Curse of the Moon Goddess

“Sage, come on!” my best friend, Lizzy called from a few feet in front of me.

I chuckled before calling out to her, “I’m coming. Sheesh.”

She giggled as I ran to catch up to her. Lizzy was a butterball of fun. She wasn’t chubby, but she wasn’t model thin either. She was several inches shorter than me. Her strawberry blonde hair and her green eyes the color of a chrysoberyl stone fit her bubbly personality perfectly.

Besides Lizzy, there were four others with us. We had the weekend off and decided it would be nice to go camping. Apparently, there was a city several miles from here that owned part of the area we were planning on hiking. I guess Lizzy knew someone who knew someone who had a friend that lived there that asked permission for us to walk through this area. From what I heard, they’re pretty sensitive about foreigners coming here. They claimed it was because they do a lot of hunting, and they don’t want one of us to accidentally get shot.

The area was beautifully and thickly forested. I could see why it would be so difficult to differentiate between a person moving through the woods or an animal. I kind of hope we run into some of those animals. Perhaps we’ll catch a glimpse of a pack of wolves. I love wolves. I seem to have a strange connection to any dog or wolf. I’m drawn to them and they’re drawn to me. I always joke it’s a magic power, but maybe I just seem trustworthy enough.

At last, we found a great place to set up camp. The clearing was an open space, with an already set up fire pit from hikers who came before us. The trees were thick enough to act almost like a wall between us and the forest beyond. Thankfully it was still early in the morning, about 10 am, and I was feeling restless. I looked to the woods and felt an indescribable need to go deep inside them and unveil their secrets.

“Hey, Lizzy. I’m going to go get some firewood. I’ll probably be gone a few hours,” I say, already grabbing a small bag from my backpack for emergencies. I didn’t want to weigh myself down since I’ll already be carrying wood. But I also knew how important it is to be prepared.

Lizzy scrunched up her perfectly plucked eyebrows, obviously not happy, “We just got here and you want to leave! Come on. Stay and play a few games with us. We’ll get the wood later.”

I shook my head, smiling. Lizzy loved being around everyone else and I did too, most of the time. If I had to choose between this group or the woods, the woods would always win.

“At least let me go with you,” the handsome young man in our group volunteered.

Oh, Adam. He was super sweet and without a doubt the most handsome guy I knew with his bright blonde hair, forest green eyes, and height of about 6’2”, but I never felt the same connection to him as he did me. Anyone could tell he liked me and that’s the only reason he came with us. He hates the outdoors. His muscles were the result of spending time in his gym rather than naturally acquiring them through real work. Whatever time was left, he was found playing video games. He was a bit of a wuss when it came to pain. I should know. I had to help him when he stubbed his foot at the beginning of the hike. It’s not like those things were a huge turn-off for me, but I wanted someone who liked being outside and could make me feel safe. That is a feeling that rarely comes to me during my day-to-day life.

“Thanks for the offer, Adam, but I was hoping to explore the area around here. And I think you all know what I mean by exploring.” I hid the bit of threat in my voice.

There was a collective moan and Adam flinched before shrugging. No one liked going with me when I went exploring. Last time Adam tried going with me he ended up doing the splits and I had to drag him back to town. It was quite humiliating for him. In fact, it seemed as if anytime someone came with me, they ended up in the most awkward positions trying to follow me. I have tried a few times to make my exploration a little easier but to no avail. I was strong, limber, and comfortable in the woods. I didn’t scare easily either unless it came to snakes. Snakes and I were worse enemies. Want to see me scream? Find a snake.

I waved goodbye to everyone and headed out. I wandered around for a while, walking aimlessly. I didn’t worry about getting lost. I have an amazing sense of direction. Another unexplainable attribute of mine.

I found myself becoming lost in thought. After some time, I decided I should start looking for firewood and head back. That’s when I heard it. A scream.

Without a second thought, I took off towards the sound. A little idiotic of me to run towards screaming rather than away. But someone was in trouble. I couldn’t just turn away. I know all too well the feeling of desperation as you waited for help that may never come.

In moments, I busted through a clearing, coming face to face with five very intimidating men surrounding a single woman.

No way. Uh huh. They were not doing what I think they are.

I could feel my blood beginning to boil as I processed the situation.

“What do you think you are doing? Get away from her!” I nearly growled. Even to myself I sounded threatening. I gave myself a silent high five.

The men hesitated. After a moment, they let the girl go, but three of them started making their way towards me, a nasty smirk on their faces that I didn’t like one bit.

I glared at them daring them to take another step. Surprisingly they did stop, but my happiness was short lived as they spoke, “You really think we would listen to a weak human like yourself.”

Inwardly I smirked. You’re human too dufus. But something stirred inside me telling me they weren’t. It made me slightly uneasy, but I didn’t care. Someone needed help and there was no way I was going to back down.

I watched as two of the men began to enclose me in a circle. I knew this was a bad sign. I needed to attack and fast.

Right as I was about to lunge for the one in front, the men stopped in their tracks as a fierce, low growl erupted through the clearing.

The men snapped their heads towards the source of the sound, but I didn’t hesitate. I took this opportunity to pick up a stick next to me and attack my original target. I landed a fierce blow to the man’s head, knocking him to the ground.

“Get the girl!” I yelled to my savior. I knew it was a wolf, but I sensed no hostility from him. I didn’t know how I knew it was a him or a wolf, but I felt something tug at me saying to trust him. My instincts never failed me and I didn’t have time to think about it right now anyways.

Both the wolf and I fought our way to the girl. Me fighting off two to three guys at once, while the wolf was only focused on getting the girl. I didn’t blame him and I was grateful. At last, I saw them in the corner of my eyes make it to the edge of the clearing. Only then did he stop to look at me.

“Get her out of here! Now!” I yelled as I landed another massive blow to one of the guys, causing blood to spray from his head.

The guy I assumed was the leader and the first one I attacked smiled devilishly at me, “You sure are an idiot. You really think you can handle us all by yourself?”

I returned his smile, “I haven’t done too bad so far, have I? You guys look like you’ve been through hell and back. Me? I don’t feel tired at all.”

I know I was provoking them, but I hated it when someone thought they were better simply because they had something their victim didn’t. Strength, wealth, height, beauty, fame, connections; whatever it was I hated it when someone thought they were better by such inferior things. If you want to be better than your opponent, never share your true strength.

I felt the glint in my eye come alive. There it was. The power I hid deep inside. I have been in so many fights and each time I came up on top. Why? Because I didn’t exploit my secret. I didn’t really know what it was myself, but it was powerful. There was no way these men could beat me now that it was alive.

The man’s face turned into a scowl, obviously not liking what I had said.

“Don’t bother with saving her. Kill her now. I want to see her suffer,” he commanded the other guys.

That’s when I finally realized it. Most of them were no longer human. They were wolves. I watched in minimal surprise as the guy in front of me also shifted into a wolf, his clothes falling like confetti to the forest floor. I should be afraid. I know I should run. I should get out of here and get help.

Instead of doing all the logical things, I smiled.

“Bring it on.”