, kissing her cheeks to take away her tears.

My love peered up at me while chewing on her lips. Her eyes showed something conflicted within her. Gently, I placed my hand on her cheek, guiding her lips to my own. Her soft lips pressed against mine and she wrapped her arms around me.

Her lips parted, allowing me to taste her. As my tongue explored her mouth, she moaned softly. Needing more, I pulled her tighter to me, deepening our kiss. I poured all my love for her into this moment, praying to the Goddesses she felt every ounce I possessed.

Before long, she pulled away from me, our arms still holding one another. As she rested her head against mine, she whispered, “Guinevere, what I tell you must never be spoken to anyone.”

“Your will is my life, Hellena. I promise I will never utter a word,” I vowed.

Her hand brushed softly against my cheek, her eyes studied my face intently. My love struggled against the tears which threatened to escape her beautiful eyes.

“The Goddesses do not mean for us to live through this battle. You, me and almost 100 of our warriors, well, we are being sent to be slaughtered in order to save our kind.” she linked. My eyes locked to hers, unsure how to handle the news she just delivered.

“Promise me when the moment comes, you run. Leave the battle. I do not want to die, knowing I led you to your death,” she pleaded. Overwhelmed by her hurt, I left a trail of kisses from her cheek to her neck, inhaling her scent deeply.

“It is my place to die with you.” I reminded her. “No,” she snapped. “Promise you will run. That you will live. Find the love that I could never give you, but always wanted to.”

I peered into her eyes, brushing some stray hairs away from her face. “You are the Queen, and our people expect you to produce an heir. I’ve always accepted this. None of it changes what it is I am meant to do,” I explained, not wanting to live a moment without her.

“Guinevere, please! I am begging you,” she pleaded. Frustrated, I closed my eyes and mulled over her words before her hands were in my hair. “Your will be done, my Queen,” I sighed. “Thank you,” she whispered, pulling me into an embrace.

“I must gather your warriors. Also, I must help the children of the Goddess evacuate the weak,” I whispered.

“Go, I will be out shortly once I can regain myself. Thank you, Guinevere,” she smiled weakly, standing to brush herself off.

Understanding what I needed to do, I bowed before taking my leave. The calm of her tent hid the panic and chaos which was currently engulfing the village.

“Good, you are here, Guardian. How does your Queen fare?” the young Elder asked, his face written with worry. “She holds strong as always, son of the moon. As she has always been the strongest of us all,” I spat. “Even the strongest waver from time to time,” he replied.

“We must report to Gretchen and the Goddesses,” he commanded. Annoyed, I gave him a weak smile as I hated any orders which came not from my Queen. But seeing as our Goddesses joined forces, I needed to respect their plan. I followed them begrudgingly.

“Goddesses, what orders do you have?” I inquired, bowing before them. “Guardian, assist the priestess with the immediate evacuations. Timothy, you are to come with me for the moment. We are ready to share a little with you,” the Woman ordered.

“By your orders, Goddess,” I answered, before running to the farthest reaches of our village to assist the witch.

Time flew faster than it should have. By the middle of the morning, most of our tribe made their way to Gretchen to be evacuated.

“Amethyst?” a shrill voice cried. “Amethyst? Where have you gone?” The desperate voice rang out next to me. I grabbed the servant by the arm and forced her to face me.

“Why are you not with the rest of your people? Who is this, Amethyst?” I demanded.

The young woman was the same I saw this morning, gathering water for the coven. My heart dropped at the realization of who Amethyst might be.

“Oh, Guardian, Amethyst is my daughter. She is only 4. She was in my arms when someone knocked me to the ground and I lost her in all the panic. I can’t leave without my child,” she bawled.

“Go, I will find her before I head for battle,” I sighed. Although I didn’t know why, but something in my heart told me I needed find this child.

The girl’s mother looked as if she was about to say something, but I growled, dismissing her. She hung her head and fled to where the tribe was being portal out by the witch.

I glanced around at the shambles which remained of our homeland. Where in the Goddesses’ name did this child wander off to?