Hunters Moon, The Fae Medallion (Seer's Of The Moon)

by Allie, Geraldine

  Up on the opposite side of the porch from her mother sat the little elves, happily polishing piles of worn shoes. To her astonishment, Victoria realized that everyone could see them, every one of the magical fey tale creatures.

  Mama no longer thought of her as crazy, and she loved all of them, including the magical creatures. Everyone lived in harmony, and this was the way it should be Victoria thought.

  Victoria lifted her face towards the brilliant and warm sun, closing her eyes she breathed in the smell of the sea. The salty smell tickled her nose and she brushed it away. Again her nose tickled with more annoyance than before, she brushed it away. Then she felt her whole face tingle as if little spiders were crawling around on it. The more she brushed the feeling away, the worse it got. She looked to her father and he just opened his mouth and let out a squeak, her father had squeaked! She looked to her mother, her mother squeaked, her sister, she squeaked, the magical creatures, they all squeaked!

  She opened her eyes…Rats! She was covered in rats, mounds of them, at least a dozen or more of the hideous things. She screamed and jumped off the bed dumping the rats on to the floor. The rats went running in every direction, crawling into the heater vents in the walls.

  Checking to make sure there was no sign of the rodents left in her room, Victoria made a dash for the vents sealing them up. She had known there were rats in the walls and throughout the vents, she had heard them scampering up and down the inside of the walls at night. The very thought of the gruesome rodents made her skin crawl. As she would lie in bed at night, the smell that would come out of the heater ducts was atrocious. The smell of the urine and droppings would resonate through the house from the foul odor.

  Victoria checked the clock next to her bed, it was just dawn. She would have to be getting up soon. She decided there was no time to lie back down. The idea of the rats had already brought her disgust at the mere thought of lying in that dirty bed.

  She would take advantage of the extra time this morning and take a shower, to get the feel of the rats off of her. Changing her bedding and grabbing a change of clothes, she headed towards the washroom.

  Chapter Six

  Down in the depths of the house, the Fay began to awake from a night of sleep. Percy rose from his cot, his back hurting and a crick in his neck. At least his head had stopped hurting, even if the headache had been replaced by the torture pains of sleeping on that uncomfortable worn out cot, and he was sure there would be many more nights like this one if he did not find a way out of this place, and soon.

  Grumbles and moans poured through the room. It seemed he was not the only one who disliked the torturous cot. Forcing himself to rise from the so called bed, Percy grabbed one of the cloths and a bar of soap in a pan next to the jug of water. He poured water into the pan and lathered up the bar of soap. Removing his shirt, he hand bathed himself. After he had finished, he looked at his shirt and sighed. “Kind of defeats the purpose of bathing if one only puts his dirty clothes back on.” Contemplating on whether to leave the shirt off, he decided against it. “I may be treated like an animal, but I will not give them the pleasure of seeing me act like one.”

  Donning the dirty shirt, he placed it back over his head. Looking around, he could see the other Fay doing the same. Just last night Percy had noticed when he was brought to his cell, almost none of the Fay had been wearing shirts. As he glanced around the room, he noticed that their attire was much more filthy than his own; some were nothing but mere tatters.

  The other Fay stood staring at him through the bars, not saying a single word, just standing there…staring at him.

  “Looks like you have an audience today Fay,” said Theron in the next cell to his.

  “What are they staring at?” asked Percy

  “You! You must have done something to of roused their feathers. That’s the first time I have ever seen them pay any attention to anyone else since I have been here, and trust me, I have been here for almost five years.”

  Percy’s heart sunk to his stomach at the words that had just came from Theron’s mouth. “Five years?” Percy couldn’t imagine having to stay in this place for five long years.

  “Yes, five years, the same amount of time as most of the others. Of course, there were more of us then.”

  Shock hit Percy. “There were more?”

  “Aye, at least a dozen more.”

  “What happened to them? Were they able to find a way to escape this place?”

  There was a long pause before Theron answered. “Escape? Nay, not unless you consider death an easy escape.”

  “So they are killing the Fay?”

  “I honestly don’t know what they’re doing with us, or what they want with us for that matter. All I know is that they take our blood.”

  “Take our blood? So they are vampires, I knew it!” said Percy

  Theron laughed, “Vampires? Not in the sense that you would think. They don’t sleep during the day, and they are not afraid of religious objects, that is unless they are blessed with Holey Water. Magnus over there was a preordained minister. He blessed his water once and doused both Bruno and the little man, creature with it. Magnus never tried anything like that again. Needless to say that trick only angered creature. Magnus was beat by Bruno within a near inch of his life. I guess maybe that’s why Magnus has become so withdrawn into himself.”

  “But they are vampires?” asked Percy

  “Aye, with fangs and all, which you will find out soon enough when they come for you to make a meal of you, and they will! Just hope that when they do, they do not take too much or they will bleed you dry, and then you would share the fate of the Fay that are no longer here.”

  Something just did not make sense to Percy. “But why Fay?”

  “Fay are the only ones that seem to resist the change of becoming one of the undead. Mind you, if they feed off of you enough times, your body will eventually give over to the change, and then you will become like them.” said Theron

  Percy could not fathom what he was hearing. To the vampires, the Fay were nothing more than an endless food supply, right in their own home. “These people are more vile and sicker than I thought.”

  “Oh trust me, you haven’t seen anything yet!” said Theron

  Percy looked around the large room, eyes wandering to each Fay who stood at their cell, and every one of them still had their eyes upon him. Livestock, they were all livestock. Nothing more than a meal for vampires, and they were all slowly having the life sucked out of them. There was no way he was going to be some blood suckers meal!

  Kicking his cot, he picked up the pan he had used earlier to wash. With as much force as he could, he threw the pan against the bars, but even that gave him no solace in his rampage. He was angry, worse than angry, he was downright furious! He wanted to hurt someone, someone like the ones that had put him here. He wanted to make them pay! Percy wanted his revenge.

  “Hush or they will hear you.” Said Batel

  “Good, I want them to hear me!” bellowing at the top of his lungs, Percy yelled, “Do you hear me Vampire? I’m angry now; you have no right to keep me here! Do you hear me you filthy blood suckers!”

  “Quiet Fay!” said Magnus “you may not care what they do to you, but you will bring punishment on the rest of us all as well, do you not care? Are you prepared to hold yourself accountable for the spilled blood of so many your majesty?”

  “I don’t want to be here in this God forsaken hell hole!”

  “Do you think any of us do your majesty? You are a Fay prince; your strength must be enough for all of us now. The only reason we do not fight is because for each up rise from one of us, we cause the suffering of another.” Magnus put his head down and continued, “If it was like the days of legend, things would not be this way, but very different. Alas, we do not live in those days any longer. We have become only as strong as the mortals we live amongst.”

  “What do you mean by the days of legend? Do you speak of the age of the Seer’s an
d their guardians?” asked Percy

  “Nay, do not get him started on that again. It’s just a bunch of hogwash and made up fairy tales to entertain small children.” said Theron

  “It is not fairy tales, it is only truth!” said Magnus

  “Aye, my father would tell me the tales of the Fay when I was but just a young boy.”

  “Not you to Percy!” Theron withdrew to his cot in frustration.

  “Aye, it is good that the Fay has not lost their past, but keeps it alive for the next generation.” said Magnus

  “Aye, that we have. The Fay was once mighty warriors in the mortal realm with great power….

  “Percy, I think you may be getting just as senile as the old goat over there.”

  “Believe what you want Theron, but I was raised in the old ways, the history of our people is real.”

  Quiet was brought down on the room like an invisible veil. The door suddenly opened, and in stepped Bruno. Behind him followed a beautiful young woman. As if the skies had opened up and a bolt of lightning was thrust into his chest, Percy was stunned to see the woman from his dreams. It was her; there was no doubt in his mind that it was her. She was real, in the flesh and here!

  She looked just as she had from his dreams; somehow he knew she was the answer and the key out of this place. With her she carried a large cooking pot. Placing the pot on a table located in the middle of the room, she reached down grabbing some wooden bowls from under the table that had been kept there. As she then proceeded to scoop up what looked to be mush from the pot into the bowls, she was silent and didn’t mutter a single word. Bruno with his large menacing size just stood over to the side watching the woman eerily. From the look on his face, he seemed to be more than just watching her; it was as if the humongous man was looking at her in an unclean and foul way.

  Percy felt the rage rise up in himself, and the need to protect her overtook him. Glancing around the room, Percy could see the same reaction on the other Fay’s faces as if his own emotions were mirrored through them. Who was this woman? How could a woman that he had only met in his dreams have such an effect on him, all of them?

  Percy watched as the woman went from cell to cell distributing the bowls of mush to each Fay. Each and every Fay that she handed the bowl to thanked her in a respectful reply, “Thank you my Lady.”

  Thank you my Lady? Was she not a witch? Had she not caused his predicament and that of the entire Fay around him? Still, they had referred to her as “My Lady.” As the woman neared Percy’s cell, she held out a bowl offering it to him just as she had done with the others. Her eyes never met his, but even so, she continued to offer him the bowl. Percy was hungry, but the food did not look very appealing. His stomach must have thought otherwise, for a long grumble sounded which caused the woman to finally look up. Their eyes locked, a shock shown on the woman’s face. Although she still did not utter a single word, Percy could read the emotions in her eyes. Her eyes Percy noticed held such sorrow in them. There was much pain, and so much loss. Percy could feel his heart going out to her, he wanted to hold and protect her, and he wanted to make all of her sorrows disappear.

  He reached out his hand to touch her, but she withdrew from him and stepped back. Her eyes held a pleading look that spoke caution, and she shook her head, no. She offered him the bowl once more, this time with a determination of a look about her. Feeling there may be consequences that might fall upon her; he took the bowl not wanting her to suffer any pain caused by him. He thanked her and she nodded her head at him and smiled, but then walked away to the cell next to his.

  Percy watched her as she gathered up the things at the table. Taking the pot that she had brought in with her, she turned and left through the door with Bruno following behind her. Percy could hear as the door was locked from the opposite side. He continued standing at his cell staring across the room at the door. His stomach growled again breaking Percy away from his silent trance.

  He remembered the bowl in his hand and looked down at the contents wondering if what he was looking at was fit enough to even be considered food. In the end, hunger won out and he ate the contents of the bowl.

  ***

  As Victoria went about her daily chores that morning, she thought about the Fay she had seen in the cell. She knew the first moment that she had laid eyes on him, that it was him. He was the one that she had sensed in her dream. Sorrow hit her; he was not free after all as she had earlier hoped.

  His face was even more beautiful in person than it had been from her dreams.

  There was no doubt in her mind now; no one would be coming to rescue her from this awful place. He had come just as all of the others had, and now within the recesses of the house, he was a captive in the hands of her cruel aunt and uncle. Now he could not help her just as she was powerless to help any of the others, she was no less a prisoner just like them. There may not be a cell that she was kept in, but a prisoner in this house all the same.

  She had not dared to speak to him, she knew far too well the consequences she would have paid if she did. She felt responsible enough for them being here, she would not bring more pain on them as well for her negligence. She would see him again at mid-day when she brought the afternoon meal and collected the breakfast dishes to take them up to wash. Victoria did not understand why, but something deep within her yearned to see him again. There was something about the new Fay as if his soul called to her and she could not deny but only answer in return.

  Victoria caught sight of her aunt coming around a corridor. Her aunt proceeded to walk past her with a glance in her direction. Victoria knew what her aunt’s looks meant; it was a look that said, her mind best be on her work and not wandering. Victoria knew she had to be more careful; she had been caught daydreaming shortly after being brought to this place five years ago when she should have been working. She had been severely punished, she vowed to herself after that, she would not be caught making that mistake again.

  Victoria carefully glanced back. Her aunt had continued to walk by satisfied that she knew her place and was completing the list of assigned chores. Relief came over her and she returned to her work.

  When the afternoon came, Victoria hurried to the kitchen to prepare the mid-day meal for the Fay. Feeding the Fay was not hard, she only had to cook for them and herself, but as a rule to her, she would only eat after they had been fed first. That was a punishment that she had set upon herself for their enslavement. She also would only eat the same food that they ate, it was only right to share in their fate. Once there was a time she would have to cook for her aunt and uncle as well, but shortly after coming here to live, they stopped requesting food, odder, she no longer noticed them eat. The only food that had been kept in the house now was the food her and the Fay ate.

  Bruno had come to live here shortly after her arrival. He never took food either. Too bad the man could not just starve to death, there was something about him that always made her nervous when he was around, and the way he looked at her was unnerving to say the least. Victoria thought to herself, when her aunt and uncle had stopped eating and acting more sinister was about the same time that Bruno had shown up. Her aunt and uncle had become so sadistic in their treatment of her, throwing her in that dark well. The thought of it sent shivers up Victoria’s spine. Her aunt and uncle had told her she could keep herself from being placed in the well, all she would have to do is willingly do their bidding and call the Fay. Of course she had refused, she did not care to control anyone’s will.

  She continued to endure the madness of the deep dark well, if it meant not losing her soul to the dark like her aunt and uncle, she would gladly have placed herself in the well. She may not be able to wield her magic properly enough to keep the Fay from being willed to her, but at least it was still not by her choice. She knew if she ever gave in and accepted her aunt and uncle’s offer, she would become something worse than she encountered in her nightmares. And that was something she would never allow to happen.

  Chapter Sev
en

  At noon, the door to the large celled room opened again, and in through the door stepped Bruno. Stepping aside and holding the door, Victoria entered carrying a pot that bore the same resemblance as the one from that morning. As before, she placed it in the middle of the table, but this time before serving the meal into the bowls, she went around to each of the cells gathering the morning dishes.

  Percy watched as each Fay reached through the bars laying their bowls on the ground in front of them. Percy retrieved his bowl from where it laid in his cell and did the same. In the cell next to his, Theron tossed his bowl through the bars causing an echoing clatter on the hard stone floor. Percy just shook his head, from the looks of it; Theron would be encountering more battle wounds today if he was not careful to mind himself.

  Percy fully understood Theron’s frustration, but he would do himself no good if he could not control his temper, and Theron seemed to have a very bad one.

  Percy watched as the woman of his dreams went around gathering up all of the morning bowls. As she bent down nervously to pick up his, her eyes locked with his own, but only for a brief second. She hurried over to Theron’s cell and reached down to pick up his bowl, before she could straighten herself and stand up, Theron spit a glob of leftover mush on her.

  Looking at him in shock she backed away. Theron looked at her with anger in his eyes and yelled, “Witch, do not try casting your black magic on me!”

  Victoria, who was fully standing upright now, looked at Theron with hurt and a deep sorrow.

  The entire group of Fay around them gasped at what Theron had done. Percy grabbed the bars of his cell and shook them with an angry intent. Now he knew who he wanted to hurt, and it was Theron for the horrible treatment he had just put the young woman through.