Chapter 1 –

The full moon bathes the valley in an ethereal glow, causing the dewdrops to sparkle and glitter, rivalling the stars adorning the night sky, but I have no time to admire it.

Getting here was its own ordeal. I am generally shooed away in the village, which made finding passage… difficult. In the end, I had to settle for a cart that smelled of dung but rung with the sound of glass bottles. It’s rare for people to go out on a full moon, so I got lucky with the reeking smuggler, but still, I have standards.

The cart only got me two-thirds of the distance, the rest was on me. The landscape wasn’t easy, with steep hills and deep valleys filled with long and tufty grass, but I only have until sunrise to get where I need to be. After that, it’s up to the human. I’ve given her what skills I can, but I don’t know if they will be enough. Only time will tell.

Ahead I see a young-looking female, with straight, dark hair cut to her chin. She looks like any other female, if a little short, but her scent sets her apart. She smells like the ocean on a stormy day, but with just a hint of something else.

The female clenches and unclenches her small hands. Agitated? Nervous? She looks up to the sky, her back stiffening when the light dips slightly, the full moon obscured by an errant cloud.

I saunter up to her, not knowing how my presence will be received. At home, I’m often chased off with a broom if I’m spotted while I hunt, but this one might be different.

She doesn’t even register my presence immediately, but when she does, her face breaks into a relieved smile. “A black cat. The Mother’s blessing.”

I don’t know whose mother she’s talking about, but I doubt I am much of a blessing to this female. I strut up to her regardless, and butt her leg in demand of affection, and she scratches my head. Lavender. That’s what she smells of. Some cats don’t like the scent, but for me, nothing soothes me more.

She straightens up again, tension returning to her slim shoulders as she readies herself to descend the hillside, and I turn my back and head to the nearby cart. The one she arrived in is far nicer than mine, with the sweet aroma of apples and a friendly driver to give me scratches.

I watch the female as she begins the final part of her journey, descending into the valley. There’s nothing of interest down there, beyond the remains of a particularly tasty field mouse, so I’m not sure why she’s going, but she is.

She pauses after a hundred yards, looking down at a stone slab, and then back at us on the cart, her eyebrows knitted. She is just bending to place her hand flat on the stone, when something changes. Her eyes pivot left and right. She can already hear the snarling.

The moon reemerges from behind its cloud, revealing what had previously been missed.

She concedes a step, then another, taking in three of the wolves that plague this mortal land, glowing in the light of the full moon. They are the pinnacle of predators, with keen senses and sharp minds.

They prowl slowly towards her with their heads low, daring her to run or to fight, toying with their prey, drawing out the kill, just as I had done with the mouse. And just like me, they want their quarry to bolt.

The cart driver sees them too. “Mother fuck me.” He looks between the beasts and then back at the female. “I’m sorry,” he says, and with a sharp snap of the reins, accelerates away. It’s not a cowardly act really. She’s going to die, no point in us joining her.

I climb over the crates to watch as we retreat. She uses some sort of magic to summon the dewdrops into three glimmering orbs, and forces them down the gullets of the approaching beasts. They fall to the ground, convulsing as they drown on dryish land. It was brutal and effective.

It’s just a shame she’s missed the fourth beast behind her.

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