The Urban Dao Child

The people sat around the campfire and ate with smiles. Kiya cooked the food really well. Yang Dao asked, “Kiya, where did you get the coconut milk in this place?”

Green coconuts are a product of coastal regions, so getting them here in the cold desert was rare. Kiya smiled and pointed at Sasha, who was smirking. The boy understood it must have been the Orlenko Family who arranged it.

Nika said, “My father would bring back things when he goes out on a trip for business. Usually, it is all foodstuff. Grandma likes to stay home, but she likes to eat food.” Her voice was small and calm. Unlike her previously rowdy temperament. Yang Dao had been noticing the changes in her personality, but he did not comment about it at all.

Icarus suddenly said, “My mom used to tell me a story when we used to go camping.” His voice carried a trace of nostalgia.

Sasha asked, “Do you not go camping now?”

The boy shook his head. “Nah, my dad got too busy for it. My mom tried to take me out, but not that fun. Cons of being rich.”

Thomas sighed, “I know what you mean. Well, screw the negative vibes, tell us the story your mom used to tell you.”

The others all followed the mood. They were camping in the wild and stories were necessary. Icarus said, “Once upon a time, there lived a knight. He fought in wars and won great glory for his kingdom. Everyone in the kingdom liked him. Children dreamed to be like him when they grow up. One day the knight was asked to be the personal guard of the princess as she married in another kingdom.

The knight was confused and asked the King, “My Lord, what crime have I committed that you punish me?”

The knight thought the King was punishing him. The King smiled and said, “In the whole country, I love my daughter more than anything and anyone. With you guarding the borders, I am at ease. Now I am sending my daughter to another place. With you guarding her, I will be at ease,”

The knight accepted the task, for he lived to serve the king. He set with the princess in the neighboring country. One night, they camped by a lake. The lake was called Sapphire lake.”

Ray asked, “Jade City Sapphire lake?” in bewilderment.

Icarus glared at him and said, “Yes, and do not disturb.”

Ray flinched, and everyone else chuckled. Yang Dao asked, “Then what happened?”

Icarus smiled and continued, “That night, the Knight was missing his homeland. He sat by the lake and looked at the reflection of the moon in a daze. Suddenly, he heard a voice behind him. Turned out that it was the princess.

The knight did not raise his head and asked, “Your highness, why are you out of the carriage?”

The princess asked in her mellow voice, “Does, Sir really not aware why you have been sent here?”

The knight asked, “Is my purpose not to guard you?”

“It is to guard me, but from what do you think you will guide me from?” the princess asked again. The knight was confused, and he asked, “Your Highness, you are going to get married to the neighboring prince. I will guard you on the way and then in the foreign palace.”

The princess chuckled, “You have been fooled by the king, Sir. I am not getting married but exiled.”

The knight was shocked. He could not believe why the king will do such a thing to his beloved daughter. He asked, “My Lady, what are you talking about? How could you, the princess of the kingdom, be exiled? His Majesty loves you more than the country itself.”

The princess said, “It is because I asked him to do so.”

The knight almost fell to the ground. The princess continued, “Five years ago, in the battle against invaders, you saved my life. At that moment, I fell in love with you. The more I saw you, I understood you will never accept my love for you because I was the princess of the kingdom. That is how loyal you are. In the end, I had no choice but to ask my father to give me exile in the name of love. Now you are my guard.”

The knight was shock-struck. He did not expect it to be such a thing. He said without raising his head, “Your Highness, this is not possible. We must go back to the Kingdom. His Majesty will pardon you.”

The princess did not reply but just gazed at him. The king hated the knight from the moment his daughter told him she loved him. He wanted the knight to die, so he assigned assassins in the squad to kill the knight and get back his daughter. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀ​ꪶ​

As the two people were engaged in talks, the assassins struck. The Knight was stuck in a daze and he did not notice a sharp blade heading toward him. Suddenly, he heard a sound.

PUCHI…

Followed by that a wail sounded. The assassin yelled, “SHIT RETREAT THE PRINCESS TOOK TEH ARROW.” his cry woke up the knight. He saw the princess standing in front of him, an arrow stained with blood penetrating her heart.

He reacted and attacked the assassins in range. When he came back the Princess was left with one last breath. She said, “Maybe in next life, you will be mine.”

The Knight could not react and the Princess passed away in his arms. The man did not even look at her face through his life. He asked the injured assassin, “Who sent you to kill us?”

The assassin replied, “His Majesty. The King.”

The knight sighed and gazed up at the sky, then he looked down on the arrow tip passing through the dead princess. He took off his armor and hugged the princess tight. The arrow penetrated his chest as well. He mumbled, “I am yours in the afterlife and next life, Your Highness.”

The rest of the soldiers attacked him and when they assured his death, they left. In the cold, silent night, two fireflies emerged from the bodies of two people. Just when they were about to move, the world froze. A voice sounded, “The princess has sacrificed herself and she is worthy of appreciation.”

One dragonfly flew in the sky, becoming one with the moon. The other dragonfly was told. “You have a lot of blood on your hand. You will be a wolf, fighting to survive generation after generation.”

Then the second dragonfly merged with a wolf. The person who decided this was the goddess of love. She punished the Knight for not valuing the love he received. In this world, many people crave true love but as the one who got it and did not care, he was punished.”

Nika asked, “Why was the Princess punished to be the moon and not being able to be with the wolf?”

Icarus was about to reply when Yang Dao spoke up, “Because she loved blindly. The knight never even looked at her face. He did not know how many tears she shed for his glance. She let her get hurt by someone who did not value her feelings. That was her disrespect to her own emotions, that is why she was punished.”

Icarus asked, “Dao, have you heard this story before?”

The boy shook his head and replied, “Sister Tina taught us, in this life, before you expect anyone else to respect your emotions, learn to respect them yourself. Give no one else so much power over you that even their trivial actions can hurt you.” his voice was calm and serene.

Suddenly, the people shivered as they heard a long howl.

HOWWLLL…

Icarus looked in a direction and said, “It is said, that the wolves cry when they see the full moon in the sky. They cry from the pain the two people felt.”

Yang Dao held his hands together and then he blew hard between his thumbs. The next moment, a howling sound echoed on the summit.

Howl…

The people were surprised by his action but what happened next shocked them. The entire mountain range echoed with the following howls. Sasha said, “This is the first time, so many wolves are howling together.”

The night passed quickly and in the morning, the people returned to the mansion. Yang Dao had asked Ayaka to give him one day to settle his affairs and then they can leave back to the Jade City. The coach was generous and allowed the rest of the team a break.

The Dao Child had a few things to do. One was to seek closure with the bandit beauty. Then check the progress of the rebuilding and organization of the Helping Hand office with Mina Orlenko. The last thing was to check up on the leopard.

These few days he had spent almost every night with the family of three, and thus he wanted to check whether or not the leopard wanted to follow him.