Assistance

Greyfell stood on a cliff high above the earth that overlooked the vast plains of the Corrupted Lands. Just before its precipice lay a small puddle of muddied water, bearing her reflection- or at least what little she could see of herself in it. The entirety Lands about her were suspended in a dense fog, with each of the three moons in the night sky nearly obscured by its impenetrable, unmoving curtains of cold and cloudy white. Her ears flattened as she stared down at her vague reflection in the puddle, for she was preoccupied by remembering the events of the previous days.

Across Lunerest, Xyns had begun to fall listless and their numbers ever grew by the day. The kingdom's Royal Researchers together with Captains of the Royal and Lullay Knights had convened together to discuss what to do with this matter in their paws, and after days of discussion agreed that they needed every knight that they could, sending out their troops to scout every corner of the earth to find a clue as to why. This included the knights-to-be, for even among the ranks they too were slowly losing their vigor from the waning energy from the moons.

Greyfell herself had been sent to the Corrupted Lands as her final task as a knight-in-training before she would officially be knighted upon a successful return from her journey. It was a prospect that many young trainees would have salivated at if they were given such an opportunity, but Greyfell felt no such thrill. Even if knighthood was a chance for her to earn a modicum of independence- perhaps even respect- from her family, it was still an obligation to her kingdom and nothing more. She knew her her family would still continue to eye her as a disgrace. The more vain and superficial of her colleagues would always shy away. That it was always how it had been and how others said it ought it to be- and she wondered for a moment, would her knighthood really matter in the end?

Delicately she touched the puddle of water with her left pawpad, and watched it ripple as tendrils of mist unfurled upon its surface, so that she couldn't see her reflection in it. What little could already be seen of the moons in the sky were no longer visible to the naked eye with her thin mirror of water on the ground.

Her eyes narrowed behind her mask, and she felt her sharp teeth rasp at the edge of her tongue. What would everything in her world become without two of the blessed moons that she had known for all of her life...?

"Greyfell."

Greyfell's ears swiveled behind her without moving her head. It was the voice of one of the Captains that she was accompanying for. Not far behind she could hear the pawsteps of her team of fellow knights-to-be. They stopped short of where the Captain stood, clearly keeping their distance from her, and peered at her from behind the hindquartersof their Captain.

Her captain stepped forward, speaking again- firmer this time. "We have finished our rounds of scouting the Corrupted Lands. Our superiors at the capital are calling to us now- the queens are due to make an announcement soon, and we must return to help our kingdom posthaste. The lot of you will be knighted on the morrow. Before we leave, can you tell me if you've seen anything strange?"

Greyfell shook her head. "I couldn't sense the Corruption beasts here this night... and two of our three blessed moons, at this spot, feel strange." She looked upwards, and the Captain and her fellow trainees followed her gaze.  Trellisa and Oborn's presence were muted entirely beneath the intense fog. Only Yanwei's soft light could trickle down with a semblance of warmth that all of them were familiar with.

The Captain's voice was solemn when they spoke next. "Everyxyn that stands present here-  understand that now, more than ever in our lives, that each of you to excel in your newfound knighthood for all of the nights that will be to come. I have raised you all finely- do our Kingdom and our Queens proud now that you will join our ranks."

Everyxyn bowed their head towards the ground in agreement. Greyfell followed suit, hanging her head low. It was a grave moment- for the air of the land, devoid of magic and cold as ever, did not help matters as it laid its silence thickly upon them all. 

The captain motioned for everyxyn to depart, and was the first to fly off. One by one, everyxyn took off into the sky to soar back towards Moonreach. Greyfell was last, stretching her great, ragged wings before lunging off the cliff to leap into the air. She looked back down at what little remained of the Corrupted Lands as its barren earth vanished beneath them through layers of heavy fog.

Quietly, in her mind, Greyfell vowed that she would do her utmost to assist her kingdom in any way she could- regardless of what anyone else would think of her...