Her Quest.

"Are you ready, princess?"

The raspy voice behind her brought Hazel back to the present. Despite her agitation, she couldn't help but wonder how similar the voice reminded her of how her Governess, Mrs Lucy sounded when the old woman forced her to give her a full body massage.

She shuddered. Remembering how well those rusty bones jerked as it cracked.

She sighed inwardly, reminscing a bit of the now fading memory.

But it didn't take long before her heart began thumping again.

This time more loudly.

She unconsciously worried her heart would beat it's way out of her chest.

The thought for a moment sounded so....

Tempting.

Death would free her, from all of this madness.

Right?

No, it sounded too easy. Too easy to be true.

She began to familiarize herself with her environment. She was infront of a dark cave. The cave was a sacred carven for the Elvish foxes. A place where a connection was made by the Elvish ancestors to the present foxes or Cubs in terms of how ancient they truly are. The three moons of Elvidia slowly made their way through the misty clouds to center in the sky in perfect synchrony. Normally, the moons would have been in the company of clustered stars, like twigs in a bird nest.

But today....it felt so lonely.

It chilled her bones.

The moon light shone it's path to the cave that possessed blood-curling eerie aura, that didn't help curb her fear, a bit.

Sickened, she gulped back the bile that settled at the back of her throat.

She tried to calm herself down.

'Breathe... Be part of the wind that blows'

An Elvish evening recitation rose in her mind. A famous Elvish teaching of her kingdom. But no matter how hard she tried to be as light as the wind, she failed miserably. The rustling clothes she wore didn't alleviate the heaviness in her heart at all against the harsh mountain winds. The cold was much harsher despite the layers of heavy clothing she wore beneath the cloak.

'Damn' she closed her eyes in frustration.

She hated the cold and fought the urge to transform to her beast form. The furs would warm her faster.

A much colder hand landed on her shoulders.

Rusts.

Composing herself she took her time to turn around. It was Grandpa.

He wore a similar cloak which both hid their royal clothing with the white fox insignia on it.

" You are spacing out, Sirae. The priest asked if you are ready."

Her lips trembled in suppressed emotion.

He gave her a geniuine smile.

" You don't have to be scared, Sirae. Am here with you every step of the way."

He called her Elvish name so lovingly, she almost choked. A name bestowed to her by her late mother's clan.

" You will do well."

The assurance in his aging voice, had her heart squeezing. But her fear still loomed over her like a dark fog. She had a bad feeling about this. So for a moment the control she forced upon herself, broke.

"But what if I don't? What if I really do fail, Grandpa. The dark foxes will take everything our family had worked for centuries!!!"

The old man smiled softly, wrinkling the corner of his eyes in to deep lines. Reminding her how old and nearer to the grave he was. Realising he won't be with her forever. A wave of nauesa hit her as her heart constricted painfully.

"You are a strong child, Sirae. It's your destiny you can't fail."

The conviction he had in his shaky voice spoke volumes, bringing Hazel a glimmer of hope.

For a moment, she almost believed.

She steeled her resolve, trapping in any insecurities and fear she had. Her face morphed into the calm reserved persona, she was well known for at the Capital.

Her eyes met the priest's dull ones.

It made her shiver. Her eyes then strolled to the garb he wore. As expected he wore fake chains and shackles that were broken. His face bore red markings of fresh blood, which surprised her, despite the cold. The markings were supposed to be dried up by now. An insignia of the ancient Elvish slaves, before the well-known slave girl, born and bred in the darkness awoken a pure-blooded ancient fox spirit.

A famous lore told from generations to the next. In different bars, playhouses, even right down to the beggar seeking attention in the market.

With different styles and suspense-filled exaggerated moments from each story teller to amuse you and get a good laugh or popularity.

A tale she knew so well that gave birth to the Elvish customs and rituals. Teachings compulsory for her to learn because of her status as Elvidia's princess and future queen.

Tilting her head upwards, she gave a single nod to the priest, who bowed and led the way into the dark cave.

Hazel recollected her goals, one last time.

Today was a very important day for her people and her.

Why? Slmple.

A secret sect was rapidly rising amongst the foxes. They tagged themselves as the Dark Foxes. Which possessed a forbidden element so frightening and extremely dangerous to their existence.

The darkness element.

An element banned for thousands of years even before her birth. The only figure in the Elvish culture that possessed the element was...

Goddess Anne.

The slave girl who held the awoken power of the ancient fox spirit and saved her ancestors from slavery and well...

Death.

The war between Goddess Anne and Emperor Darden occurred, with the slaves victorious. Their species were saved to the very end. But, the sad tale only ended with Anne killing herself before the darkness eroded her soul and only crazed bloodlust would remain. A path that would destroy everything she worked for.

So it was banned in the memory of her.

Darkness ability foxes were killed at the spot when discovered. It slowly but steadily became an object of terror and reverence.

Then chaos sprung amongst her people suddenly after many years passed.

The day her father, The King of Elvidia and her brothers departed for a hunting expedition and were killed when she was just a toddler.

Her mother couldn't bear the agony of her losing her mate and sons then committed suicide.

Hazel was left with her Grandpa, who became her only family and warmth.

The Dark Foxes population increased drastically as many foxes rebelled her late Father's rule. Her kingdom became a target for surrounding kingdoms in the Monster realm. And with Grandpa's weakening power.

She had to gain her ninth tail fast.

So she studied and cultivated without rest ever since she was a kid. For the sole purpose of saving her kingdom. With her increased battle power and new found element. Her dreams might turn to her reality.

And if she was lucky enough. Her element would be Light. The very rare and powerful element that can prevail over the darkness.

A surreal myth.

It was her duty.

Hazel clenched her hands tightly.

She had to push on. Like Goddess Anne.

For everything she stood for.