The Seventh Moon's Rise: Prologue

In a world of wolves and magic, four leaders must enact a prophecy...

Oct 03, 2022

As mentioned in yesterday’s housekeeping release, The Seventh Moon’s Rise is a book I wrote for a Young Author’s contest in 2014-15 when I was 14-15. I never ended up pursuing publishing with it, but I wanted to revisit it — first showing you all the text, then in a second release, giving some insights about why this book was written the way it was, and how I would do it differently if I was rewriting it today with more experience and years under my belt.

What you are about to read has only seen light edits compared to the version from 8 years ago and is not an accurate representation of how I write currently.

For the sake of readability, but also authenticity, the only things I will be changing are typos/blatant errors, grammar issues, and paragraph structure. All I’ve done is run spellcheck and break up the MASSIVE paragraphs I was so fond of when I was a teenager.

Without further ado, let’s get into the story’s prologue:

PROLOGUE

The moon rising in the distance, four alphas stared out of their respective dens, and each gave a heavy sigh.

A large black male stood from his stone den in the forest, looking around at the dark maws of the other dens where his packmates lay sleeping. The pine forest around him was familiar, but it seemed so strange tonight.

He watched another packmate head into the nursery den, where he knew one of the she-wolves would soon be a mother. He saw the two Storm Pack guards stationed at the camp's entrance, watchful eyes peering into the darkness. These were the lives he was fighting to protect.

He gave a nod to the guards as he passed, acknowledging the male guard, a dull brown fellow, and the dirty gray-pelted female, whose ears, much larger than those of the male, perked in curiosity as he passed. The black-pelted alpha shook his head. He couldn’t tell them where he was going. Not this time. He had a serious decision to make for the members of his pack, one he was afraid he could not share with the pack.

He picked up into a heavy run, thundering across the territory. He plowed through the first river of his territory, the splashing water coating nearly his entire body. As soon as the water touched his seemingly bland black fur, his bright gold markings became visible, glowing stripes all along his body, as they did for all those in his pack. And so, silently, the male made his way across the territory, the water drying with the wind, and his markings fading with it.

A white she-wolf rose from her grassy bed in her den, knowing it was time. Her tail dragged behind her as she walked through the camp, but she tried to look confident. Even with the war and all the losses she knew the other packs were experiencing, she had to look strong. Her pack had taken in the young and the non-fighters, so for their sake, they had to be confident they were safe in her territory.

The wolves of Breeze Pack looked up to her, and today, she had to make her decision. Dipping her head respectfully to the wolf who watched the entrance — a fit and bright-pelted male — she ducked through the tunnel that led out of the camp and into the prairie.

Once she had nothing but tall grass and an open field in front of her, she picked up a run, and she opened the bones of her wings. As she picked up speed, the transparent wing material unfurled, tightened, and she pushed herself up, flapping her wings and powering herself towards the sky.

A brown and black male outstretched his cat-like nails and scaled the nearest tree, using his tail for better balance as he nimbly walked to the edge of the branch, taking a look back to the oak forest camp one more time. All of his packmates were there, sleeping in their respective dens, and he knew they were counting on him to make the right decision.

He already had his answer, but still, he had to wonder if it was the right one. He gave a look to the guard on the tree next to his, hardly able to see the wolf with its dark brown pelt in the night. Once he got a conformational nod back, he leaped to the next tree, digging his nails in and scaling the main trunk until he reached the top, and could see the rising moon.

From there, he threw himself through the leaves, a leap of faith he had made more times than he could count. He landed at the top of the next tree, and before he knew it, he was leaping from treetop to treetop, nearing his destination with every successful landing and takeoff.

A reddish she-wolf paused, looking through the skylight at the rising moon before she moved to the ever-burning fire in the center of camp, grabbing one of the pieces of wood in the pile next to it. Holding it sideways in her mouth, she dipped the tip in the dark pool of liquid and turned to the tunnel that led to the surface.

Giving a glance to the guard, then to her camp, she gave a small sigh. She had a tough decision to make for all of them, but she had to keep her mind off of this for the moment. She had to get through the tunnels.

Glad that she, like the rest of her packmates, was small and therefore able to fit through the passageways, she looked into the darkness of the channel, and with a burst of energy, set the edge of the wood on fire. It flared up, but then died down to a reasonable height as she entered the main tunnel and worked to the surface by the glow of her little fire.

The darkness of the cave crowded around the four alphas as they argued, their voices hushed as they did. They had been angrily discussing the matter longer than they could remember. Hours had passed since they had arrived, and the moon was high in the sky as the black and brown alpha male of Oak Pack paced from end to end of the cavern.

The white she-wolf alpha of Breeze Pack watched his every move, narrowing her eyes as she calmly stated, "We cannot hold off any longer, Ojan. We must act now."

"No!" He stomped his paw on the rocky ground, "There is another way, Kina. Just like there has always been."

“Ojan, there’s been another way out of our problems for the past century. Even you must have seen that we were going to run out of options soon.” The fiery orange she-wolf alpha growled from the corner of the den, approaching as she continued, “We’ve been putting this off for a century. The time has come to utilize the strength she trusted in us.”

"Sicerji has a point," Kina commented, acknowledging her fellow alpha with a dip of her head.

There was a pause as Ojan continued to pace, shaking his head. Finally, though, his eyes set on the black alpha male of Storm Pack. "What about you, Rincheir?" He growled, turning towards him. "You've hardly said a single word for or against the idea."

Rincheir remained silent for a second, glaring at Ojan before he stood, using his superior height to tower over the bronze male, as well as the other alphas in the cavern. "Personally, I find your bickering futile. If you, like me, wish to preserve the fate of the packs, then we shall do what will preserve the fate of the packs. The logic is simple."

"State your position plainly, Rincheir." Ojan snapped, though it was already clear to all of them what Rincheir was going to choose.

Rincheir pinned his ears and snarled, showing all of his sharp teeth. "I can't and won't endanger the future of Storm Pack by holding back any longer. Summon her, that we may ask her assistance in seeing our enemies burn."

"It's three to one," Kina nodded, looking to the other three alphas before her gaze settled back to Ojan. "We need the full strength of all four packs to make this decision."

The black and brown male looked to the others, but as his gaze met only hard glares from the others, he dejectedly shook his head. “I will agree, but I don’t like it.”

“None of us do, Ojan. But we must do what we have to, in the name of protecting the packs.” Sicerji turned to the tunnel that led deeper into the caves. They all angled towards it, and she took a hesitant breath before she concluded, “It is time.”

The four alphas ducked into the narrow tunnel, each with their tail out to touch the cheek of the wolf behind them. They had all hoped that they would never see the inside of the tunnel, but the time had come.

The tunnel led down for many paces, but when it finally did plateau, it opened into a huge cavern. The ceiling of the place was high above their heads, and a good-sized hole was cut out in the top, letting a shaft of moonlight strike the ground, presumably the center of the cavern. This was the only light in the room, and it hardly lit much.

They all approached the center of the room, but none of them were entirely sure what to do. The room seemed empty, and the only tunnel there was the one they had come through, shutting down any thoughts of another area being their destination.

"This doesn't feel right." Rincheir narrowed his eyes, moving to head the group and stand in the exact center, under the moonlight. He looked to the sky, and then, as if suddenly struck with an idea, he looked to the ground below him, using one paw to shift some of the dirt and dust away.

They all jumped in shock as the silver light suddenly reflected off of something, sending strange lights on the walls of the cavern. They all crowded around it, and after more clearing, they found a square-like plate that reflected the moonlight like water. And on this plate, there were four pawprints and a center with a strange symbol in it.

Rincheir did not wait, placing his paw in one of the imprints — the largest pawprint. Kina and Sicerji followed, but Ojan stared at the last imprint, doubt in his eyes.

“For the good of the packs,” Rincheir reminded him, which was echoed by the other two. Ojan hesitated, but then took a deep breath and stepped into the last imprint.

There was a bright light, and the ground under their paws grew hot. The symbol suddenly cracked, and each of the four backed up as the cracks extended further and part of the ground began to fall away. The whole cavern was shaking violently, and when it stopped, they were all standing on four different squares. The moonlight had been blocked somehow, leaving them in the darkness.

“Is everyone alright?” Kina’s voice echoed into the darkness. There was no time to answer though, as a brilliant purple light suddenly flared up in the gaps.

And out of the gap, a figure rose.

Although her pelt was jet black, each of the tips of her fur was a glowing purple, the same lilac color as her eyes.

The stunned alphas could do nothing but watch in awe as she looked slowly at each of them, standing on nothing. But then, just like that, there was an explosion of purple fire, and she vanished. The light of the moon shone again, and, as if nothing had happened, the fallen ground had reappeared, and they were each standing back in their respective pawprint.

But, in the center of the light, there was something else. A small bundle of fur.

And not so far away, at the very moment the light flared up and the pup appeared in the moonlit cavern, a young she-wolf watched herself become a mother to her first pup.

END of PROLOGUE

Alright everyone, welcome to the project! The breakdown of the prologue will be available October 17th, but in the meantime, what do you think? Are you excited to see some very old writing of mine? How does it compare to the current stuff? Were you expecting a story about magical wolves? Leave a comment! I’m genuinely curious!

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