Romancing Moon

Prologue- The Legend of Vermont

Hundreds of years ago, deep in the woods there was a village called bledsian. Rumor has it that it is blessed by the moon and got its name because of a sacrifice. The story goes like this.

The chief of the village had a pretty daughter named Amarise, a brave girl with a love for justice. One morning she went into the woods to look for a precious herb. She wanted to give it to her best friend, Zyrah, who was a herbalist.

Amarise was determined to not return an empty hand and kept searching. She tried for hours and as the sun began to set she unknowingly had ventured deep into the forest. On one such trail, she saw a white wolf lying under a willow tree. She was captured by its ethereal beauty. To her, the pristine fur seemed to glow.

Her state of amazement was broken when she heard a painful whimper. She was startled and realized later that it was the wolf. Slowly she moved towards the animal, crooning softly. Thankfully she had come prepared. With the help from the oil lamp she carried, she could see her way through the wild grass.

At snail's speed, after what felt like an eternity, she was close enough to see the ground where the wolf was resting. It was stained dark with blood. She let out a startled gasp. It pained her heart to see how mangled one of the hind legs of the wolf was. The wolf has its eyes closed but as soon as she was within the reach Amarise realized what a foolish decision she could have made.

There are ways to approach a hurt animal. She chided herself for being stupid. Gazing into those shining orbs she seemed to saw her reflection. She was afraid that any second now the wolf would pounce on her and this would become her last breath.

But she did not regret it. As Amarise waited for the inevitable to happen, time kept flowing, after a while, she realized that her wild imagination did not come true.

She let out a sigh and then put her hand in the cloth sack she has been carrying the whole day. When her hand hit the familiar bottles she took them out. One has water and the other contained herbal salve that her friend has made. Her hands did not shake as she tended to the wound.

She has done it numerous times. Sometimes the patient was herself while other times she was helping Zyrah. She had to thank her friend for drilling the basics into her mind. All the while the wolf did not utter any other sound.

Amarise was amazed.

She felt that the wolf could read her, the gaze felt too humane to say otherwise. When she was all done she looked at her work. The cloth was neatly wrapped. She was sure Zyrah would have praised her. The sun had gone down a while ago and it was already night.

Amarise sighed that it turned out this way. But nonetheless, she had helped a wounded animal. She was satisfied for the time being. She took out the last of her supper, it was pork stripes. She left them there in front of the wolf and left.

When she reached home, people were searching all over the place apparently, looking out for her. Her safe return brought relief to her parents but then she was confined in her room for three days. After eating supper Amarise relayed every little detail of her quest to Zyrah, both of them made a pact to go together to look for the wolf after her confinement period was over.

That night Amarise had a strange dream. She did not see the wolf but the place where the herb grew.

The very next day she told Zyrah about her dream. Both of them were excited to see if that would be true but they had to wait. Finally, after three days they went to the forest to look for the place. After a long search, they actually found it and the herb was also there. It grew there in abundance.