Paper Moons Part 12 (Patreon)

I stuck close to Gabriel, knowing just how precarious this situation could become.  The heat from below was nearly sweltering, causing my blouse to stick to the back of my neck and my hair to become lank.  No one was supposed to be living in the outlands. This was the place where the exiles were sent.  Yet, I could hear the clambering of a small village beyond where the guard stood.  Wagons behind pulled through thick layers of dirt and the echo of laughter.

“There was a girl,” I started hesitantly. “She was up on the mountain ridge.  We followed her here.”

The man rolled his eyes, though the gestured was not directed towards us. There was a slight indignation upon hearing our words. As if he almost should have expected them.  “That was no girl that you saw.”

My eyes ticked up to the craggy ceiling and where I knew the dark sky lay.  Her silhouette had been ghostly against the backdrop of the jagged mountain expanse and the light of the full moon. Wisps of silver tinted hair had danced around her as she gracefully stepped from rock to rock. It would have been so easy to see her as a phantom dancing on the wind but I couldn’t shake the image of her in my mind.

“She certainly looked like a girl,” I started, not knowing what else I was supposed to say.

“Ay, I’m sure she did. But that’s a creature of the night and I doubt she is the youth that she appears to be.”

“Creature of the night?” Gabriel asked.

“Vampire.” The man had a gruff voice to match his even gruffer appearance. As he stepped into the torchlight, I could see his pocked face, a scar lashing down across one eye and a beard that was in desperate need of grooming. He was big and tall and towered even over the bulk of someone like Gabriel. “Did she lure you down here?” he asked.

“I do not think so,” I told him.  “We were already out here.”

“Exiles then?”

Gabriel was about to correct him when I put my hand on his hand.  “Yes,” I lied. I could feel the stern look coming from Gabriel as I said it but I didn’t want to explain to this guardsman why we were here. Not unless it became necessary. It was best for him to think that we were one of them.

He nodded.  “You’re lucky you found this place. Next outpost is several miles out.  Probably a blessing Kavatti was up there.”

“Kavatti?”

“The vamp.  She’s an odd one. She goes out to the edge of the cliffs and dances beneath the moonlight. Says it gives her power or some such bull.” Stepping aside, he leaned against the wall, clearly no longer on guard.  “You’re going to meet a lot of odd ones down here.  You’ll get used to it after a while though.”

Both of us stood hesitantly, staring at the burly man like lost little lambs. When it was clear we were not going to move right away, he sighed, gesturing down the staircase with the butt of his ax. “Go on then.  Plenty of people down there to help you acclimate. I’m sure I’ll see ya around.”

With a hand to the small of my back, Gabriel pressed me forward, urging me to go.  I felt my feet stumble over one another but made sure to smile at the man in thanks as we passed.  I could hear him mumbling as we descended into the makeshift mountain village.

“Like little ducks,” he said. “Imprinting.  Damn I need a new job.”

The stairwell darkened briefly as we turned a corner. I could still hear the life bustling below but for a second, we were blinded.

“Watch your step,” Gabriel intoned, helping guide me down.

“No one should be living out here, Gabriel,” I whispered, as if the people down here didn’t already know that.  “The Velvet Guard sends people out here to die. We all know it.”

“That may be the current Warden’s intent but it is clear that life has persevered.”

The stairwell opened into a deep and rolling cavern. Torches lit the walls and big basins of fire hung from the ceiling.  Bits of light spilled from them, falling like rain into small magma pools beneath where some creatures were lounging.  Dirt roads were carved between these pools, twisting around a small village of dirt cobbled huts with slate roofs.  I felt myself stumble once more as I looked around.  Dozen’s of people were down here, existing together, happy and content.  They looked no worse for wear as they went about their lives, trading fresh bread with each other.  Bending down to share a conversation with their neighbor.

“There’s the girl,” Gabriel said.

I could see her. The dancing girl. She was out on the edges of the cavern, still twirling, but obviously not welcome into the inner sanctum of light.  Her dress looked dirty down here in the light of the torches and flames whereas up top it looked as if it had been made of moon silk.

“The guard certainly didn’t seem as if he liked her,” I pointed out.  “Do we go and speak to her or someone else?” The information we were given had said the individual we were looking for was between a child and a woman. Stuck in a liminal space.  She was someone who sang to the moon and while this girl had danced and not sang, she was the closest so far to the description we had gained.

“Do you have hesitation about speaking with her?”

I nodded. “It is convenient?” I hated that my mind had turned this way but ever since coming to the market, I felt as if it was too easy, it was usually too good to be true. And despite us traveling into the dark lands that we were not supposed to be, the journey had been relatively easy. There were back alleys of the market that were far more dangerous than what we had just experienced.

“So then we stay on guard,” Gabriel reasoned. “You read people far better than I. If you have a reason to walk from the conversation, I will walk with you.”

I looked towards him, completely unused to the kind of loyalty that he was giving. Not even back home did I receive this.  I was a woman.  We were meant to be silent. Not to lead.

I said nothing as we started through the village.  A few people noted that we were newcomers but waited for us to approach. I wondered how many people came here and how often? If there were more places like this? If entire communities were thriving outside the Night Market proper, becoming one of the best kept secrets of this world.

As we approached the girl, I saw what the guard meant. She presented as a young girl.  Not quite a child but perhaps a teen of sorts. Someone blossoming into womanhood.  There was something about her face though. Lines of ancient history spreading from her violet eyes.  This was not a creature that was young despite what she wished the world to believe.

“Excuse me?” I approached her, making sure to keep my distance and stay in the light. I knew nothing about vampires, but the girl seemed to not like the torchlight.  In the end, it may have been nothing more than an illusionary safety.

She stopped, toe poised in a perfect point, toenails yellowed and gnarled as her foot hovered above the dirt floor.

“We couldn’t help but notice you above,” I started.  “You were the one dancing, correct?”

A smile stretched across her face, skin paper thin and cracking at the corners of her lips.  “You seek the moon,” she whispered.

I startled a little.  “How did you know that?”

She tipped her head upwards, as if to look towards the sky, and began swaying slightly back and forth.  She did not answer us. Her eyes suddenly vacant as she began to slowly twirl.

“I do not know if she has the presence of mind to help us,” Gabriel said.

“Considering that we are attempting to collect moonlight for a spell, I think presence of mind is perhaps not our biggest concern.”  Stepping closer, I crouched a little, trying to get down on the girl's level. “You are Kavatti, correct?  We were sent here. Perhaps to you.  We need help.”

Suddenly I was on the flat of my back, the girl upon me, her bony fingers digging into the earth by my head. “So hungry.”  Gabriel pulled her off, flinging her back into the shadows but I could still feel it. The skeletal protrusions of her limbs.  I could still see the feral need in her eyes.

Slowly, sitting up, I tried to keep my motions slow and concise.