A Lament of Moonlight (8 page)

“We will meet again this night I am sure. You will have guides in the forms of Mama Coon and Luna, but now I must leave you. I will stay with you as far as the trail again to insure that the shadkin cannot reach you.” With that she stood, removed the radiant silver pocket watch from the air again, and tapped it three times, supposedly one for each dial she turned. There was a shifting to the air, as if the ground had moved suddenly, and they all became dizzy, thankfully they had not stood yet or they would have fallen.

“Don’t mind that,” she told them. “That is just the earth catching up with its rotation, it happens when time
is resumed
.”

Chapter Seven

They left the glowing sugar shanty and walked to the west where Singers Trail joined once more from the clearing the shack was built in. Samarra was silent as they walked and the three Bordeaux’s cast nervous glances skyward where they saw the shadkin birds were clinging to the trees as if wait
ing for Samarra to leave so
they could attack.

Melvin was aware of suddenly how haunting his favorite place in the world had become. A place he had once loved and enjoyed was showing him a face, a side that he didn’t like. Melvin felt sick to his stomach, a sickness that came from his own feelings and nothing outwardly. He wasn’t sure what was right anymore, for this forest was something he had always held in high regard, loved and felt peace and calm within.

Not anymore. The sickness he felt was from the realization that he had been fooled, tricked into thinking that this was a haven, a place that he could always turn and be at peace within. Nothing was the same as it had been, and this feeling of being so unsure had nothing to do with the story Samarra had told them and everything to do with the lush pine branches which framed the trail he now walked.

Elm trees he once thought beautiful and loving now held a horror greater than his nightmares could conjure. Everything was so impassive. That is what he thought hurt the most. He loved it here, and felt so connected when he was here within the forest. He felt as though he had actually mattered, as if the woods themselves had rejoiced when Melvin, their friend, had walked among them. Now he realized exactly how much he didn’t matter, for these trees seemed not to care that they sheltered something that wanted to destroy him and his sisters.

It was still uncle
ar what part the Bordeaux’s
had to play in this, but whenever they tried to ask Samarra she remained silent either ignoring them or not having fully heard them. She walked solemn faced, something they didn’t really think she could have done until they reached the safety of Singers Trail. It was only then that her face broke into a smile and she nodded down the way.

“You will come to the end of the trail before long when your property comes to an end, beyond that you will have to battle your way to
Cailleach Bheur
’s
lair, and it will not be easy.” She crossed her arms and watched them for a time. “There are current issues I must attend to on the moon, or I would go with you further.” Samarra’s face didn’t look pleasant as she spoke. Instead it looked like she was not happy about what she had to take care of, she frowned and then shook her head as if she had been in communion with an outside force that only she could hear. “I will come back to you as soon as everything is settled though, for now take care and good luck.”

They stood there as if expecting something more to happen, but eventually they came to the conclusion that there was nothing more to say, and turned away.

There was a flash of light and a sound like wind chimes. When they turned back Samarra was no longer there; she had vanished into the night. If they had seen it they would have saw the beam of moonlight that drifted across the forest floor. Within the beam of moonlight the particles that made up Samarra separated and drifted away like dust in the wind, for Lunarians felt the light of the moon as if it we
re wind and could ride its light.

It was strange for them to have their backs to the light of the sugar shanty and walking away from it. Stranger still to know that they would be leaving the shelter of Singers Trail before long and venturing
into Eget Row
; Melvin knew the way through the wood road but when they finally arrived
in Eget Row
he was not sure exactly where he would be going and wondered how they would know their way. It was all fine and good for Samarra to tell them that
Cailleach Bheur
(who it was easier to not believe in now that they were away from the Lunarian) was somewhere off in a
place that Melvin had never been
. It was harder yet for them to find their way there to this mysterious land
.

They were still worried about the elle folk as well. It had become apparent to all that Melvin’s strike with his hammer might have killed a few, even wounded more, but certainly hadn’t killed them all, and soon they would probably find a way out of t
he pit his blunder had created.

Such were the thoughts
he entertained when they came across a small lake with what seemed a land bridge dividing it. The lake was utterly calm, one could almost equate it to being dead. The land bridge was an unfortunate looking thing, like rotten wood held together with mounds and lumps of algae.

“I don’t remember this being here,” Melvin said. “Of course father doesn’t bring me this way often because it is so close to other property, but I can’t remember ever having seen this.”

“I am sure that you would recall seeing a lake if there had been one,” Ruby commented offhandedly.

“I am sure that I would,” Melvin agreed.

“Would this be part of Singers Trail?” Ruby asked. “It looks like it parts around it, but would it be considered part of the road?”

“
I believe so, there aren’t any s
hadkin there, see the birds and snakes are on the other side,” Melvin said nearing the lake.

“You can’t be thinking of crossing it can you?” Abigail said sounding not at all pleased with this line of thought. “Besides how are the birds and snakes to get to the lake anyway, they would have to cross
over
the trail!”

“Well the birds can fly, I am sure the power of the song diminishes as you go higher above it, and yes I intend on crossing it we have only the night to do what we have to do and if we walk all around the lake it will take longer than going across the land bridge,” Melvin explained. “Besides it has been a while since father has brought me this way, it could be that water has built up and created this.”

“It looks rather deep,” Ruby protested coming to stand at the edge of the calm lake. “And we haven’t had a lot of rain lately.”

“Well that doesn’t mean anything,” Melvin protested. “See it could appear to be deep but really be shallow, or maybe it is groundwater that has risen to the surface, who knows? But just because I don’t remember it being here the few times I came here a while back doesn’t mean that it was not supposed to be there. Maybe I had come on a dry day and it was dried up.”

“It does make sense,” Ruby said.

“Well I don’t like the idea of it,” Abigail said bossily.

“Well then you can stay here,” Melvin said. “Or walk around, I don’t care I am going over. But there is no telling if the protection of the trail extends all around the lake either. This could be the only way.”

“No! All of the shadkin are further out, there is enough room around. Besides, walking around would take less time than it would if you got attacked out in the middle of the lake, we could be detained longer, or die trying to escape.”

“I am going over, if you don’t want to then go the other way,” Melvin told her resolutely.

“Fine!” Abigail said and began walking around the edge. At first Ruby made to follow her, but after all it was Melvin’s guidance that had gotten them this far wasn’t it? In the end Ruby reluctantly stayed with Melvin.

Melvin huffed and cussed under his breath before stepping onto the land bridge and walking out toward the center of the lake. The lake didn’t appear to be that far across it should only take them about ten to fifteen minutes to cross, but only that long because of the unsure footing. He walked slowly because the ground on which he stepped was unstable. At first he had thought it was ground, but now he was beginning to think that it was moss covered wood, maybe logs of some kind for there was a give, but solidity to the surface that suggested s
omething harder than earth. H
is shoes slipped on the surface as if it were moss. The few times his shoes scored the surface the section of bridge he was on moved slightly and made him unstable. Maybe they were algae covered rocks instead, for the bridge was a kind of series of steps across the lake. But if this were algae it would mean that the water had been here long enough algae to form, and if it was algae than that was an awful lot of algae.

He was nearly half way across when the first indication came that maybe what he was walking on was not earth or wood at all but something different. The area right before him moved to the left, creating a gap before him exactly where he was about to step. He flailed his arms slightly to right himself and stood gasping somehow able to gain balance with the awkward hammer held in his hand.

“What was that?” he asked.

“What?” Ruby asked.

“The
ground
just moved.” Melvin was beginning to think that maybe Abigail had the right idea and that they should have followed the road around it.

“I don’t think it is earth
,” Ruby commented.

“What do you mean?” Melvin asked.

“Well I just scuffed it with my heel and I could have swore it bled!”

“Don’t be absurd,” Melvin said but he did give the ground beneath his feet a critical look.

“Maybe it is a Nix,” she pondered.

“A what?” Melvin looked back at her trying to think of a way other than jumping to get to the next step.

“It is an evil mermaid that inhabits fresh water. They are said to lure people into
their homes
to devour them,” Melvin scoffed at her imagination.

“It isn’t a nix,” he rolled his eyes. “Where have you heard of such nonsense?”

“Nonsense?” Ruby flared up. “I can’t believe you! You have been bitten by shadkin snakes, plagued by shadkin birds, poisoned by a little man who breathed green fog poison stuff from another dimension, and seen a person from the moon not to mention followed a glowing purple butterfly all night and you will not believe in a nix?”

“The snakes and birds have acted weird, yes but that doesn’t mean they aren’t just regular birds and snakes. And how do you know that Samarra really was from the moon, you didn’t see her ride a moonbeam down did you?” In his arguing Melvin didn’t see the next step waft out into the water either.

“Whatever, I heard of them at school anyway, Lillian Morgan swears she saw one while on vacation
in Gasthberk,” Ruby told him.

“Great, now two more have drifted off!” he nearly yelled. “Turn back, we will follow the road like Abigail did,” he grumbled thinking that it would only make her happy that he had to give in. It had been rather foolish of him to come out this far anyway.

They turned back and walked a little way but found the way behind them was nearly as obstructed as the way ahead. What was worse as they turned back and forth they saw that more and more of the steps were drifting away.

“What now? Are we supposed to swim?” Ruby asked.

But just as she suggested that there was movement from out in the calm lake causing ripples
to splash against the ground beneath
their feet.

“Was that a person?” Ruby yelled.

“No it wasn’t and stop scaring yourself!” Melvin commanded.

“I think it was,” Ruby added.

“It wasn’t!” Melvin insisted, though he thought it very well could have been.

They were now crowded onto two of the steps. Something splashed just out of sight, and when they turned, slipping and sliding on the thing below them, they didn’t see anything. Just as something more was going to be said, however, the wood or rock or whatever it was below their feet began to move, and they were separated, Ruby on one large block, Melvin on another.

“What’s
happening?” Ruby shouted. B
efore she could finish a large green shape lifted out of the water behind her. The thing looked like a human with a fish’s tale much like Ruby had said it would, like an evil mermaid. Unlike a human though it had green skin, hair, and teeth that were not the pleasant color of grass or seaweed, but instead a disgusting green like algae. It grinn
ed once and wrapped warty
green arms around his screaming sister, and plunged back below the su
rface with her
.

“What is happening?” Abigail screamed from the shore, but Melvin couldn’t speak. It seemed that suddenly the entire lake was teeming with misshapen mermaids and odd horse-like beings that were the upper half of a horse, the bottom half of a fish and as green as the nix that rose up and grabbed his sister.

“What’s goin
g on?” Abigail screamed
.

“I . . . I don’t know!” Melvin yelled back, kneeling down on the thing he no longer thought was a stone or wood or anything earthen at all. He wondered what to do and thought about how little time he had in which to do it. The protective instinct within him took over and he yelled back. “Abigail find something like a long stick or something that I can grab onto, I am going in to find her!”

He wasn’t sure exactly why he was surprised that the water was so deep, after all he had just seen his sister get taken under the surface. Still he was shaken a little when he stepped in and instantly was weighted down by the hammer. He fought and swam as hard as he could, thankfully the hammer was not as big as the blacksmiths hammer it was supposed to represent, and he was able to swim sluggishly with it.