Moonshade (Formerly Eclipse)

Prologue:

"My dear girl, come here." The queen said softly to her daughter. The girl was no more than seven then, but she was wise and fair, with hair as white as the moon, and eyes as dark as the night sky. Her name was Ivy, and as her mother called to her, she came, and sat by the fire.

"Do you hear the howls in the night?" The Shadow Queen asked, and Ivy nodded.

"Yes, Mama."

"Good. Remember them while I tell you this: the tale of why those wolves howl at us. Are you ready, my dear?" Ivy nodded again, and the beautiful queen began her story.

"Our home, the Moonshade Valley, has been at war many long years. It almost ended once, but we shall come to that later..."

"That was before I was Queen of the Shadow Wolves."

Far away, past the forests that hid the castle of the Shadow Queen from sight, lived another queen; the queen of the White Wolves. In the Camp of the Waking Moon there was no castle. There was no sentry to stand guard of the royal family. There was only Queen Scarlett and her daughter Destiny.

"Yes, my darling little princess. The war nearly ended once. But that was when I was a young girl... before I was queen."

"Why didn't it?" Destiny's young voice asked, eager to hear The Story. She had waited for years, but tonight, the night of her 10th birthday, her mother would finally tell her.

"The Queen of the Shadow Wolves, Queen Jade, she and I were once good friends, close as sisters. But that all changed one night."

"The night that she betrayed me." The two queens, though far apart, whispered the words together, each voice bitter and sad. Then, they continued their stories, ending with these words:

"She took much from me, so now, my Dear, now we must fight back. And that is why we continue. It is why we fight."