Moonstones

Safe Foot Path?

Derward and Lunette found the mountain Lunette saw in her vision after a twenty minute flight. With fluid grace, Derward ran from the sky, the connection of hooves to earth barely distinguishable. He slowed before Lunette dismounted, looking at her surroundings.

It was a very stereotypical, backwoods dirt road kind of place. On one side of the road were the mountains and wall of trees while the other was an empty field of daisies and dandylions. Birds chirped sweetly in the trees which swayed in the wind, creating a calming, whooshing sound. However, Lunette's stomach churned and she couldn't seem to settle down. Like a dog following the scent, Lunette bent low to the ground to feel some kind of pulse the moonstones gave off. Such a bright, pretty day was not beneficial to searching for moonstones whose power increased at night.

Derward followed quietly, keeping lookout. It was very silent and serene with a farm in the distance off the main road. The likelihood of interference was slim and tracking the moonstone-hunting duo from the air would be too impossible for anyone to have followed them, but the threat still lingered.

Lunette's head turned to the left. There was a break in the trees of what could either be an animal trail or a footpath created by humans to go exploring. Lunette blinked and saw young children curiously running up the hill, squealing with laughter. When she blinked, the vision disappeared and Lunette stood rapidly, almost losing her balance.

"You used the wisdom stone," Derward narrowed his eyes.

"I did?"

"You did not mean to?"

"No. I looked at that trail and suddenly two children between eight and eleven were happily running up the hill but they were dressed in raincoats and hats."

"And after that?"

"I don't know." Lunette was being honest. If she hadn't blinked, would the vision have lasted longer. Without hesitation, Lunette carefully squeezed between two bent branches as if it were a gateway into a magical land. "This feels funny."

Derward followed, head low to avoid the branches, nearly poking Lunette in the back. Lunette felt as if she needed to keep cautious while climbing higher in the unknown terrain. It seemed as if the path hadn't been used in a while as tufts of grass and weeds sprouted in the center of the narrow trail.

"I think we should stay on the path," Derward spoke as a warning instead of a suggestion. "I do not trust this place."

"Me neither," Lunette swallowed nervously suddenly seeing the two children chase one another with sticks further up with carefree expressions. The path looked more worn down in the vision.

"Stop using the wisdom stone. It is not safe to use it so frequently."

"Then teach me," Lunette stopped, turning precariously to face the blue buck. "It's just happening. I blink and the children are there, then I blink again and they're gone."

"I hoped this would not happen," Derward sighed, closing his eyes. "Each moonstone has a bit of its own will in it, as if it is an entity. That weak consciousness is not the stone's itself but part of the queens who have used the stone in the past. The wisdom stone, though used the least, already had a mind of its own in a sense, choosing what the queen sees and when she sees it. It can project itself onto the queen or withhold from her. It seems the stone is activating itself as if to help you find your way."

Lunette gave a small shudder. The stones technically had their own consciousness which was a collection of the past queens? How far into the future would it be before the moonstones could be an entity by themselves? She felt her vision blur as if to be shown when but closed her eyes and shook her head. She didn't really want to know, the thought was scary.

"Right," Lunette ran her hands through her hair. "Let's just keep going." When she turned forward, she caught the children looking at her. She screamed and nearly fell backwards.

"What?!" Derward caught her with his antlers. Lunette turned to face him but there was something behind him. It had the head of a tiger, the wings of a barn owl, the body of a bear, the tail of a wolf, the horns of a ram, the tongue of a snake and the feet of a lion. It stalked forward, the dilated eyes fixed forward with intent to pounce. Whether it was a vision or not, Lunette took off. The creature was huge, as large as a Clydesdale horse.

"Lunette!" Derward shouted after her before chasing her. Lunette followed the two screaming children with tears in their eyes. She wanted to scoop them up to carry them but they weren't really there. She blinked to try and make the vision disappear but they were still there. No matter how fast she pumped her arms or how wide she spread her legs, Lunette couldn't overtake the children but stayed right behind them. Lunette actually was scared that the wisdom stone was keeping her from actually running as fast as she wanted to but when she looked behind her, Derward was galloping at full speed. So the wisdom stone was just keeping the vision ahead of her. The creature was still in pursuit, not even running, merely stalking.

Lunette jumped a fallen tree. The children raced on, looking back ever so often. "Run," Lunette shouted loudly to no one. Derward called out to her, telling Lunette to not allow the wisdom stone to control her but she was too scared to even think of stopping it somehow. Lunette knew the vision wasn't real but still seeing the stalking predator was scary enough that she refused to stop.

They all crested a hill and she watched the youngest child tumble down until she hit her shoulder on a tree stump. Her older brother tried to get the girl to her feet but she was too busy crying in pain. They couldn't stop! Lunette reached out to shadows but her hand couldn't reach them.

"Lunette!" She turned to Derward who was calling her name. She was off the path. The path equaled safety. The creature roared, a mix between an eagle's screech and a cougar's war cry. Lunette moved to block the children, exposing herself to the cat-faced being but it went through her. She turned as if in slow motion but the creature didn't kill or maul the children, instead lifting them by their coat collars and carrying them away.

Lunette chased after them, the wild animal's gate wider than her own. Though it's steps were silent, Lunette's and Derward's steps crunched against leaves and sticks. There was no bird calls or any other sign of life besides the monster carrying off the children.

"Stop using the stone! We are off the path Lunette," Derward tried block her but she reached around him with one hand.

"The children," she pointed, not tearing her eyes away for a moment lest the vision disappear and she never save the siblings or watch their fate until the end.

Derward seemed to realize that the wisdom stone would not let itself be 'turned-off', even if Lunette knew how to do it, so instead, he followed the princess.

She looked like a zombie, stumbling around with wide eyes and no perception of what was around her. Derward's chest glowed green from the wisdom stone's activation and there was a slight green glow around Lunette's eyes. It was not something usually seen when the other stones were in use unless they'd been used for an extended period of time but the wisdom stone always let someone know it was being used.

Derward was so busy keeping watch and trying to figure out the wisdom stone's plan that he almost missed Lunette changing direction from forward to the left. She tripped over a thick branch but stood immediately. The landscape in her vision had changed over time so she hadn't seen the fallen branch. How irritating. Derward was sure that if he tried to carry the princess on his back, she'd still be trying to walk, moving too much, and not seeing his antlers would be a problem.

Yet she had heard and acknowledged Derward moments ago. She'd looked him in the eye and was able to see and move around him. It seemed her objective overruled his judgement and perhaps Derward should step back and let the wisdom stone do its magic. He hadn't considered it before hand but it could be leading them to the next moonstone.

If that were so, why was she worried about children and why did she run frantically, even screaming the word 'run'? Derward decided to just keep faith and follow the princess until the end.