Spirit and Fire: The Gods and Goddess of The Moon

In our Hearts

In the clamor of the night, swords clanged with passion. Sweat dripped and breaths heaved in exhaustion. Alpha Embers rested his hands on his thick hips, back straight and taunt. The humid air worked against their tired muscles. The air was thick with tension and determination. Rick, a warrior wolf from Pack Albin, peered from afar watching the wolves train. Many wolves slipped from mother nature's rainy upheaval. Alpha Embers feet however, dug in deep into the ground and resisted the rain that mixed with mud beneath their raw feet. His mouth spread wide to scream commands at his training wolves. "Harder Asher!"

"Counter, counter! Grab and twist!"

"Firmer stance Aleric!"

They pushed forward with a deep determination. Embers watching intently in the rain, drenched with sweat. The air was thick with petrichor, its gases heavy to our enhanced noses. I stood next to Embers, listening to his disgruntled thoughts and impatient grunts. His lips straightened into a thin line. They were good but not nearly as good as they needed to be. His impressively thick eyebrows were permanently knitted together. It was a long week he and the pack had endured. One that left much to be desired. The light sizzle didn't give away, the small droplets cooling growing tempers.

Their conviction to be free and to stay free urged them to use their muscles in ways that they were not a custom to. When they had heard of the tragedy that struck a city far Northwest of them they vowed—along with many other packs—to slay the dragon that had taken so many lives. It had become the heart of the wolves. A heart that beat fiercely. They trained for the past 3 months.

They fought hard to be better. To strike their enemy with irrecoverable blows. Punches that were as deep and bottomless as their resolve.

Alpha Embers had received word around that time that the first Elemental had appeared. The chaos it left Kenya City in was remarkable. It was a devastating sight, one that incited pity and hate. Its' once beautiful structures that adorned the lives of our fellow wolves and human inhabitants were now reduced to nothing but a piled of ashes. Once tall buildings stood there proudly, indifferent and purposeful. Now gone. Citizens that had walked on paved sidewalks were burnt to an unrecognizable crisp. Their flesh devoured and swallowed whole by flames that selfishly claimed their lives. Couples that took romantic walks under the city's main bridge and proud parents with giddy children on their arms were the victim of it's stony demise. Large chunks of concrete fell on them, crushing their lungs. Then, as if that wasn't enough they were melted in a sea of flames. Their lives now expired along with tourist that adorned the streets, excited to take part in the night festivals. Now, all there was were charred stones and reminisce of bones set ablaze.

The event that had transpired in Kenya City had made its' way into the heart of wolves all over. Many rioted the temples that traders still worshiped. An order to kill all loyalists was issued the morning after the City's destruction. It's said that the last Elemental that appeared—two generations ago—massacred a pack South of Tampethia. Displease with their disobedience they were slaughtered—torn to shreds by his intrepid wind. Pieces of wolves were scattered around the lands, disembodied and immaterial. Many had warned them to stay away, tried to educated them on our 'sacred' history. But they insisted that we did not know what our real history was. That Elementals were Gods, sent here for us. But if one of them were still alive, I wonder what they would say now. Consequently, there was no one left. They now remain a ghost and a reminder of what could possibly come.

Of what already has come.

"Again, Amanda! Again!" 
Clang, hot air blew into cold.
Clang
"Uughh!"

"Strike hard and strike true" I told her, my eyes hard. "You must learn to kill with one strike." She got up again from her fall into the mud. Bent her knees and widen her stance. She held her sword in her right hand tightly, blood dripping from her palms. Her left arm was bent in a v shape in front of her chest. "Begin!"