"Another moon will then have time to come up. It is so dark in the forest".

Luna didn't answer him, but the barking dogs did.

Later, when the barking had stopped, the moon Goddess smiled at the royal children with two crescents in addition to the face of a full moon. It was a night of three moons and perhaps the fourth would also have time to come up.

The children climbed yet another hill and then sat on a flat rock clearly visible in the moonlight.

Three imperial archers saw them and shot their arrows, but they were too far away. Luna screamed. She had thought the danger was over. Midar felt unable to go any further and Luna wouldn't leave him. They sat still and awaited their fate, hand in hand.

Their pursuers ran down an oak covered slope and came closer to the hill. They soon reached a large flat rock only a stone's throw from the top and tried to aim at the children, but it had become darker when they moved their position and now it was too late. The men looked up at the sky in anger.

The moon Goddess had gone. The crescents were hidden by cloud and the full moon was a pale dusky red.