Part XXIII | Phantom City | White Castle Mystery
Howling Practice
Ruby woke up first and then Zoe shortly after that. Levi was rummaging through his Travel Pack looking for his IPS Unit to check the time on the Dragonfly Clock. Hazel sat up and rubbed her eyes, staring at Levi's neon-blue IPS Unit glowing in the dark. Finn was fast asleep. Finn had apparently fallen asleep with what might have been a key to the only locked treasure chest in the Treasure Room. He had one hand tightly clenched next to his chest while the other hand relaxed on the wooden floor. Wolves started to howl outside their window and Zoe saw Azura's shadow in the hallway. Azura was still wearing her ballroom dress from the night before last and it cast a round, puffy shadow on the walls outside their room.
Another chorus of howling wolves started up again, and Ruby yawned and stretched her arms in front of the window, looking for source of the howls.
"Do wolves always howl like that outside at night?" Ruby asked Azura who was still standing in the doorway.
"Sometimes." Azura stepped into their bedroom and gazed outside the bay window at the howling wolves in the winter moonlight.
"Usually they howl together as a pack before a hunt, but tonight they don't seem to be going anywhere. Maybe because tonight is a Wolf Moon. The second full moon of Winter is when the wolves are really supposed to come out and howl. Perhaps they mourn the loss of their ancient ancestor, Fenrir the Wolf, who cried turquoise-blue tears on Meteor Night. They say Fenrir was deceived by his own master, and his tears that night formed a winding, narrow river that led to the Valley of 1,000 Perfumes."
Ruby was impatient, "Can we go out there and howl with them?"
Azura agreed, "Maybe they are in need of companionship." Azura reached into one of the open treasure chests on the floor, dug around under all the gold coins, and pulled out a Turquoise-Blue leather pouch that was tied at the top with silver thread. Azura untied the pouch and pulled out a turquoise-blue Crescent Moon pendant for each of them.
"Here," Azura gave a Crescent Moon pendant to everyone and then put one on herself.
"Take these Turquoise Moon Pendants and wear them as a reminder of Fenrir the Wolf. May all wolves thank us in the end."
"Ah ha! Fang must be here as our guide." Azura exclaimed as Fang appeared in the doorway.
"Please take them along the path of the Wolf tonight Fang, and may we find companionship amongst the wolves of the Phantom City. I doubt these wolves have heard any humans howl around here in centuries."
"Come on Ruby," Hazel grabbed her cloak and tossed Ruby hers. "I'll race you down the stairs before you can say "wolf!" Soon, everyone was outside in the chill night air, accompanied by their guide. The small group spotted the wolves in the distance and started along the path the led to the forested hill where the pack had gathered to howl.
A lone wolf pointed his nose at the big, blue moon and began to howl.