The Wolf Enchantress

Ying Yue

14th Century

"Push Ying Yue, push," my grandmother said. She with several family members were assisting me with the birth of my firstborn. Beads of sweat rolled down in both sides of my temples while my body trembled in pain as another contraction seared throughout my body. I inhaled deeply, gathered all of my strength and pushed. I pushed as hard and as long as I could, yet it wasn't enough. During my pregnancy, I had grown weak. Many believed it was because of the poison the Black Witch pricked me with, however it wasn't because of her or her poison.

I was cursed...cursed by the Moon Goddess and the Virgin Maiden of the Blue Star, Aludra.

"Ying Yue, you need to focus all your strength. The baby is already on its way out. Push, Ying Yue, push!" My grandmother wiped the sweat from my forehead. I propped myself up onto my elbows, inhaled deeply and gave it my all. I moaned as I pushed for the sound helped me focus. Suddenly, I heard the unmistakable cry of a newborn. Finally, after hours of labor, she was now out in the world, breathing the same air as I. My new baby daugh-...

"It's a boy, Ying Yue. A healthy baby boy," my grandmother announced happily while she cradled my newborn son in her arms. I gasped. I looked at the people around the room. Everyone was smiling, except for me. It couldn't be a boy! No, no, no!

"No, it can't be, Wai Po," I uttered with dismay. My grandmother saw the rejection on my face and moved closer to whisper in my ear.

"Ying Yue, you should rejoice. A firstborn son is lucky and will add value to your family." She couldn't possibly understand. A son could not be an enchantress like I was before and without a daughter, my curse could not be broken.

For years, I have served as an instrument of the Moon Goddess, dedicating my life in destroying the sworn enemies of her children, the wolves. I was human before, but during one fateful night, I was bitten by a wolf.

While I was in the forest collecting herbs for my mother, I didn't notice that the sun had set nor did I notice that dusk had suddenly turned into night. When I had finished collecting what I needed, I wiped the dirt from hands, stood up and unexpectedly saw the full moon in all its splendid glory. I took my basket and my walking stick and rushed home. It was forbidden to be in the forest at night.

However, I could no longer see the markings I had etched on the trees which would point me to my village. I had decided to use the stream as my guide for the stream would lead me to a path near my village, yet I could not find my way for the clouds had hid the moon and I had nothing to light my path.

Suddenly, I was attacked by a large animal. I defended myself and repeatedly hit the large animal with my walking stick until it fled and left me lying on the cold, damp floor of the forest, wounded and out of breath.

The clouds moved to show the moon once again and its light flickered through the trees. I raised my arm above my head to check on my wound, wondering why it felt as if it was burning. I saw my blood dripping from a wound caused by a bite, the teeth marks formed a clear indentation on my skin.

My head throbbed. My body convulsed as searing pain spread throughout my whole being. My skin felt as if it was melting under a roaring fire. The experience was so unpleasant, I closed my eyes, wishing for it to stop.

Then, came something much worse. My bones began to break on their own, morphing me into something. There are no words to describe have excruciatingly and gut-wrenching painful it was. While my bones cracked and moved, I screamed out to the Goddess of the Moon, begging her for her mercy and compassion. I wanted the torment I was suffering from to end. In exchange, I vowed I would be her instrument and would help make this world a better place to live in. As I uttered my vow under the light of the moon, a blue star suddenly appeared in the sky and I was granted my wish.

The pain abruptly stopped and I found myself standing in the middle of the forest, under the radiance of the moon and the twinkling light of the blue star, reborn. From a meek and weak human, I became a cunning and powerful enchantress, blessed with blue eyes that resembled the color of the Blue Star of Aludra. I was given the power of illusion, disguise, mind control, as well as the ability to access the magic of others as my own.

As the Enchantress, I rallied all wolves, of every color and race, to fight by my side against an ancient enemy who was determined to annihilate all wolves. It began when the wolves turned their backs on the werebears and decided to exterminate them. While the wolves were preoccupied with hunting bears, the enemy was hunting them. The wolves were slow to notice and found themselves dwindling in number.

For years, I had dedicated my life in killing the Blood King's progeny and his vast armies alongside a wolf who was a member of the imperial family. One of his soldiers turned him to wolf when he was near the brink of death when he and his entourage were ambushed. He was then called by the Moon Goddess to wield the Flaming Sword, a sword forged from the metals of the moon rocks that had fallen on earth. It was a sword entrusted to me to safeguard.

Unfortunately, after successive victories against our enemy, I had become egotistical and hubristic, believing I was much better than the golden-eyed wolf of legend. There were no accounts of her ever battling the Blood King who I believed was by far the strongest adversary the wolves have ever encountered. In my opinion, the Moon Goddess was wrong; there was no need to search for the golden-eyed wolf as she had instructed me to do in one of my visions.

As time passed, I grew tired of the endless battles and the constant planning. I had found my mate at a wolf territory the Blood King attacked. After finding my fated mate, I felt it was time for me to settle down and have a family of my own. No more battles. Since we had already destroyed much of the Blood King's stronghold scattered all over the land, I turned my back on the Moon Goddess and the Virgin Maiden, believing I had done enough to pay for the vow I had uttered long ago in the dark forest.

Because of my pigheadedness, I began making wrong assumptions and wrong decisions. I had underestimated the Black Witch and the Blood King. We had already killed most of the Blood King's Lords and destroyed their kingdoms, yet the whereabouts of the Blood King eluded us. To find the Blood King's castle, we captured and tortured his favorite Lord for information.

"Ying Yue, I have a bad feeling about this," Huang said. He was my bestfriend. We stood side by side together in battle for he was the wolf that wielded the Flaming Sword. "Have you communed with the Moon Goddess regarding this? Has there been a sign given by the Blue Star?"

"When did you become a believer of signs, Huang?" I scoffed at him. "He's the Blood King's favorite Lord. Whatever he says must be true." I had stopped communing with the Moon Goddess for a while now. I believed it to be a waste of time.

"But, we've been in that valley before. I did not see any castle perched on any of the mountains nor did I sense his progeny," Huang argued.

"That was several years before. I will check the prisoner's thoughts myself to allay your doubts. Then will you believe him?" I asked. He smiled at me and nodded his head.

"Of course. I will even personally escort you to the prisoner." He opened the door and bowed low. "Ladies first."

I thought everything was going smoothly until we reached the dungeons. We were completely shocked to find the guards all on the floor, dead, except for one. I quickly bent down on my knees beside him, hoping he would give me answers.

"He was no Lord, Enchantress. It was the Black Witch in disguise," he croaked. Suddenly, black lines appeared all over his body; the poison of the Black Witch had spread, killing him almost instantly

Several screams were heard above us. Huang and I hurriedly exited the dungeons and ran outside from the castle to find the Blood King's progeny killing everyone on sight. The Black Witch had led them to our location and had given them passage into our fort.

Huang ran back inside the castle to retrieve the Flaming Sword while I, unprotected, began to conjure balls of fiery red flames to throw at the enemy. Litte did I know, above me, the Black Witch sat, perched on a branch as a black crow. She swooped down, transformed from crow to witch, and pricked my neck with one of her sharp metal nails, paralyzing me amidst the ensuing chaos.

I collapsed on the ground, staring up at her, and I saw the reflection of my face in her eyes. Etched across my face was shock, panic and distress while she stared back boldly with a triumphant look on her hideous face.

"No, my little Enchantress, I'm not going to kill you. I want you to live and suffer the consequences of your defeat. The toxin in your system will keep you from using your magic while the Blood King's progeny exact revenge on the wolves who have cleansed their kind from this land," she said. She moved her head and looked up at the castle. A malicious smile graced her dark lips. "I deserve a reward, don't you think, Enchantress? I believe the one thing I want is in that castle." She transformed into a crow and flew onto a balcony of the castle while I watched helplessly on the ground. I looked up into the sky to pray to the moon and the blue star, however no moon nor star could be seen in the dark heavens above.

"Ying Yue, come on. I need to take you to safety," Benedict Turner, my mate, said while he pulled me up and hoisted me up onto the back of a wolf. I tried to warn him that Huang was in danger, but I couldn't move my body not even my mouth. I made mumbling sounds, but I couldn't be heard above all the screaming. "Jack, I'll meet you at the rendezvous point. I need to find Huang and the sword." I felt a surge of relief when he uttered Huang's name. As the wolf ran towards the forest with me on top of him, I uttered a silent prayer hoping to see my bestfriend and my mate again.

"You have forsaken me, my child." The voice of the Moon Goddess flowed with the wind. "Thus, I shall forsake you. Only a daughter can atone for your sins."

I lost consciousness after hearing her words and when I woke, Benedict was beside me, however, Huang was dead and the Flaming Sword gone. Only the ring given to me by the Virgin Maiden Aludra was still in my possession, though its white light had disappeared, along with it, my powers and blue colored eyes.

Benedict and I mated under the full moon covered by gray clouds which shielded the moonlight from blessing our union. We decided to temporarily settle in my father's old village with my grandparents until my daughter was born. Then we would travel to Benedict's territory in England, away from the Blood King and his progeny so our daughter could train.

Yet, I have a son. No son can pay for my sins. I watched him while he slept in his cot. He had no idea what I was going through. Benedict, who was kind and eager to please, was helping the villagers put up a new home for us. He was contemplating on staying at the village for a while until our son was old enough to travel.

I sat myself down behind my father's old desk and began to write a lengthy missive. I poured all my heart and soul into what I was writing, hoping Benedict and our son would forgive me in time. I also left instructions once a daughter was born, writing the last words the Virgin Maiden of the Blue Star spoke when I lost consciousness the night the Moon Goddess abandoned me.

I took out my journal, which I had written my innermost thoughts in since we arrived here in the village, placed my missive on top of it and took off my ring, placing it on top of both. I walked to my son and kissed him on the forehead. He stirred a bit, but immediately went back to sleep.

"Forgive me, my son," I whispered. Then, I quoted an old proverb. "All things change and we change with them. Good-bye."

I took the rope I had hidden in a chest of drawers in our room, created a noose and hung it. I placed my head inside the noose, exhaled deeply and kicked the chair away from my feet.

I could no longer live knowing I was forsaken.