“Why so sure?”
“The sleepless eyes within the glassy tower watch in every direction over the flat and blasted heath, and there is no hidden approach.”
“But I was in this tower?”
“The Thirteen Treasures of Lyonesse are kept there. You tunneled in from below into to a labyrinth. There, you were trapped.”
“What happened?”
“You were outmaneuvered, played for a fool. Unbeknownst to you, you carried with you a shadow door.”
“A what? How did I carry a door?”
“I told you their tricks were cruel. It was one of those ancient, elfin doors, the doors of shadow, that allow one to pass in one step to any proper threshold. It opened behind you, giving a path to the Anarchists. Out poured their battalions, creatures who could not have otherwise faced the power of the elfin lords in the bright shadow of the glass tower.”
The dark figure stood, and the hunch of his shoulders, the stance of his feet, was like a frown of anger. “Do you understand your folly, girl? I forbade you to go! You defied me!”
“I would not do such a thing!”
“And yet you did! From my position halfway between worlds and dreams, I was able to take up the threshold of the shadow-door and bear it away, stranding the brutes and fighting slaves of the Anarchists in the land of elfs. The Prince Brian and his wee knights were no larger than hailstones and, like hailstones, cut the invaders to bits. How the seven Anarchist Lords and their lieutenants escaped, I know not. The Tower of Glass stands midmost in the lake of their unholy blood to this hour! Tell them from me that it was Winged Vengeance who dealt to them this blow!”
“You rescued the door frame but left me to die?”
“You were beyond saving! Beyond reach! All seven of the Anarchist Lords were there and they rose up against you! Through the maze walls as clear as crystal, as clear as air, I saw the revenants lumbering and ghouls loping in. There were werewolves and shabti, yeti and vampires and ghosts, seven battalions!” He laughed a sad laugh. “More than you have arrows, boomerangs, or knives, more than that crazed lab assistant of the Mad Inventor had shots in his pistol. That intern!”
A great pang shot through her heart.
“Intern?”
“The boy whose voice drove my voice out of your ears! The fool led the Anarchists there to steal the ring and kill you! His burrowing machine had the shadow door hidden in its hold! Your own beloved!”
Her eyes grew wide. She could no longer feel any heat from the blood in her veins. Her head seemed to swim. Beloved…?
“My own…” she whispered.
Winged Vengeance bent his raven-beaked mask toward her. He disliked what he saw in her face. With a great swirl of his feathered cloak, he turned and called over his shoulder. “I see your heart is changed! You are the Foxmaiden no more! The revenge to which we dedicated our lives in oaths of blood is no longer in your heart. My curse is on you!”
Tear were in her eyes. She called, “I return a blessing for your curse! Behold! When eternal day breaks, twilight is no more. Your deeds will be laid bare and fall under the judgment!”
He froze. “What… When? Who told you this terrible thing?” She was shocked to hear fear in his voice. She thought he was immune to fear.
She said, “Soon! The hour is at hand! Soon! A messenger of Heaven told me!”
He laughed a laugh of scorn, and the fear was no longer in his tone. “Soon, as angels count it, is centuries hence, or eons!”
In desperation, she shouted out, “You must forgive! You must forgive your foes, and all who have caused you such woe! Show but a drop of mercy to your enemy, and infinite mercy, endless mercy, wider than the sea, will be shown you!”
“Madness!” he spat.
“It is the truth!”
“You are possessed! You would never speak such words!”
She was dumbfounded. It was true. What had possessed her to speak those words? She was not sure where they had come from.
Winged Vengeance was speaking. His voice was like a horn. “You are my disciple no longer! You have broken faith with me! Ah! But you shall do me one last service and carry my word to the Anarchists!”
The moon passed behind a cloud. It was dark.
“Tuesday is dead and drowned in the waters!” he cried out. “The Abominable Snowman is dead! Six days remain! You join him soon!”
She gritted her teeth. Must everyone give her messages she knew not where to take or whom to tell?
He spread his wings and flung himself into the dark wind. He was departing.
She screamed after him: “My name! At least tell me my name! Who am I?”
He circled the mooring mast, disappearing to the right and coming around from the left, accelerating. The wings were open but still, not flapping, yet his speed increased. Black sparks were flying from the tips of the feathers, and mist was in his wake.
She expected no answer, and yet he did. She heard his shouted words on the wind. “Anata wa, Moth no Yumiko, Ume-no-Mikoto Moth no Shodotekiken musume, Moth no Isamu no ko!” It meant, you are Fairchild Plumblossom Moth, daughter of Impetuous Danger Moth, son of Bold Moth.
It was like a trumpet in her ears. Her heart expanded. She knew the name!
Her name!
Up he soared, high and higher. Faster he went, with no means of propulsion. She was about to lose him!
She tensed her legs but realized it was useless. Even with no weight at all, she could not gain speed or height beyond her initial jump. From the this tall tower, all other rooftops were below her, beyond the reach of her grapnel.
Too late, she cried out, “Who is my beloved? What is his name? Tell me! Tell me his name!”
No answer returned. He was far away, a mere speck against the moon.
“Where can I find my love, my own, my very own? Tell me! Where?”
So Yumiko Moth stood, calling upward, sobbing in grief, hot tears running down her cheeks, long after he had dwindled in her vision and was lost against the cold stars.
***
Here ends Daughter of Danger.
The Tale of The Dark Avenger’s Sidekick continues in
Moth & Cobweb Book 5
City of Corpses.
Fantasy
One Bright Star to Guide Them by John C. Wright
The Book of Feasts & Seasons by John C. Wright
Iron Chamber of Memory by John C. Wright
Moth & Cobweb 1: Swan Knight's Son by John C. Wright
Moth & Cobweb 2: Feast of the Elfs by John C. Wright
Moth & Cobweb 3: Swan Knight's Sword by John C. Wright
Moth & Cobweb 4: Daughter of Danger by John C. Wright
Moth & Cobweb 5: City of Corpses by John C. Wright
Arts of Dark and Light 0: Summa Elvetica: A Casuistry of the Elvish Controversy by Vox Day
Arts of Dark and Light 1: A Throne of Bones by Vox Day
Arts of Dark and Light 2: A Sea of Skulls by Vox Day
A Magic Broken by Vox Day
The Wardog's Coin by Vox Day
The Last Witchking by Vox Day
The Altar of Hate by Vox Day
The War in Heaven by Vox Day
The World in Shadow by Vox Day
The Wrath of Angels by Vox Day
Science Fiction
Awake in the Night by John C. Wright
Awake in the Night Land by John C. Wright
City Beyond Time: Tales of the Fall of Metachronopolis by John C. Wright
Somewhither by John C. Wright
Back From the Dead by Rolf Nelson
Big Boys Don't Cry by Tom Kratman
Hyperspace Demons by Jonathan Moeller
Mutiny in Space by Rod Walker
The Maxwell Saga 1: Take the Star Road by Peter Grant
QUANTUM MORTIS A Man Disrupted by Steve Rzasa and Vox Day
QUANTUM MORTIS Gravity Kills by Steve Rzasa and Vox Day
QUANTUM MORTIS A Mind Programmed by Jeff Sutton, Jean Sutton, and Vox Day
Victoria: A Novel of Fourth Generation War by Thomas Hobbes
Military Science Fiction
There Will Be War Vol. I ed. Jerry Pournelle
There Will Be War Vol. II ed. Jerry Pournelle
There Will Be War Vol. III ed. Jerry Pournelle
There Will Be War Vol. IV ed. Jerry Pournelle
There Will Be War Vol. V ed. Jerry Pournelle
There Will Be War Vol. VI ed. Jerry Pournelle
There Will Be War Vol. IX ed. Jerry Pournelle
There Will Be War Vol. X ed. Jerry Pournelle
Plague Wars 0: The Eden Plague by David VanDyke
Plague Wars 1: Reaper's Run by David VanDyke
Plague Wars 2: Skull's Shadows by David VanDyke
Galactic Liberation 1: Starship Liberator by David VanDyke and B.V. Larson
Riding the Red Horse Vol. 1 ed. Tom Kratman and Vox Day
Fiction
An Equation of Almost Infinite Complexity by J. Mulrooney
Brings the Lightning by Peter Grant
Loki's Child by Fenris Wulf
The Missionaries by Owen Stanley
Non-Fiction
4th Generation Warfare Handbook by William S. Lind and LtCol Gregory A. Thiele, USMC
A History of Strategy: From Sun Tzu to William S. Lind by Martin van Creveld
Equality: The Impossible Quest by Martin van Creveld
Clio & Me: An Intellectual Autobiography by Martin van Creveld
Four Generations of Modern War by William S. Lind
On War: The Collected Columns of William S. Lind 2003-2009 by William S. Lind
MAGA Mindset: Making YOU and America Great Again by Mike Cernovich
The Nine Laws by Ivan Throne
Appendix N: A Literary History of Dungeons & Dragons by Jeffro Johnson
Transhuman and Subhuman: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth by John C. Wright
Astronomy and Astrophysics by Dr. Sarah Salviander
Compost Everything: The Good Guide to Extreme Composting by David the Good
Grow or Die: The Good Guide to Survival Gardening by David the Good
SJWs Always Lie: Taking Down the Thought Police by Vox Day
Collected Columns, Vol. I: Innocence & Intellect, 2001—2005 by Vox Day
Collected Columns, Vol. II: Conceit & Crisis, 2006—2009 by Vox Day
Collected Columns, Vol. III: Failure & Freedom, 2010—2012 by Vox Day
Cuckservative: How “Conservatives” Betrayed America by John Red Eagle and Vox Day
On the Existence of Gods by Dominic Saltarelli and Vox Day
On the Question of Free Trade by James D. Miller and Vox Day
Do We Need God To Be Good? by C.R. Hallpike
Daughter of Danger: The Dark Avenger's Sidekick Book One (Moth & Cobweb 4) Page 17
