A Pinch of Moonlight

by A V Awenna

  ***

  As Madryn watched, another figure squeezed through a gap in the city walls and approached the group. It was that wretched exile again, that was evident from his lack of wings. His eyes were wide open, but his expression was blank. Was he hypnotised by that crystal in his hand? As he approached the chanting group, the magic in the air increased in pitch and strength, and Madryn knew the crystals were setting up a feedback loop. Once the exile’s crystal was in sunlight, a chain reaction would be unstoppable, leading to an explosion. She’d seen it done before, as a joke, but never with so much magic involved. These fairies had no idea what they were doing.

  Some of her friends might have thought it funny to watch a fairy explode, but Madryn hated that sort of thing. The exile was still approaching, eyes glazed, the crystal held high but still in shadow. Madryn forced herself out into the square and towards the exile, blocking his path. He stopped a moment, and before he could move round her, Madryn clasped her hands around his, covering the crystal. There was a painful jolt as the magic began to flow through Madryn, but she held on, trying to ignore the fact she had the filthy wretched exile’s hands in hers.

  She didn’t need her magic to know she was in terrible danger. She had stopped the exile exploding, for now, but the pain as the magic discharged through her was far greater than she’d anticipated. She couldn’t hold out for much longer. The other fairies were still chanting their round, but occasionally a voice would falter. If that meant the spell was failing that only replaced one danger with another. When the fairies returned from their trance and realised their plan had been thwarted, they would turn on her. Place counted for nothing here; that was obvious.

  Although the taboo against killing would protect her life, she was at real risk of serious injury, possibly permanent. That would be an eternal humiliation far worse than being seen out of doors in sleepwear. Raw magic was still burning through her, and this idiot exile was still in a trance of his own.

  Another figure slipped through the narrow gap in the masonry. Madryn barely had time to hope before she recognised the disgraced Nothing, the lowest of all. Self-preservation took over. Dahzen wouldn’t protect her; Pefryn’s skill and wisdom would. She called out for help, shamed by the way pain and fear turned her voice into a whining wail.

  Pefryn leapt over to Madryn, using her wings for speed. Placing her own hands over Madryn’s and Blackbird’s Pefryn used the power of three to seal the sunlight within the crystal. The spell worked – Madryn could no longer feel the magic burning her, but her magic was now linked to these two wretches.

  ‘Take and guard this,’ Pefryn commanded, pushing the crystal into Madryn’s grasp.

  Madryn watched as Pefryn placed her hands on the exile’s forehead and brought him back to reality. ‘Come,’ Pefryn said, leading them to the centre of the group of chanting fairies. She moved to the nearest and placed her hands on his shoulders to quieten him. Moving around the circle she calmed each one until the chanting had stopped, then turned her attention to the crystal in their midst. It was humming with magic, and still on the brink of exploding.

  Again Pefryn used the power of three to seal and steady the crystal. Unfortunately, Madryn was now with Blackbird and Pefryn in the midst of a group of hostile, disorientated fairies.

  ‘Traitress!’ spat one of them at Pefryn. ‘Do you sell your heart so cheaply? And you! What love have you for those who took so much from you?’

  ‘I have no hatred for the elves’, Blackbird replied calmly. ‘I returned seeking to heal, not to harm.’

  ‘You can’t prove we were doing anything wrong,’ another of the group said.

  ‘You had crystals, something we are not permitted to use,’ Blackbird replied.

  There were sneers at that, but Pefryn commanded the nearest fairy to speak the truth. Madryn could see she was impossible to resist. ‘What were your plans with that crystal?’ Pefryn asked. ‘You could have all been killed by the explosion.’

  ‘Our friends are being held within.’ The fairy indicated a shabby but solid building. ‘Without charge. Without trial. Without proper food or care. We were told the crystal could focus magic, and break through the walls, so our friends could be free.’

  ‘But that’s not the town gaol,’ Pefryn said. ‘The gaol’s on the other side of Annwn.’

  ‘This is where they keep those who haven’t been sent to the gaol,’ the fairy said. ‘Those that Hafren’s guards have rounded up and imprisoned.’

  ‘How can this be?’ Pefryn said. ‘My husband would never allow this.’

  ‘Your husband lost control of Annwn a long time ago,’ the fairy replied. ‘This all started when he went on that stupid quest last winter. Then when he returned, someone arranged events to damage him – and the both of you. His wife in disgrace, hiding in the hills. His favourite exiled. Tefyn himself damaged and alleged unfit to rule. Whilst you have been dealing with these problems, Hafren has been locking up any fairy who dares to challenge him.’

  Madryn couldn’t believe what she was hearing, and Pefryn seemed too shocked to speak. But Blackbird simply asked if the prisoners were in need of food and healing.

  ‘They are,’ another fairy said. ‘They are kept in desperate conditions. They can’t even stretch their wings’

  ‘Then go and fetch food, and we will make sure it gets to them,’ Blackbird said. ‘And we will send them healers.’

  ‘It’s not the hunger that kills us!’ It was the kitchen fairy speaking. ‘It’s not even the sickness. It’s the injustice. Until we’re treated fairly, we can never live.’

  Pefryn took control. ‘For those who are willing to work with me, to bring me your grievances and solutions, I will be at the First Citizen’s Lodge tomorrow. I will have reclaimed my Place by then. Those who are not willing to work with me, keep your complaints to yourselves, or be prepared to hide, for I will not tolerate aggressive use of magic.’

  ‘What happened to the magic we generated?’ the kitchen fairy asked.

  ‘I have contained it. I will use it to generate power, not to harm,’ Pefryn replied.

  A door opened in the building, and a pair of scowling men emerged, armed with nets and iron. ‘Flee!’ Pefryn commanded. ‘Remember my invitation, and my warning.’ She rushed straight at the guards to confuse them, and Madryn did likewise. The spectacle of a non-person running past them on one side, and a shockingly underdressed young elf in a torn gown on the other confused the guards long enough for all to make their escape. Pefryn and Blackbird darted through the gap in the walls, and Madryn wriggled through after them, shocked that the city’s defences had been allowed to decay so badly. She barely made it through the tiny gap, and her left shoe got stuck as she squeezed through. She had to leave it there and run for safety. She had no idea what was on the other side of the wall, but surely it couldn’t be any worse than what she’d left behind?