Wars of Eredhar: The Dawn of Darkness

"An unexpected reunion"

 "Luna, where are we going?" Dee asked, looking up at her.

"We are going to a village, little one", she smiled as Dee tried to keep up with Luna.

"Why are we going there?" she asked, gazing into Luna's eyes with joy, mesmerized by her beautiful and kind face.

"Well, we need to meet with some people over there, sweetie", Luna said, brushing her fingers through Dee's hair.

"Do they know where mom is?"

Luna stopped in the middle of the road with Dee, gesturing at Dean and Aselajar to move on. She knelt before the child and took a deep breath, holding both her hands in hers and speaking softly, with kindness in her voice.

"Sweetie, we need to talk about your mother."

"She is not coming back, is she?" Dee's voice shivered slightly.

"I'm afraid she's not. You've seen what happened back there, at the wagon. I do not know all the details, but something attacked, didn't it?" Luna saw Dee avert her gaze.

"What...what is going to happen now? Are the monsters going to come for me too?" Dee asked, hugging Luna tightly, tears slowly falling on her soft cheeks.

"Hey, sweetie! No matter what happens, I will never let anything harm you!" she hugged the child tight at her chest, kissing her forehead.

"You... you promise?" Dee sobbed, looking up into Luna's kind warm eyes.

"I give you my word! The first thing we should do is find your father. So, once we reach Lenav, we'll hire a wagon and bring you back to your dad. How does that sound, little one?" Luna said as she put on a soothing smile.

"But, what about mom?"

"I will do my best to find out what happened to her, but for me to do that, I need to know that you are safe", Luna stood up, offering Dee her hand.

"Thank you!" she happily said, grabbing Luna's hand.

"Now, let's catch up to those two before they get lost," Luna laughed as they went after Dean and Aselajar.

The two men were discussing about what could await them at Lenav.

"Do you think that the people of Lenav are still okay?" Dean asked.

"I wish I knew... Sadly, I have a bad feeling about this, Dean. The forces that we are up against are moving faster than we anticipated." Aselajar shook his head, worried about the uncertainty that was ahead of them.

"It is unsettling, is it not? I can't remember, the lands of Lenav and its surroundings are under whose rule, Aselajar?" he scratched his chin, trying to remember who governed those regions.

"The leader of Village of Lenav is Gregory the Second, but the ruler of the lands in that area is King Bane of the Aedorn Dynasty. The king...let's just say that he is not someone easy to deal with", Aselajar fretted.

"I am curious about something. You said that long ago, Luna's kingdom covered these lands... exactly how long ago are we talking about?" Dean looked furtively at Luna, intrigued.

"Well, Luna's been walking this world for around 400 years, my friend. Trust me, she's really old, even though she doesn't look her age," Aselajar chuckled slightly.

"How is she this old? Are there anymore out there like her, immortal?" Dean wondered, fascinated by the mysteries that surrounded Luna.

"Well, she is not immortal. Even though she can live a really long life, almost forever, she can still be easily killed. Now, are there more people like her out there? I honestly do not know, but the possibility of that is almost none. Shelfronians were so closely connected to their Primordial that they could somehow reach such a state of peace and harmony that they would ascend to Abithien's Halls."