Moonshadow

by J. D. Gregory

  “I’m not at liberty to talk about such things,” she finally replied.

  “Not at liberty to say?” Lani repeated, amazed. If Diana were to look, there would no doubt be a wide-eyed expression to match her roommate’s tone of astounded disbelief.

  “This is the twenty-first century Diana, women talk about sex all the time. Hell, you probably know more about Eric’s sex life than he does.”

  “I’m right here!” Eric exclaimed and Diana raised her head to see him beginning to look rather uncomfortable.

  Diana shrugged and nodded her agreement. “It’s probably true.”

  She’d always heard that men think about sex every thirty seconds, however, the average male had nothing on Lani Bradley. She talked about sex so much that she might as well be majoring in the subject—with a minor in sticking her nose into other peoples’ business.

  “Don’t worry, Eric,” Diana said with a smile. “It’s all good things.”

  Eric just looked embarrassed and then gave his attention to his own bowl of cereal.

  “As for Darien,” she continued. “I’m not comfortable talking about it.”

  Lani simply stared at Diana, studying her expression like a detective interrogating a suspect.

  “You two haven’t had sex yet, have you?” Lani asked, point-blank.

  The million-dollar question lingered between them and Diana simply shook her head.

  “Nope,” she finally said, her annoyance evident.

  “You have got to be kidding me!” Lani said, even more astonished than before. “You’ve been dating for weeks now.”

  “Are you sure he isn’t gay?” Eric asked, rather surprised at the news as well. “He is a male human being, right?”

  Diana couldn’t suppress her laugher and almost choked again. Lani and Eric both looked confused.

  “Yes, I’m pretty sure he’s a warm blooded male.” Diana said and then cleared her throat. “And I doubt he’s gay.”

  “There’s only one queen in that castle,” Lani said with a smirk. She still wasn’t quite over how Andrew had lost interest in her so quickly.

  “I don’t think Andrew is gay either,” Diana said, pondering the elven man’s peculiar personality. “He’s just—Andrew. He lives for the moment—and whoever is in it with him.”

  “If Darien bats the usual side, then what’s the problem?” Lani asked. “Are you not giving him the okay to step up to the plate?”

  “It’s not like I’m telling him I don’t want to. At least, I don’t think I am.”

  “Guys can’t read your mind, kiddo.” Lani said while raising a pointed finger. “At the end of the day, deep down, each guy—no matter how nice they are—only wants one thing.” She flicked her finger to emphasize the one thing. “They know they only want one thing, and they know that we know they only want one thing; so, they wait until they get the go-ahead from us. And guys aren’t always smart—sometimes you have to spell it out for them.”

  “I can’t really argue with that,” Eric replied with an amused smile.

  “I don’t think Darien works quite like that Lani,” Diana said with conviction. She had no idea how he worked in that department, actually; and quite frankly, it was extremely frustrating.

  Baseball analogies aside, Diana was fairly certain she’d given Darien the “okay” sometime ago. They spent a lot of time alone together, either studying for classes or investigating their dismal leads on the Chalice, and they often spent time with Andrew and Miri as well. Sometimes they would even go out with Lani and Eric, though Diana could tell that spending time with her friends made Darien uncomfortable. Lani could be intense, to say the least, and she tended to ask Darien a lot of awkward questions and he often stumbled over his answers. Darien hated being put on the spot, and Lani loved to do it.

  Even though they spent a great deal of time together, and Darien often surprised Diana with romantic gestures, he still hadn’t made a move on her. Not once had he attempted to initiate his affections towards Diana physically since their first kiss. Under the light of the moon, that kiss had been an almost magical experience. The world had felt right in a way that she couldn’t describe. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought there were literally sparks flying around the two of them. Diana never wanted it to end. Since then, however, Darien had been holding himself back—or he simply didn’t find a human all that attractive. He appeared to find Diana emotionally and mentally appealing, just not physically.

  One night, Diana’s frustrations had gotten the better of her and she made her own move. In his room, while in the midst of one of their Akkadian study sessions, she kissed him and Darien kissed her back, furiously. For another magical moment, Diana was extremely happy with her success until Darien pulled away from her in what appeared to be an intense struggle of self-discipline. He then told her that they should be studying for their test and that they shouldn’t lose their focus, assuring her that there would be a better time.

  That time never came.

  After that night, he and Diana were rarely alone. When they were, it wasn’t in very “romantic” situations.

  “I’m pretty sure I’ve let him know, Lani.” she continued. “Darien just seems to want to take things slow.”

  At her own words, Diana realized it was the most likely explanation. She’d only ever dated normal high school boys full of testosterone and hormones, who really only cared about “one thing,” just as Lani had said. Darien, on the other hand, aged much slower than a human. It could very well be that his people really did take the courtship process extremely slow—by human standards at least.

  “Maybe he’s religious,” Lani said with a shrug. “He might be waiting for marriage or something.” Her wicked grin returned. “Those types usually turn out to be the most depraved of all though—once they finally give in to temptation.”

  “You’re terrible, Lani,” Diana said, laughing.

  “It’s true,” Lani continued. “Just ask Catholic school boy here.”

  An embarrassed Eric cleared his throat. “Turns out mom was right about the Yankee lass after all.”

  Diana smiled; she’d been right as well.

  “I’m not sure about Darien,” she continued. “I guess he could have taken some sort of vow. He does seem to be avoiding the subject. Maybe he’s worried I won’t understand and break things off.”

  “Would you?” Lani asked. “I know I would.”

  Diana shrugged. “Probably not. While it’s frustrating not knowing what’s going on, I wouldn’t be that upset about waiting. If you’ve never had pork before, would you be upset if couldn’t eat bacon?”

  “Does that bacon curl your toes and leave you begging for more?” Lani replied with a smirk.

  Diana playfully threw her napkin at Lani’s face. “I wouldn’t know.”

  Lani laughed and shook her head. “I still can’t believe you’re a virgin. You mousy types are always secretly wild on the inside.”

  “And I can’t believe a nice girl like you is such a trollop,” Diana replied playfully.

  “Did you just say trollop?” Lani asked through a chuckle. “You’ve been reading too much Jane Austen.”

  “Hey, don’t mock Jane.” Diana replied with pretend offense.

  “I wouldn’t dare mock Jane,” Lani replied, feigning reverence.

  Eric put his arm around Lani and squeezed her tightly. “Well, she’s my trollop now; and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “Damn right,” Lani said with a wide smile and then her eyes looked into the distance behind Diana. “Well, well; speak of the Devil.”

  Diana turned around to see Darien headed towards the table from the cafeteria entrance. His sudden appearance was rather odd, considering he’d never eaten breakfast with them before. For that matter, it was the first time Diana had even seem him in the cafeteria.

  “Ah there you are, Diana,” he said upon arrival and then addressed Diana’s friends “Miss Bradley, Mr. Seymour, good morning to you as we
ll.” He didn’t feel overly nervous to Diana, but he did seem rather excited about something.

  “What’s up?” she asked, her curiosity growing quickly “Did you need me for something?”

  “I do, in fact,” Darien replied and then gestured towards the kitchen. “But first, would you walk with me while I get one of those delicious-looking omelets?”

  “Of course,” Diana said, sensing Darien’s ploy for talking to her quickly and privately. She stood from the table and the two began making their way towards the kitchen.

  “What’s going on?” she asked once they were safely away from Lani and Eric.

  “I just had someone check records on the Internet that hadn’t been available a few decades ago; Flinders once owned an estate southeast of here, in an area called the Hocking Hills. It’s had no known owners since Flinders’ death, so we are likely to find something there.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Diana agreed. “When can we go?”

  “There’s a problem, I’m afraid,” Darien said with frustration. “Maurice informed me earlier this morning that the car is in need of engine repairs. With such a unique car, repair parts need to be ordered special and they can take quite a while to come in.”

  “Why can’t we just rent a car?”

  By Darien’s irritated expression, Diana knew she had asked a question he believed should be common knowledge by now.

  “How many newer model cars do you know of that don’t rely on some sort of computer?”

  “I suppose you have a point.” Each day, Diana came to realize how little of modern society the elves could actually experience. She had never really considered how much the modern human depended on electronic devices. Diana instinctively felt the cell phone inside of her pocket—her third since meeting Darien.

  “If I’m not mistaken,” he continued as he grabbed a food tray from the counter. “Mr. Seymour mentioned owning a classic car the last time we went to dinner together. Do you think he might let us borrow it this afternoon?”

  Diana smirked. “And that would be the real reason you came to breakfast.”

  “Oh course not,” Darien replied, playfully acting like it wasn’t true. “I came for the exquisite cuisine.”

  “Well, let’s go ask,” Diana said and then patted him on the back. “And you better eat that too; you’ll look weird if you don’t.”

  “Fine,” he said with a roll of his eyes. “By the way, you’ll have to drive. I haven’t actually driven a car since the twenties.”

  After Darien paid the cashier, they returned to the table and Darien tried his best to look like he was enjoying his omelet.

  Diana took a deep breath and a nice sip of tea.

  “Eric, do you mind if Darien and I borrow your car today?”

  This time, it was Eric that choked on his cereal.

  “What for?” he asked after clearing his throat.

  “We wanted to go somewhere and Darien’s car is broken.”

  From Eric’s look of obvious apprehension, Diana knew she’d need to use her strongest weapon—Lani.

  With a smile, Diana looked to her friend with pleading eyes for a brief moment. On instinct Diana attempted to use her empathy in reverse, projecting her feelings onto Lani to give her roommate the impression that she and Darien wanted to go for a romantic drive so they could be alone.

  From the sparkle in her eye and sudden wink, Lani appeared to have gotten the message.

  “Eric, it’ll be fine. Let them borrow your car.”

  “But babe, I just don’t know,” he said, very uneasy. “What if something happens? My dad will kill me. I can’t just let other people take her for a joy ride.”

  Lani crossed her arms and then looked at her boyfriend with a stern expression that rivaled many of Darien’s. “If you don’t let them borrow the car, you won’t be going for any joy rides any time soon.”

  Eric just looked at Lani, then Diana, then Darien, and then Lani again, before hanging his head low in defeat while rummaging in his pants pocket.

  “You can borrow the car,” Eric said and then held out the keys, his head still bowed.

  Diana snatched up the keys and then ran to the other side of the table to hug Eric.

  “Thank you!” she exclaimed. “I promise I will treat her like my own dear child. Nothing will happen—I swear.”

  Eric lifted his head up, still looking rather worried. He knew Diana, and her clumsiness, too well for her promises to ease his nerves.

  “Just be safe,” he said.

  “We will,” Diana assured him and then turned to Darien. “Shall we be off?”

  Darien smirked at the clever way she deceitfully manipulated her friends and then stood up from his half-eaten plate of food. “After you.”

  Chapter 12

  And pointed metal broke the mirrored lake.

  From blessed water’s surface, rose an arm

  Clad in samite white as the mystic Moon

  Clutching shaft of Chalice Queen’s Destined Spear.

  Though her nerves were on edge behind the wheel of Eric’s old Pontiac, Diana couldn’t help but enjoy the drive.

  It took about an hour for the flat farmland of south-eastern Ohio to transition into anything that could be called the Hocking Hills. Once it had, Diana was immediately struck by the beauty of the rural setting of rolling hillsides filled with richly colored trees. Being mid-autumn, the leaves were the deepest hues of orange and red. Very soon those same leaves would all be gone, leaving only the skeletal remnants of the trees.

  Darien had proven to be the perfect driving companion. Though they would occasionally discuss a topic if it came to either of their minds, Darien kept peacefully to himself. Diana usually found silent drives with someone to be rather awkward, but with Darien, she knew the tranquility was mutually appreciated and they just enjoyed the experience of the drive together. They was simply no need to force a conversation.

  Diana yawned for the fifth time in ten minutes and realized that, though she enjoyed the peace, a sleepy driver was dangerous.

  “Are we almost to the exit?” she asked her navigator.

  “We should see it in a few minutes,” Darien replied before looking at the map again to make sure. “We’re looking for a town called Wellington. Flinders’ estate is on a hill just south of the town.”

  “This would be so much easier if you could just use the GPS on my phone.”

  “I’m doing just fine the old fashioned way, thank you.”

  As he said, the exit finally appeared a few minutes later and Diana merged off of the highway and unto a smaller county road. A half an hour after that the little town of Wellington appeared, though finding the next stage of their journey proved to be very difficult using the “old fashioned” method.

  Another hour passed before they found the overgrown dirt road that led to the land Flinders had once owned. The forest had crept up to either side and had been left to grow unchecked for several decades.

  “I hope I don’t hurt the car,” Diana said as she sucked it up and slowly drove up the winding path very carefully.

  “It’ll be fine. If anything happens to it, I’m sure Anderon and Maurice can do something to fix it. If not, we’ll pay for the repairs.”

  Somehow, that didn’t do much to ease Diana’s nerves.

  A few minutes of veritable jungle later, they finally cleared the road and reached their destination.

  Within a clearing of trees stood a large, colonial-style, redbrick farmhouse with dark green shutters and two flanking chimneys. The house had no doubt been magnificent at one time; now though, it was a dilapidated old building that looked to be standing up by some mysterious will of its own.

  “I bet no one has stepped foot in that house in fifty years,” Diana exclaimed as she investigated the building through the windshield of the car.

  “Probably more,” Darien replied. “If I had to venture a guess, I would say no one has been on these grounds since before Flinders died.”

  “That
was like eighty years ago,” Diana said with wonder. “How did no one think to come here after he died?”

  “Flinders had no children or family that I know of. Though they were of the gentry, his parents died when he was young and his only sister married a viscount, I believe, and didn’t much care her brother.”

  “What about burglars, or kids playing around?”

  “This place is a little too far from urban life for burglars to take notice of it. As for local children, I don’t know.” Darien looked around as he thought it over.

  “Honestly,” Diana said gazing upon the cracking windows and rotting shutters. “I wouldn’t want to play around here. It’s giving me the creeps just looking at it.”

  “A fair point, my dear. Shall we have a look?” He sounded very excited and was out of the car in seconds.

  As Darien looked on Flinders’ old house with a sparkle in his eye, Diana couldn’t help but smile. He looked like a little boy going on an adventure. He’d likely been cooped up for too long. She couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to go on 130 years’ worth of expeditions and excavations. She’d be going crazy if she were stuck on a mundane college campus knowing that she could be out in the world somewhere, exploring ruins or investigating lost histories. After so long, Darien knew he was getting closer to the Chalice and it excited him.

  It was cute.

  Before exiting the car, Diana reached into the backseat and grabbed the bag of questing-essentials she’d packed before leaving campus. Now fully prepared for adventure, she quickly joined Darien on the rotting wrap-around front porch that had once been painted white.

  “Lead the way,” Diana said with a wide smile.

  Darien opened the large wooden door and Diana let out a startled yelp as it swung out all the way and then fell off of its hinges, landing on the porch with thud. The force of the impact cracked more of the wooden porch.

  Peering through the newly opened entryway, Diana realized the inside of the house looked about as safe as the front door.

  “Age before beauty,” she said with sideways grin.

  Darien just smirked and nodded. “Wait here a moment while I assess the danger.”