His walk home took him up the steep hill of Clifton Vale and Goldney Avenue to a complicated junction with Regent Street, Clifton Wood Road, Lower Clifton Hill and Clifton road. An unofficial sixth branch of this junction passed through the wrought iron gateway which led to Birdcage Walk; the haunted pathway that ran through St Andrew's Cemetery. Moon felt a shiver of dread stir in his chest. This was the first time he had contemplated walking through the cemetery since his near fatal encounter with the Shadow Beast several weeks earlier. The thought was scary, even in daylight, but he told himself that he now had enough power and knowledge to combat supernatural beasties on his own so it was time for him to face up to his fears.
The tree-covered walkway was pleasantly shady in the July sunlight and the cemetery seemed extremely quiet and peaceful, despite the heavy rush hour traffic streaming along the Queen's Road up ahead. His trepidation diminished as the quietness relaxed him and he decided to stop for a few minutes to soak in some of the place's atmosphere. How ironic it was that somewhere so pleasant in daylight should be so perilous at night... As he gazed over the graves the shadows under one of the yew trees coalesced into a shimmering green figure, which beckoned to him to approach. Curiosity overcoming his wariness… he opened the wrought-iron gate on that side of the path and navigated his way through the gravestones to where it stood. As he approached the hazy form resolved into the shape of a tall, slender woman dressed in multiple shades of green. Her gown was woven in a raised pattern similar to the herringbone pattern of yew branches. The gown's bottom hem was decorated with a scattering of red buttons the size and shape of yew berries and the pattern there faded to the lighter green of younger leaves. Her underskirt, which was uncovered at her forearms and below the hem of her gown, was the reddish-brown of yew bark. The woman's skin was very white with a slight tinge of green, like freshly stripped wood and there were yew leaves and berries strewn through her long auburn hair. This was definitely one of those Other People, like the Jenny Greenteeth, but he sensed that this one may be slightly more benign in nature.
"Welcome, Jeremy Moon." She indicated a small wrought iron park bench nearby, "Come, sit in my shade, for we have much of great importance to discuss."
Moon sat down on the bench and briefly contemplated his old friend the squirrel, who now scampered towards him in hope of a free lunch. "Who are you, Lady?" he asked, gazing up into her fathomless dark green eyes.
"I am Ioho, daughter of the yew, and you…" she said with a hint of teasing in her voice. "You are Jeremy Moon, who walks between the worlds and is our best hope against the Defiler who has come to these lands. None of the Fay Folk, Dark or Light, are safe from him. Even the Black Terror who haunted this place for centuries was not strong enough to prevail against him. And with each of us he takes he gains in strength." The squirrel, realising Moon had no food with him, sat on his haunches and scolded Moon loudly before bounding up into the yew tree's branches.
"You mean the Shadow Beast?" asked Moon. "Rurik ate the Shadow Beast? I can't say I'm sad about that," he smiled grimly. "But are you saying even nature spirits like yourself aren't safe from Rurik? How could he have suddenly become so powerful?"
Ioho nodded. "That is a very important question, Jeremy Moon, and the answer lies in the very purpose of Humanity. There is a deep thirst in the heart of your kind to conquer and rule, not only over each other but also over the earth that bore you. The Great Mother tolerates this because it is important factor in your development as a species. It is her hope that you will eventually learn to control it before it destroys you because, controlled, this drive could be of great benefit to yourselves and the world you live in.” For an instant her eyes seemed to focus on a far distant future. “Imagine what your race could achieve if you worked hand in hand with the Mother instead of trying to dominate her... But I digress. It suffices to say that in Rurik the drive for dominion has swollen out of all proportion. It was already very strong in him when he was a man but, unaware of how great that desire truly was, the sorcerer who cursed him chose to use Rurik’s thirst for power against him. He bound Rurik's vampiric nature to that terrible drive so that, as a Vampire Lord, he would have almost unbreakable dominion over his servants..."
"Ah, the sorcerer used what already existed to empower his spell?" Moon nodded his head. "Uri told us about that sort of thing."
"Exactly," replied Ioho, seeming a little irritated by his interruption. "Unfortunately, by extending Rurik’s power of dominion, the curse went further than was intended. It granted Rurik supremacy over the very spirit of the land that falls under his rule and over those of our kind who are tied to that land as well. If this city and its environs were to come under Rurik's domination we Fays would be so horribly warped by his malign presence that we would become ghastly… to the point of being unrecognisable for what we were before. Unable to serve the Mother; our hearts would be locked in interminable agony. The countryside for miles around would be cursed and blighted with unnatural growth and disease. No beast, including you humans, would develop naturally for all would bear that monster’s heinous mark. We, the Fay, would be twisted so terribly as to be a horror even unto ourselves and a deathly terror to humans. Do you see, Jeremy Moon, how important it is that you do not fail?"
"So that's you're angle, is it, Lady Ioho?” Moon growled angrily. “This isn't so different from the 'sort this out or else' threat your opposite number landed on me. I'm getting tired of hearing this kind of thing. Why should it fall on my shoulders to deal with this mess?" Moon fixed the tree-spirit with a defiant glare.
"Ah, we know you met with a representative of the Dark Ones, and of course all they offered were threats, for that is their way." Ioho shook her head, scattering a fine rain of twigs and berries on the ground. "No, we of the Light wish to offer you our help. My brothers and sisters are everywhere. Wherever you are when you finally encounter this abominable violator of the Great Web some of us will be near enough to hear your call. Although we seldom reveal our power, know that we are very potent. Call on us when you need us and we will be there to aid you. But, to answer your question; this task falls upon your shoulders simply because it does, for you are the only one present who has the talents required to nip this threat in the bud. You are the one who must decide whether you wish to act or no. But we thought you had already chosen to do so, for your actions suggest you have…"
Hearing it phrased like this took Moon by surprise. Of course he had chosen, hadn't he? So what was the point of moaning about it now? "You’re right. I suppose I have chosen," he replied. "It's just that all this has come upon me so suddenly I didn't realise I had."
"And you must also realise that you are not alone," continued Ioho with an edge of reproach. "Your friends and your Lady are also deeply entwined with you in your task. Much of its peril falls also on them."
Moon thought about this for a moment. "Thank you, Lady," he said eventually. "I suppose I have been a bit selfish. The help you offer will be very welcome. But don't you know that I'll be working with vampires? Fighting alongside creatures that are not that different from the enemy when all's said and done?"
"They bear little resemblance to the rogue known as Rurik." Ioho smiled at the suggestion. "As vampires they may be beings of the darkness but the darkness exists to balance the light. They are a natural part of the Great Web of Being and work to sustain it as do you and I. Besides, it seems that your friends chose long ago to become servants of the Light."
Moon shrugged. "I guess so. I just thought you might object."
Her laugh was a pleasant rustle of leaves. "I might object? Oh, how little you know, young one. Who could understand the complex interplay of Dark and Light more than I - whose very flesh though poisonous conceals the power to heal and whose presence has long been symbolic of both death and rebirth?"
Moon looked up into those dark, pine-green eyes. "I'm glad that I amuse you," he said with slight bitterness. "I'm the one who's had to work his way through this blindly, you know.
The things that seem to be obvious to beings like you don't fall into human heads all that easily!"
"I am sorry, Jeremy Moon. I know that it is hard for you humans to grasp the music of the Web, which plays so loudly for us. But it is there for those who will listen and it resounds with all the answers you seek."
"Speaking of answers," replied Moon conspiratorially, "is there any chance of you being able to point me to where Rurik's hiding out?"
A frown creased Ioho's beautiful forehead. "It is hard for us to tell, Jeremy Moon." She shook her head sadly. "If this were still countryside I could locate him in an instant but this is a city. The great Web is violated here in many ways and against a background so filled with destruction, it is impossible to isolate the influence of even so monstrous a foe as Rurik. I am sorry."
For an instant, Moon had a flash of insight into what it was like for these servants of Nature who have to cope with living and working in a city. The constant battle they must be involved in to hold up the banner of Life against the creeping grey terror of urban death. As cities go, Bristol was comparatively green so what must it be like for those struggling against the industrialised towns in the North, for instance? "It's okay," he replied, reaching out his hand in consolation.
"Touch me not!" she vibed urgently. "I am the spirit of the yew and bear the essence of its poison. Contact with me would be harmful. But thank you for the gesture." She smiled gently. "If you would find Rurik, search for a blighted place. He cannot help but reveal his presence by the curse he inflicts upon the land."
Moon considered this new suggestion. "Thank you, Ioho. That could be very helpful. And thanks for the offer of help too, we're going to need all the power we can muster to conquer Rurik." He rose from the bench. "I'll drop by next time I'm passing through."
"I will look forward to it. Take care, Jeremy Moon, we have so few champions left among your race that we can't afford to lose even one."
Me? A champion? Moon thought as he made his way up to the Queen's Road. And I wonder what Sonia would say to being called my 'Lady'. He considered this for a second. But she is though! He grinned to himself.
Moon spent the rest of the afternoon working on his Blues-Folk article, which was due for submission the next Friday. By four o'clock it was almost finished - except for the final read through and tweaking that he did before sending it off to the editor. He sighed with accomplishment, pushed back his chair and saved the document onto his hard drive. After a moment’s thought, he backed the article up on a flash memory key just in case. Once you've unwittingly sacrificed one or two important files to the fickle god of computers you quickly learn to back-up everything, he thought, philosophically as he began to get ready to go out.
He would be having tea at Sonia's that evening and then they planned to take Sonia's friend, Ellie, for a tour of the bars around the Watershed area. As he left the house his mobile phone played the first few bars of 'Hanging on the Telephone'. Cutting off Debbie Harry in mid sentence, he answered to find a smug sounding Inspector Whatley on the other end. "Hello, Moon. I'm just ringing to let you know that we seem to have a match for your night train. There's a freight service that runs a chemical shipment through to one of the factories at Avonmouth twice a week. That’s on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which corresponds quite precisely with the timing of our disappearances."
"Great! Any lead on the cult connection?"
"Not yet, the secretary at their headquarters was very helpful and gave us a copy of their membership database but we're still sifting through names at the moment."
"Well, it sounds like a good start anyway." Moon was walking along the street towards Redland Road, which led up towards Clifton and his usual route to Sonia's place. He felt much happier about going through the cemetery again, now that he knew the Shadow Beast was out of the picture. "Keep me posted as to how things are going and I'll let you know if there’s anything new from my end, okay?"
"Okay, Moon, bye for now."
As Moon turned off his phone an urgent voice in his head shouted, "Watch out behind you! Move!" He looked back just in time to see a silver Toyota Land Cruiser mount the pavement a few paces behind him, moving at speed. He looked around quickly and, lacking anywhere else to go, threw himself into the road, nearly losing his left foot to the vehicle’s right rear wheel. "Fuck!" he hissed, breathlessly, struggling to pick himself up from the tarmac. The cruiser screeched to a halt and he expected the driver to climb out and apologise, but instead he heard the clunk of badly handled gears grinding into reverse. Without pausing to think, he flung himself out of its path just as a Mini came round the corner of the previously deserted side street. Its brakes screamed as its driver swerved to avoid Moon.
Now there were witnesses present, the driver of the cruiser ground it out of reverse and sped away. Moon lifted himself, shaken and dirty, to his feet. "What the hell do you think you were doing? I damn near killed you," the pretty young driver of the Mini, who had stepped out of her car, yelled angrily. She was wearing tennis whites, as was her equally young and pretty companion.
"I was trying to survive," replied Moon, fighting the anger that was building up from his recent adrenalin rush. "Look, you didn't manage to get that bastard's licence plate number, did you?"
"What bastard?" asked the tennis player, with a perplexed frown.
"That Toyota, he forced me off the pavement then started reversing. I'm pretty sure he was trying to kill me."
"Oh?" replied the girl. "Sorry, no I didn’t see it. Did you, Sherry?"
The passenger shook her auburn curls. "No. The driver wasn't much to write home about though. Pale, scrawny, spectacles - he looked a bit of a runt if you ask me."
"Okay," Moon sighed. "Sorry I interrupted your day."
"Are you all right?" asked the driver as she climbed back into the Mini.
"Just a couple of bangs and scrapes, it's nothing permanent."
"Okay," the girl smiled. "Take care and watch out for rogue Toyotas."
"I will," he promised as they drove off waving. "I certainly will." He looked around searchingly at the empty gardens and overhanging trees. "It's okay, you can come out now," he said, stirring up his ghost sense.
A tall, slender figure detached itself from the trunk of one of the tall rowans that were planted at intervals along the roadside and stood half invisible in its dappled shade. "Hello, Jeremy Moon," it vibed, running pale grey, twig-like fingers through its leafy hair and bowing slightly like a tree in the wind. "I thought you could do with some help."
"Thank you." Moon examined the nature spirit with interest. This one seemed to be male. He had a young, child-like face despite his adult proportions. The spirit was wearing greenish brown leggings, dark green turn-topped ankle boots and a long waistcoat, bearing an embroidered rowan-leaf and berry pattern. Beneath the waistcoat lay a loose sleeved green shirt with small clusters of berries embroidered at collar and cuffs. His green-blond hair was crowned with a circlet of berries and his eyes, the most strikingly inhuman part of him, were the same bright red as those berries. "It seems the Lady Ioho is living up to her promise,” observed Moon. What do I call you then?"
"My name is Luis. I am the spirit of the Rowan." The tall being gestured up at the tree that rustled above him.
"I'd kind of guessed that," replied Moon, getting back on the pavement and dusting himself off. "I don't suppose you managed to get that murderous sod’s licence plate number, did you?"
"What is a 'licence plate number'?" asked the tree spirit, frowning perplexedly.
"Oh, don't worry. It's a human thing to do with cars, that's all."
"Oh," replied Luis noncommittally, turning as if to return to his tree. Then he paused as if he had though of something important. "Do you not know that those things will destroy your people?" he asked, gesturing towards a parked Volkswagen. "They poison both the air we all breathe and the way you humans live."
"So some people try to tell us," replied Moon warily. "But most of us aren't listening."
"Ah!" said Luis. "So it is as they say: 'fall or rise, Humanity must go its own way'."
"And that doesn't worry you?" asked Moon, slightly piqued.
"No, not unduly…" The spirit gestured at the sky and the trees. "Our fate is not tied to yours but to the Great Mother Earth herself. If Humanity fails we will be sad but before long another species will inevitably move in to take your place. Nature is more robust than you might think and Life on Earth has weathered greater storms than your young race is able to make. If your adolescent folly drags you all into the dark we will but weep a while then pick up our joy and carry on. We have the Great Song to sing and the Great Dance to dance. If Humanity is there to join us in the end we will be very glad but - what is it that you humans say? - we are 'not holding our breath'. Farewell, Jeremy Moon, I am glad to have been able to help our Champion. And take care, for it seems our enemy intends to slay you before you can find him."
"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" A stab of fear ran through Moon. He looked up searchingly into Luis' strange red eyes and he did see the compassion that he hoped for. It was diluted, however, by a lofty ancientness that had seen the human race evolve from its apelike ancestors and the millions of transient lives in between. "You don't really care that much, do you?"
"I care enough," replied Luis, pausing with one hand merged partway into his tree. "I can only try to imagine how hard it must be to live such a short existence and be forever fearful of its ending. But we won't lose you, Moon, or any of the others. You must understand that your spirits are like salmon, leaping in and out of the stream of this world. In the end you will join us in the Great Song and tread with us the Great Dance, whatever form you may then inhabit." Luis smiled and the gentle, joyous fire in his eyes flooded into Moon, chasing away his fear. "Until then, Jeremy Moon," he whispered as he faded back into his tree.
Under a Ghostly Moon (Jerry Moon Supernatural Thrillers Book 1) Page 26