The Moonlit Trail
By: Zekk Posted on: August 25, 2012
The young lad wandered aimlessly now. His dark auburn eyes were frantically searching over the damp decaying leaves and pine needles coating the cold forest floor for some sign of a path. Daunted by the foul smell and blistering heat of the raging inferno which he had left behind him, the raging inferno that was once his home, he stumbled onward through the darkening forest alone. His steps although nearly silent, sounded to him as if they echoed his presence to the whole forest. A strong steady gust of cold wind whittled its way through the tree canopy and the whooshing of the leaves sounded to him as the breathing of some foul beast as the trees shifted back and forth in time with its cold grasp. The breeze caught hold of his hair and threw it up into a whirlwind, before depositing it back across his face. He reached up and absently tousled his fussy dark auburn hair back out of his eyes and behind his ears, much like his mother had done for him, although she would do it no more.
Onward he stumbled aimless like a Lilly pad disconnected from its moorings, and cast across the water on the wind. He had heard of town, a place called Hashan, many a time from his father. He had never been to the city, but it was the closest place where others lived and so there he was headed. He found himself wishing his father could have shown him in which direction the great city lay, but his father would show him no more, he was with mother when the flames came.
Sol was quickly setting and soon twilight and indeed darkness would be upon him. And so he scrunched his small, round, soot and tear stained face and trudged on through the underbrush. Onward he strode into the deep dark of night lost in the great forest seeking out someone to comfort him. His heart young and tender had been torn asunder, and as the grievous callous reality sunk in, he was forced to leave it behind him in the fire along with his family.
As the darkness deepened the lad felt his legs begin to grow sore and he suppressed a shiver with the cold of the approaching winter. He was clothed only in his night clothes. The fire had forced him out his window just as he had settled down to sleep, and now his clothes and even his boots were gone, much like his parents.
Slowly his strength left him, but he feared to sleep for the dangers of the wolves and bears were ever in his mind. If he stopped to rest if even for a minute the dangers of the world might claim him as well. And so he strode on moment by moment losing the spark of hope that he might find the city Hashan before his strength gave way. His stomach ached for duck or venison and his little heart beat loudly in his ears as he felt colder and colder. The world seemed to slow and he whispered softly to the wind and the leaves and the dirt.
“Mother help me.” He pleaded softly in a voice he could hardly recognize as his own. It was weak and it shook with fear and cold. He could feel his strength slipping away even as he stumbled into a small clearing. He stumbled forward and fell hard onto the ground. With no small effort he looked up to see what his father had called a shrine.
It was dark as night, and yet it glowed with a soft warm blue light. It felt like home and love and safety. He crawled toward it with the last of his strength. And whispered again as he slowly lost consciousness.
“Mother, please help me.”
The shrine with the forms of three women, standing back to back in a tight circle, watched.
He had only ever felt such love once. His family had loved him so. He knew he must be dreaming as the colors were wrong, and the world shifted and turned around him like sand in the wind. But there she stood a young maiden some years older than him. The maiden seemed to glide over to him and with firm hands she lifted him up and grasped him, giving him a warm embrace.
“Be strong, fear not for your future is bright.” She whispered in a silvery and confident voice.
Suddenly his eyes snapped open. He was on his feet, standing against the shrine. His vision was caught by a glimpse of the color red and he looked down to see two apples on the base of the shrine. He reached down and picked up both apples devouring the first, and then savoring the second. Almost instantly he regretted what he had done. The shrine belonged to a Divine and he knew from his father that the Divine would not take such sacrilege, as stealing from a shrine, lightly.
“Please have mercy on me for taking the offering that was given to you, for I am hungry and lost, and I fear if I did not eat I would die.” He said in his most practiced prayer voice. Already the apples had filled him with more warmth then he imagined possible. With a low bow he strode off into the forest once more in search of Hashan and safety.
Hours came and soon the moon was high in the sky. The lad smiled and walked along bathed in moonlight. The forest no longer seemed so dark, and he felt almost as if he were no longer alone, but instead strode with an old friend. He walked some distance before the clouds covered the moon and he was plunged back into darkness. It was not long after that the snow began to fall. Torrents of snow fell onto him. It was what his mother had called a blizzard. He could not see ahead and soon stumbled into many a tree. The snow began to encompass him as it built up on the ground and swiftly began covering his bare feet up to his ankles.
Once again he began to feel cold as the warmth of the apples seemed to drain from him slowly into the dark white sheet of snow. Again he began to despair and stumbled aimlessly from tree to tree in search of Hashan, in search of safety. Just as his strength waned he saw her.
She was a woman as beautiful and as strong as his mother. She seemed to glisten and shine with a power all of her own. She stood with her arms outreached to him. Her stomach was round and showed that she was what his mother had called ‘with child’. He stumbled into her arms and felt her warm embrace.
“Rest now, rest and know I’m watching you.” She said softly as she wrapped him in a blanket and laid him down onto the ground. He felt his fear fall away as he drifted off to sleep to a hazy dream of swirling colors and lights.
Suddenly he awoke and jumped up gasping for breath. He saw that the moon was back and he had somehow been covered in leaves with a thick layer of snow on top of him. He remembered the lady so vividly but he looked around to find nothing, simply the snow covered forest floor. He sighed and looked up at the moon. His constant companion on this journey, and was glad that the clouds could no longer obscure her light.
He continued on as the moon slowly started to set, and he found that even rested as he was, he was once again losing his strength. He despaired, knowing that he didn't even know if he was headed in the right direction. That he might never reach Hashan. His pace slowed as he lost more of his faith ever as the moon set.
He nearly stumbled on the old woman standing in front of him. As he looked up he did not think that smiling would be appropriate. He bowed low with what little strength he had left as was the proper amount of respect for one so old and worldly.
“Excuse me Ma’am, I am sorry I nearly bumped you” he said respectfully, and a bit shakily.
The woman seemed to study him for a moment. It was as if she was peering into his soul and it made him feel naked in the cold autumn air. She looked at him with eyes that seemed to project that they had seen things he could only imagine and a thought suddenly occurred to him.
“Do you know which way I can go to get to Hashan?” he said softly, weakly. She seemed to ponder him for a moment before speaking.
“I know all paths, I can show you the way, but you must answer me two questions.” She said firmly. She did not seem to speak her words yet they were as strong and firm as any words he had ever heard as they echoed in his head.
“Do you fear death, and what will you do if you get to Hashan?” she asked quickly and efficiently. The young lad paused for only a moment before answering, his eyes wide open and his mind clear of any despair that had been encroaching on him.
“I know that I might die, and I fear only being alone when I die. And as for if I reach Hashan.” He said softly with a slight pause. “I will work hard to repay the people who helped me tonight. The Maiden, The Lady, and yourself. If I can find them.” He said with much conviction.
The old woman seemed to peer into his soul and she suddenly smiled.
“Hashan is behind me, and if you seek to repay us, seek out the moon, for I am who helped you. I am the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. I am the Lady Ourania Goddess of the Moon. It was my shrine you took the apples from, for I left them for you. It was I who warmed you, covered you , and led you here by moonlight. Remember well your promise when you wake.” She whispered with silver confidence.
The boy suddenly stumbled out of the forest and fell in front of the southern gates of Hashan. He looked up to see the guards rushing toward him, and he sent his first prayer up to Lady Ourania even as the moon slowly set and sol began to rise.