Author's note: This story will be updated with new chapters coming on/after the 15th of January, 2024.

Ruuni, Nordin and the other four elders gasped in unison, their hearts gripped in terror, as they watched the shrine, the mountain and everyone they knew disintegrate as if they had no more substance than spent ashes in a fireplace.

In a panic Ruuni called out to the others urging them, "Hold on to each other!"

Finding themselves in their skins, they eagerly locked fingers until the group of six stood in a circle.

"What do we do now?" Nordin asked though he didn't really expect an answer. This fearful sight made him break out in a cold sweat. And his racing heart left him breathless. He felt sure he was on the cusp of blacking out. He'd never been this frightened or this bewildered in all his life.

All Ruuni could think to do was to cry out to the Moon goddess hoping she would have pity on them. Because, whatever her expectations when she closed her eyes in the shrine, this terrifying nothingness was the farthest thing from the peaceful feeling she'd had before they curled up on the shrine floor.

"Please Goddess," Ruuni called out in a stricken voice.

Quite suddenly the ground beneath their feet gave way to a fast flowing tunnel of what could only be described as time and space. And, without warning they found themselves hurtling down it. All of them let out a shriek, but they managed to keep hold of one another despite their dismay.  But, before they could feel like hurling their guts or despairing for their lives, it was all over. They found themselves suddenly standing still on a gleaming pearl road - completely intact.

"What is this place?" Nys whispered as she looked up with astonishment from the cool polished highway under her bare feet.

Reminiscent of when they'd entered the Moon shrine not long ago, a hush fell over them all the moment their eyes spied their new surroundings. If they had thought the goddess' shrine was the most other-worldly and holy place they'd ever beheld, then they were sorely mistaken. This mysterious place outshone the shrine in splendour and wonder a thousand times over.

Sweeping up before them, shimmering in every shade of silver, white and gold, was a pristine temple such as they had never seen or even imagined. It was evocative of the past but its architecture also a vision of the future. The temple gave the elders the feeling that they were staring into the beginning of time but also into a world yet to come.

As when they entered the cave, Ruuni asked the others in a hushed voice, "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

It was Nys, Lofgren's counterpart, who replied this time around. "If you are seeing a pearly white road that passes through eight two storey high moon gates, leading to a temple of eight towers as high as the sky, then yes" she replied with total amazement.

There was a brief pause while the others observed the enormous moon gates and sky-scraping towers. The gates, which resemble the four primary and four intermediate phases of the moon,  were fantastical constructions that defied architectural logic. Where the technology came from to build such structures was beyond the elders.

The eight towers, were no less stunning in scope and design. They rose at differing heights from the temple grounds and all of them shot up into the clouds. Their height could not be calculated with any kind of accuracy given that the heavens came down and touched the top of the clouds, which engulfed the highest peaks on each tower. It gave the illusion that the towers went on for ever. But, the tech needed to create these architectural wonders simply did not exist. Everything about the gates and towers was a mystery.

Even so, Ruuni felt a sense of relief knowing they were all seeing the same inexplicable vision or were all part of the same incredible dream.

"Do you see a beam of light shooting up from the middle of the temple?" Arvid asked the others.

"Right into the cosmos?" Lind, his counterpart, asked tentatively.

"Yes," the others confirmed in unison.

That beautiful beam of light, which shot straight up into the sky piercing through the clouds and the heavens until it vanished into the dark starry sky, was perhaps the most startling feature of the temple. The pillar was encircled by eight rings of light which varied in size and brightness, and these were accompanied by eight silver and gold globes resembling moons, which rotated around the shaft of radiant light. The beam, along with its rings and moons, was as striking as it was baffling.

One thing seemed certain to Ruuni though. They had to be gazing up at the Moon goddess' temple. Perhaps her very dwelling place.

"Is this just a dream? Are we still in the mountain?" Arvid asked anxiously.

"There's only one way to know," Nordin replied.

"Let's see where the road leads us," Ruuni agreed. "The goddess has brought us here for some purpose. Lets not keep her waiting," she encouraged the others.

Her mystified and bewildered companions nodded their agreement. Moving all together, though no longer holding each others hands, they took a step toward the first of the moon gates.  But, in that self same moment, they were once again hurtled through space. This time they watched the pearl pavement speed by under their feet as their bodies flew through each of the 8 moon gates before coming to a full but gentle stop in what might be described as the outer court of the temple. There, they breathed a collective sigh of relief the moment their feet touched the pearl surface below.

But that sense of relief was quickly replaced with fear as they had to dodge giant ghostly anthropomorphic wolf-like figures walking through the outer court. These exquisitely beautiful wolf-men and women were easily 7 and 8 feet tall, perfectly proportioned, dressed in fine sheer silks and walked on their hind legs like bipeds. But, even more strange was the fact that these god-like creatures were entirely oblivious to the elders who stumbled this way and that to avoid being knocked about.

"Who are these wolves?" Lind asked with a tremble in her voice as she quickly stepped out of the way of an elegantly dressed couple who were smiling and laughing at something they'd just shared with each other. Only, whatever their conversation, Lind heard none of it because the apparitions made no noise at all.

"Our ancestors perhaps?" Arvid postulated as he tried to stay close to her.

"Is this a temple or a grave yard?" Lofgren asked as a chill ran through him and made the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand erect.

To his great horror, he accidentally passed through one of the ghostly figures while trying to miss another. His body was inexplicably chilled and he found himself unable to move a limb or a lash.

"Lofgren?" Nys called to him when she saw the look of terror on his face. She made her way to him and took hold of his stiff arm lest he should fall or collapse. "What's wrong, Lofgren?" she pleaded.

The others, just as concerned, found their way to him. He was still frozen in place with that awful look on his face. And soon they were all just as transfixed because a large group these ethereal phantoms passed through their little circle. Like Logren, the rest of the elders felt the frosty touch of death and were momentarily immobilized.

In the seconds it took for the temple wolves to pass through them, it was as if a million years of stories, experiences and knowledge was downloaded into their minds. But instead of being thrilled, the elders were thrown into utter confusion. This was not the history they knew. These were not the tales that had been passed down to them in their youth and which they had diligently passed down to the following generations of wolves.

When they could move again, Ruuni whispered to the group, "We need to find the goddess."

Only the goddess could make things clear. Only she could help them understand the visions they'd just seen. But, was she just as dead as the biped wolves that strolled through the court of the temple? Was this holy place now her very own mausoleum? Though it was true that wolves no longer worshipped her in the old way, they still believed in her. And it made Ruuni soul sick to think their goddess might be long dead.

Nordin pointed to an open doorway. Though there were numerous doors leading into the closest towers, there was one door that stood out from the rest. It was taller and wider than the others and was framed in a material that pulsated and glowed like the runes had. This was certainly the door they needed to walk through.

The others, in full agreement, began to walk toward it being exceedingly careful to avoid the giant spectres. They waited for one another at the threshold of the door. No one dared enter before the other for fear of being separated in this strange place. Since none of the ghost wolves appeared to enter or exit this particular door, much to the elders' relief, they stood shoulder to shoulder and clasped their hands together before passing through it.

Like before, they found their bodies being thrust forward at incredible speed. But, it was now impossible to know where they were or what they were passing by. Everything was a blur of shimmering silver, white and gold.  They could not tell a hall from a room nor could they decipher a wall from a window. It was all just a jumble of brilliant light.

That, at least, was the case until they came to another sudden stop. This time they stumbled into a place unlike anything they had ever dreamed possible. They were now standing on the very cosmos and surrounded by great depths of darkness that were punctuated here and there by brilliant lights of every colour imaginable. It was both spellbinding and frightening.

And then a voice, neither male or female, boomed from the midst of the darkness greeting them, "Welcome, little ones."

Upon hearing that voice the elders' hearts failed for fear and they fell to the floor prostrating themselves before whomever spoke. Despite the benign greeting, the voice was dripping with power and carried with it the weight of the universe. Petrified, the elders did not dare to open their eyes or utter a word in such a frightful celestial presence.

They had been taught, and had taught in turn, that the Moon goddess was a beautiful, gentle soul with a courageous heart. They learned form an early age that despite being a shape shifter,  she was most often found in the form of a woman, and that her hair, eyes and skin were as radiant as the full moon. The Moon goddess of their oral and written traditions was, in truth, more fairy-like than god-like. No one would even think to quake with fear in her presence because no one had ever described her power, her majesty, or her deity. But, this god before them was nothing but raw, free-flowing, life-making energy and that was truly terrifying.

"You've nothing to fear," the commanding voice uttered.

Nevertheless, their bodies shook involuntarily just at the sound of those words.

"Come," the cosmos instructed them.

The elders made no move. They couldn't. Their bodies quaked so badly that they had neither the strength or the coordination necessary to do so. Instead, they found themselves lifted by some unseen force. And it was this same energy field that pulled them slowly and gently into the vast universe surrounding them. As they were drawn forward, a figure began to form from the darkness of space. And, with wide fascinated eyes, the elders watched the cosmos take on a woman's form. 

It only took a moment for them to see she wore darkness like a ebony evening gown. The blackness twinkled here and there with the light of far away galaxies. But her limbs, neck and lower portion of her face were in direct contrast to the deep tenebrosity of the gown. They glowed a brilliant white and blue that was characteristic of the runes in the shrine. The light appeared to pulsate and gave her limbs an almost transparent effect.  

But the most striking feature of this god-woman coming into crisp focus from the cosmos, was her face, which was half masked in darkness. They could look on her jawline and her lips but they could not look into her eyes. In fact, they couldn't be sure she even had eyes. That same endless blackness that constituted her gown, covered the top half of her face obscuring any picture they might have formed of her nose, her eyes and her forehead. It extended into her hairline and to the tips of her long flowing hair.

They might have questioned whether this was their goddess or not, except for one startling feature on her face. A waxing crescent moon, shinning as brightly as the runes in the cave, hung on her forehead in all that darkness. Who but the Moon goddess would stamp such a symbol on her person?

No, the elders could be in no doubt. This was the Moon goddess' true form and it was shocking to behold.