Dave Gross: Mistress of the Night

"See, Stag, I told you I heard a jingling like silver! I'm never wrong about that!" said the man with the club.

He pointed his weapon at herspecifically at her chain and medallion. Feena twitched her blouse up to cover both the medallion and herself.

"Oh, now don't do that, missus," Stag said as he slid forward. The other man circled to her far side. "Drik and I were just enjoying the scenery. Pretty clearing this, isn't it? Favorite stop for travelers. Not sure why you'd want to take your clothes off, but I'm not complaining.''

Feena cursed herself. The bandits had come from downwindshe'd missed their scent entirelyand she'd been too caught up in practicing her excuses to notice their approach.

"Stay back," she warned them, taking a step back herself to keep both men in view.

Stag chuckled, "Don't be frightened, red bird. We'll take what we want and if you behave yourself, you won't get-"

Feena's toes found the straps of one of her sandals. With a snap of her leg, she sent her footwear flashing at Stag's face. The bandit's sword swooped to swat it aside, but Feena was already spinning around, shifting her balance and driving her other foot hard into Drik's belly. His breath whooshed out of him and he staggered back, doubled over. Feena stepped clear, thrust her arms into the sleeves of her blouse, and jerked it on.

"hurt?" she asked Stag. "Is that what you were trying to say?"

The swordsman growled, a pitiful sound, and charged at her. Feena met his charge with a rush of her own, throwing herself down at the last moment to knock his legs out from under him. Stag fell flat on his face and went skidding along the ground. Feena rose to confront Drik. The bandit looked pained, but he was upright again. He swung his club at her.

Feena ducked under his swing and grabbed his opposite shoulder, twisting him around with the force of his own blow. His arm came around again and she plucked the club out of his hand and drove it sharply into his already tender belly. When he doubled over, she brought it down hard against the back of his head. Drik sprawled bonelessly across the ground.

"Nice moves, missus," Stag said. He was back on his feet, his face streaked comically with dirt and grass stains. His sword, however, was held low and menacing. "Got any more?"

"Yes," said Feena. The fingers of her left hand touched her medallion while the fingers of her right stabbed at Stag. "Bright Lady of Night, stay his hand!"

Like moonlight itself, the cool power of Selune flooded through her, drawn by her faith and shaped by her prayer. Feena felt rather than saw the magic that reached out and wrapped around the banditfreezing him in place. Feena walked up to him and stared into his startled eyes. She hefted Drik's club. Stag's eyes turned frightened and pleading. Feena shrugged.

"It is a pretty clearing, isn't it?" she said.

She slammed the club into Stag's head. Stag went down to join Drik in the dirt. Feena looked down at the bandit, then kicked his unconscious form.

"Don't you have any" she spat, delivering another kick" respect"

A third kick.

"— for the clergy?"

Feena snatched up his sword and hurled both it and Drik's club away into the bushes, then found her sandals and pulled them on. She pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face and turned back toward the road and Yhaunn.

"Moonmaiden's grace," she cursed, "I hate the city!"

Yhaunn had begun life centuries ago as a cluster of crude cabins caught between the quarry where workers hewed out great slabs of granite and the docks where they shipped them out to cities around the Sea of Fallen Stars. Many great buildings in Selgaunt, Saerloon, Westgate, and Alaghoneven far off Cimbar in Ches-senta and Velprintalar in Aglarondhad been built with Yhauntan stone. By the time the quarry was played out, Yhaunn had become a city in its own right. Its buildings had spilled out of the narrow strip along the bay and right into the old quarry itself, with the city's wealthier citizens building higher and higher onto the quarry walls until habitations filled the rocky basin.

In the gathering night, Yhaunn was filled with shadows. Feena stood at the city gates high atop the old quarry cliffs and stared down at the tightly-crowded bowl of the city. Selune had risen and her silver light fell over Feena's shoulders, illuminating the streets of Yhaunn but casting darkness between the buildings. Feena's hand reached for her medallion, but she stopped it and lifted her chin. It's no different than a forest at night, she told herself. A big stone forest.

With no trees and a lot of people. She swallowed.

"Never been to the city before, country wife?" laughed one of the guards at the gate. "Best keep a tight hand on your purse!"

Feena glared at him and started down into the city.

Even among all the buildings, Moonshadow Hall stood out, both from the heights of the city and from street level. The temple of Selune was a big, round structure that shimmered pale gray in the moonlight, a counterpoint to the full moon rising into the sky. Depicted in tall relief on the temple's walls were Sehlne's seven Shards, the goddess' winged servants and warriors. Together with sculpted owls, the Shards stood guard over the many gates that stood along the temple's outer walls. Only one of the outer gates was real, though. The rest were merely symbols of the true gates that represented the phases of the moon around Moonshadow Hall's sacred inner courtyard.

Feena strode up to the main entry gate and the acolyte who stood guard at it. She couldn't have been more than fourteen years old and the blue and silver robes that she wore fit her awkwardly. A mace, its head etched with a crescent moon, hung from a belt around her thin hips. Feena wondered if she could actually use it. As she approached, the girl glanced at her idly, looked away, then looked back as she realized that the woman in homespun and linen wore the same symbol she did.

"Welcome to Moonshadow Hall, sister," the girl said in greeting. She sounded as if she didn't quite know what to make of the rough woman in front of her, but Feena had to admit that even so she managed to force a pleasant, welcoming note into her voice. "Is this your first visit to the hall?"

Feena couldn't suppress a slight twitch. "No," she said, "it isn't. But-"

"Feena?" called a voice from within the gate. "Feena, is that you? By Our Silver Lady, I knew you couldn't stay away from me forever!"

A man came bounding out of the temple, a pale blue half-cape flowing behind him, and swept her up in his arms. Feena forced herself to smile and accept his embrace, but she gripped his arms the instant she felt his hands slide toward her bottom.

She pressed her cheek to his and whispered in his ear, "I wouldn't like to thump you in front of the girl, Mifano."

Mifano kissed her cheek and laughed, his hands moving back to a more brotherly position. His breath smelled of cloves and cinnamon.

"Ah, Feena, silver flame of the immortal moonhow my heart has missed the blunt impact of your wit." He turned to the acolyte and said, "Jhezzail, this is Feena. We trained together here when we were younger than you."

Feena saw the acolytes' eyes widen at the introduction, but once again it seemed that the girl managed to hold her composure. She bent slightly and dipped her head.

"Elder sister," she murmured formally.

"Younger sister," replied Feena, bowing her head in return. As Mifano took her arm and escorted her through the gate, she muttered, "I see my reputation is intact."

"You were a… unique novice, Feena. Not many clergy of Selune are blessed the way that you are."

"Not many would consider being a werewolf a. blessing," Feena snorted, "even among Selune's clergy. Remember, my mother sent me here to learn how to control that 'gift' as much as to be initiated into Selune's mysteries."