The Lady and The Wolf

                                              The Lady and the Wolf
         
         The dim light of an ancient moon dispersed through the darkness of primordial night and illuminated a solitary path in the middle of a dense wood. A woman dressed in an ornate kimono walked silently along this irregular path - where the trees were sparse enough to allow her passage. The gentle midnight breeze whispered in the leaves around her and frolicked - carrying a handful of leaves - passing around her and in between the trees; coming closer and then retreating into the darkness. There was something more in the rustle of the leaves, in the gentle midnight breeze and that impenetrable darkness. A creature lurked there, slinking through the forest, following the woman's footsteps. As the beast came close the woman seemed to sense its presence and, just as it lunged from the darkness and charged at her in great bounds, she turned to face it. The beast was a cinder black wolf of great proportions, with teeth white as the moon, and eyes glowing yellow as the stars. The woman looked; she saw something in those eyes. A faint glimmer of recognition graced her face and she promptly held out her arm. The wolf swiftly tore it off with a single snap of its jaws and devoured it in an instant, spraying blood across its fur, the woman, and the ground. There might have been a little fear in the woman's eyes, there was definitely pain, but most of all there was a sort of understanding. "I have given you my arm. Now, you will replace it… Come." The woman said, her voice ringing in the silence. She turned and walked away. The wolf lingered motionless in its place for an instant, its jaws still dripping with blood, and then followed in a steady trot at the woman's heel.