Moonlit Beauty

Moon Flowers

Chapter 7

The sun was nearly going to set and Zhalia wanted to go to her place to see the sun go down. She had finished packing a little bag of essentials after her father had dismissed her. Dante had gone back to his cave to get ready for the mission. They were going to leave at midnight and both wolves were given some time to prepare themselves.

Zhalia was a bit nervous. She had never gone on a long mission that was far from her village especially with a male wolf…a really cute male wolf. She felt slightly excited though because she would finally get to see the world outside of her village and she couldn’t wait.

Dante still hadn’t seen her as a human which was fine with her. She didn’t really feel like letting him see until a bit later. With a smile, she grabbed her bag with her sharp teeth and trotted out of her room.

She had already said her goodbyes to her father, brother and pack so she was headed to her place. Zhalia sighed as she stood in the tree lines and looked down at her village. Some wolves were still walking around doing their normal business and the cubs were also playing together. She already felt a bit homesick.

Shaking her head, she turned back to the woods and sprinted to her place. She could feel the woods going to sleep. The bustle of animals quietened, the birds stopped singing and the wind picked up as the sky grew darker. The sun started to sink so Zhalia picked up the pace and made it to the wall in less than two minutes. She went straight to the opening in the wall and made her way through the tunnel before coming out on the other side.

The sight never failed to take her breath away. The fading light bathed the land with a soft, orange glow. Zhalia sat on the ledge and watched the sun go down. It was beautiful. The sun’s rays reached out for the last time before finally sinking down in the horizon. The sky turned dark and stars glittered faintly before glowing brighter as the sky got darker. Zhalia watched it all from her ledge, she felt really peaceful and relaxed. She slowly got up from the ledge and made her way down the rocks and into the meadow. She walked through, marvelling at the flowers that were bathed in moonlight. She reached her destination. The moon flower meadow. She placed her bag by the side of a giant rock in the middle of the meadow and leapt up onto it.

The rock was high and towered over the flowers slightly which was perfect because Zhalia would be able to see the flowers bloom. The moon flowers are a special type of flower that only bloomed at midnight when the moonlight hit the closed bud. They came in pink and white and they were beautiful when they bloomed. She couldn’t wait for the moment. The moment when they opened their delicate, little petals and rose to touch the moon that shined down on them.

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Dante sighed as he picked up his bag and made his way out of the cave. He was planning on going back to the village to find Zhalia but her scent was in the woods and it was still fresh. She had been here. Curiously, he followed her scent which ended at an ancient looking wall. Frowning in confusion, he put his snout to the earth, trying to pick up her scent. It was definitely there but how can that be right? No one can just disappear and leave no trace. Dante circled the area before sighing.

Zhalia wasn’t there. He sat on his haunches and leaned back only to yelp in surprise when his back didn’t meet with the wall. He fell back with a painful thud and looked around wildly. Where was he? It was pitch black and he couldn’t see anything. He ran forward and was relieved when a wall of ferns in front of him made way for the moonlight to trickle in. He was in some sort of opening that connected with a tunnel. Zhalia’s scent was stronger and led deeper into the tunnel.

He turned back to face the dark tunnel and trudged through warily. He was surprised when he made it to the other side. Was he in heaven? It sure seemed like it. Meadows and fields rolled into the distance for as far as the eye could see. A river gurgled through an apple orchard whilst a waterfall was near the wall. Some animals were grazing in the fields and there were lots of trees dotted around. He shifted to a human and looked around in awe. It was beautiful but something caught his eye. He squinted.