How dare she! Dawn was a seething pit inside, writhing with fury. What a heartless beast Amber was, thinking about putting almost the entire werewolf population in danger just so she could save her family! And she was even willing to kill Dawn. Dawn thought they had had a bond! Well, maybe that was a little overkill, but you had to give it to Dawn, steam was literally coming out of her ears.

She stormed across the shack, and suddenly, the werewolves followed at her command, seeing her stance, and clearing out a fighting ring. 

Amber had a terrified look on her face, and whispered, “What are you going to do to me?”

Dawn ignored her, feeling mercy at first, then felt herself harden and set her jaw in determination. She stepped up to Amber, and a halo of dim light formed a flickering crown in her hair. “I challenge you to a fight, of the immortals, and let the very best spirit win.”

Lily stepped back, feeling the aura of power coming from the two young spirits, and blew a horn. They stepped toe to toe, and then leaped into the air. While they leaped, they transformed into their normal spirit bodies, a wolf for Dawn a phoenix for Amber. Dawn could see why Amber would think she had the upper hand; she was a phoenix after all. She dived toward Dawn at such a high velocity, you could see the path where her wings cut through the air with steam. But little did she know Dawn had a trick up her sleeve. Amber rose and dived, shooting a fireball straight at Dawn. But Dawn had anticipated this, quickly dodging aside.

“Oh, you’re so powerful!” Taunted the traitorous fireos sarcastically. Dawn stepped up to her slowly and timidly and pretended to give in, but, at the last second she sprang up and pinned down the phoenix’s beating wings.

“Much more powerful now, aren’t I,” Dawn growled in Amber’s ear, in just the right tone, Dawn knew to send shivers down her spine. Then Amber started convulsing as though she was having a seizure. Everyone started panicking, and even Dawn was startled for a second, until she realised Amber was a semi-immortal spirit, like she was; which meant she was trying to use her ultimate transformation, it was rare but not completely unseen. But little did she know, she was about to be one of the most legendary creatures to roam the land in just a few tens of hours.

Dawn murmured to herself under her breath, “Not so fast, fire girl,” And let the transformation begin.

A halo of silver light replaced the dim crown, two moonstone-encrusted earrings rested on a pair of ears, a dazzling split skirt with leggings underneath, a bright silver sword, a flash of light, and then she was lying there, all alone. She got up, slowly assessing her surroundings. She was in her wolf form, and padded over to some sort of control board.

“Welcome, dear Dawn, it is me, Starlight, your guide to the world,” A voice emitted from a speaker set inside it. “Things may go wrong, things may go right, but are you sure you want to fight, tonight?”

Dawn had never felt more certainty. If Amber truly was the enemy, she’d be driven away. If she wasn’t… Well, she would be accepted, if she surrendered. She took a deep breath, the future rested in her hands, but she was still going to do it. She rose slowly, and dived into the board, sucking her back into the present. 

She blinked her eyes open. She could barely recognise the girl in front of her, an auburn-haired girl with fire highlights, and a sword flickering with flames. She looked down at herself, and found that she was also different. Her silver plaits had been undone, and pulled up into an elegant half-up half-down style. She was dressed in a elegant warrior’s gown, which had many handy traps, and conveniently, her moon projector. 

She quickly transformed into her wolf form, and found that she had wings and a silver crown surrounding her moon jewel. She gave it an experimental blast and jumped back in surprise and by the sheer force of the beam. If you’d let it go at its full strength, it would pierce through the walls and wolves and bring the whole shack down with the ending blast of the beam. She flicked her wings satisfactorily, and asked, “Ready for the fight?”

Amber bared her crimson-red fangs, “Never been readier,” And they leaped up into the air, suddenly airborne, snarling and clawing at each other. Dawn pulled some awesome trickery, and magical spells, but Amber seemed to think she could outdo them with her very own sheer strength. She was obviously entirely wrong.

By the time half the fight was over, Dawn didn’t feel much pain, but she could see it was a different story for Amber, who winced at every movement. Dawn’s eyes drifted to the wounds dripping from every limb, and winced guiltily, it was the sport of a battle, after all, but she needn’t be that vicious. 

At the final third, it was a mix. Those wolves who hated Dawn thought Amber might have a fighting chance, and therefore cheered for her. Those who still thought of Amber as the enemy booed her, and cheered Dawn on. It all enveloped into some kind of pandemonium out there where the wolves watched the fight, like wrestling fans watching a wrestling match, they obviously had some kind of preference. 

When she finally pounced on Amber and snarled in her ear, “Give up!” for the third time, Amber finally gave in. Dawn was triumphant, and Amber was not. She felt somewhat proud of herself, but still rushed over to assist Catherine, the main healer; the other healers; and Merlina, the sorcerer of the pack and mentor to Dawn’s early days. 

“I’m so sorry about that,” Dawn gulped as she patted Amber’s wounds. She had to admit to herself, she definitely had gone overboard. She had healed the wounds after the fight, but at least she and Amber were closer now, after the fight.

“May I have a word with you, Dawn?” Merlina poked her head in the doorway. Dawn quickly agreed, glad have an excuse to leave the awkward scene enfolding in front of her, and followed Merlina out. 

“What did you think you were doing?” Merlina growled in outrage. “She could have been killed. You could have been killed!”

Dawn gulped, she had not expected her way out of an awkward situation to become so hostile, “I’m sorry Merlina! I didn’t mean to hurt her, but you also heard her thoughts, how she wanted to murder us all!”

Merlina sighed, obviously cooling her temper and trying to see from Dawn’s perspective. This had always been a problem with Merlina, she could never control her temper, and some of it was passed on to Dawn. Dawn dared not mention it to her, worried she would blame Dawn for picking up her traits, and attacking Amber. Merlina beckoned to Dawn, leading her into the Sorcerer’s Nook, a place in which only the most powerful Moon Werewolves are trained by Merlina, and sometimes, Dawn. A few students were lounging in there, waiting for the preparation of the ceremony, but Merlina quickly shooed them away. 

“You must retake the Sorceress of the Lunar Moon challenge after every fight, believe me, my mentor had to do it many times.” Melina blinked a few tears out of her eyes, lost in memory. She closed her eyes and frowned hard, trying to regain her composure, and spun her hand in the air, creating an orb of light. Dawn felt her mind ooh and aah, even though she had seen this sight many times previously. 

She stepped up, closer to Merlina, spinning her own ball of light, and touched the whirling orb gently and lightly to Merlina’s. 

A flash of light passed through the air, and Dawn reappeared at a star-lit swirly lake, guarded by crystallised reeds, and with an aura of care and motherliness about it. Dawn exhaled slowly, marvelling at the sight she had only seen twice before. The place were the best Moon Werewolves went. The place where you could only be in your purist form. The place where all ancestral spirits of her dwelled. The original home to the wolves. It was the Lunar-sky grounds.

She slowly loped around the clearing, not feeling that much power in her wolfish form, or any of her forms for that matter, since the fight where she unlocked her ultimate form. She heard a scuffling of paws, and twitched her ears. She lifted her muzzle into the air, and scented Merlina and someone else… Was that Lupa and Starlight? The two key wolves to the lifestyle of the werewolves? 

She bowed hurriedly, but was stunned when Lupa bent down and pulled her scruff up roughly. “We haven’t got time to be doing this Dawn! You know we are all equals in terms of power here,” Lupa growled gruffly, “I’d prefer we talk it out first, or else you’re going to be late for the pups’ 1st human year birthday. And even I know how much you also want to mentor that small pup named Sunlight, the only Werewolf of the litter.”

Dawn nodded hurriedly, never ceasing to be amazed by being in Lupa’s presence in a simple sorceress challenge. Lupa bent her gray muzzle down to Dawn’s head, and she felt pure. Pure like the clean fresh-water stream that ran through the camp. Pure like a newborn-pup. Pure like a free dove soaring through the wind. Her choices since her last ceremony started rushing through her mind, and she felt peace with them. After a while, Lupa stepped back and nodded satisfactorily, saying,”You are pure now, you truly believed you made the right choice. You are fit to be the sorceress of your pack for now.”

Starlight, the Moonstone spirit agreed, and leapt gracefully over to Dawn. She slid by Dawn, pelts brushing, and murmured, “Don’t worry, Dawn Starlight, I will walk with you in many dreams, guiding you and the Burning Ember.”

Dawn stopped them one last time before they exited, which would earn her a scolding from Merlina later, and queried, “The Burning Ember is Amber right? And the Light of the Stars and Moon is me?”

Starlight shook her head sadly, and whined, “Alas, we cannot say, but you will understand and know soon. Goodbye until I see you again Dawn…”