The Moon Goddess' Chosen

507 Panicked Messenger

‘Boredom… blue… bored… blue boredom… Is there something this old crone cares about other than these obnoxious flowers? I get the feeling she’d be a princess if she was ever given the chance… and not Katie’s kind of princess’ the thoughts of a blonde hunter swirled lazily within her mind as she leaned against the hilt of her steel katana.

Part of a pair that she kept with her at all times… and was even sure not to lend to just about anyone. Not after a certain princess had misplaced one of them.

The weapons were as much a part of her as her own body, always within reach and ready to strike at anything that wished her harm.

“Why do you keep coming out here? It’s not like you’ll find a secret hidden within those flowers. They are the same as they’ve always been… Glowing flowers that grow near places the moon goddess has been. Plain and simple, it doesn’t get any more interesting than that,” Samantha groaned, trying to stir her companion out of this monotonous… boring routine.

Her companion, contrary to the hunter’s dull mood, looked very comfortable where she was. The old woman held onto a frail glowing lotus and inhaled its scent deeply before retrieving a pair of scissors from her pocket.

She snipped the flower at the stalk, ending its life, holding the base of the petals in her fingers as she brought the flower up to her nose.

What happened next… was different from what Samantha had gotten used to seeing.

The ethereal glow that shone from the lotus petals began to flow upwards and leak out of it in form of a blue mist. The woman took in another deep breath… and with it, the mist sailed right into her nostrils, spreading a web of blue glowing veins across her face.

The woman grimaced and gritted her teeth, struggling against the mist as the blue veins pulsed underneath her skin. After a few moments, the bizarre sight of luminous veins vanished and she returned to normal.

.....

A resting mountain of fur stirred from its sleep not so far from them and approached the old woman, nuzzling her face and licking the last signs of pain from her face. Fauna was chuckling, “I’m fine, Brian. You don’t have to worry.”

The bear responded with a guttural rumble before ending its slobbery mission to soothe its charge.

Samantha tried to disregard this bizarre scene before as a figment of her imagination… but the Voice of the Wild looked… younger and this was hard to ignore.

‘I take it back… not boring anymore!’ the hunter corrected.

“Is there anything else you would like to show me before you explain what it is you just did?” Samantha asked, keeping her voice as calm as she could.

“Nope, nothing at all… Bothered, huntress?” Fauna asked, rubbing the brown bear’s head affectionately. The bear responded in a manner similar to that of a house cat.

This sight alone was almost enough to wipe Samantha’s mind of the questions that plagued her… Almost, “No, I’m perfectly fine. I just…”

“That’s wonderful. How’s the rogue investigation going?” the woman asked, cutting Samantha off before she could ask her questions.

The hunter balled her fists and withheld the frustration that threatened to get to her. She was trained to control her emotions after all. Somehow, this woman was the first creature capable of riling her up so much.

It was obvious she knew more than she ever told anyone… and yet she chose to remain silent. It was like she was intentionally keeping everyone around her in the dark. And whenever someone was about to ask, she seemed to conveniently have a way to evade them.

It was frustrating…

Nevertheless, the hunter was not going to let that get to her, “We’re still in the dark. Citizens get randomly attacked and have no recollection of what happened. The only proof of the attack is always a single bite mark on their bodies. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the rogues are trying to turn more humans.”

“Are they?”

“I don’t know. That should be impossible. We know what happened in Lycaon two years ago. Not a single person turned into a werewolf after that incident,” Samantha replied.

Fauna remained silent for a moment, deep in thought. The forest around them was as calm and undisturbed, showing no signs of the enemy… and yet, because of the frequent attacks, Samantha had been assigned to protect the Voice of the Wild while the rest of the hunters were each assigned to protect different parts in the border of their little town.

The old crone was fond of wandering off into the woods which meant they needed someone to always keep an eye on her.

Just when Fauna was about to speak, a loud screech disturbed the air. The sound of rapidly flapping wings invaded the calm serenity of the forest, alarming them of an approaching bird.

Normally, hunters didn’t care about such things but things were different around Fauna. The woman had a way with animals and any creature in her presence would immediately start acting odd… as though they were in the presence of their fellow kin.

In a few moments, an eagle tore through the canopies, crushing violently through a net of branches and twigs. Samantha leapt back in shock as the eagle continued tumbling down through the trees, landing in a heap beside the brown bear, feathers amok.

Fauna’s calm expression vanished as she left the bear’s side to tend to the bird. She approached the eagle with shaking hands as though it was made of fire. Its body kept rising and falling with a frightening rhythm, “What is it? Talk to me.”

The Voice of the Wild reached for the large bird, cradling the creature and repositioning it so it wasn’t in any more pain than necessary. The eagle winced at almost everything she touched, making it hard for her to take care of it.

“Why would you be so reck…” the words were cut off from her mouth when the eagle started screeching again.

This went on for a petrifying minute before Fauna placed the eagle’s head on the ground, her hands trembling violently. She quickly wrapped her hands around the bear and turned her head in the one direction filled with more moon lotuses than everywhere else.