Phew, it's been awhile since I posted something in my HMT universe, huh? I've been working hard on summer classes (complete) and studying for the LSATs (Take it next month). I also started up working again and that's been biting into my free time. I'm hard at work writing a story for a really awesome friend of mine which I'll post sometime in the near future but I wanted to share a bit of what I have for Four Moons IV.

This isn't edited and is subject to change. I'm not entirely happy with how I've written Arch in this bit but you should get a taste about what is to come. Enjoy!

The Half-Moon Tribe: Four Moons IV (Preview)

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I was in a lot of trouble.

"You killed Reyna!" The voice said over me. I hadn't expected anything like what just happened; I had been on my feet and only found myself flat on my back from a push of energy, and not only that, I had something around my neck. My eyes still weren't clear but my sense of danger was screaming at me to get the hell outta here! That same sense had saved my life about five times in the last two years.

I shook my head a little bit and saw Renin, the Beta-Mage to Arch's pack, standing over me. His face was wet with tears. His typically amber eyes looked swollen and the fur along his cheeks and muzzle damp with thin rivulets. His hands were clutching his staff, a long pole with a crescent moon shape on the end just wide enough for a neck to be in, around my neck. The ends were very sharp and thankfully he hadn't cut my neck in the process of attempting to kill me.

Instinctual urge kicked in and my hands lifted upwards and grasped the staff just below the moon and tried to pull it upwards. Sadly, gravity was not on my side and Renin was leaning his weight down onto the staff. I felt the curve of the wood push down into my neck and nearly choke me. I coughed loudly and felt my ears slowly flick backwards.

"I'm going to kill you! Reyna hated you and I hate you too!" Renin screamed and the energy crackled around him. I knew jack squat about magic but I had seen it done more times around me in the last few weeks then in my whole life. I knew the whole pack considered Renin some kind of prodigy, someone with enough strength that he could have been Alpha-Mage himself. I had been shown that you could see magic if you just relaxed your eyes a little bit and tried to look past the person.

I didn't need to do that now.

Renin was forcing out every drop of his power and it was ruining the ground. I could hear the ground behind my head crack, I could feel the air pushing away from his body, and I had no idea why he was summoning up so much magic into his body. I had been told that when a mage does this it usually meant a destructive spell. I gasped for air again as he pushed harder, the wood of the staff remaining nice and solid because Renin willed it so. The jewel tied to the base of the moon was dangling in front of my eyes and glowing brightly, a faint ringing sound echoing as the ether-like waves whipped it about gently, like a bell with no ringer. I had no idea why Renin tied the magic stone to the base of the moon but it was supposed to help his magic I heard someone say once in passing. Right now I was more focused on loosing my head.

"Renin!" I heard someone shout from behind me. I tried to look but I couldn't see them. "Stop this! Get off him!"

"No!" Renin said and looked up to the mystery person. "He's the reason Reyna's dead! He's the reason all this is happening! He has to die!"

"I said GET OFF HIM!" There was a rush of energy and heat. I sucked in a quick breath of cold air as the heat washed over me and pushed Renin backwards. I saw the young mage, who was around my age for crying out loud, pushed off me after a mild struggle. He ripped his staff up out of the ground and flew backwards, laying on his back with a heavy thud. I coughed and rubbed my neck and stood up slowly and looked over to see who it was who had pushed him off me. It was, of course, Arch. Knight in shining armor as always. He was flanked by a strider and two scouts, Ezia for one, and even a mage who I had no idea who was. He was white. Was he one of those wolves from the other packs?

"Thanks Archie, I was getting--"

"SILENCE!" Arch roared in my direction as the heat was pushed at me like a solid wave. I groaned as I was flung backwards and fell right next to Renin. I coughed and rubbed my chest. At least I wasn't going to be sick from that heat again. it still hurt, let me make that very clear. I didn't want to admit it then or now but Arch was one of the scariest guys I had met. How do you even wrap your mind around someone who can kill you with a thought? I always kept him at arms length because of that and made sure to never push him too far. I did like living.

I looked up and saw Arch stalking forward. He bent down and hauled Renin up by his robes and held him up to his face, staring the small mage in the eyes. "Reyna dying is...troubling, but you're disgracing her by acting irrationally, Renin. Collect yourself."

"Arch!" Renin pleaded, his hands holding Arch's wrist as he dangled there and looked right into his eyes. "He's the one! He's the reason they're in the woods!"

"What do you mean?" Ezia said as she walked over to me and kneeled. I saw she was armed. For some reason the scouts enjoyed fist-like weapons. Ezia's hands were clad in black gloves with spiked points along the fingers and between the knuckles. Even larger spikes on the top knuckles. She touched my shoulder but it wasn't to help me up, it was to keep me down.

"The invaders," Renin said, looking down at me as best he could from his position of being held. "They're Severed Moon! They're the disgraced pack!"

I saw Arch's ears flick a bit and then look at me. "Is this true?"

"I don't know what the Severed Moon is!" I said as I tried to get up. Ezia held me down though. I growled at her and batted at her arm. "Look, let me go! I don't go for girls anyway. I don't know what Renin or that invader is talking about! I'm from Roll Hill village! That doesn't sound anything like Severed Moon to me. Then again, you savages have a unique way of talking..."

"Jack!" Arch said in my direction. "Shut up."

I did as I was told. Arch looked back to Renin and stared at him with those strong amber eyes. Those eyes always unnerved me. I played a lot of card games and Arch had one of those faces you could never read no matter how hard you tried. He had mastered a face of passiveness and if he showed emotion it was because he wanted you to see it. I wanted to hustle people with Arch. I'd make a fortune.

"Go on, Renin."

"Thank you," Renin said as he was let down onto his feet and rubbed his neck. "The blood mage said that he was from Zane's kingdom, and that they're from the displaced Severed Moon. The fourth moon who left the woods so many centuries ago."

"And because of that," Ezia said as she looked down at me. "They should be unable to enter the woods and not get lost."

"That's true," Renin said as he rubbed his face with his open palms, sniffling quietly. "But Reyna told me ancient magic doesn't always go away. There are spells on all of us and our children which are placed on us at birth, at conception. Its part of us and our families forever. One of those spells is the pack sensitivity."

"What's that?" Arch asked, his arms crossing over his chest. "Reyna never spoke of such spells to me."

"It's not...it's hard to explain. Why talk about the blessings on all of us? We never have to worry about being in these woods. But we're all blessed with magic that lets us get through the protective magic because we're blessed by the gods." Renin said as he rubbed his eyes. Was he really still going to cry? Baby. "When the Severed Moon left the woods they didn't lose all their blessings. The Gods were angry at them for leaving the woods forever, of course, but they did not disgrace the children of the woods completely."

"What do they still have?" Ezia said, pushing me down harder into the earth.

"When one of their own is lost they can sense them. It only works in the woods." Renin said as he looked right at me. "Jack is, apparently, a descendant of the All Moon Tribe, what we call the Severed Moon; the group of wolves who wanted more than what the Elim woods had to offer. They wanted the lands to the west which we are told to never spend a long time in as the God's grace does not reach there. When they left the Gods cried and forbid them to ever enter the woods again, saddened their children wouldn't listen to them."

"But they found Jack," Arch said. "How is that possible if they were cast out of the woods?"

"They can sense their own in here. I suppose the Gods did it to protect them. If they got lost in the woods they could go in and find their own and then quickly leave before getting terribly lost and die. The problem is the Severed Moon knows this and is using it to their advantage."

"They're using Jack like a signal," Ezia said. "Like when we scout use smoke signals to signal to the others to either converge or disperse from a location."

"Right," Renin said, sniffling again as he wiped his tears from his eyes. "They want to find Jack. They want to find our home, Arch. They are moving soldiers into the woods and following the magical tether that Jack is signaling to others of his pack. They will find our home and they will do whatever they want."

"What do they want?" Arch said, growling. He stalked over to me. "What do your people want with the Half-Moon?"

"I don't know!" I said, pushing away from Ezia and standing up. "I never heard any of this garbage until JUST NOW! You're also getting your information from someone whose blubbering over the death of an old lady and not thinking clearly! Ask him what the mage did to me!" I was scared now. I had no idea what was going on with these wolves and this other pack, but I knew that it was nothing good. The problem was that if they didn't believe me they would probably kill me to keep themselves safe. They didn't like dealing with the group of people outside the woods that they called the Outsiders.

"He...attacked Jack. Knocked him out and cast him aside as if he were driftwood." Renin admitted. "He wanted Wolf's Wisdom, Arch. When Reyna died it appeared like a crystal and I took it into my body."

"I know," Arch said calmly and spared a glance to Renin. "We all sensed it. Slayn and Chance are guarding the temple. I gave them permission to use their Gifts if they need to. Its too risky right now to simply fall back to my judgement. Besides, Reyna used hers without asking and it probably saved all of your lives."

"Arch," I said firmly and looked up at him. "I don't know what's going on. I never even SAW Zane or anyone from the palace. I've never even been to the capital cities. Orphans aren't allowed!"

"You're an orphan?" Ezia said and looked at me curiously. "And they don't let you where you have family?"

"It doesn't work like it does here!" I said, rubbing the back of my head in exasperation. Sometimes these people could be so wonderful but they were clueless about how the real world worked. "Where I'm from when you lose your family you're nothing. I should be dead. I only lived because some old lady took me in. Watched and raised me until I was 9 and then she died from a flu in the winter. Then I wandered a bit...did some things and then you found me on the boarder cities." I cut a lot of information out. Why tell my sob story to a bunch of people who were considering killing me? Best save that card for later. "No one would take me as an apprentice and I couldn't join the military because I have no family--no honor. It's hard to explain. The best thing I could do was hope to work on a farm but I hate the countryside. So I do what I do best."

"You gamble and cheat." Ezia said flatly.

"Right," I said to her with a little grin. I saw her just shake her head and roll her eyes. "But whenever I talked to anyone with a military or royal crest it was usually to smack me away from getting anywhere or to get out of their face. I don't like the crown anymore than you do!"

"He's lying!" Renin said at me and pointed at me. "They know OF Jack. How would they know of him and he be clueless? Come on, Jack." Renin said with a mildly angry sneer on his face. "Aren't you the master of lies? This one's terrible."

I sighed and shook my head. "That's the problem," I said calmly. "I tell the truth most of the time and people always assume I'm lying." I was mildly embellishing. I told a lot of little fibs and warped stories but that shouldn't condemn me to a life of a liar.

"You do make it hard to trust you," Ezia said, and looked at Arch. "But he's not that bad at lying. I believe him. I think he may just be bait. Scouts do it all the time to lure out enemies. He may just have been the unfortunate number drawn."

"Thank you," I said to Ezia and took her hand. I moved to kiss it but she brought it out of my grasp quickly and smacked me on the back of the head hard enough to make me stumble. "Ow."

"That doesn't make sense!" Renin said with a growl. "He was there in the inn when WE were. And he said he was there randomly. How could that happen?"

"Good question," Arch said and looked at me. "But these are questions to be asked by the Council. We need to get back home."

I didn't know what to make of that. But I was still alive. I knew Renin wasn't going to be the only one out for my blood.

*********

We arrived at the temple an hour later. Arch had carried me on his back and the moment we entered the clearing a group of people were waiting for us. Slayn was standing there in his new clothing. He wore his traditional blue loincloth but around his neck and shoulder was a matching long blue scarf. He wore leather gauntlets that held small blades linked into them. A last ditch weapon perhaps? On his chest was a strap of throwing knives. On his hips were his new daggers, leather straps around his thighs with the sheaths pressed firmly to his flesh and fur. Now I knew why the end of his daggers were all circular. He could easily slip his finger into the hole and draw it with a simple wrist flick. He was prepared for battle.

Avalon was at his side. He was wearing his typical red bandanna but he was also wearing a pauldron on his right shoulder. It was connected to his belt by a strap crossing down across his chest to a thicker belt where his sword hung. He had his traditional sword on his back and a heavier looking loincloth on his waist. He looked far more fierce in this extra armor. Both of them did. The couple had been given all kinds of gifts for their Joining and these seemed to be some of them.

"Slayn," Arch said as he put me down on the ground. "The reports are confirmed about Reyna. I want you to send striders to Apollo and Ender. Get them or their second in command here right away. I want you here though so send your best." Arch was walking and the group of wolves followed. Chance jogged up, his heavy axe on his back and a look of worry on his face.

"Ezia," Arch said as he looked over at her. "Get the message to the visiting Alpha Males. Siro and the Warboz need to be briefed on this. Tell them we will hold a Meeting of the Alpha by twilight. I want all their questions answered. Offer striders to them for messages to be couriered to their people. Ask them to put their packs on standby." Arch looked down to the white wolf following with the black ear. His hand moved out and grasped his shoulder. "Kaliko, as much as I don't want to send you away right now, this is Half-Moon business until Siro involves you."

"I understand," Kaliko said and nodded gently. "I'll go back to my room. Don't worry about me." He said with a smile and walked off.

When Kaliko was out of ear shot he looked to Ezia. "I want Scouts listening on the two Alpha Male. I know they're allies but I don't want to take any risk. They're getting all the information and giving very little. They may have intel they're witholding from us for whatever reason. Use your best scouts that can remain hidden. I don't care how they stay hidden just do it."

"Yes, Alpha," Ezia said we were walking up the steps. "If they're found out?"

"They won't be if you pick the right people," Arch said calmly as he pushed the huge double doors into the temple's main level. The glowing trees in front of us with the cascading waterfall were beautiful and I usually spared a moment to look at it. Not right now as were heading down a hallway toward the Council chambers.

"Chance," Arch said. "Jack is to have a warrior guarding him at all times. I don't know or care for who, just get someone. He's going to be with me mostly but the extra security can't hurt."

"Yes, Arch." I heard Chance say. Yay I get a bodyguard. That could either lead to a lot of fun or a huge headache. I was betting on the headache. Warrior males were more problem then they were worth.

"Renin," Arch said as he pushed the huge double doors to the council chambers open. "I want you to find a way to dull the blessing of the Gods on Jack. Find a way to weaken their ability to sense him. Use Wisdom if you have to. I want our home protected. I want everyone prepared. Strengthen the defensive ring of the Scout outposts and have striders work in teams of two. Do not scare anyone with the mobilization, either. I just want a show of force. I want striders stationed at the scout outposts as well." Arch seemed to be going down some mental check list. When the Alphas had their orders he dismissed them from the council room.

Now it was time for Arch and I to talk.