"Dory," Alex called out as they walked to the temple close to their house.

A lot of people were gathered there and around, dressed in traditional Terrician ethnic. The Eytaria priests of the temple were standing atop a raised platform for everybody to witness the procession. They had their eyes closed and hands joined, muttering prayers.

She was wearing her mother's blue silk dress. It had faded out a little, but it was soft and pretty with dark blue patterns at the edges, giving it an appearance of waves. Her mother had woven flowers in her braid. She wore oxidized necklaces, bracelets and anklets. She carried an unlit candle in her hand.

Ian had turned red when he saw her. Alex watched in great amusement, she thought, as Ian gave her a bracelet made of daisies. He then hurried off without another word back to his family. She just rolled her eyes at Alex assuring him the act was completely friendly.

"I wanted to say," Alex began again as Dory turned to face him, then hesitated, "I was foolish to put you at risk yesterday. I can't help but feel this is all my fault. I try so hard to protect us, to protect you. I end up failing anyway. "

She frowned at him. "Alex stop feeling guilty. We came back in one piece, that's all that matters. And you haven't failed us. Never think that. Look, we never have to do something that dangerous again. Oh, it's begun."

The priests had lit a bonfire and stood around it in a circle. They all wore green robes with golden embroidery. They had each marked their eyelids and cheekbones in golden runes and held an unlit lantern in their hand. The High Priestess, a tall lady with skin shades darker than Isadora's, stepped towards the fire. She raised her hands towards the sky.

They began a synchronized chant in the old language. Their voices echoed around and she felt it vibrate through her, sending a shiver down her spine. And all around them in the air, mixed with the scents of jasmines and roses and wisterias, was the sweet caressing smell of magic, growing sharper.

It was as if every other sound stopped. Everybody stood still as they gazed mesmerizingly at the procession. The sun was now setting and the sky was orange-red. The priests began moving around in the circle in a ritual dance. They swirled around and their long robes flew gracefully along with their movements. The fire rose higher and higher as the high priestess, who stood still near the fire, controlled it. She lifted her arms up and the fire blazed. Bells and drums played dramatically around them.

When the sun finally set, the priests stopped their chants and dance, and raised their lanterns above their heads. On a cue, everyone around them raised their own lanterns and candles. Isadora lifted hers and felt Alex do the same. The high priestess moved her hands, as if pushing something. All their candles and lanterns lit while the fire on the platform died down. Even the lamps and sconces in the temple and on the streets beyond lit up.

"Hail Aestas. Son of Terrana, God of agriculture, change and prosperity. Giver of grains. Aestas, bless us, with your gifts," the priestess chanted loudly, first in the old language and then in the common tongue.

"Hail Aestas," they all chanted back.

They then deposited their lamps and candles inside and around the temple. A procession led by the Eytaria was to start soon, moving around the streets of their city. After that they would gather in city squares for the grand feasts. People would eat, drink and party late at night till morning.

Festivals were always given a lot of importance, as the priests said the gods demanded a show to be pleased. They were also the days when the differences between the Eytaria and the Nylias, the rich and the poor and the grudges between the three neighboring kingdoms were overlooked and they celebrated it as one people. Even the Lunars and Solaris would be celebrating this festival in their own way.

Tomorrow it will be back to normal.

The boy slipped through the tiny hole in the fences and into the city of Maris.

It was Lux Aestiva that day. People would be too busy celebrating to notice him. It was easy to blend in with the crowd. He wore a stolen blue-green robe with a hood and long sleeves to conceal his fair skin. He prayed the black dye he put on his silver-white hair weeks before, still stayed. His eyes were ocean blue. He hoped that would pass him as a Northern Terrician.
He held his brown bag close to him. It contained food, supplies and important fake documents which he used to enter Terracia and would need them to leave this land.

Though leaving with a kidnapped girl would be difficult. He'll cross that bridge when it comes. First, he needed to find her. The lycans were in his sight, blending with the crowd, with hoods drawn just like him. They were standing at the outskirts of a temple with people gathered around to look at the priests offering their homage to the god.

The procession ended and people were filling out. Something had caught the pack's eye. The boy traced their line of sight to a girl and a boy talking cheerfully. The girl was wearing a blue dress and had long brown hair tied in a braid. She punched the raven-haired boy next to her playfully on his arm, who ruffled her hair fondly in response. For a moment, the boy was reminded of his family and friends who were miles away.

There, the girl lifted her head up and he could see the color of her eyes. Light blue with some silver. He had found her. The girl who was going to save their land. Would the girl care if he told her who she really was? Could he convince her to come with him? What if she was the wrong girl? What if she was just...ordinary?

He followed the girl out onto the streets. The street sides and corners were lit with sconces. They walked for a while and reached a large crossroad with a makeshift stage where a small group of Eytaria performed a play. Some created figures from stone and mud while others made flowers bloom and float. They had the basic elemental powers of the Terrician Eytaria.

For a moment he himself was entranced by the play that he almost lost sight of the girl, who stood a little away from the crowd, watching the play. Perfect, he thought, he would talk to her now. He looked around and spotted his wolfish companions standing among the crowd, distracted.

He made his move.

The moon had risen, yellow and glowing. They were standing on the crossroad to see the play performed by the few Eytaria in their part of town. Alex had disappeared somewhere in the crowd, probably to join his friends. Her parents were standing together in a corner, smiling, arms locked and looking at the play. She was so glad her parents were finally at peace, after seeing them troubled with their dwindling money and drowning business for months.

"Enjoying the play?" A figure approached her. A man, as tall as Alex, with his face shadowed by a hood. She ignored him and started towards her parents. She knew better than to entertain strange men.

"Wait," he said as he took his hood off. He was a boy around her age, slightly older. He had dark hair and eyebrows but white stubble covered his jaw. Strange, or was his hair dyed black? His skin was fair, very pale. Lunar, she realized with a shock, the boy had to be from Luna. Or could he be from the north? Some northern Terricians had features similar to the Lunars.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"To talk and help you. I'm Ivory. You're going to be abducted soon."

"What?" She took a step back. "Not by me, I mean," he said quickly, "You were outside those fences yesterday, weren't you? With a boy? You killed two wolves? That's pretty impressive, if not a little dark. Unfortunately, those were werewolves. So, you murdered them. In self-defence. I heard them talking about it. Sorry, I'm saying it all wrong."

Isadora's head began pounding. They were werewolves after all. And she killed them. They were as good as humans. Killing animals was one thing, but a human... "Oh goddess, Alex. My brother, he got bit. Oh no." She looked around but Alex was nowhere to be seen among the pouring crowd. "I have to get to my brother."

"Wait, listen to me. Those men right there," he pointed to a group of men in dark blue robes huddled together, "it's them. They are going to kidnap you and take you to whoever sent them. They are definitely not good people. You need to come with me."

"And why should I trust you? You could be one of them. Or worse"

"I have been following them for weeks. They are not ordinary Lunar werewolves. They have some dark magic that hides their true nature from spells. You won't be able to prove it. And you would risk telling everybody about your little hunting adventure."

"Oh no. Oh gods. What should I do?" Her head was spinning. It was too much to take. She did not trust this person, but he did know about the previous day and could turn them in. She needed to find Alex. The play had ended and people were already moving to the feast hall. Alex must have gone there too. She asked him, "So, you are Lunar, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Do you think the bite would have converted my brother?"

"We cannot be sure. I do know a spell that can only work on werewolves. I'm not sure if it will work on him, but we can try." He was an Eytaria then. She took a deep breath and looked him in the eye, "Well, Ivory, if you want me to trust you, you need to help me find my brother and use that spell on him." 

"Alright. It's a full moon night. We should find him quickly then."

Isadora nodded. On top of everything, it had to be a full moon night. She recalled what she read about the werewolves earlier that day. Alex did not know to control his shifting. He would reveal himself to everybody under the moonlight, if he was a werewolf. But she did not feel very optimistic.

Ivory drew his hood over his head and followed the girl. They came upon a big open hall with long tables at the sides. The hall was adorned in every kind of flower and leaves. People were singing and dancing around lit bonfires. Drums, accordions and trumpets played beautifully. Food and drinks were being served. There were big tents where food was being cooked and others where people lounged privately.

He stayed close to the girl. He had lost sight of the werewolves on their way to the hall. He kept a hand on the knife in his pocket and the other hand free and ready to strike with his magic. He had heard so many tales about this girl. As she walked beside him, she felt completely ordinary and so unaware about her truth.

She asked a few people about her brother and came back to him. "They saw him going there," she pointed to a tent. "I hope he's not with someone, or drunk, or both," she said with a serious look. He raised an eyebrow at her but she was already walking towards the tent.

The tent was empty. There were tables with empty cooking pots and vessels. A few barrels, probably with ale and alcohol, were on the ground. He crouched to check under a table. There were only more cooking plates. "There's no one here."

"Well, let's check the other tents," she said.

Hands grabbed at him from behind and slammed his head on the table. Before he could react, the same hands pulled him back and chained his hands behind him in manacles, obstructing him from using his magic. He was sure his head was bleeding. "Thought I noticed you a few times in the past days," the person holding him whispered in his ear. It was Vorcan, the alpha.

He slammed his head behind into the alpha and Vorcan's hold on him loosened. He made to flee the tent but the girl's muffled screams stopped him. Two of the men were holding her hands back and covered her mouth. One had a knife at her neck.

"Stop or she dies," Vorcan said.

"You cannot kill her. You need her."

"We wouldn't mind taking her in pieces," said the wolf holding the knife. He took the girl's left arm and held the knife over it. The girl wailed and struggled. Ivory gave in.

Vorcan smirked and grabbed him again. "We'll take you too. I'm sure you have many interesting things to tell us, spy."

Foolish. He had made such a foolish mistake. This is why his tribe never sent him for bigger missions. He could already hear the chief's voice telling him how irresponsible he was, always acting without thinking, how unlike his mother.

Vorcan removed an obsidian stone from inside his coat pocket. Ivory knew what the stone did. He had heard them discussing it last night.

"Isadora?" a voice called out from the back of the tent and a figure staggered inside. The lycans froze. It was Alex, the girl's brother.

"Get him!" Vorcan ordered.

Marlin attempted to grab the boy just when Alex swung out with his hand and threw Marlin on to the floor. His hands had shifted into grizzly paws that ended in sharp claws and Alex looked at them in horror. Marlin stood up again and shifted into a wolf. He pounced at Alex and pushed him into the tent walls. The tent collapsed.

They were now in the view of everybody in the party. The music stopped just as the people started screaming.

The werewolves still had a tight grip on him and Isadora. Alex now stood up and moonlight fell on him completely. He shifted into a wolf with a grey coat. His body shook, his eyes widened and a small animalistic sound came out of him, like a sob. He and Marlin slammed into each other with their claws.

Ivory hoped there was an Eytaria in the crowd who would help them. But people were running here and there in chaos, shouting 'lycans.'

Vorcan dropped the stone on the ground. A rift appeared in the space above it that expanded into a swirling mass of darkness, a portal. He signaled his pack who jumped into the portal with Isadora. Ivory's hope of being saved vanished. Vorcan, still holding him tightly, called out to Marlin, telling him to stop and let go. Marlin had pinned Alex to the ground and looked as if he was contemplating tearing out his throat. Alex whimpered.

"Hurry." Marlin let go of Alex and ran into the portal. Then Vorcan threw him into the swirling mass. Ivory felt a rush of cold air pass through him and then he had the strange sense of falling into an endless dark pit. A black sea of nothingness. He was falling and falling till he hit a cold ground and lost consciousness.

//The Fire Dancer - Peter Gundry//