"And what exactly are we doing out here, in the middle of the night?" I ask as Daaney drags me along. He still hasn't said anything about what he wanted in the first place, but somehow I get the impression it's nothing good.
It's entirely dark now, we're not even using a lantern to light our path. It's actually amazing to see how sure-footed he leads the way through the woods, whereas even I would have needed a torch, a lantern - anything that would enable me to see where I am going. So here I am, having to resort to clinging to his hand like a little girl.
"Hello? Are you listening to me?" I reach the point where I stop dead in my tracks and yank my hand out of his grip. It irritates me no end that he seems to ignore me all the while.
After walking a step or two more, Daaney turns around and gives me a long look that leaves me blushing for my rude behavior. "Yes, I am listening to you," he replies, retracing his steps and standing in front of me now. "I just don't want to answer your questions yet, does that make sense?"
I throw my hands up in exasperation. "I don't care if you want to or not. You come to my home in the evening, asking me to come along - in the dark. For all I know, you could be --"
I don't get farther than that, Daaney grabs me around the waist, pulling me close to his body, and clasping a hand over my mouth. "If I were that kind of person, don't you think I would have made a move a long time ago?" he says quietly. I'm too stunned to struggle, and he continues, "Exactly. I'm not up to anything to harm you, get that?"
I nod.
"Good." He releases me and I stumble backwards a few steps. I shake my head thoughtfully as I watch him turn and take the lead again for a moment, then hurry after him. I feel rather ashamed to admit I'm afraid of being left alone in the dark. By now, with my nineteen years of age, I should be over such fears.
After a short while of walking in silence, I see lights flicker in between the forms of the trees. Consumed in watching the lights for a second, I trip over a root and am nearly sent sprawling on the ground. I catch myself just in time to prevent that.
Lights . . . Interesting. I have the vague impression that I know where we're going. But it's only a guess, it could just as well be wrong. I nearly run into Daaney, who has stopped with me noticing it. He turns slightly, placing a finger to his lips, saying, "Shh!"
Right. I bite back a comment, then follow him as he sneaks out of the forest and into the village, which is bathed in silver. I cast a quick glance upwards; the moon is not yet red. That's an issue of mere minutes, though, from what I can tell.
All the houses we pass seem dead and hollow, there's no laughter coming from inside any of them. The only lights burning are in the town hall, and there are blurry forms hurrying around, making an eerie dance of shadows appear on the walls and ground. Daaney drags me to the little rise at the back of the building, and I am more than surprised to see Jonse there with Niria.
"Okay, so what are you two doing here and what exactly is this going to be?" I demand, giving all three members of the carter family a stern look.
"Didn't he tell you? We're paying the crone back for scaring everyone!" Niria says, apparently extremely excited about that prospect. I'm starting to get the distinct feeling I'm surrounded by lunatics, Daaney being their leader.
"Yes!" Jonse chirps. "We're scaring her so she'll never do it again."
Wait, didn't Daaney tell me these two were frightened to their wits' end? "Of course," I reply, "but how do you want to do that?"
Daaney grins. "Easy. Magic!" He snaps his fingers and a small flame bursts into being on the tip of his forefinger, illuminating his face eerily. I stare at him in both shock and stupor. "Oh, come on, it's not going to be that bad," he says at the sight of my expression. "I know what I'm doing. Can't let the good elven ancestry go to waste, can I?"
Now that explains everything. I'm about to back out, but the image of Mother, frightened to near-death, flashes before my mind's eye. Don't I want to get the old woman back for that? Of course I do.
"Alright. I'm in. What do we do?"
"That's the spirit! Speaking of which, my little friends should arrive soon." He glances over his shoulder, at the forest, giving a shrill whistle. To my amazement, the darkness between the trees begins to stir, move, come alive. Small, gnarled little beings creep out from under stones; tiny, glowing wings beat the air as fae flutter out from their own hiding places; twigs come alive and take shape of small figures. And those are just three kinds out of many.
Daaney quickly instructs them in what to do. They are to rattle the windows, jump out from the shadows. A few are told to go inside and terrorize the old crone who predicted the end of the world. He talks to unseen things in the air to stir a high, whining, howling wind to tear at the building, and makes fires dance before any of the windows.
Niria and Jonse shriek with delight at the sight of all these strange creatures. I'm mesmerized they actually exist, but my attention wanders upwards, to the moon. Almost fully crimson. Already the light it casts is red, and I lift a hand, flexing my fingers, inspecting it in the bloody lighting.
Turning to Daaney I say, "You could have done this all by yourself. What are we supposed to do here?" I'm surprised to find I sound a bit accusing, but Daaney's two cousins throw in their own complaints.
"Easy now. I need all of you here," he calms them. He reaches out into the air and pulls out a flute from it. Now, this man is really starting to become odder by the minute.
The moon has taken a completely dark shade of blood-red, the wind the spirits have stirred tears at my hair, their shrieks and laughter ring in my ears. Daaney hands the flute to a wind spirit that has appeared next to him. "Play," he tells it. "We'll dance." He looks at us and explains, "Our shadows will be visible from within the town hall. But they won't see human shadows, but twisted, horrible things."
The spirit obeys him immediately, plays the most beautiful, haunting melody I have ever heard. It makes me want to dance, it's not that I could resist the tune. Even though I feel awkward and silly, I obey my desire to spin and twirl and dance. I barely hear the shrieks of terror from inside the building, hardly notice how twisted my shadow looks.
I don't know how much time has passed when the spirit briefly stops, giving us a few moments to recover. Breathless, I flop down onto the ground, Niria and Jonse laughing with delight as they sit down next to me. Before I realize it, Daaney's standing in front of me and has offered me a hand.
"May I have the next dance?" he says teasingly, bowing.
I sniff, trying to imitate arrogance. "Why not." I place my hand in his and let him help me up, ignoring Niria's giggles. The music picks up again, and I throw my head back with laughter. I could dance forever here, on the night of the Lunaris, with the wind and the spirits.
And Daaney.