Chapter 2: The Encounter

"Luna, you must listen to me. This is important," someone says. I must have zoned out listening to my mother. I look at her and say, "Sorry, I was just thinking that today is so perfect that it would be a waste that I have to stay inside and listen to so many lectures that are all the same." Then one of my soldiers walks in through the door and says, "Milady Luna, I have someone asking to see you, and he seems lost." I smile and say, "Well, duty calls!" When I get up, the end of my long evening gown, the midnight sky's color hits the ground. I straighten it out, then touch my neckless as if checking to see if it's still there, then follow my solder out of the room and into my study. When I walk in, the end of my dress drags the ground. My retainers separate to make a path for me as I make my way to my desk on the other end of the study. A man is stood before me when I turn around, and all of my retainers bow at the waist.

When I wave my hand, and they all relax. I stand in front of my desk and say, "What is your name and where are you from, rewolf" The boy looks confused by the name I just called him. Still, I find it to be funny. When the boy finally responds, he says, "Danny and I am from a city called Richmond." He must have brushed off the name I called him and must think I'm a fool. No one has ever tried to make me look like a fool before. This will be fun. That is when I come up with a plan and say, "Look, I don't have the resources for people not working for their fill, so I'll give you two options, one being you can leave this kingdom and never return, or you can stay and have two days to gain my trust." Danny looks at me and says, "And if I am not able to gain it?" I look to him, then Jack Devarin, the captain of my armies, and he puts his hand on the hilt of his sword and starts to pull it from its sheath. Then I say, " Let's hope it doesn't come to that because my retainers are even harder to gain their trust, so that means that I'm the only one holding them back from your demise." He turns to look behind him, and all my retainers stand there waiting for me to give them the order to end him, but I'm not going to, not yet at least. I want to find out more about this man and his reasons for being here. I then dismiss everyone to leave.

When the afternoon comes, I'm out into the training court in my armored dress that is light as the standard fabric but as tough as iron: the color of a purple midnight sky that falls to just above the knee and boots that are high heeled and knee-high. I'm standing there alone, touching my neckless, which holds my staff, and when I hear a twig snap, I mumble, "moonlight, come to me." I hold out my hand, turning quickly, getting into a striking position at my staff forms black as a moonless night and a perfect crescent moon shape at the top, the color of silver. When I turn to face the threat, I see Danny standing there confused, and I look at him and say, "Why did you come out here? You could get yourself killed coming up behind someone like that during a time like this." He must not realize that we are at war. That's when he says, "I'm sorry I didn't realize that I was going to startle you. I just wanted to talk to you. I had some questions, and it seems like you are the only one that could give me some answers." I stand there and lower my staff, but don't send it away just in case because I never lower my guard around someone I just met, especially without my retainers around. That's when I'm not so worried because they will take down any threat to me. We all have built a form of trust and respect that can never be broken. Then Danny says, "First, I guess is what is your name? And who were those people" I look up at the sky and say, "My formal name is Lu..." That's when I hear it—the horns of an oncoming battle.

I take off running towards the gate entrance. When I reach the entrance, my soldiers are running around frantically; the gate is starting to splinter. I hold my staff out and yell a spell, " Guiding winds guard my friend and disarm my foe." Winds begin to swirl as the gate gives and breaks into thousands of splinters and broken pieces of wood flying at us. Luckily the spell I just cast set it all the enemies way. My soldiers are running at the enemies during this opportunity of confusion. As the battle progresses, I am doing my support spells as my retainers are in the heat of the fight. Once the enemy starts to lose large amounts of men, I can see the enemies fleeing. My soldiers running, taking down those who don't fall by arrows, my retainers running to lead my armies to prevent enemy survivors from sending a message to our enemy. That is when I notice arrows starting to fly our way. I begin to prepare for another spell. That is when Danny knocks me down to the ground, and an arrow hits him in the shoulder. That is when I shout, "Winds return to sender." The arrows then change direction to the enemy armies. That is when the last of the enemy fall, and my soldier shouts in victory. I start walking to check on all my men to check on their injuries and take count of the number of injuries and deaths; luckily, there weren't any deaths but many injuries, some more severe than the others. I instruct that Jack and Ravensha take the lead in making sure that all injuries are cared for and the gate to be fixed.

Once I know everyone is ok. I take Danny by the arm, saying quietly, "Come with me. Let's get that cleaned and bandaged." We start walking through the winding halls. Anyone who hasn't lived here a while would get lost. There are so many twists and turns. We begin climbing stairs up to the balcony. Once we arrive, I look at him, then the wound, snap the arrowhead off and pull the arrow out. I then walk over to a pillar and find the loose brick that I have hidden a small medical kit in. I take the hidden kit out of the pillar. and walk back over to him and say, "Take off your shirt so I can put this healing ointment on it." He tries, and he can't quite get it over his shoulder, so I walk closer to help him out. After I finish taking his shirt off, I look at his wound to see how bad it is. I take the ointment and start to treat his injury, and when I'm done, I take a clean cloth and start to bandage his wound up with expert care. Then I look at him and say, "I'll show you to your chambers where you will stay." Then he looks at me and says, "You still haven't told me your name" I look at him and say, "Lutilia Fletia Respiria, but everyone calls me Luna. Now we must go. I still have a lot of work to get done before I can go to retire for the night." We walk back through the winding halls until we reach the room. Danny will be staying in for the night. I open the door and let him in, saying, "Richards will be here at dawn to get you something more proper to wear." Then I walk off to my study to finish my work.

When I reach my study, I start to remove my armor and begin taking account of my injuries, which I received from another magic-user. I was too busy protecting my soldiers that I didn't even realize that I got injured until now. But they are just bruises, so there isn't much I can do for them. Then, Richards, the castle butler, walks in with Silvia, the castle maid. Silvia looks at me, holding a tea tray full of snacks and a small tea set, and says, "Need any refreshments before I retire for the night?" I just nod as I pick up my quill and start working on finishing my work. I take my teacup and take a sip of it as I look at a paper document and see a food request because the people are going through a drought and the crops are dying. The only way I might be able to fix this is to talk to the elves' queen. Since the elves have a great connection with nature and their queen has an even stronger bond, her people do. So, I get the papers filled for us to leave after breakfast. I get a letter written up to send to inform the villagers of my plan's town and that I will be there in person soon to assist them. It's just one of many papers I've had to send to my people because of this curse on the Dark Warlock land. This curse kills our livestock, dries up our water, and burns our crops. Not a single villager has adequately eaten in several years now. At the castle, it's the same way though we have eaten better than most villagers. This is so that we will be ready for the war to come when the Dark Warlock returns. Then I see the start of a sunrise out my window, so I get up and walk over to the window to look out it. Today is a new day for my small kingdom, and hopefully, I will have a solution by the end of my journey.

When I finally leave my study, I go to my room to bathe and change into my armored dress and boots. I grab my midnight black cloak and drape it across my shoulders. I head to the dining hall to grab some food and tell the retainers my plans to go to the Elven village. When I get there, I get a plate and place a small portion on my plate. I have a seat next to my mother, then I say, " Ravensha, Jack, and Flahera, we will be leaving to the Elven Village to ask for help to see if they can help us fix our food shortage. We will leave as soon as our rations are ready, so eat up, get dressed and pack so we can leave quickly." They all nod their head, then Danny looks at me and says, "Would it be alright if I came, I might be able to help? Also, I would like to learn more about this world, and maybe I might be able to find a way back home." I nod my head and finish my plate. Once everyone is done eating, Danny, Jack, and I prepare the horses for our journey while Ravensha and Flahera are getting out the supplies for our trip.

I look to Danny and say, "Do you know how to ride a horse?" he looks at me and says, "I can learn." I stand there, amazed, then look at Midnight, my horse and say, "Ok, fine, I'll give you a quick rundown on how to ride a horse." I mount my horse Midnight, and once I'm situated, I hold out my hand and say, "Here, Midnight is a gentle and calm horse considering she is a warhorse." Then he takes my hand, and I help him mount behind me. I then say, "Now hold the reins here." Then I show him the proper place. "Now kick the horse gently like this." Then I show him. Once I've gone through it with him, I let him practice until the others are ready. I look to the others who are all mounting their horses. I take the reins back from Danny, smiling, saying, "Let's go. This kingdom needs us to save them." We ride off towards the Elven village. As we ride through the forest, I see smoke up ahead. I look to everyone, and Ravensha says, "The smoke is in the direction of the fairy village."

I kick my horse and say, "Let's go and check it out and see if anyone needs help." We ride as fast as we can to the village ahead. When we reach the town, it's in flames, people running and screaming, children crying for their parents who are dead at their feet, begging them to wake up. All this death reminds me of my home before I became the Princess of Moon Haven. Then I say, "Flahera, Ravensha, and Danny, go protect the villagers." Danny then jumps down then takes off to help a group of kids. Then I look to Jack, saying, "You're with me. We need to try to find the source of the chaos that will be our only chance to save the village" I jump off of Midnight, saying, "Stay here, girl I'll be right back." I start walking towards a fight. I touch my neckless saying, "thgilnoom emoc ot em." I move my hand away from my neckless and hold out my hand in front of me, my staff appearing in it.

I make my way through the crowd and see an old friend Cyrin Eupetchi the new Lord of the Human domain that my mother had chosen to care for those lands. He's a fierce warrior. Many would fear going up against him except the one who has challenged him now. It's Maloney Riverstar. She was fantastical until she betrayed my father, letting an enemy into our home in the witch village, causing the death of countless so I to make my way to the front of the group and yell, " Why don't you battle someone more on your level so you can have a proper end, Maloney. The one of a traitor. The only one that you deserve." She then sees me and says, "Poor pitiful Luna are you so eager to die you came to me instead of starving in your land with your people." I prepare a spell while she talks. I quickly say my spell, "thgilnoom to revlis."

My staff then changes to a sword. I know that if I don't make the right move at the right time, then I will have no chance of winning this battle, and everyone here will die. Lives are at stake, and although battling with a sword is not my best skill, it's the only way to win. Once the sword is completely formed in my hand, I roll my wrist with my sword in hand; then, I get into a battle stance, feet shoulder with apart sword held in front of me both hands on the hilt ready watching, waiting. She then starts stalking around me like an animal stalking its prey, taunting it, waiting for it to give up, to surrender to death. I watch her every move. She then tries to strike with lightning at her fingertips, and I meet it with my sword blocking it and redirect it towards her. She takes the hit directly. It almost makes her crumble to the ground, but she corrects it then draws her sword. Knowing I'm not the best at close combat, she smiles, but I won't back down; I can't. Lives are at stake here. I take a hit to the side. The wound she made isn't deep, thanks to my armor, but it still hurts like crazy.

I correct my stance. I noticed that my retainers are all there, including Danny, and he tries to intervene. Still, Jack holds him back, saying in a worried voice, "We can't intervene that will then make people think that she is too weak to lead….she is already having a hard time with everything going on. And to add to things, women don't typically get a chance to lead as she does, but Luna…is not like everyone else. She is strong and brave, fearless and sincere, compelling and courageous. She inspires everyone to fight for their home because of her kindness. Her people love her, but because of this, they still see her as weak that is why we must let her do this on her own." That is when I make a strike that harms Melony from continuing this fight, causing her to flee. That is when I say, "That is not why I fight. You know that right, Jack, I fight to protect my home. I don't care if I am not allowed to lead them, but I will always protect them."

I look to Danny and my retainers, holding my side where I got struck, saying, "That was one of the Dark Warlock's generals. That means that the battle is moving from our lands to another's. This trip to the elven kingdom might end up at the next rally of kingdoms, no matter how much I'm going to hate it. Still, we are the only ones who will be able to warn of the dangers of trying to stop him. With that being said, we need to make this trip as quick as possible. Who knows when he will try to attack since he now knows that we are not at the castle." They all nod their heads in understanding. So I whistle, and Midnight comes trotting up to my side. I then put my foot in the stirrup and pull myself up, swigging my other leg over to the other side of the horse. Then Danny tries to do the same but almost falls. Luckily I caught his arm, preventing him from falling, but this causes me to hiss in pain, and he resituates himself behind me. I look at him, saying, "You good?" he says, "Yeah, are you? I didn't mean to cause you to injure yourself more." I just flick the reins, and the others catch up with us once they mount their horses. We ride until dark, and we reach an Inn.

Jack turns towards it, dismounting, saying, "My family owns this Inn. They wouldn't mind if we stayed here." I look at him then the sky and say, "Very well, we have been riding all day; it will be refreshing to stop for a while, and besides, I still need to clean up my injury." So, we all follow him, and a little girl runs out and punches Jack in the gut and says, "Mother has been worried about you." I then dismount hissing in pain and stumble over to the girl and kneel down, and to say, "Sorry, that would be my fault. I've been keeping him busy protecting the lands from evil, so don't be mad at him, be mad at me, child. Now…" I hiss in pain again, "What is your name?" she then smiles and says, " Violet Devarin, I'll go tell my mother that we have guests." Then she runs off excited. The others dismounted their horses while I was talking to the little girl. Jack then goes around and takes everyone's horses, saying, "You all can go ahead a get settled. I'll be in soon."

When we all walk in, we are greeted with warmth and the smell of something fantastic cooking. A woman then comes through the door towards what I'm guessing is the kitchen. She sees us and greets us with a warm smile, saying, "How many rooms would you like for the night?" I look at her saying, "Do you have four rooms and a meal for each of us?" she says, "I do indeed go ahead and have a seat, and I'll bring some stew out to you." When we go to take our seats, Flahera comes over to me and sits in front of me to look at my wounds, and says, " let us go get that bandaged, Milady" I nod and follow her. The others decide to get their armor off while dealing with my wound to bandage the wound. We get my armor off. She bandages it carefully, then helps me get into my scouting clothes, which are easier to move around in. once we get back, we sit down with the others. Jack then walks in and sits down at the table with us. The woman says, "Jack, I know you're out there. Get your armor off and help me out now." I sit there and say, "With that tone, it makes the Dark Warlock seem like a nice guy." Flaheria then says, "I think that I would rather battle the Dark Warlock that goes in there, Jack" I decide to continue the joke further and look to Jack, saying, "Good luck, soldier I'll notify," I then start laughing, "your next of kin if you don't return from your daring journey." That makes everyone laugh and salute him in joke. The rest of the night goes by, with everyone talking and laughing until we go to bed for the night. Once we eat and talk for a while, we all head to our rooms and retire for the night.

That night I dreamed of my passed-

'The first memory I have was in the village. The capital of the witch kingdom, I was an orphan for as long as I can remember and always alone. All I had was the neckless that my mother left me when she died. However, I don't remember her or who she was. I only know what people say about her and me. That I'm a cursed child that I'm the reason, good people, powerful people are dead. That is why I'm alone. It's because no one wants a curse around; not even the children my age will play with me. So I live by myself where ever I find a place to sleep in the village; on the roofs, in the trash, the wood, on the river banks, just where ever I can find some food. When I was about 4 years old, I met a kid. He was just a little older than me, and the kids from my village were picking on him because he looked different.'

I get woken up by a little girl's scream. I jump out of bed and run out of the room through the hall and down to the tavern in just a shirt. I then say, "thgilnoom emoc ot em," and my staff appears in my hand. The other is soon to follow, but it's just violet looks like she tried to carry too much and dropped a bucket of water on herself. She got wet. She looks, and we are all still on the defense from the shock of what actually woke us all up. I just lean on my staff. After a while, I then start to notice that my side has started bleeding again, and so do the others and are quick to my side to check to see if I am alright. Jack then bandages my wound, and we all go back to sleep for the night.

When morning comes, we all eat a quick meal, and we begin on our trip once again. We all talk and laugh, then I start to remember the dream I had last night. Why was I dreaming of my past? What was so significant to that day for me to still remember it? I want to know, then I realize that the elf queen might have an idea since she knows more about my past than I sometimes do. We then reach the forest when I am snapped out of my thoughts. I nod with a new resolve to find out what my mind is trying to remember.

Flahera shows us the way through her home, and we reach the palace at sunset. When we get there, I start to feel a small pull in my heart, the darkness within trying to come out. I look to the queen who is coming out, and she says, "luna can I speak with you alone," she must know the trouble that would come if they were to find out the truth about me. That my magic is tainted with darkness. And I am slowly losing control. We go to the other side of the palace, and I can barely breathe with the tightness in my chest. Then the queen says, "Luna, you can fight this just like your mother did, and you will survive. I know it. Just breathe." I can hear the darkness within speaking to me to let it out that I am unwanted and cursed, that I can't live a lie like this that once they know the truth, everyone will betray me. I start blocking it out and take deep, ragged breaths trying to calm down and lock the darkness within back away in my heart. I then stand up as straight as I can without hurting my injury and look to the queen and say, "thank you for always supporting me, and thank you for supporting my mother when she was alive." She nods, and we make our way back to the others. They are all laughing in and carrying on. It makes the queen and I laugh. I notice that Danny isn't there. They catch my concern, and Jack says, "he wanted to look around. He said that he saw something cool." Jack said, 'cool' like it was foreign to him. I really wish that I could tell them the real reason I wanted them to resolve to protect the kingdom no matter the enemy. Because I want them to be ready for when I can't contain this darkness within, and I am worried that if the dark warlock is still around them, he will use my darkness to destroy what I care about most in this world, my friends, no…. my family.