Moondance of Stonewylde

by Kit Berry

  Yul stared at her in astonishment.

  ‘You mean Magus’ father, Elm, he killed Clip’s father?’

  She shrugged, plucking at the frayed shawl with bony claws as she rocked.

  ‘I saw nothing. But one moon Elm discovered the secret of the rock, the snake within that feeds and holds the magic deep in its coils. By the next moon Basil were dead, fallen sick and wasted to death in his bed. There were dark magic afoot there, and not my magic either. Somebody else’s hand, somebody who bore a grudge and wanted Basil dead. ‘Twas the Destroying Angel as finished him, and I know who brought her to the feast. There was only one other with knowledge enough.’

  ‘You mean he was poisoned by mushrooms – the Destroying Angel mushrooms? Does Clip know?’

  ‘He were only a babe-in-arms at the time. If anyone knew then they kept their silence. Elm was not to be crossed, and once he had the power of the moon magic in him too there were no stopping him. He took the mantle of magus and he took my Raven too, every moon, up on that rock. He were an evil man much like this one now, cruel and hard and only looking out for himself, never for others. Wanting everyone to worship and obey him and destroying anyone who defied him. This one now, he hides it better. He can make people believe he’s a good master, however black and deadly his heart is underneath. But Elm – if he wanted something, he took it without planning and scheming as this one does. He knew I had some power and would stop him if I could, for he were far crueller to my girl than his brother afore him, rough and violent with her and I couldn’t bear her to be hurt. So he made a pact with me. If I let him bring Raven to Mooncliffe every Moon Fullness so he could take his fill, he’d let me keep her here all the other days of the month.’

  ‘But I still don’t see why you didn’t hex him, like you did my father at the Summer Solstice.’

  The crow hopped from the table onto the chair-back and the old woman turned to whisper to him. He dropped onto her lap and hunched there, staring at Yul with his beady eyes.

  ‘I told you he were clever, that Elm. He had these papers writ and they were kept in the Outside World, locked away somewhere safe. Should anything happen to him – anything at all – the papers would be read. They told of Raven, of her moongaziness, but they twisted it. He read them to me so I knew. They spoke of her strangeness at the rising of the moon, of how she were wild and magical, but they made her sound a danger to folk. They said she were a madwoman, and Elm said that men would come from the Outside World, if they read them papers, and take my Raven from Stonewylde. They’d lock her away in the Outside World and she’d never be free again. So I could do nought for fear o’ them papers. ‘Twas like a binding spell – he had all the power and my magic was as nought.’

  Yul shook his head. It was just the sort of thing Magus would do – clever and cruel.

  ‘I’m sorry, Mother Heggy. I didn’t realise.’

  ‘Aye, history repeats and the wheel turns. I know well how you feel, my Yul. You want only to protect her from his evil, but Sylvie will survive this. He forces her to feed the snakes in the rock but nought else – it could be far worse.’

  ‘I was worried because I heard that Raven died up at Mooncliffe, and I thought …’

  Mother Heggy nodded, her eyes gazing unseeing at the fireplace.

  ‘Aye, she died there, ‘tis true. ’Twas an eclipse and the moon magic is strange at times such as that. Different, more powerful, yet tainted and dark. Well, she lay on the rock as always, the moon was high and he’d done with her. I came up the path for her, same as every month, for she were too weak to walk alone after he’d taken his fill. Then the eclipse began, and the bright moon grew darker and darker as the jaw moved across, devouring it. My Raven started to groan with the pain of it. I tried to reach her, to pull her off the rock where the snake drank so greedily of this new dark magic, but the evil one held me back. He wouldn’t let me near her – he said he wanted to see her moongaziness under the eclipse. She moaned and she cried, like a hawk riding the winds she sounded, high and keen. But then, when the Bright Lady was all dark, all devoured, the crying stopped. My girl had gone.’

  Her shrivelled hands caressed the crow in her lap and she sighed heavily, the breath rattling in her old lungs.

  ‘After a while he prodded her and saw she were dead. He cursed and cursed, ranting and raving, calling at the dark powers with every foul name, howling at the blood-red moon. He dragged her poor little body off the rock and threw her at me. I had to get her down from there, carry her all the way down the cliff path on my own.’

  ‘Mother Heggy, that’s awful. I’m so sorry.’

  She got up and poked at the fire fiercely.

  ‘Aye, well, ‘twas a long time ago and he got his justice in the end. And ‘twas as well she passed on when she did, for her life was nought, just a vessel to be used by him for his greed. I hated that man, just as I hate this magus. They have the same lust in them, the same desire for power. I see it clear in this one and he’ll get worse, just like his father did afore him. That power, that stolen moon magic, is a canker. ‘Twill eat into his soul and turn him bad, like a maggot in an apple, spoiling and rotting him. So, my Yul, never believe I don’t want to help. When the time comes, I’ll fight for you as I’ve done before. Every last drop of my magic will be yours when you need it. But ‘tis not yet time and I know the bright one can take this, though it hurts her. She’ll survive the Hunter’s Moon – Raven survived years of it.’

  Yul stood up and the crow fluttered from her lap onto his shoulder, pecking at his ear.

  ‘Alright then,’ he said sadly. ‘I’ll have to accept it, unless I can think of a plan.’

  ‘No! You mustn’t force a battle yet! No plan, Yul – the time isn’t right and the wheel hasn’t yet turned full circle.’

  ‘But when will it be time? How much longer do I have to wait before I can destroy him? I feel strange at times, Mother Heggy, I feel this great need in me, this stirring of power and knowledge growing inside. There are things I must do and Stonewylde calls me to do them. I feel it at the Altar Stone when the green magic comes, but I feel it at other places too, in the woods, on the Village Green, at Hare Stone, by the river – everywhere! I feel Stonewylde calling to me. It must sound strange, but I know that I’m here to guard and protect Stonewylde and Magus isn’t. He’s forgotten what being the magus means. He thinks only of his own power and glory, not what Stonewylde and the folk need, and not what the Earth Mother wants of him. That’s why she no longer gives him her Earth Magic. When will his rule end, Mother Heggy?’

  ‘The Winter Solstice, my boy, that’s when. Under blue and red, the fruit of his passion will rise up against him with the folk behind, at the time of brightness in darkness in the place of bones and death. Be patient, Yul, and bide your time for ‘tis almost come and some of us have waited long for this. Remember what I told you. If we do it right, if we can keep on the path, those who stand against you will fall, one by one.’

  20

  Sylvie stood in her room looking through the window. It was late afternoon and the sun was sinking low. As the afternoon had worn on she’d gradually realised, with a certainty that grew deeper by the hour, that this month there’d be no escape. Despair gripped her and she knew that it would soon be time. She felt jittery and jumpy as usual, but over-riding it was her terror of what would happen to her tonight. Miranda had made her bathe and change into the silver dress, which she now loathed. Her bare arms and legs felt cold and she pulled a cover from her bed to wrap around herself. She trembled with fear, hoping, wishing and praying that Yul would somehow manage to stop this from happening, with or without Mother Heggy’s help. She knew that if it were humanly possible he’d save her. She knew how he loved her.

  She heard them coming through the sitting room, the men’s voices seeming loud after the silence. Her heart thumped in her chest and her stomach clenched with dread. They came into her bedroom without knocking. Sylvie caught a glimpse of her mother’s face in the doorway smiling
anxiously. Magus was brusque and business-like, glancing peremptorily at her. He took her arm and led her towards the arched door, tossing the bedcover onto the floor. Clip picked it up.

  ‘She’ll need this, won’t she? It’ll be cold up there.’

  They both wore warm clothing, she noticed.

  ‘Yes, alright, but let’s get on with it. I’ve got the key.’

  ‘Goodbye!’ called Miranda. ‘Have a nice time!’

  When they reached the cliff path Sylvie started to climb but Magus stopped her. Neither he nor Clip had spoken to her; it was as if she didn’t exist as herself, only as a means for providing them with what they wanted. Magus picked her up, shifting her in his arms. She had to lie passively, despite her terror and rising moongaziness, pretending to be docile and still under the spell. She felt his hands gripping her and she laid her head against his chest, breathing in his scent. She forced herself to relax; her body screamed to escape.

  ‘Good,’ said Magus, ‘she’s put on some weight. She feels heavier than last time thanks to Miranda feeding her up. Does that make you feel better, Clip? She’ll be stronger now and it won’t matter so much if she doesn’t eat for a few days afterwards.’

  ‘Yes, I suppose so. She became so thin last time it worried me.’

  ‘Well don’t be worried. And remember what I said before – I think there’s a certain amount of attention-seeking and malingering going on, and she’ll just have to learn to cope with it. She’ll be doing this every twenty-nine days for the foreseeable future and she’d better get used to it.’

  Magus shifted her in his arms and she felt like a sack of grain, especially when he cursed and then slung her over his shoulders in a fire-fighter’s lift. Her arms and long hair dangled down his back, while his shoulder pressed into her stomach. Sylvie started to cry silently at this added indignity. Seagulls wheeled and cried overhead as they reached the cliff-top, and she saw that the sun was close to setting in the watery sky. There was some broken cloud and a light breeze blew up from the sea, making it feel chilly. The strange glittering rock, placed so unnaturally on the grass, was like a massive round table standing empty, waiting. Sylvie knew, with a clutch of fear, that she was the feast.

  Magus put her down, righting her as she nearly overbalanced. She started to tremble, partly from the cold but also with fear. She had a strong feeling of unreality, not helped by her natural tension and jumpiness this close to moonrise. Could this really be happening to her? Would it be as bad as Yul had made out? Clip came over and looked into her face, smiling hesitantly.

  ‘I love to dance at Mooncliffe,’ she said, for good measure.

  ‘And so you shall, Sylvie,’ he said, patting her arm kindly. ‘Here, let’s wrap you up whilst we wait for the moon.’

  He carefully draped the cover around her, although her bare legs and feet were still cold. Magus was over at the wooden chest fiddling around with a padlock. Next to it lay a new chest, also padlocked.

  ‘Come and give me a hand, Clip,’ he called. ‘I want to shift all these eggs up to the rock so they’re ready to load on her. Then we can put them straight back into the chest as soon as she’s charged them.’

  ‘But there are more here, Sol, a whole new crate of them! What have you done? She barely managed the first lot and she’ll never cope with all these extra stones as well.’

  ‘We’ll see how it goes – we’ve got nothing to lose. And look, the new ones are much smaller so they won’t take as long. Did I tell you I’ve got some people interested in buying them? The smaller ones are to sell and I’ll keep the larger ones for our own use. I thought that when she can’t stand upright any more, we’ll lay a load of these smaller ones on top of her rather than having her hold just two at a time. I don’t know if it’ll work, but we can try. Remember I said we’re going to stay up for a bit longer tonight.’

  ‘No, Sol! I didn’t agree to that! You promised you wouldn’t be cruel tonight. You promised! I only agreed to come on that basis.’

  ‘Oh for Goddess’ sake, stop whinging. Look what I brought up here earlier, to keep us going. A couple of bottles of the strong brew mead and a tin of your favourite cakes with their special new ingredient. We’ll celebrate the Moon Fullness in style tonight.’

  Sylvie stood in the slight breeze with her hair blowing around her whilst they shifted all the stone eggs to form a circle around the edge of the rock. It seemed to take forever as they shuttled backwards and forwards, Clip muttering objections half-heartedly but without the will to protest further. She shook with cold and fear, not sure how she should be behaving if under hypnosis, but feeling that familiar rising within her as darkness began to fall. Finally the two men stood ready, and all three of them stared out to sea, waiting.

  I can’t dance the magic into Stonewylde in this terrible place of suffering! The snake awaits, greedy and sparkling, and I can’t do it!

  Yul, hidden in the bracken, was also shaking although not from cold. He couldn’t bear to see her shivering in the thin dress and barely covered by the blanket, silently waiting for her ordeal to begin. He knew that this time she was aware of what was happening to her. Several times, when they’d had their backs to her, she’d looked around desperately as if for a means of escape. He hadn’t dared make himself visible to her in case they gave themselves away. The worse thing was that he didn’t even have a plan of action. Despite Mother Heggy’s warning he was still hoping some opportunity would present itself so he could rescue her. But time was running out and it didn’t seem there was any chance now.

  He noticed the little signs in Sylvie that the moonrise was imminent. She fidgeted, going up on her tiptoes, and then her arms started to rise. On the horizon he saw the rim of the moon, half buried in the cloud. The covers slipped off as her arms rose into wings. Magus noticed and grasped hold of her.

  ‘Here we go, Clip! Take the other side – we’ll lift her up like this.’

  They manhandled her towards the stone but she began to struggle, thrashing around and screaming.

  ‘What the hell’s happening?’ bellowed Magus. ‘I thought she was still under hypnosis? Quick, grab her and get her up there!’

  ‘Sylvie, Sylvie, you’re at Mooncliffe!’ said Clip. ‘You love to dance here.’

  ‘No!’ she screamed, kicking and struggling. ‘I hate it! You’ve no right to do this to me! Let me go!’

  Unsure what to do, Yul stood up in the dead bracken with his fists clenched, and took a step towards them. Sylvie flailed and almost broke free, until Magus grabbed her roughly with one hand and slapped her around the face with the other. Her head snapped sharply to the side and Yul jumped out of the bracken with a roar of rage and raced up onto the cliff top.

  ‘What the hell is he doing here?’ yelled Magus, still trying to get a good grip on Sylvie. She fought and kicked as he struggled to lift her up onto the rock. ‘For Goddess’ sake, keep still you stupid bloody girl or I’ll really hurt you!’

  ‘Don’t you dare touch her, you bastard!’ Yul screamed, leaping onto them and trying to wrench Sylvie away. Magus shoved him back and then in one quick, violent motion swung Sylvie off her feet and threw her sprawling onto the rock. She landed with a sharp cry, her body convulsing. In the near darkness she began to glow with silver threads of light. Yul was up on his feet again trying to scramble onto the rock to reach her. Magus punched him hard, catching him in the shoulder, and yelled at Clip who stood there uncertainly.

  ‘Clip, get up on the rock now and stand her up in the centre! Quick! The power isn’t flowing properly while she’s lying there like that.’

  Clip leapt onto it and took hold of her, but dropped her again instantly.

  ‘Sacred Mother!’ he screeched. ‘I can’t touch her! It’s like an electric shock!’

  ‘Come and hold him, then. Don’t let him go!’

  Magus jumped onto the rock and grabbed Sylvie, his face contorting with pain as he touched her. He yanked her upright and pushed her into the centre so she faced the rising moo
n, every bone in her body jolting and jerking. Her face was twisted in agony and her curtain of hair rippled violently.

  ‘Let her go!’ roared Yul, wrenching himself free of Clip’s hold. He dodged to one side trying to get round Clip and onto the stone, but Magus dived at him and knocked him hard to the ground. For all he’d grown, Yul was still young and slim while Magus was a tall, powerfully-built man. There was no competition and within seconds Yul was lying face down in the grass, one arm twisted viciously up behind him, while Magus’ knee pressed hard into the small of his back. Yul choked and gasped where he’d been winded.

  ‘Keep still, you bloody peasant, or I’ll break your arm!’ hissed Magus, giving it a wrench for good measure. Yul cried out in agony and tried not to move. He felt Magus relax, the weight increasing on his back.

  ‘Everything’s alright now, Clip,’ he called. ‘She’ll be up there for a good hour or more until we start to load her with stones. All we have to do now is deal with this damn nuisance and then we can crack open the mead. Didn’t I say that he was trouble? Can you see now why I have to put an end to his rebellious behaviour?’

  ‘What’s he doing up here anyway?’ asked Clip, wandering over to stare down at Yul.

  ‘Come to rescue her no doubt,’ Magus sneered. ‘I’ve warned you before, Yul, to stay away from this girl but you just won’t be told, will you? This time you really will pay for it.’

  ‘Please!’ gasped Yul, his face squashed into the grass and his lungs compressed by Magus’ weight. ‘Please just let her go. It hurts her up on that rock.’

  Magus only laughed.

  ‘Clip, there’s a piece of rope in the new chest, I believe, from when it was dragged up here. Bring it over, will you?’

  He proceeded to bind Yul’s wrists tightly together behind his back, and then hauled him upright into a sitting position facing the rock. He looped the end of the rope through one of the iron rings set into the ground and fastened it securely.