People of the Moon

Aaron awakes to find he and his companions are captives of a foreign people led by a cruel prince.

8.

People of the Moon

 

A sharp slap to his face brought Aaron to consciousness.   He jerked forward, only to find the razor sharp tip of a sword point pressed against his throat.   Inches away stood someone with an exotic face, glaring warily at him.     He was an Elf, though his eyes, hair and features were those of the eastern human nations - such as the powerful Toi-Migg.

Yet his ears were sharply pointed and his skin was a pale ivory color.    He had the bearing of a prince or nobleman and wore a type of metal armor that Aaron had never seen before.   Around the man were others of the same race, most wearing armor and standing at the ready as their leader scrutinized Aaron.  

It was night now and apparently this was the abductor’s camp for the night, for a raging fire lit up the soggy ground all around.

The Half-Elf was tightly bound hand and foot with some sort of flexable metal cords, but he still wore his arming doublet.

The Prince - for that is what Aaron thought he was- turned to one of three men who did not wear armor but instead wore white robes with a blue tint to them.    They went at once to their master and bowed reverently.   He spoke to them in a very strange language and gestured at Aaron with the tip of his sword.    One of the robed men bowed and immediately chanted a spell, touching his master’s mouth as it ended.

The Prince turned back to him and spoke, “Who are you?”

Aaron guessed that the spell that had been cast was some sort of communication spell so that they could understand each other’s language.

“I am Sir Aaron.”   He simply responded, not wanting to give too much information until he knew what situation he was in.

“And you are Banxian... or ‘Half-Elven’ as your people call it?”   The Prince asked, with more than a hint of disdain at the term.

“Yes.    Why have you captured me?”

“It is insurance of your cooperation, Sir Aaron.    The Banrem’Ta - she is your servant?”

Aaron looked at the Prince blankly and the man gave a half-smile.

“Ah, you would say ‘Half-Orc’, perhaps?   The green-skinned creature with you: is she your slave?”

“Lysa is my servant, yes.”   He replied, sensing that this would be best for her, “You haven’t harmed her, have you?”

The Prince gave a somewhat wicked smile, “No, not yet.   But her fate - and the fate of the grey skinned Half-Elf, as well as those other monstrosities with the heads of animals, all depends on your cooperation, Sir Aaron.”

“I understand, sir.    May I ask who you are and why you are here?    This land is part of the Kingdom of Marksylvania.”

The Prince turned to the robed men and they shrugged.

“We have not heard of such a Kingdom, Half-Elf.”   He warned.

 

Aaron gave a very brief, carefully worded explanation of what had transpired over the last year.   The Prince listened intently.

“The king of this kingdom,” He finally said when Aaron finished, “What race is he?”

“Eleazar is half Faesidhe Elf and half Drow.”

The Prince showed only a hint of surprise, “He is a mixed breed Elf?”

“Yes, sir.   His wife is a full Drow.”

A brief flash of unease crossed the Prince’s face when Aaron mentioned Drow.

“And the grey skinned one " she is half Drow as well?”  

“Yes, sir.   Allea is the Queen’s cousin.”

“But one of her parents is human?”

“Her father, Baron Alvis is a human.   Her mother Matron Zeatt is a Drow.”

The Prince pulled away from his bound captive and spoke to the robed men and several armored lieutenants for a few moments.   One of the armored men rushed off and shortly returned, dragging the bound form of Allea behind him.    Her feet and hands were bound and he dragged her by a loop attached to the cords around her feet.  

It was like watching someone dragging a slain deer.   Aaron tried to sit up, but one of the guards behind him smacked him sharply on the side of his head with a metal gauntled fist.    He sank back onto his elbows,  but still could manage to see Allea in the firelight.

 

She was covered in blood and from the flow of this blood, he could see that she had received a severe wound to her arm.   Yet they still had bound her wrists and ankles.    As the guard dragged her toward where Aaron was bound, he watched her head bump against the rocks and stones and could see how pale and lifeless she looked.

She was near death, but he knew she still lived, for - unless their abductors had stripped it from her- she wore a powerful Autocaster Ring on the middle toe of her right foot, concealed from sight under her boot.    If she was on the verge of death, the magic ring would activate automatically, casting a healing spell over her, and a form of teleportation spell that would return her to her parent’s keep in Westmark at the same moment.

Since she was still here, she was not to the point of dying, but he sensed that she was close.

The Prince watched Aaron’s reaction as Allea was pulled up near him, then her feet were dropped like a sack of potatoes.

“What have you done to her?”   He demanded, and the Prince seemed pleased at his reaction.

“She is close to death, Sir Aaron.    It would be fitting, for she and some of those monstrosities with her killed three of my guards."  

“You attacked us first!”  Aaron angrily answered, “This is not your land; you are intruders here.   We don’t know who you are or why you have come here!   We have no grievances with you.”

Aaron’s outburst brought the Prince to him.   He grabbed his chin angrily and yelled in his face, “I am Prince Sefet-Manyue, son of Emperor Saret-Buyue-Serdi!   I am he who the moon shines upon!   The entire world is my father’s domain!   We need not seek permission to go where we will, Banxian!    But I shall tell you!”   He turned and yelled something to one of his guards, who bowed and then raced off.  

 

A long tense moment passed, and then the guard returned, leading forth a bound woman.   She seemed to be the same race as the Prince and his men, and was extremely beautiful, with long black hair hanging down to her waist.   She wore the skimpy costume of either a sorceress or perhaps a dancer, of a rich blue color.   It matched her eyes, which, unlike all the other strangers, was a hypnotic cobalt color.   Never had Aaron seen eyes so deeply that color.  

The girl had her hands bound behind her back, but seemed resigned to her situation.   The guard brought her to the Prince and assisted her to kneel beside him.   She did not look at the Prince.

Sefet-Manyue glanced at her, pointing at her with his thumb, “She claims to be a Mesen-gongzu-Yu.   That means ‘A princess born of the Moon’.   All Mesen-Gongzu-Yu are born with vivid blue eyes, which is a sign of favor of the Moon.   She is a daughter of one of the finest noble houses of the Hutcaiah and I took her a year ago as my wife.   She may one day be the Queen of the Hutcaiah.”

“But a Mesen-gongzu-Yu is expected to bear many heirs and though great fertility is always given a Mesen-gongzu-Yu, she has not yet conceived.   This is a sign of an impure bloodline; a curse of the People of the Moon.”

“We have long known of the Pool of Purity in this valley, and we journeyed here to test this woman in its waters.”  With a nod to one of his guards, the woman was led from the Prince’s presence.  

 

Aaron tried to comprehend all that the angry Prince had said.   Apparently they were now camped within the Valley of Helios.   He tried to reason with the strange Elf.

“Sir, you said you had married your wife a year ago - surely it is not unusual for her not to conceive a child in such a short time.    Especially after the Dream of the Burning Tree; did you not"“

“Silence!”  Sefet-Manyue interrupted, screaming in Aaron’s face, “That dream was a curse from the devils that claim to be gods!    The tree burned with the fires of Hell!    But none of the Mesen-gongzu-Yu could possibly be infected!    They are sealed off from all impurity!   They are immune from curses!    Her infertility only shows that she that I took as my wife, who claimed to be Mesen-gongzu-Yu,  was of tainted blood!   The Pool of Purity will either prove this or exonerate her.”

“How?” Aaron dared ask.

“You shall see first hand, Banxian!   We shall use your half-breeds and those Behemren’Ta to test her.    You shall see how it works!    But now you shall tell us all that you know of this valley and those who reside here.   There used to be a magic tower that appeared and disappeared here at random.   We did not see it two days ago when we first arrived here.”

“We travelled further east to see if we could capture someone who could tell us what happened to it.     Then we saw you and the Banrem’Ta digging a grave outside of the ancient Sow’xian keep.    When we saw the blasphemous monsters who served you, we knew that you certainly knew of the Pool of Purity.”

 

“But we have only heard legends of it!”  It was a half-lie, of course, as Wulf-wuf had been to the pool.    But he didn’t want to reveal this until it was absolutely necessary.     Aaron suspected that the Prince and his wizards did not know exactly where the Faerie Pool was located.

The Prince leaned in close, a threatening tone to his magically altered voice, “Then tell me of the legends.   The grey-skinned one is near death.    Speak quickly and I will heal her, hesitate and I will let her die before your eyes.”

 

Aaron knew he was not bluffing, but an idea came to him right then.   If Allea was healed, they would all be hostages and eventually victims of this madman.     But if Allea’s condition deteriorated to the point when her Autocaster Ring activated, she’d be safe in Westmark and could tell everyone there some of what happened.    He hated to risk her life, but the young Duke suspected that if he didn’t, none of them might survive the encounter with Prince Sefet-Manyue.

So with a silent prayer for her safety, Aaron acted as if he was hesitant to tell the Prince the stories.   Sefet-Manyue’s eyes smoldered with rage, but he just silently stared down the Paladin as if calling his bluff.  

His cold indifference to all life chilled Aaron.  He didn’t dare glance at the Half-Drow girl, for the sight of her so close to death would probably cause him to yield to compassion.   He told himself it was for her best good.

Suddenly she vanished, which sent all of the Hutcaiah into a flurry of activity.   Guards ran around trying to locate her, while two more guards threw him flat on the ground and thrust the tips of their swords against his throat, cutting into his skin.

A few moments later Sefet-Manyue lunged forward, jumping onto Aaron’s chest with a snarl on his face as if he was a wild animal about to rip his throat out.

“WHERE DID SHE GO?!”  He screamed into the Half-Elf’s face.

“She’s gone, I guess.”   He replied, but Sefet-Manyue slapped him for his flippant response.  

“You know what happened!   Two of the Talminor are dead, Banxian, and the fate of the other two, and the Half-Orc, rest within my hands.     Which of them shall I execute first to convince you?”

“Allea had an Autocaster Ring that teleported her home when she was near death.”

“Where is her home?”

“Westmark; and now the King will know of you and your men’s presence and hunt for you.   We have the means to reach this valley quickly, Prince.”

“Hah!   You travelled by horseback, and even if your King has powerful wizards, they will not be able to come into the Valley of Purity through teleportation.    By the time they reach here, we shall be gone.    If you want to survive " along with the Half-Orc and the two monstrosities that travel with you"then you will cooperate with me and I will let you live.”

“There were four Talminor remaining " what happened to two of them?”   Aaron demanded.

“Two that attacked my guards are dead.    The one with the head and horns of a bull and the one who seemed to be half-pig, are dead.”

“Bull and Grunt…”  Aaron said gravely.

“They would have died soon anyway, for the mad wizard that constructed them is dead and his tower is gone.    His creations are such an abomination to nature that they crumble apart eventually.”

Aaron closed his eyes, but asked, “What about the other two?”

 

The Prince smugly looked at him, “They live for now.   The wolf-headed one was chained to the ground and whipped to teach him submission to his superiors and to subdue his fierce spirit.    The female with the head of a cat seems to be frozen through magic.   But you, no doubt, know of her state.”

 

Aaron sighed wearily, “If I cooperate with you and tell you what you want to know, will you let the other two Talminor and Lysa go free?”

“If our mission is a success, then they will be released.”  

 

Aaron did not trust the strange Elven Prince’s words, and even Sefet-Manyue’s smile seemed insincere.   But he had to buy as much time as he could for them.    The Prince thought that Lysa was a Half-Orc and he certainly wasn’t going to correct the notion, for clearly Sefet-Manyue’s race of Elves thought of themselves as vastly superior than any other race.   Cruelty was the way they dominated others, and Aaron was determined to keep Lysa, Wulf-wuf and Mew safe.

“What would you like to know?”   Aaron asked Sefet-Manyue.   He wasn’t surprised at his reply.

“We do not know the exact location of the Pool of Purity.   It was several centuries since my people visited the pool, and those who left an account of the journey did not give specific directions.”

“Sir, I don’t know of the exact location either, however, Wulf-wuf does.    He is the Talminor with the wolf’s head that you said that you whipped.”

The Prince got to his feet and paced for a while as he considered what Aaron told him. 

“Very well, Half-Elf,” He said at last, “The wolf-headed one will lead us.    But make no plans for escape or to deceive us.     You are vastly outnumbered.”    Sefet-Manyue nodded at the four guards that surrounded Aaron and they lifted him to his feet, while one of the mages chanted a spell and pointed his finger at the metal cords binding Aaron’s ankles.   They fell off at once and he could once again stand.

 

Without a further word spoken, Sefet-Manyue hurried off into the darkness, talking animatedly in his native tongue with a pair of his advisors.    Aaron’s hands were still tightly bound and the guards nudged him forward, as the others surrounded him on all sides.   

 

They lead him only a short distance, but in that period of time, Aaron could now see that he was a prisoner in the camp of a very large group of soldiers.   Tents were all around and he estimated that there were probably 200 of Sefet-Manyue’s soldiers, servants and wizards camped all around.  

From the bit of moonlight coming through the partly cloudy night sky, he could dimly see all around the ring of mountains that marked the Vale of Helios.    They had apparently carried them -unconscious- as they returned to the Vale and set up camp.  

 

He was brought to a make-shift ‘prison’ - the Hutcaiah had driven stakes into the ground and ran strands of the same metal cord that still bound his hands, around the stakes as a fence.   Guards completely encircled the ‘corral’ and in the middle of the area were sprawled the forms of Wulf-wuf, Mew and Lysa, as well as the corpses of Grunt and Bear.         

 

One of the guards gestured for him to be seated and Aaron quickly obeyed, for he wanted the guards to leave them alone long enough for him to check on Wulf-wuf and Lysa’s condition.

 

To his relief, the guards exited the corral and Aaron quickly crawled over to the wolf-headed Talminor.    Wulf-wuf had been terribly whipped and was covered with bloody ribbon-like wounds.   He was unconscious and gasping for breath, yet had been tightly staked to the ground with more of the metal bonds securing him firmly to the damp earth.

Without a moment of hesitation, Aaron backed as near to Wulf-wuf as he could and touched him with his fingertips.

“By Yesh the Merciful, be healed.” He whispered, so as to not alert the guards.  He hoped it had been long enough since he had healed Lysa for the Laying of Hands to work again.

The healing did little more than to stabilize the Talminor’s breathing and stop his multitude of lashes from bleeding.    Weakly Wulf-wuf opened his eyes and whined softly, like a beaten dog.

“It’s alright, Wulf-wuf, its Aaron.    Listen to me, please.    You have to trust me, alright?    I’ve made a deal with these horrible people.   If you will lead them to the Faerie Pool, they will release us.    Bear and Grunt are dead, Wulf-wuf.    But Mew is alright and Allea escaped.    I haven’t checked on Lysa yet, but it is clear to me that these Elves will not hesitate to kill us for the smallest infraction.”

Wulf-wuf whined a bit louder, nodding slightly to indicate that he understood him.

“Take them to the pool, Wulf-wuf and don’t fight them - for Lysa and Mew’s sakes.    I think they may let both you and Mew enter the pool to try it out before they force their princess into the waters.    It is our best chance right now to stay alive.    Hopefully Allea will bring help, but it may be a while, as they can’t teleport into the valley.    So we need to focus on staying alive and keeping Mew and Lysa alive.   Do you understand me?”

Wulf-wuf nodded, his sad yellow eyes expressing his pain better than could any words.

“I wish I could heal you more, but I can only lay hands once a day.    I’ll try to persuade Sefet-Manyue that you need to be healed before you can lead them.   I’m sure that is the truth.    For now just stay still and try to rest.   I’ve got to check on Lysa.”

 

Without getting to his feet, so the guards would not so easily see what he was doing, he turned to find his squire lying nearby, unbound and curled up in a tight ball.   He crawled over to her as quickly as he could with wrists still bound.

As he neared, he was horrified at her condition.   Her breath came in sickly wheezes and she seemed semi-conscious.   She had been sadistically beaten and tortured.   He rushed to her and checked her injuries.   

Apparently they had tried to get some information from her and had broken and dislocated each of her fingers.   Both forearms were also broken, as were her lower legs.   One knee was shattered.   They had broken several ribs and he feared she might be losing blood internally.    Her arming doublet was in tatters and her body was swollen with awful bruises and whelps.    They had whipped her as well, though not as aggressively as they had Wulf-wuf.   Her nose was broken, her eyes swollen shut and her lips black with dried blood.  

Never had he seen someone beaten worse.    They did not bind her, for she could not use her arms or legs with all of her broken bones.   

“Oh, Lysa… Yesh have mercy…” He groaned, awash in his complete helplessness.   He could not lay hands upon her as he could only do that once a day, which he had used up with Wulf-wuf.

“Lord Yesh, have mercy on this poor girl.”  He prayed as he knelt over her.   He had nothing he could do to heal her or stabilize her.

But then he thought of something that might keep her from dying at least.    His parents had given him an Autocaster Ring after he had completed his training to be a Paladin.   They were expensive and highly valued, but they had one crafted for him.    It had the same spells that Allea’s ring had - a powerful healing spell and a teleportation spell called ‘Recall’ which was triggered as soon as the healing spell was activated.    If he was near death, the ring would be activated and he’d be teleported back to his parents’ quarters in Westmark.   Only now they were no longer his parents’ quarters but his own.    Only close proximity to death could activate the spells.

Though the ring was his most treasured possession, as it was one of the last things his parents gave to him before they and his sister died, Aaron did not hesitate to very awkwardly remove his boot and quickly pull the ring off of his middle toe.  

He then pulled the tattered remains of one of Lysa’s boots off.  Thankfully, they hadn’t mutilated her feet.    The ring slipped over her big toe, magically adjusting to fit.   

“It won’t do you any good now,” He told her as he put her boot back on, “But you won’t die from your injuries.   I am so sorry I can’t do anything else to help you, Lysa.”

To his surprise, she coughed up a bit of blood and then in a weak whisper answered, “Sorry… Lord.”

“Shh!   Don’t try to talk!”

“Need… to tell… they… tortured…to… find… location of… Faerie Pool.”

“But you don’t know where it is!”

“They thought… that I did.  Then… they wanted… to… know about… who you were.     I wouldn’t… tell them.    This… made them… mad.   I… didn’t… tell them… anything.”

“You poor dear!    Lysa, you should have just told them.    My God, what you went through!    Did they… violate you?”

She coughed up blood as she laughed, “No… they… too… disgusted at… at a… half-breed.    They thought… I was… Half-Orc.    They hate… anyone not… Elven or… at least… human.”

“Lysa, I can’t heal you, I had to use my Laying of Hands on Wulf-wuf.”

“He needed it.   They… really… whipped him.   They are… so cruel.    One of their… wizards… speaks… our language.”

“Lysa, I want you to lay hands upon yourself; that will help some.”

Lysa coughed up more blood, “I already did.    Should have… seen me… before.”

“You already laid hands upon yourself?!”   He confirmed in horror.

“Yes… Lord, I am… afraid…I’m dying.”

Aaron’s voice caught in his throat at her words, “I won’t let that happen, Lysa.    I swear.”

“Nothing you… can do.”

“Actually, there is.   I have already done something.”

 

Before they could speak anything else, one of the guards saw them talking and a moment later a group of them rushed in.   They yanked him away from the Orc girl, kicking him a few times in the side as they chastised him in their mysterious language.

He did not want them to renew their beatings of Lysa, so he just lay still after they left and waited, praying the whole time that both Wulf-wuf and Lysa would survive.

 

Reviews

[Elina]

"Aaron angerly answered..." I believe you want "angrily," here.
"...as well as the corpses of Grunt and Bear." I believe you meant "Boar" rather than "Bear."
"Bear and Grunt are dead, Wulf-wuf." Same for this bit...
"...as was her lower legs." You will want to change "was" to "were," in order to 'agree' with the plural "legs."