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(In progress)
I tell the tale as it was told to me, no less yearsago than I can not remember when last I heard it, but no more than I canstill remember each detail. It was many leagues from the forest in thecliffs off shore of the sea that this transpired. The fragrant candleswhere exquisitely crafted of the freshest beeswax and scented with thefinest herbs. The fae were fickle and did not tolerate anything short ofperfection.As of many moons in that day, it was a time of warin Urnyon Dale. The squabble was between the valley’s two clans of elves.The Miersoul Tribe were a gentle people who kept to the forest and livedon what good Mother Nature gave them. They fed of the grasses and berriesand trees, but never harmed a breathing creature that the Mother created.The Kindred of the Shadowed Moon guarded their hold on the plains fromthe forest’s edge to the fatal drop of the Red Cliffs. They hunted thebeasts of the meadows and used them for clothing, shelter, and food. Theonly things more precious than water to the elves were the buffalo thatgrazed on the mesa that overlooked their valley. The conflict involvedthe Kindred’s desire to hunt and eat the buffalo and the Tribe’s desireto worship and protect them.
As the moon neared its eclipsing, the Kindred wereobligated to provide offering to the fae of the black moon. As the waningmoon climbed the starry heavens, the Kindred prepared for the ceremony.The youth were already at the Red Cliff, preparing the salt-water cavesfor the ritual. In the village, the high priests attempted to anoint thesacrifice.
The Kindred was intent on slaughtering their captive,a Miersoul warrior by name of Janele. Janele struggled without success;the guards held her arms tightly. Her pearly white-blue skin was almostincandescent, the oils and herbs shone in the silvery moonlight. Out ofthe corner of her eye she saw the sacred garment she would wear to herdeath. It was a plain white smock woven of longhaired rabbit fur. Its onlydecorations were five braids of golden pastel yellow hair, hair that usedto adorn her brow. She winced at the thought of their blades, tainted withcreature’s blood, cutting through her locks. Her attention was drawn backto the priests when she saw them pulling a hot stone out of the fire. Itwas carved with the symbol of the Shadowed Moon, which glowed red-hot.They used bleached deer bones as tongs to take it out of the fire. Whenthey carefully moved the stone over to her, she knew what it was for.
The procession was something like a funeral marchup the stony path to the high cave. The way was lit by moonbeams and lanternsset on both sides of the trail. The guards pointed spears threateninglyat their prisoner. Janele cuddled her chest where they had carved the symbolof defeat and tried to ignore the stinging pains on her forehead and thefront of each of her shoulders where the burns of the stone were stillsteaming. The four markings made the four phases of the moon ? she wasprepared to meet her fate at the hands of the faery Princess of the BlackMoon.
The virgin priestesses prostrated around the poolin the cave. They bowed up to the heavens then down to the ground, chantinga welcome to the faeries. The pool was a ways in, but directly above itthe roof was cut out in the exact shape and size of the pool. When themoon was in exactly the right spot, the light would shine on the stoneisland in the middle and the faery princess would ride her silver moonbeam to her victim.
Janele was led over the wooden drawbridge to thestone island by a guard with evergreen skin and hair as black as the nightabove them. His eyes caught the light of the perfect candles and shonelike the stars. His name was Shem. He walked her to the island and, beforeturning her to face the priests and elders, caressed her heart. He stoodher straight up and left her. After he had crossed the drawbridge it wasremoved and Janele was alone on the pool of water. The moon crept in thesky for what seemed like forever. The Kindred watched in hushed anticipation.It was almost at the right spot when there was a flash of blinding whitelight.
The young Kindred were confused. The elders wereeven more confused as they had seen many sacrifices but never anythinglike this. When the light died out, everyone was witness to the disappearanceof Janele. The Kindred panicked. The warriors were the first to point fingers.Whomever the finger was pointed at was attacked and killed. Then it wasthe elders. Whomever the elders pointed a finger at was attacked and killed.The oldest adolescents blamed the younger adolescents and children. Whomsoeverwas accused was immediately found guilty and sentenced to death. Everyonenoticed that Janele was gone. No one noticed that Shem was gone too.
