Valley of Moonlight

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Topaz stood in the northwest guard tower overlooking Moonshadow Hollow. She loved coming up here to see both the beauty of the valley and the grandeur of the world outside the protective stone walls. Her grandfather told her stories that had been passed down of how Moonshadow Hollow came to be. She missed the old man and his stories, but now she was of age to fend for herself. She was not quite ready to let go of such fanciful musings, though. Her favorite part of the story was how the center of town had been marked by the full moon. The city had eventually been built around that, and in the end, the wall was built to protect from any invasion attempts as the town was in a valley surrounded by mountains.

It was three days to the full moon. There would be celebrations in which the gates would be opened to outsiders, allowing for others of the faith to participate in the festivities. Of course, during these times, security was always heightened. There was rarely any trouble, but when it did occur, action was swift and the troublemakers dealt with.

Just then, Elder Liora walked up, "What's on your mind?"

"Just admiring the beauty," Topaz murmured, her tone wistful and contemplative.

"You know you are not supposed to be up here," Liora said, grinning mischievously.

"Not me in particular, but I am also aware that all the elders know this is my quiet spot. Has been since I was old enough to walk. Blame grandpa for bringing me," Topaz answered with as bemused a grin as Liora held.

"Well, I saw you from across the way and thought I would come see how the full moon eclipse preparations are going," Liora prompted in a more sober and business-like tone.

"They're going and will be ready in time for the ceremony," Topaz almost mumbled in a slightly more perturbed tone than she meant.

"In that case, I will leave you to it," Liora said matter-of-factly

Topaz walked slowly around to the south tower admiring the view on either side of the wall before descending and going home to work more on the event preparations.

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