Lunar Dance

Hello Readers!

Wow! We're reached the end. I didn't think I would even get this far. but thanks to all the encouragement, I've completed Lunar Dance. A big shot out goes to Bonesvamp and Kjplotts, who were both absolutely phenomenal editors!

Thank you everyone!

-S

***

Carnage: the slaughter of a great number of people, as in battle.

The first casualty was Rudalf. Young and scared, he died quickly, with a clean slice to the jugular, bleeding out in seconds.

Swords clashed, which brought a sickly sweet melody to the battlefield, only made more apparent the sounds of rushing wind as arrows cut through the air, and the grunts and cries on both sides.

Veronica faced off with two very large lions. One had a wide scar marring his face and the other was missing a tooth. Scarface leaped at Veronica swiping at her side and nicked her, just as she maneuvered quickly, catching him under the head and ripping out his neck. Veronica jumped back, and spit out the neck fur she clutched between her teeth. Toothless was still standing, and turning again to attack her, just as Scarface came from behind her and dug his claws into her back.

Veronica could not understand why Scarface wasn't dead, or why he wasn't bleeding. She howled, and a large dark brown wolf attacked toothless, ripping open his stomach as Tabiti reached back with her claws and scratched at Toothless's face, until she yanked a tie free on his chest, the lion cramping down to fur.

Veronica turned back to the large grey wolf, who was sniffing the skin of what she assumed was Scarface. It was then she noticed an eerily glowing piece of thread hanging in tatters where Veronica supposed the lion's stomachs had been.

They are skins of dead animals! Veronica realized, a sick feeling coming over her, nearly making her vomit. But before she could give into that weakness, a bear came running after her with the same dead eyes as the two lions she had just faced.

Despite her tremendous injury, Veronica faced her foe, her eyes catching on a piece of glowing thread on the underside of his belly.

Blood trickled down her back, past her calves, leaving a bloody trail as she faced foe after foe, in a battle that never seemed to end for her.

_________

Matt fought in his hybrid form, cutting one of the hunters in half with his enormous claws. Blood sprayed from the wound as the hunter's mouth moved soundlessly on a scream, his eyes going dark without the light of life.

Matt took a deep breath in as the next hunter shot an arrow at him, piercing his thigh. Matt howled as the arrow pushed through muscle until it exited the wound. He charged towards the hunter trying to kill him with a deadly swipe of his sword. Matt jumped back easily as the hunter swung a large sword down, trying to take off his arm. Blood gushed from his wound as he landed on his feet. Matt's vision swam as he faced his foe, the blood loss starting to take its toll. Before he could even blink or hope to anticipate the next move of the hunter, the hunter's head was rolling towards him, blood spraying in an imitation of a fountain from the body. The body swayed, and the hands shook as if to grasp something unseen, before collapsing on its knees and falling to the side, blood pooling from the neck cavity.

Kayla stood drenched in blood, her eyes bright and feverish, wielding a sword much too big for her. "Get that fucking arrow out of your leg now!" she shouted, breathing heavy as she ran over to him, dodging an arrow, and spinning to take on her next opponent.

Matt snapped the arrow in half, pushing it out and throwing it on the ground as the blood flowed freely from the wound. He stumbled over to the dead carcass of the hunter, ripping off a piece of his cloth and tying it around the wound.

Matt watched as Kayla cleanly pierced the heart of yet another hunter, twisting the blade and making the hunter scream out in agony as he died. Kayla turned back to Matt a brilliant smile on her face, as someone else's blood ran down her hair and dripped to her cheek. Matt smiled back, even though the smile looked twisted with him being in his hybrid form. Turning back to the action, he fully shifted into his wolf form baring his teeth at jaguar who prowled nearby. Kayla ran to him, turning with her sword to an alligator who came slithering to her with snapping jaws. Back to back the couple fought, Kayla with her sword and Matt with his claws and teeth.

____________

Jozlyn gripped her knees, breathing in and out as she watched the massacre. Though Tabiti had come sometime during the battle to assure her they were winning, Jozlyn still couldn't see it. The field was littered with animal pelts soaked in blood, with hunter and wolf carcasses twisted and deformed. A flock of birds came at Jozlyn's head squawking death and fear, as she looked and saw a bit of flush on their beaks.

She fell to the ground rolling and twisting, covering her body in blood and dirt. Far enough away from the birds, she once again shifted into her wolf form and attacked. The bird pelts falling harmlessly to the ground, littered with flesh and blood. Jozlyn jumped back into the fray of claws, swords and arrows, racing over to Demir.

He was easy enough to spot, as he took on a python and a group of four baboons. Jozlyn swiped at the thread that tied one baboon together, the fur falling carelessly to the ground. Jozlyn glanced down as the fur spread to reveal what looked like a couple pints worth of blood. A vampire baboon? Jozlyn thought, as the other baboons realized someone new had come along they could kill. Before the last three baboons could touch a single hair on her, all of them were ripped to shreds, falling in a macabre display of furry confetti. Demir had already ripped the snake in half and discarded it, somewhere along the line.

Quickly shifting back into his human form Demir grabbed her by the scruff, making her whine in pain. Jozlyz shifted back into human form, staring at eyes a sickly yellow, not gold. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Demir screamed, making her ears hurt. Jozlyn shifted her mouth, reaching up at biting his shoulder. Demir roared and let released her. Jozlyn jumped back spitting out Demir's blood as she went.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Jozlyn screamed, shifting her mouth back into its original human form.

Demir blinked slowly, letting the carnage and blood fall away from his vision. What was really on a few seconds felt like hours as Demir beat back his blood thirsty animal side, and reached for the strength inside himself. Balanced her came back to the present looking back at Jozlyn. A hunter was raising his knife, getting ready to plunge it into Jozlyn, when Demir moved, faster that the eye could see and effectively snapping his neck with one hand.

"Sorry," Demir mumbled as Jozlyn stood, her mouth opening and closing as she looked over her shoulder to the dead hunter. Before the scream could escape her throat, she killed it, collapsing her eyes and swallowing hard. Before she could change her mind, Jozlyn snapped her attention back to Demir and grabbed him for a soul deep kiss. Their tongues dueled, their bodies moved to a primal rhythm and before the wave of passion could take them and drown them, Jozlyn broke the kiss, pulling back, and away.

Demir started at his mate as she turned and ran back into the fray, shifting to her wolf form as she did. He watched her take out a lemur, a polar bear, and a puma before he lost sight of her.

Before he gave into his instincts and chased after her, fucking her on the blood soaked grass, he turned away. Demir howled long and very loudly, before he plunged back into the fray, hearing his pack answer his howl with numerous ones of their own.

____________

Tabiti was power, all consuming and infinite, spinning out death with ease, precious, and painstaking slowness. The goddess killed with the type of passion a priest has for a god, or a senator has for a high priced hooker. Tabiti did not use a blade, but her own infinite power, strike hunters minds until they started hemorrhaging, falling to the groundas blood poured out of their eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Tabiti used her power like a whip cutting the magical threads that reanimated the pelts of animals slain by Nyyrikki.

Floating above the blood soaked battlefield, Tabiti cut a path to Nyyrikki. Not one thing got close to her; she killed everything, with single minded purpose.

Nyyrikki lounged carelessly off to the side of the battle, smiling at the destruction with childish glee. Tilting his head to the side, Nyyrikki finally noticed Tabiti cutting a bloody path towards him. Leisurely he stretched and stood, grabbing his knives and looking out over the field.

It was quite obvious Nyyrikki had lost this battle, but then again the sands had never really been on his side. Though the fact that he had lost the battle didn't really matter to him, all that mattered was Tabiti.

Nyyrikki gave a shiver as her name floated through his mind. He had been growing bored anyway, the fight had lasted for about eight hours, and in that time all he had been able to think about was Tabiti as he tried very hard to find a comfortable position for his erection.

The last of his men fell at the hands of Tabiti, a single howl breaking the air, followed by a symphony of piercing howls. They seemed to break Tabiti out of her bloody path, startling her.

Tabiti's feet hit the pool of blood before she could stop herself, the sticky fluid soaking through her shoes, and settling between her toes. Only 15 feet separated Nyyrikki and herself, all her pent up rage, love, hate, desire exploded as she launched herself at him screaming like a banshee, running through blood and dead bodies to get at him. Nyyrikki watched her fly, blood shooting up with her speed and catching in her hair, her armor, glinting in the moonlight with a sick sweetness Nyyrikki loved.

Nyyrikki let her get closer, let her come at him with all her emotions in disarray, his blade shot out piercing her heart through her armor. He caught her in his arms, gently stroking her hair, "Lovely woman. My woman. Tabiti," he whispered over and over, as her body shuddered trying to draw in breath, he forced the blade deeper, watching as it came out of her back. The injury wouldn't kill her, but it would leave her incapacitated. Nyyrikki looked up across the sea of gathering wolves. Their expressions were priceless, watching their beloved goddess struggle in his grasp, her body trying to fight the steel of his blade.

"Moooommmmmyyyyyyy!" The shrill scream echoed across the battlefield, startling Nyyrikki, and her wolves alike.

Tabiti shifted in his arms, weakly grabbing at the collar of his shirt. "He's... your... son," she whispered brokenly, coughing up blood. "I told you I'd give you a gift before I cut off your head."

Before Nyyrikki could anticipate her next move, Tabiti pulled his hair back baring his neck. Reaching with lightning speed she grabbed the sword at Nyyrikki's waist, cleanly severing his head from his body. The hold he had on the sword she was impaled on released and slipped, the body of her former lover, the father of her child, falling down to the ground with a deadly thud.

Nar was closer, his plea gaining in volume. Tabiti reached for the hit of the sword in her chest, carefully pulling it out, she tossed the offending weapon aside. The ground seemed to rush at Tabiti as she collapsed onto her knees, and fell forward onto Nyyrikki's dead body, his head still clutched tightly in her hand, a twisted look of disbelief marring his face.

_________________

The battle was over, and the sun was rising over the battlefield, welcoming the survivors, and shinning light on the dead. Raven picked up Tabiti and Nar, telling the wolves he would be back before disappearing.

Jozlyn found Demir sitting on a boulder slightly to the side of the battlefield, his elbows on his knees, and his head hanging between his legs. Oblivious to the dirt and blood, Jozlyn sank to her knees in front of him, gathering his head to her breast. "I love you," she whispered solemnly.

Demir gathered her closer, sinking to his knees in front of her and lifting Jozlyn slightly to rub against her stomach. "I love you so much. The both of you."

In that second time froze, the very waves of heat from the sun seized. Stepping from the deepest shadows of the forest emerged a man and woman. The man looked to be in his early thirties, perhaps thirty-two. He had thick black hair with the beginnings of gray streaking through, a straight nose and a straight mouth, gave a no nonsense appearance. His back was as straight as bamboo, and he wore a smart black uniform suit, which was impeccable, not a wayward string in sight.

The woman looked to be in her late fifties, most of her hair was grey, with streaks of the black it once used to be. She had a buxom figure, and looked more like someone's grandmother, then the goddess she was.

Slowly as if shedding a second skin, the faces of the thirty two year old man and fifty year old woman faded away, leaving in their wakes the faces of a young man and woman.

"I don't know why you didn't pick a more flattering form. Truly it was hard to look at you with wrinkles," the man said, valiantly escorting her over the blood and flesh strewn battlefield.

"Oh please," the woman snorted taking his offered hand as she lightly stepped over the carcass of a wolf. "You still had sex with me. And besides, it seemed the easiest way to get close to Jozlyn without overstepping," she said pointedly giving him a knowing look.

"I was simply watching over him, and what better way to do that than as his valet," the man insisted, as they grew closer to their target.

"But really," the woman insisted sidestepping a puddle of what she hoped was not pee but looked very close to being just that. "Did you have to become such a concrete feature in his life? I mean what is he going to think when you disappear. And for the record I hated the name Marshalls. You should have chosen something like Jefferies or Niles!" the woman said on a laugh, her entire face glowing with her amusement.

"Hey I take offense to that," the man formally known as Marshalls said jokingly. "And what about you! Mrs. Brocklyn! You couldn't even spell the name right. You're one to talk!" the man said, playfully, running his thumb in small circles on her arm.

Finally the couple reached their target, the lifeless decapitated body of the god of the hunt, Nyyrikki. The woman known formally as Mrs. Brocklyn, leaned down, reaching into the chest cavity of the dead man and feeling around for what she needed.

"Uh, I hate when you do that," the man formally known as Marshalls said in disgust.

The woman cast him an evil eye over her shoulder as she finally found what she was looking for. Pulling out a small ball from the man's chest, she blew on the ball, water and wind coming out of her mouth to clean the small ball off.

"Well my dear, are you satisfied?" the man asked, gently taking the ball from her.

"If you restore him I will be," she said indignantly.

The man raised one brow, before closing his eyes and going back through time, to when all the gods had souls. He was in the grand reception room, when he saw Nyyrikki. He paused the time, and walked up to the god, taking what was left of his soul, and racing back through time the present.

The man opened his eyes, combing the soul fragment in his left hand with the essential essence of Nyyrikki. The ball glowed vibrantly with the soul, renewed and awakened. The man handed it back to the woman, and they stared across the field again, in search of a new person.

Jozlyn and Demir were kneeling on the ground locked in a tight embrace. The woman and the man joined hand chanting lightly over the couple, as the woman inserted the new soul into the small body of her unborn child. A soul had not attacked itself to the child yet, because it didn't know if the child would survive, but they did.

"We bless this family. We bless this child. Together they will always be. In my name, that of the all Mother Goddess, creator of nature ruler of life, and in my name, that of the all Father God, creator of space ruler of time. As we will it, so shall it be," they declared in sync a spark of magic and wonder falling over Demir and Jozlyn, leaving the battlefield, content to sit back and watch the world play itself out.

Epilogue

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too...

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,...

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it...

-Rudyard Kipling, IF

"Well everything turned out alright," Jozlyn whispered to Demir, being careful not to ruin her wedding dress.

Demir raised on sardonic brow, leaning over and giving her a sweet kiss on the cheek. "We lost five wolves, Joz. The pack mourns their deaths, we all feel their loss as keenly as if it our own," he said solemnly.

Jozlyn nodded, remembering the tears she had shed as she had watched Demir bury their five pack members. She had watched the wife of one of the pack members break down, screaming for her husband to come back, as another woman screamed for her son to come back. Jozlyn had to lead the women and children away, finding ways to console and help them. It was then she had realized the loss of a mate to a werewolf, was the equivalent of having half your body chopped off and placed in the ground, half your heart and half your soul. Jozlyn couldn't begin to fathom the depths of emotions coursing through the family of the wolves that had died, but she had made a valiant effort, letting every pack member know that she was there should they need to talk to someone.

"It is a tragedy, but we need to move forward, it had been almost a month. The past is the past, and in the end we survived, I doubt the men who had died would like us living half our lives," Jozyln said wisely smiling as a prince of some middle-eastern country she couldn't seem to remember congratulated her, placing a startling amount of gifts at her feet.

"I do not think we would have even been able to make it this far without Tabiti. She truly is an invaluable member of the pack," Demir said, waving for the orchestra to start the first strains of music. He held out his hand, and waited for Jozlyn to grasp it before leading her down from their thrones and onto the dance floor.

"Oh a member of the pack is she? When did you start trusting her?" Jozlyn asked casually, positioning her hands and waiting for the tell tale begin of the waltz.

Demir listened to the music as he twirled her around the dance floor, with expert skill, seeming to not even exert himself. He thought back. About three days after the battle, Raven had brought a pale, albeit seemingly healthy Tabiti back to the castle. From there she had gone about helping the wolves transition back into their lives, helping those who wanted to leave the castle leave, and those who wanted to stay in the castle stay. About a third of the wolves decided to stay within the castle walls, while others moved out, but stuck in the country Oscella, close enough in case anything should happen again, while another third decided to travel and live abroad, yet even they still kept in contact and visited from time to time.

Perhaps it was the fact that Tabiti had taken an obvious liking to his pack, and honestly cared about everyone that he began to accept her. He didn't see the bat shit crazy goddess he had seen before, she had matured, becoming a true goddess, a shining beacon of hope and light for her wolves.