Harvest Moon, Part 10

“As you know, bleeding cotton isn’t common for Fetches,” she said while beginning to move around me. Keeping her pace with the music. “Ash for Fire Court. Feathers for Air. Seaweed for Water. And straw for Earth. But none, not a one of them use cotton.”

“And I get a choice, this information or the children?”

She nodded, “it’s your choice.”

There were a number of questions, that had to be answered. If I knew who made a fetch like me, I could narrow my own search. I’d searched as I could. But, it’s not like I had too much time to pursue my own interests. And Faery, it’s not small. In the past years, I had barely scratched the surface. I would be searching for more years to come. One name though, it’s enough.

I stood their silently, looking down at the bits of cotton still spilling out of hands. Corrigan’s cold smooth hand lightly touched my cheek, “perhaps we should get you fixed up first. Get your mind on the matter at hand.”

I was able to stitch myself back together once we returned to her hall. Corrigan had no problem with leaving the party early, she had made enough of a show and was more than happy to leave the talk of the night.

From the room, I could watch the fields outside while stitching the cotton back underneath the flesh. They toiled. None over the age of eighteen. Some were already showing the signs of a lengthy time in Faery. They took on the properties of their overlords, some had horns, maybe fur. They were all being warped, everyone of them.

But the Dietrichs would not have that luxury. They didn’t have that kind of time. I could hang around in Faery for years. I wouldn’t change. Years of life, I’d have to search.

I slipped my suit back on, and went outside to make my decision.

“Still you prefer that thing? I offered you more fitting clothes,” she said as I exited.

“I like this just fine.”

“Very well,” she waved her hand. And glided through her hall. Her statues once again the focus of her attention. She refined them again, smoothed out imperfections.

I poked at my stomach through the fabric of my clothes, everything felt back to normal. “I’ve made my decision.”

She tried to hide her delight as she moved towards me, “so soon? I thought you would require at least another few minutes or so.”

“I don’t have the luxury of time.”

She stepped away, returning to her work. “Of course, you do. Once you know-”

“Then they don’t have the luxury of time.”

She stopped working. Silence hung in the air as she slowly turned around. “You’re choosing the children?”

“I’ve made my decision and now I’m waiting.”

“But, surely-”

“I have years to figure out that answer,” I said. “they don’t have time for me to search for the other. Now tell me what I want to know.”

She growled. I’ve done many things to frustrate her. But this was different, the light began to dim. The temple was closing in around me. Corrigan moved, and I lost her in the all consuming black.

“You want to know where they are?” her voice was hard to track, she was moving too fast. I stood there and tried not to use my eyes to find her. “They’re in a forest, just at the edge of this realm. Somewhere inside, you’ll find the home of the Lady of the Harvest. Where in the forest it rests, I cannot tell.

“No one knows how to reach it. They say that only those she chooses may find their way to her home. And that Elroy Reardon, is the information you sought.”

“That was easy,” I said. I had come through from the west, her entrance was to the north. My left. I slowly turned.

“Then our agreement is complete.”

There was a finality in her words that stopped me cold in my tracks. Our agreement, I realized, was the only thing that kept her from attacking me.

“But we are not finished. You have brought iron into my home. An action most unbefitting a guest. I have no choice but to defend myself.”

Scales scrapped against the marble floor, something large had replaced her form. Many Fae are shape shifters, I’ve had a theory even their true forms are a mask, something humans can understand. There were rumors of Corrigan. What she looked like underneath, of course, no one lived to tell.

I kept my eyes shut. Clamped them down hard. Then I tried my best to make my way towards the exit, doing all I could with only my ears and nose to guide me. There was a sort of musk, something living moving around quickly. It slithered. Moving from front to back of me.

Nose and ears only do you so good for so long. I couldn’t sense the length of reptilian flesh stretched out in front of my feet. My foot caught and down to the floor I went. Even though I knew I had fallen into darkness I couldn’t fight the reflex of opening my eyes to catch my fall.

Something stopped me. I held in air for minutes as I stared back into the two green glows upon the floor. A narrow slit centered in each. Eyes. I was staring into eyes. More specifically, Corrigan’s eyes. Many adventures were locked behind the doors of her temple froze in a state of fear as they met her gaze. Was I not moving because I had already become like them? Was this what I would see for all eternity?

They blinked. A human blink. A surprise blink. They shook. Slowly, the lights began to fade up. I was standing, I hadn’t fallen. But Corrigan stood before, looking just as she had before. For once, I was looking deep into her eyes. I’d have never known they were the eyes of a snake. I never dared a look, even sneak a glance.

I put my hands to my chest. I looked around. I was not stone. Not a statue. And Corrigan couldn’t believe it. Her voice was locked in her throat, she fought to surface it.

She stumbled back when I stepped forward. She could no longer look me in the eye. She kept her gaze on the ground, away from mine. I could have threatened her. There was more she knew and in the back of my jacket I still had my iron blade. With it, I could get her to lead me to the forest. Hell, I could even force her inside with me.

Instead, I left her there. Left her sitting in her mighty temple. I don’t know why I wasn’t turned to stone when I met her gaze. But I didn’t have time to answer that question. Maybe I’ll have to come back, though, there’s no way she’ll ever welcome me back in her door again. At least not with some plan to tear me to bits. She thought she always had an advantage, I just took it from her.

I didn’t have to ask around for the forest. None knew it as the Lady of the Harvest’s forest. But they knew it enough from other legends. Those that go in, don’t come out sort of stuff. I could hire a guide to get me to the edge, but after that I was on my own.