Harvest Moon, Part 14

She hobbled forward, continuing to call out her line as if she were some kind of broken record. Just skipping, waiting for a response. It was that, and the dark pink coloration that formed over all her eyes that told she was blind. Or at least possessing very bad eyesight. Instead, she acted like the Old Man turning her head from side to side hoping to hear something and sticking her nose in the air to catch a whiff.

I remained still, trying not to make a sound. Unfortunately, my clothes would most likely give me away. I had once been told that people feared lighting a match near me as my jacket alone would light up the night sky.

Though, it seemed their claim was mistaken as the old woman continued to prod around me unable to get any sort of sense to focus in on me.

“I know you’re there,” she said. “I heard you. Now you don’t move, but that is not what concerns me. You have no sent. Nothing animal. Nothing human. Nothing Fae.”

Her face contorted in a smile, one for radio. “Why have you come here Fetch? What is it you seek?”

I didn’t answer. And she didn’t continue. She simply waited. And waited. And waited. She didn’t move and neither did I. The shadows stretched out as light began to disappear in our small clearing. Time was running out.

And I was trapped in place by some old, blind lady. Was I really that helpless? I just fought a damn wolf man and come out with only a few gaping holes in my abdomen. Could she really do any worse to me? The forest that protected her had even shined away from my iron dagger. I was Elroy Fucking Reardon, the Fae don’t scare me. I scare them. I made the decision then and there to move, consequences be damned.

“Oh well, guess it was my old mind playing tricks on me,” she said just as I was about to take off. She laughed, suddenly a little more kindly in her jovial nature. “I shouldn’t waste time on such silly pursuits. Not when other matters are at hand.”

She clucked and shuffled around the side of the house, continuing the light chiding of her actions and foolishness. I stood poised, ready with the iron dagger. I was fully prepared to assault the rest home retiree. I took a deep breath and exhaled when she was gone, loosening up on the dagger slightly. Not fully tucking it away though, I still had to get through the forest again and was still going to need it.

A small path meandered around her home the other way and I began to follow, about ready to leave the when I heard the small whimper coming from inside the house. It was the noise of a younger person, a childe. Delicate. More feminine. A sound of distress.

I moved closer to the once sugar glass window, which had become tarnished with dirt and pollen after the glamour fell. With my sleeve, I wiped away a small circle to look inside.

She stood on a box because she could not reach all the way to the top of the stove. Various copper and ceramic pots and pans sat over the open wood fire beneath while inside a myriad dishes were being prepared. Her clothes had become tattered and dirty. She wore only one shoe. This Margret Dietrich looked quite different from the one I had seen two nights ago in her parents apartment. The little girl sobbed as she stirred a large wooden spoon inside one of the back burning pans. She looked as though she may topple into the fire herself.

The kindly old lady turned evil turned kindly was the Lady of the Harvest after all. Typical Earth Court, still calling themselves ladies when they had gone far past their prime. Though, vanity was the least of her crimes right now.

I twisted and turned, but Jacob was nowhere to be found inside. Margret may know where we can find him though, and with the old woman gone this was my best chance of getting her out. I checked once more around the general area, she was almost certainly gone. Then I snuck inside the house.

A buffet had been made and set upon the large table in the first room. That certainly said something if the old woman ate in the opening room. Then again, she was the Lady of the Harvest. Everything was laid out. From pies made of apple and blueberry, to sweet breads, at least four kinds of potatoes, greens of all types with vegetables of every letter of the alphabet. The table was strangely devoid of any meats, again she was the Lady of the Harvest. Only one Fae covered the Hunt and it certainly wasn’t a woman.

I hurried quickly through and tried not to let my hungry mind linger, the taste from the house had only wet my hunger. Much of the place was old wood, splintering and about ready to fall in on itself. It was strange with all the good foods around, I quickly noticed the smell of rot and decay. The house was dying. Not dead yet though, how appropriate.

Margret moved from one pot to the next when I stepped into the kitchen, she picked up the pace at the sound of footsteps. “I’m sorry, ma’am. I’m cooking.”

“Sssh,” I hissed and moved closer. “Keep it down, she’ll hear you.”

The little girl turned, and she blinked back to tears then leapt at me. It took me by surprise and I was quick enough to drop the dagger before she skewered herself upon it. She squeezed tight onto my waist, it hurt a little and I was afraid would bust the seams I had just sewn back in.

I tried to pry her off, but she’d have none of it. “She is going to eat my brother, you have to rescue him. She was making me fatten him up. I didn’t want to, but she hurt me when I wouldn’t. Jacob said to do it, it would be ok. He’d solve everything.”

She spoke like a tommy gun fired, I couldn’t keep up with every word of it. “Ok, ok. Where is your brother now?”

“The old lady keeps him outside. In a cage. You have to help him.”

“I will,” I promised. “But first, we need to get you to safety.” I stooped down and put a hand on her head while I reached for the knife with the other. “Now, where exactly-”

Margret shook her head as he mouth stretched wide to say something. It all played out slower than earlier. I didn’t even really feel the blow to the back of my head. The room all of a sudden just got a little to spinny, and I found myself falling to the floor. I think the girl was screaming, couldn’t tell really. Too much ringing in my ears.

Blackness was closing in around my eyes. I hadn’t heard her. She was too silent. I hadn’t smelt her. The house overpowered it. I had turned my back on my enemy and paid for it. The old woman stood over me with a rolling pin in her hand, no blood on it. No cotton. Well, at least I wouldn’t have to stitch back a hole in my head. Those never turn out right.

Harvest Moon, Part 13

Dozens of figures perched upon the upmost branches, and all of them stared at me as I followed their numbers deeper into the forest. Even stuffed with cotton I felt a bit like a cowardly scarecrow. I might be able to survive at attack from them, but I’d be strewn all about the place into many bits in pieces to ever get anything done. Unable to move.

I shuddered at the thought, birds are terrifying. It probably would have been less pathetic were they not all jays and robins, the kinds most people consider peaceful and beautiful. Nonetheless, a mass of any creature moving in silent unison is terrifying.

Through branch and burr, brush and stream, I moved keep a close eye on those birds. I couldn’t tell how far I had walked or even how long, I couldn’t track the sun in the dense foliage. I’d only be able to tell when it had begun to set and by then it’d be too late, moonrise would come with it. So, I moved as fast as I could, hoping the whole time that I had no guessed wrong and wasted time.

When the light began to die, I felt the worst of my fears set in. But it was only the forest growing even further. Even one step would take me minutes as I fought the twisting vines that entangled my feet. If I didn’t know better, I would think the forest was merely trying to slowly consume me. Like some sort of snake, wrapping around me slowly crushing the life from me.

Then, I thought I been wrong. The birds were a trap. They had said the Lady didn’t let any one in her forest she didn’t want. But had Iron John been on her side? Fae weren’t known for their loyalties, he wasn’t an exception, even if we had been friends at one point.

I tried to turn back. I had made a mistake. I should have gotten more information. I wrenched my foot, but it refused to move, wedged between two roots. The flutter of wings rose all around me. Were they attacking? Or was it potential prey fleeing at the sight of a predator?

I struggled as the world closed in around me, a trap of wood and plant. My arms became pinned to my torso, I could move them any longer. Vines crept up my legs, wrapping tight. I might not die here, but I certainly wasn’t going anywhere. Then it hit more, or more precisely, cut me. The knife underneath my jacket had pressed against the flesh in my arm. The iron knife.

Plants in Faery are like any other organism in Faery, their bane is iron. I wedged and twisted with the little room I had available to me and tried to work a hand up into my jacket. The space was tight, I squeezed out a final breath, even without lungs it still gave me the room I needed to slip the knife out.

Some already knew it was coming, they escaped at least the faster moving ones. The vines freed me, but the branches took a great time. I stabbed at them, just enough to teach them a lesson.

A forest is like any other living creature. It howled and retracted, angry but scared. As quickly as it had descended upon me, I was free. It cleared a path, obviously wishing to protect itself more than the Lady of the Harvest.

Hell, it gave me a straight shot. There in the distance, a small cabin sat at the center of a clearing. Light shone down from the sky, with the angle and degree I still had time.

I kept a slow and steady pace through the rest of the path though, keeping the knife out and at the ready. The forest was begrudgingly letting me through, if I gave it the chance it would be on me again. And it was doubtful I’d get away as easily the second time.

Buttery aromas drifted from the clearing towards me as I approached. There was no one to stop salivating, it had been awhile since I had smelt food like that, decadently sweet and aromatic you just couldn’t find in Notion City. I thought for a moment the Lady might be baking, and a moment of dread set in when I thought further on what she could be baking, but when I drew closer to the cottage I realized that it was the home itself giving off the smell.

The house was constructed from sweet cakes, candies and other sugary confections. How it survived the elements such as rain, I couldn’t guess. But then things never work right in Faery anyway. There was something about it though, the smell and the sight of all that food. My gut rumbled and I couldn’t help myself, I reached up to touch the wall. It felt like stone, but easily broke away in my hand and slowly its texture change. Hard and brittle, became soft and gooey. The perfect kind of cake, the kind I always dreamed of eating when I was a kid. Before I knew what I was doing, the piece was already in my mouth.

I spit it out quickly, and shook my head, knocking some cobwebs loose. I knew the magics behind the house, it was the same stuff that made me look human. Glamour. It could only really affect senses, just because the house looked and tasted like cake didn’t mean it was cake. Just as on the inside, I’m only cotton posing as a man this house was posing as a cake. The cake was a lie.

The house should itself as it was, beaten and rundown. Ugly and old. The kind of house you’d want to hide under any means necessary.

A creaking of wood send a chill down my spine, the knob at the door had begun to turn and slowly open. With a shuffling step, the old woman slowly exited her home. She was a stout old thing, supporting herself far more with her cane than her legs. Probably nothing but frail bones under her dress. Her ears twitched under the boils of her skin, and hawkish nose crinkled as she got a whiff in the air.

If I was still under the spell of Glamour, she might look like the house, a sweet and innocent old lady. A Lady. Was this the Lady of the Harvest?

Almost as I thought it, her head cocked upward as though she heard something and her mouth creaked just as the door did when it opened, “nibble, nibble, gnaw. Who is nibbling at my little house?’

Harvest Moon, Part 12

I took my first step inside, pushing past a massive hedge of vines that seemed to be the best way in. Most other sections were sealed off with branches, guarding entrance like a speakeasy bouncer. Crossed and stern. There was a little light that could fight its way through the heavy foliage. It took me a moment to adjust, but there would be enough during the day for me to see. I'd worry about night fall when it actually came, maybe I could be in and out before then. Yea, if I kept telling myself that it might work.

There wasn't a noise or smell other than the creek of branches and the bouquet of oak and ash. Though, I did manage to spot a few animals. Birds that hung in the trees, eerily silent and watching my every move. As if I carried bits of food with me.

I stepped carefully over arching root and tangled heather. It was all that could conceivably have been called a path. It meant that I could actually walk every so often with a foot in front of the other. On occasion, I still had to stretch up over what may have been a fall tree, though it had become entirely covered in moss and looked more as the grassy floor of the forest.

I had probably walked for a good thirty minutes before I had to sit down and catch a breather. No luxury of cabs or carts out here. And all the sleep and booze certainly hadn't help maintain my stunning physique. The Old Man would have had my head for the shape I was in.

“Get up,” he'd say. And probably add a jabbing with the nearest sharp instrument. “How do you even get tired? Sore in the bones and muscles? You don't got any, almost certainly ain't got a heart about to give out.”

“I get hurt and weak just like anyone else,” I would say back.

He stroke his beard and laugh, “but you're not like anyone else. You're not like me. You're not like humans. You don't share one damn thing in common with any of us. So, how do you get tired like us?”

“Because,” I'd get a little angry, raise my voice maybe throw my arms in the air. Stupid teenage stuff. “My arms are worn down. I can't lift them. I can't catch my breath.”

“You've caught it enough to yell at me,” he'd hoist the axe and continue through the trees. “Now come on, if you've not scared the prey off from the shouting, he's most certainly fled during your nap. I'm not letting this one get away.”

I stood up and soldier on. I didn't need to hear anymore from my imagination. Certainly not if it was going to taunt me. I pushed through some brush and continued on.

“How are you expecting to hunt anything the way you tromp around? You sound like a thunderstorm, just warning everything in your path of the danger. I'm lucky I get a single meal with you around,” he'd keep taunting. Easily dodging branches that I'd miss and wind up with them in my face.

I spit and shove one aside, “then why do you bring me along?”

“Ho, why do you think everything is about you?” he'd turn and give me that look. His eyes would twinkle. If he had eyes. Not that layer of skin just shaped over where they should be. He'd waggle his eyebrows. And he'd look ridiculous.

“Well-”

“Shush boy, we're almost upon it.”

Through, the mighty branches of an oak tree, barring us entrance but enticing us enough with the sight of a beautiful white stag. It stood, radiant, beside a small creek and leaned down to take a delicate sip. As magnificent as Faery was it held one image after another. Each greater than the one previous. I'd have never thought I'd top this one. But it wouldn't be long.

Its ear twitched on occasion. It would lift its head and look over its shoulders. It knew we were out there, but for the moment it risked the cool drink of water.

The Old Man didn't make a sound. He held a single finger to his lips then began to stalk away, not yet drawing the mighty axe from his back. I did as he taught me. I kept still and low, matched my breathing to the stags to hide the sound of my breath. He took long, deep and filling breaths. At times that made my chest burn. If the Old Man knew that he'd certainly make a comment about me lacking lungs.

I'd sit. I'd wait. As he taught me, until I learned how to close the deal and end the hunt.

Then it came. It was like the wind as it flew through the clearing, the axe he bore cut through heavy branch as though it were strips of paper. It finally ended, imbedded in a trunk across the way. Had I blinked, I'd have missed it. But as my eyes returned from the axe, I found no sight of the fallen stag.

“You missed,” I shouted and stood. “Blaming me the whole time and in the end, you missed.”

“I didn't miss.” The voice stated, as he moved through the trees and into the clearing.

“The stag's run off.”

“The stag wasn't the point. The hunt in the end is never about the kill. It's about the hunt. One day you'll learn that.”

He wrenched the axe from the tree while I rounded the branches and found my way in to join him. Crows and ravens, carrion birds had encircled us. The Old Man lifted his nose into the air, “hunters who don't hunt. What a funny thing. Looks like they'll have to find someone else's meal to steal.”

A wave of his hands sent the birds scattering.

Birds.

Hunters.

Damn it, I missed it. My head turned upwards. No birds sat in the branches above me. But what would, there was no food out in these woods. Not a spider. Not a fly. In all this time, not one bit of anything other than plant life had appeared. Save those birds.

So, then, why were they here? They had found something to eat. More than seeds and fruits. They were waiting. Strategically. Something had fed them. The Lady of the Harvest? The children? It didn't matter. Iron John had said the other hunters. He meant the birds.

I silenced my thoughts, and shut my eyes. Allowing my ears to find the rustle of feathers. A call. They were not far. I turned around and hurried to follow my only clue.

Harvest Moon, Part 11

Without Corrigan, I had to hail another goblin cart. It took about every bit of shiny I brought with me to get the driver to take me to the edge of the forest. I chatted with him the whole way, trying to get anything that might help me once I stepped inside. He didn’t know much, but he could at least give me an estimate of its size. I could spend a lifetime in there searching, he said.

We arrived with the light of the new day dawning. The day of the Harvest Moon. Which meant, I barely even had twelve hours to search. To top it off, my limbs were growing heavier and useless from the work they put in the past hour. I may not bleed like humans, but I still get tired. And even worse, I had polished off my flask before we arrived. I knew I should have picked up something while at the party.

My driver was quick to leave after dropping me off. Where goblins fear to tread, that certainly said something. Trees rose up before me, it felt like I had returned to the city. Steel and glass replaced by wood and foliage. From my understanding, the world hadn’t known forests like this one for awhile. Light would hardly penetrate its cover. And more often than not, the trees were wider around than a cable car. Any sort of creature could live in there. And the worst always found themselves Faery’s darkest places. Though, the eerie silence emanating suggested nothing lived in there. A thought which was even more worrisome.

I stood at the edge. I needed an advantage. And didn’t really like the idea I had in mind to get it. Nonetheless, I stood there a mere foot from the forest. Took a deep breath and called in a clear voice, “Iron John! Iron John! Iron John!”

There was a rush of wind that blew through the forest and nearly knocked me on my rear. I held fast to my hat and bared the brunt of it. I clenched my eyes shut as debris kick up and flew all around me. Leaves left tiny cuts on my exposed skin. I was going to need another patch job when this was all done. After it had died down, I slowly stood up straight and opened my eyes.

He was a mass of tangled hair. From chest to head to genitals, luckily for me it hid mostly everything. Iron John was really more beast than man at this point. I’m still not sure how he got the iron moniker attached to his name, his skin was rough, yes. But if they meant it was like iron, I didn’t see it. More than likely, he either added it himself with the iron striking fear into any from Faery who would call him. Or they gave it to him to denote some untouchable status.

Iron John crouched on all fours, his knees bent with arms sticking down between them. He had a curious bend to his head. Even through the beard, I could make out the rotten and crooked teeth. Browned from God knows what.

He cackled. Or coughed, and his eyes lit up when he saw me, “Elroy, good to see ya again old boy.”

“Have you cut your hair, John?”

He went into another fit and smiled up at me, “seen the old man yet?”

“No,” I shook my head. “And I don’t intend to.”

“Oooo, he’ll be awfully mad at me if I tell him I seen ya and he didn’t.”

“So, don’t tell him.”

This time he wheezed, “then why are ya here?”

I pointed to the great forest behind him. He twisted back round and stared at it then shook his head. “Tsk, old boy, you don’t want to go in there. Too dangerous.”

“You’ve been in there then.”

“Well, yea, a few hunts with the Old Man.”

I grinned, “then you might be able to tell me where I can find the Lady of the Harvest.”

“Ai, that information I know. But I can’t tell you that.”

“Figured as much,” I said while folding my arms over my chest. “And you’re beyond bribery.”

“Information like that can’t even be bought. Now why do you want to see her for?” he said.

“She’s got two kids.”

“Ai, the sacrifices. Every year it’s a real shame. These Court Fae they have no idea how to fully use their changelings.” he licked his cracked lips.

Was he trying to press me to ask the same questions as Corrigan? I didn’t have the time to play his games, “well, I can’t ask you for information on the Lady of the Harvest. But as always, you can assist me on a hunt.”

“Ai,“ he his teeth barred. “I can do that.“

He stood up, full height. Which was surprisingly tall, I’d only ever seen him stooped down on all fours. He ran faster that way. I didn’t realize how much it intimidated me, but my arms shook a little and I took an instinctive step back.

Iron John put a strong hand on my shoulder as he passed me by. I nearly toppled over when I caught a whisk of his musk. It was pungent and strong. I remember he was always downwind from everything during hunts. This time he gave up an advantage.

“You’re not the only one who pursues this prey. Watch for other hunters,” he said and continued behind me. “Good hunting.”

“That’s it? Just a cryptic-” as I turned to follow him a gust of wind blew and there was no trace of Iron John to be found. “message.”

I sighed, and turned back to the forest. Other hunters. The Dietrichs didn’t hire anyone else. I mean, they wanted me to fail. I was just hired to keep up appearances. So, who else would want these kids? It couldn’t be that simple though. It wouldn’t be people or Fae. There was something else to what John had said. But I wouldn’t find that out until I stepped inside.

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.

Harvest Moon, Part 9

I stabbed him in the back. It was actually rather easy, I still had the knife and he had his back to me. He was in his human form, weak and frail. The knife went cleanly through his skin, I made sure that I wasn’t hitting anything vital. I just needed him to bleed.

Adolf turned around, a look of genuine surprise upon his face, “wha, what are you doing? The duel has ended.”

“Has it?” I asked, reaching over his shoulder to pull the knife from his back. Pale blood dripped from the floor to the tip. I cleaned it off as best I could, while staying hunched over. Keeping my belly hidden.

“You were wounded, I felt it,” he insisted, taking a step towards me.

“You were indeed greatly wounded, Elroy Reardon,” said Titannia as she descended her lofty position down to the dance floor.

“I was wounded, but I did not bleed,” I kept the ruined costume tight to my abdomen.

“Impossible.”

Murmurs rose from the crowd, soon they all were shouting agreements while Adolf and Titannia paced around me.

“Show us, then," he added a growl to the command.

More cries for a reveal. I guess, it was false hope that made me think they’d go off my word. Either I reveal now, and suffer for it later. Or I hide the facts beneath the outfit, suffer even more gravely this very instant. I didn’t like this information getting this far out, but I took that risk when I made the challenge to first blood.

I straightened my back and held my head high, pulling away what I kept hidden.

True, they all saw four great marks carved into my flesh. But the sight of what fell from it caused quite a gasp. Tufts of cotton puffed out from beneath the skin, it tumbled and rolled into little balls as it hit the floor softly. Titannia nearly broke her teeth grinding them.

Adolf laughed, it was less intimidating this time, “you’ve still lost look there, you’re bleeding right now.”

“True, but I don’t bleed blood. And the duel was to fist blood, I have spilled none.” I said through my teeth.

“What?” Adolf reered back, “why that’s not what the ruling means.”

“But it is what the ruling says, and it doesn’t matter what the heart of the matter is,” I began to collect myself, when I got back to my clothes I’d be able to patch up the wounds with some needle and thread I keep around. “Isn’t that right, Lady Titannia?”

All eyes fell upon the Queen of the Earth Court. Her knuckles cracked audibly as she drew fists. Then took a deep breath and relaxed, lifting her chin above my head when she spoke down, “truly, by the laws of the contest the winner is Elroy Reardon,” the last word drew a snarl in her lips, “fetch.”

Some of the crowd cheered, or that’s what I took it as. They didn’t all strictly have mouths, sometimes it’s hard to tell what noises they were making.

“There’s more,” I said before Adolf and Titannia could slink back behind the Court, for now I had their ears. “The contract for the Dietrich children is void.”

“Under what grounds?” The wolf growled and advanced towards me, though a hand stopped him in his tracks. Titannia rose above him and moved forward.

“You can prove this how?” she asked.

I unrolled the piece of parchment, and pointed straight to the bottom, “this was signed by Mrs. Dietrich.”

“Exactly,” Adolf cried from behind. “the mother of the children, she may make such agreements.”

“Not if she’s dead,” I eyed Adolf.

“No, the young woman-”

“That was his fiancé,” I should have known. Dietrich wasn’t the kind of man who could sign away his children. Even if he were getting a pair of shiny new models in return. Women are dangerous, and it's not just the Fae.

Titannia’s glare snapped to Adolf as the wolf began to shrink and stammer his voice, “we were running out of time. And her demands, they’re so precise.”

“You knew,” she said, slowly prowling towards him. “you knew and still you bring this dishonor into my Court?”

Just as with the fight, now more and more the crowd was moving away.

“Please, my lady,”

“You may no longer speak to me in such terms, thrice you have proven yourself unworthy of my love. Thrice, you have brought shame upon this Court.” her voice grew deeper, trailed from the very stone floor gaining further depth with each word and moment.

“Please-”

“Be gone!” she shouted, and the stone opened like a great maw. Anyone who has seen a rockslide, knows that earth could move fast and in the blink of an eye Adolf was devoured. He was not dead. She still would not openly slay another in front of her Court. But, either way his fate couldn’t have been a pretty one.

The audience remained silent, not wishing to draw her attention. At this point, I could care less. I was untouchable for the moment, and I had to press that advantage.

“Jacob and Margret were taken in no trade. And with no Rite of Claim. By those laws, they are free to leave.”

“Such is the law Elroy Reardon,” her voice made my body tremble. “Should you find them, you and they are free to leave.”

“Should I find them?”

“The laws state we can not hold them. However, they do not state we need assist you in their removal,” her eyes gleamed.

“And you won’t tell me where I can find them.”

She was beside me, I hadn’t even seen her move. It was as though she simply moved through the stone to arrive in a second. It stopped my breath when all of a sudden she was leaning in for a whisper, “no, I hold no oath to you. No contract.  I could tell you, but you and I both know the price is more than you can bare. Fetch.”



"One last thing Mr. Reardon," she spoke her voice becoming more seductive, the echo dying slowly. "The Lady of the Harvest determines our take on this final day. You doom far more lives than two children. You should learn to see a good deal when one is before you."
I chose my words carefully, “go screw.” And made my way toward the crowd, Titannia may not be offering but there was one Sidhe in this Court who had an oath to me. And despite her best efforts, I held up my end of the bargain.



Paths were cleared for me, the iron knife still in my hand. At some point, Titannia had called for the festivities to return. The band struck a few chords and before you knew it, the party was back in swing.

There was a feeling I couldn’t shake as I moved through the crowds, eyes. Someone was watching following. I took my time, weaving this way and that hoping to shake the feeling. But always, I was watched. Tailed. Most likely, more than one. If I had to guess, Adolf’s cronies. They couldn’t do a thing to me here, but once outside…

 I found Corrigan at the corner of two buffet tables. She applauded me lightly with gloved hands, fingertips on the palm. She had to take care not to spill the flute glass of mead she held. Her face was glowing with adoration.

“Hail to the returning champion, well done Elroy.” she took a long sip of mead from her glass. “Well done. That Adolf was such a bother. Did he even offer to share a little of the honor of the children with me? No, but I suppose it best I don't have that sinking ship around my neck."

I swatted the damn thing out of her hand, “nice try. Now I’ve had enough of your games. You’re going to tell what else you know. Now.”

Her lips curled, “are you going to threaten me with the knife?”

“I don’t have to. Our agreement still stands.”

“Well, you’re just no fun.” She rolled her head languidly to rest her chin in the palm of her hand, pouting slightly. “Our night is only half over you know, you haven't fully lived up to your end. So, how about I make you a deal?”



Her smile was all teeth, she took a big heaving sigh. Accentuating her figure among everything else.

“No more deals.”

“Oh, but you want to hear this one, my dear Elroy.” she put a hand beneath my chin and lifted my head. I made sure to keep my eyes out of hers. “This one is a simple choice. To end this night early, I’ll give you one of two pieces of information. Either I can tell you where you would find the Dietrich children.”

“Whatever gets me to the children first.”

She released my chin and held up a patient finger, “wait to hear both choices first.” She pursed her lips, “now I can tell you where you would find the Dietrich children. Or, I can give you what your heart truly desires.”

If I had a heart, it skipped a beat.

“I can tell you, who makes a fetch of cotton.”

Harvest Moon, Part 8

The audience had given us plenty of room. We were going to need it. His limbs did not stay proportional to human or wolf, something gangly and in between. Making his reach was a good six feet, getting in with my measly dagger wasn't going to be easy.

He snuffed and paced, waiting. His lip always curled back in a constant growl. Titannia was holding back the signal, it was making him angrier. Which would just turn into some bloodlust frenzy soon. Normally, I’m all for an angry attacker. It puts them off. But this guy was meant to be angry, like a berserker, blind rage made him a better fighter. Nervously, I wrung the grip.

I took a deep breath and tried to shut out the noise of the crowd’s growing anticipation and frustration. He was bigger, it meant he wouldn’t be able to sneak around. He’s loud. His breathing. His heartbeat. It was all loud. And now that he had changed he developed a musk that hung on the air like a heavy blanket. Luckily, it was no worse smell than you might find on the streets of Notion City or the Wilds of Faery. I could handle it.

With my eyes shut I wait, then it happened. The crowd’s noise fell into a gasp, and the wolf moved. Titannia had given in the signal.

I turned the blade and leap forward into a roll, moving as the wolf tried to flank. If he gave in to his more bestial nature he’d attack like a beast. But he had no pack to assist, advantage mine.

Sure, enough he had round the dance floor and come back to my position. I narrowly avoided his claws with my roll. Though, Corrigan’s outfit for me didn’t fair so well. Guess it was a good thing I wasn’t allowed to come in my suit.

He was already off after the attack and moving again, he was fast and would be on me in a second. I sprang straight into the air, tucking my legs up with me. The beast rushed underneath, he was going to try and cut my legs out from underneath me. Bring down a fast opponent just like a wolf. But again, I managed to avoid him.

Though, it wasn't by enough. I stopped midair with a bit of a jerk as the hand caught my ankle. He may have been mostly wolf, but there was a little human left. Like the thumbs, for example, it held fast and I was dragged back down to the floor with a hard slam.

I managed to distribute the blow, and turn my head away. It hurt a hell of a lot more, but no blood flew from me. I bounced against the hard stone floor and rolled for a few feet.

Then a couple hundred pounds of fur and muscle and claw were upon me. His hands ripped chunks of stone free from the floor as he tried viciously to strike my face with the damn things. I guess if he made me bleed and killed me in the first blow he would still be within the terms of our duel. So, he was still able to think clearly.

Great.

Underneath him, I wouldn’t last much longer. I squirmed with my hips and pulled myself down, away from his arms and better placed at his midsection. I drove the knife upward.

It was like stabbing a rock. The blade hit with a heavy clunk and rebounded, with no visible mark what so ever. There was a laughter that rolled his belly, and I tried to strike it once again.

A back leg kicked, and caught my shoulder. Slamming it back to the floor, stopping the blow and sending my dagger flying through the air. His other foot followed suit, driving down onto my second shoulder and pinning me hard to the floor. No claws dug in. He could have won, but he wanted the killing blow in one. Hey, how about that his rage was working in my favor.

I tried to push up on his legs, I struggled and I kicked. Well, flailed might be a more appropriate term. But there was no weak point in his back legs. Someone had constructed a building squarely on my shoulders.

Then I could smell it, a stench that overtook me and made my head swim. Uncleaned flesh still lingering on teeth. I looked up to hide his massive head had bent under himself, and the maw was approaching my head. Jaws open wide to take a big bite. I got a close enough look to get a view of some of the bits stuck in there. A piece of a nightcap. A scrap of red fabric. The urge to vomit was stronger than the urge to get away.

Some brought on the belief that Fae anatomy is different from that of a human’s. They hoped to curb teenagers from leaving the bosom of their own race when met with the overwhelming beauty of the Fae. It doesn’t mean a thing, Fae have every bit the same stuff beneath their garbs as the next person. Sure, they might be a little strange, maybe made of a different material. Or look a little more animalistic. But the simple fact is, they’re still there.

So, when I nailed the wolf in his genitals. His howl went three octaves higher and he crumbled up in a fetal position like any fully equipped male would do. I drunkenly hurried to my feet, disoriented was my normal state of mind so at least I was feeling right at home and scrambled to search for my dagger.

It hadn't work before, but then perhaps I was just aiming in the wrong spot. My search wasn't long, a piece of iron would send Fae in the area scattering. I looked for where the crowd had moved far away from the dance floor. The blade glistened in lights of the party, a semi-circle of creatures had moved away from it. All keeping a good ten feet away. It wasn't difficult to walk right back in and snatch it up.

There was a split second the carrion breath was on me, then by my collar I flew across the dance floor. I tried to roll with it as best I could. Arms up to guard my face. And skidded to a stop just a few feet before Titannia. I didn’t need to look up to know the smile she had upon her face, she was hoping that wolf would kill me in one blow. Hell, Corrigan was back in the audience somewhere with the same thought and smile.

Claws came from all angles. He had changed strategy, with the audience only a few feet to my back by keeping in front and striking from the sides, I couldn’t escape. With each attack, I tried to parry and riposte. The blade landed multiple times on his arms, but still no blood fell. He came from my left, I managed to move in and only get the forearm across my head. I kept them from rending my flesh, but I stumbled. Too dizzy. Too disoriented. Usually, if I’m this way I just have a good long sit down.

The right came in, low and across my belly intent on spilling everything out in a dramatic show. I leapt back. But the mass of Fae to my back stopped me a few inches too short. Four marks scored through the doublet, ripping the fabric to shreds while tearing across my skin.

I fell to all fours immediately, clutching at the wound and trying to breathe. Trying to think. Adolf howled and turned his back on me. He stretched his arms wide, triumphant. He hadn’t finished me off completely. But at the very least, he had struck.

His form returned to that off a man. Much smaller now though, it must overtime build up in him till he reaches a breaking point. He would have fit in that suit of his perfectly now, had he not turned it to ribbons to fight me.

Titannia rose. She eyes gleaming with pride for the man parading in the nude before the whole court. The cheers grew boisterous. None could hear much else above of them.