The Harvest Moon

The Full Moon

In folktales passed on from generation by generation, it is said that when a harvest moon rises on the night of Halloween, a cruel monster will rise from the depths of hell to claim a soul. Who would be its victim on this cruel night?

The sentinels sat by a campfire. Strix retold the story of the lycan, a beast who rose from the dead to claim souls on nights of a full moon. Kinessa dismissed the story of being a tale to keep children from wandering in the forest at night. Buck seemed frightened by the tale and suggested that they return to base instead of camping. Viktor seemed distracted and Tyra just glanced at the moon.

"You don't seriously believe that story... Do you Buck?" Kinessa taunted the older boyHe didn't try to justify his point but laughed awkwardly as he tried to draw Kinessa's attention from him. "What about Tyra. She hasn't said anything." Tyra ignored the two. The diversion seemed to work for Kinessa as she moved beside Tyra. "So Tyra... You afraid of werewolves?" "No beast scares me." She said as she turned her attention away from the moon. "Believe me or not. There are beasts out there who lurk on full moons." Strix sighed as he stood up. "I'm going back to base." He began to walk away. Buck jumped up. "I'm coming too!" Kinessa got up. "Come on Tyra." "Where did Viktor go?" The two girls looked around. "No idea. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be locked out of the base again." Kinessa ran after Buck and Strix.

"Where is Tyra?" Strix asked Kinessa. "I think she went to go find Viktor."

Tyra made a makeshift torch, picked up her rifle, and headed in the direction she last saw Viktor. She followed a trail of footprints until she found a piece of torn cloth. "Viktor?" She asked but got no response and she readied her rifle as she trailed forward. It began to storm. Her torch was extinguished by the rain. In the darkness, glowing blue eyes stared hungrily at the young girl. The creature howled as Tyra began to slowly step away from it. It pounced and tried to bite the girl, she blocked it with her rifle and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. The beast ripped apart her rifle like a beast does its prey and bolted after her.

The harvest moon that shone in the rainy sky was Tyra's only source of aid. She had no weapon or assistance. Most of her attention went toward not running into any of the aspen trees, though she knew the beast was close behind. Its paws thundered on the fallen leaves. The trees began to run out and Tyra came upon a hill, she was running too fast to slow down in time and she tumbled into thistle bushes. Scratches covered her body and face but she managed to grab a hold the grass to stop herself from falling down the steep hill. The wolfish beast wasn't so lucky. It fell down the hill and landed on the grass below. A pained yelp wrung through the forest and the injured beast laid on the ground unmovingly. The rain grew heavier and Tyra pulled herself back up the hill.

Once up the hill, Tyra turned to see if the beast was still there. With a flash of lightning, it disappeared and she headed back to base. Her uniform was torn and exhaustion radiated off of the blonde sentinel. She laid against a tree to rest.

And for a moment she did. Sinister laughter erupted from behind her, sending chills down her spine. "I came back to your realm for a soul. And I'm not leaving without one." Tyra grabbed a fistful of dirt as the beast prowled toward her. She threw dirt in his eyes, he knocked her into a different tree in annoyance with a swipe of a claw then tried to get the dirt out of his eyes. Tyra took the opportunity to run, adrenaline keeping the pain at bay.

Tyra saw the Sentinel base in the distance and used her remaining strength to get to the base. The rain thundered in her ears as she sped toward the base. The base's door opened as she arrived at the base and Strix slammed it shut when Tyra collapsed on the warm ground. "What happened?" Kinessa asked worried for her friend."Ly...lycan." The beast snarled and scratched at the door. Buck and Kinessa helped Tyra move to somewhere where they could safely tend to her wounds. Strix boarded up the door then followed the younger sentinels.

The beast stayed outside for several more hours until the sunrise began and the harvest moon faded away.