Chasing The Moonlight - 1. Chapter 1

The sound as the whip cracking against his back filled the room while the larger man stood over him.

“Why do you fight it half breed, this is inevitable for you. You will submit to me boy,” the man growled. “My mistress will have you as her pet yet.”

The younger man knew that the more he resisted and tried to fight back, the worse the beatings would get. Each crack brings with it the undeniable sting on his skin as it splits open. After the past 3 years, he still doesn’t understand why the dungeon master just doesn’t give up on trying. He still doesn’t understand why any of this is happening at all.

Every night in the darkness, the memories flooded back to Xander. He was a normal 16 year old boy when Imperial soldiers stormed his home, using their guns and swords to overwhelm the members of the Moonlight Guard that his mother made watch him. The leader of the group of soldiers grabs the boy’s arm to reveal the crescent moon mark on his wrist.

“This is the one she wants,” he calls out. “Take him.”

He has spent every waking moment in this room. Bound and chained to the walls when he is not being “trained” as the dungeon master calls it. There is no training, only a dark and sadistic beating into submission.

Every day, it was more of the same. The dungeon master would come into the dark room that they kept him and proceed to pour the bucket of ice cold water over his naked body. As he stands dripping in the cold room, the other man would pull him up by his unkempt brown hair to a set of chains hanging from the ceiling.

A month ago, his hair almost down his back must have become too long for the liking of the cloaked figure behind the veiled caged window. The woman’s voice called out to the dungeon keeper in a language that Xander didn’t recognize. The dirty man wrapped Xander’s long hair around his enormous hand and pulled him towards the wall, removing a large blade. With one swift motion, the steel blade sliced up through his hair and he fell to the floor at the feet of the man.

The dungeon master took the hair wrapped around his hand to the cloaked figure, who promptly ushered it into her robes. As she turned to walk away, she uttered one more command to the man, who simply bowed his head to her.

The veiled woman every so often would make her presence known from behind the caged window. She always seemed unphased by the sight of the abuse that was being inflicted on the young boy. The dungeon master would always work Xander harder in his “training” on days when his mistress observed. Every time that the mistress observations ended with a “failure”, the dungeon master would make sure Xander felt the dire consequences of his unwillingness to cooperate and submit.

As with every other day before today, with one final crack of the whip, he felt his body give way from the pain that radiated from the fresh wounds on his torso. The dungeon master grunted in disgust and kicked over the his victim with the heel of his boot.

“Pathetic,” the torturer grunted, as he turned and exited the small room, leaving the boy again in solitude with nothing but the pain and darkness for his companions.

As the young man felt the darkness engulf him into usually dreamless sleep, a vision of a woman in a shining white dress, bright as the long unseen moon, seemed to appear in the darkness.

“Xander, my dear child,” the woman spoke to the boy. “You must hold on dear one, he is coming to save you.”

“I am so weak. I don’t know how much longer I can hold on.” Xander barely managed to whisper before passing out in front of the woman.

The woman kneeled at the figured curled on the ground before her. As the hand passed over his body, the gently glow that emanated from them seemed to heal the wounds on his back.

“You must hold on child, just a little longer.”

-----*****-----

“Fenryr, get back here,” the woman shouted across the temple grounds, gathering the stares and unwanted attention of those in earshot. She chased after the younger man as he stormed through the open courtyard.

“No mother. I will not be treated like a pup any more. I am getting far too old for him to treat me that way.”

The woman reaches out and grabs his arm, spinning him to face her, “Fenryr, you know that he only acts this way because he cares about you and doesn’t want to see you in trouble with the rest of the Guard.”

“Mother, he still sees me as a little pup playing pretend with my little wooden sword.”

“Fenryr, my dear little pup, you know your father loves you. He may be a bit overzealous when it comes you, but it’s only because he is trying to do what he feels is right.”

“Stop defending him mother. This time, he has gone too far and my decision stands. I am done as a member of the Guard and the Order.”

She just shook her head and raised her hands in defeat. As she turned and walked away towards the temple, Fenryr’s eyes surveyed the grounds. As his eyes made contact with those staring at him, they would turn their eyes away and return to their whispered conversations or continued on their way.

Fenryr continued down the path towards his home. As he neared the woodline at the edge of the temple grounds, a small cottage came into sight. It wasn’t much to look at, but for an archer and tracker of his skill, it allowed him ample opportunity to head into the woods for the occasional hunt. He always counted himself lucky that he was able to find this perfect place to make his home.

Sometimes, Fenryr would feel his Canid nature reach out to him, compelling him to be more hands on with his hunt. When the true mood called out to him, he decided to put his shifting skills to good use. Being born as a Canid had it’s advantages no matter which form he was in, be it the enhanced senses and reflexes or the thrill for the hunt, he enjoyed the solitude of the woods. Today was one of those days that he felt the need to feel the dominance over this prey as they submit to his will.

As he entered his home, a strange feeling surrounded him. Instinctively, the young hunter reached behind his back to pull a large hunting knife, spinning around to place it at the neck of the intruder behind him.

“Fenryr,” the small feline voice called out.

“Lady Akiya,” the canid responded in shock. “Should you not be back at the temple with the rest of the Order?”

“I came to see you, little pup,” Other than his mother, this was the only other soul in the world who could get away with calling him little pup at the age of 27. This woman was his godmother and treated him like her own son since the day he was born.

“To what do I owe the honor of your visit, my lady?” He inquired, replacing the hunter’s blade into the sheath on his back.

“I am in need of your help, young one.”

He bowed his head to the smaller feline, “I am not sure you heard, but I have renounced my commission as a member of the Guard. I don’t know what help I can be to you.”

She looked up at him and smiled in a gentle smile she had used on him many times over the years. “What I need from you is not something for a member of the Guard to do.”

He looked back at her, a puzzled look on his face. Knowing from experience that there was no mission that a member of the Guard could refuse from a member of the Order, it struck him as strange that the priestess would come to him for a task, and do so knowing that he was no longer a member of the Guard. “My lady, I don’t understand what you would ask of me.”

She produced a small folded cloth from her robes. Gently unfolding the fabric, she revealed a small silver pendant and chain. A large purple amethyst stone filled the center of the pendant and she held it to the light. Engraved on the back was a large crescent moon, antiqued in black.

“This belonged to my son, Xander. We lost him in a raid a few years ago. This is all I had left of him, but I have had a vision and he is still alive. They never found his body among the others, just this.”

Fenryr recognized the pendant. Visions of a small brown haired feline around ten years his junior filled his head, the pendant hanging around the young boy’s neck. The memory flashed and a new memory of Lady Akiya lighting a candle on a podium, a single purple flower and a picture of the boy behind it. Her usual white robes, replaced with black ones. As the memories began to fade, Fenryr took a deep breath.

Fenryr recalled overhearing the others talking about how the loss of Xander had affected the Lady Akiya. She had locked herself in seclusion within the walls of the temple, maintaining the ruse to the others that she was seeking a better attunement with the world to better improve her visions. Fenryr’s mother, one of the Lady Akiya’s oldest friends and closest confidants, knew that the loss of her child had driven the Akiya to seclude herself from a world full of reminders of her beloved and cherished son.

The canid stood up and walked across the room to stare out the large window overlooking the woodline. The smaller feline woman approached behind him, placing her hand on his shoulder, as she had done many times in the past when he was younger.

“My dear little pup, you have grown into an exceptional young man and a formidable champion of the Guard. I need you to do what I can ask no other to do,” The sound of her voice full of a mix of sadness and some other emotion that escaped the canid.

“I don’t know if what you desire is possible. Three years is a long time. Who knows if he is still alive.”

“The Goddess of the Moon has shown me that he is still alive and I ask you to bring him home where he belongs.”

As she finished the last word, she put a finger to the young man’s head and visions of the feline boy filed into his mind. Cold and darkness surrounded the badly hurt boy, as he huddled to stay warm. The scars that now cover his fragile body give way to the lines of fresh blood that seem to mold the boy to the stone floor beneath him. Faintly, the sounds of muffle tears can be heard with every move the boy makes.

The room rushes out of sight as the shadow of a tower takes form. Smoke billowing from the top, smaller plumes flowing up the sides of the stone obelisk building. Around the building, encampments of soldiers huddle around the fires in their camps. The distant sound of steam powered machines filling the night air.

The moon illuminates the last piece of the puzzle. The silver glow on the river casts its matching glow over the trees. He knew these trees, they stood before him and seem to part for the crescent moon.

Fenryr gasped as he came back to his small hunting cottage. The Lady Akiya nowhere in sight. He looked around to find a simple folded piece of parchment containing two simple words in bright blue ink- Save Him.