Chapter 1: Long Shadows, Longer Night 1 of 2
The golden light of dawn was more of a wintry blue when it touched the hamlet of Wyndell. The small village was a quiet place- one of many along the base of the Golgaith Mountains. The sharp slopes brought the little town close to the edge of the dense and sprawling Sussur Forest. Its black pines rose high enough to slow the dawn, and the mountains stole any chance of a sunset. But it wasn’t the limited daylight that made shadows churn and stretch from the tree line. Aritra Ersa leaned against the rotting railing of her family home. Small weeds sprouted from the otherwise smooth, mossy slope leading down to the forest edge. Her fingers nervously traced the edge of the moonstone pendant that hung from her neck. It had been her grandmother’s necklace once- back when it was a symbol of powerful magic. What was left of her fingernail skipped as it found the worn inscription on the back. It was supposed to be magic- but to Ari it was a brand- connecting her to a long-lost era. “Are you sad, Auntie Ari?” called Rylan, as he stumbled out of the house, a piece of bread clutched in his hand. Ari smiled despite herself. Rylan could walk normally- if he had to- but he tended to bounce, hop, lope, and wobble from place to place. He was impulsive and energetic, adding his own twist to “boring” things like walking.
“Not really,” she replied, though she knew it wasn’t convincing. She was watching him while his parents harvested the year’s lofars. Ari’s step-father, Bolrick, set up her childhood cot in her and Elara’s room for the five-year-old. This was the longest he had been off his farm, and she could tell he missed his family. Ari was supposed to be helping the Calverts. It was the busiest time of year; fur needed to be shaved, meat had to be prepared and preserved, not to mention all of the leather tanning. Winter was not far off, and there was a lot to do before the trading wagons from Brighton arrived. Ari had helped birth the flock, wean them, and raise them. She looked at her hand. The swelling was gone now, and the pain was minimal, but colorful bruises ringed her hand in a perfect imitation of a lofar’s three sets of teeth. Rylan stared at her hand too. “Guga didn’t mean it. Dad says she is a good girl, one of the best mothers we have. She won’t bite you again.” “I know. It wasn’t her fault.” Ari assured. Lofars were placid grazers. Their long fur hung so far off of their body that their legs were hidden in it. Children would even play under the creatures and braid the fur to start the weaning of the calves. Her gaze drifted toward the forest, where shadows pooled unnaturally despite the morning light. Even from a distance, their faint murmurs reached her ears. No, malice had not made Guga bite. The whispers of the shadows were a constant—one that the villagers tried their best to ignore. The hushed tones of countless voices mumbled and clawed at the edges of sanity when the forest was too close. The voices could turn all but the best navigators around and around, confusing and confounding them with thousands of tiny whispers. But that wasn’t what Ari heard from the forest. She was born during the moonfall. A few others were like her: her stepsister Elara and Zorren, the Calvert’s oldest. Unlike everyone else, they could hear the shadows clearly. Not all the voices tried to deceive, and some could even silence others. That was why they wore the moonstone pendants. They were the moonfallen- guides into the Sussur Forest. “Old man Faren’s still missing,” Rylan said between bites- as if reading her mind. “They’re going to go into the forest today. Will they find him?” Ari tensed. “I hope so.” “If they don’t, and Auntie Elara can’t go back in, do you have to go? Zorri is busy helping with the harvest, so he can’t go. I can protect you, though! Kaelan has been teaching me how to fight. I have been practicing, and I am getting really strong!” Rylan held his bread in his teeth and flexed his little arms. His older brothers were famous for their play fights. Zorren was strong enough to carry a lofar on his back, and Ari had once seen the much smaller Kaelan leap from their barn’s loft to double kick his older brother. “If Elara can’t find him before she gets tired, they will just have to try again tomorrow. Who knows, maybe Faren will show up on his own. He has been hunting and trapping in that forest since before the moon fell; if anyone knows a safe place in the forest, it’s him.” Before the moonfall, people had powers they could use to protect themselves in the Sussur Forest. Faren had told her about how his own abilities had helped him hunt, and how he had struggled to relearn how to hunt once the powers were gone. Now the only defense against the shadows was to take one of the moonfallen and an excessive amount of lights and fuel. It may have been midday, but the shadows stretched out a few yards from the tree lines and wispy shapes moved through the branches.
The search party returned just before dusk. Ari and Rylan had made it to the edge of the town square when Garen, the village headman, led the weary group into the light of the central firepit. Their faces were pale, their eyes wide. They carried no sign of Faren, but a grim silence clung to them like smoke. “What happened?” Bolrick asked, offering Elara his arm. Ari’s stepsister was exhausted, which made the diamond-shaped bridge of her nose match her father’s even more. She clenched his arm and leaned heavily on it for support. Garen’s gaze toward Elara was sharp and suspicious. “The forest has claimed him,” he said. It was no secret that the chief of Wyndell didn’t like moonfallen. He also didn’t like traders, travelers, or even his own father, Faren. But many who had lived before the moonfall had trouble adjusting- or so Faren said. Perdita Calvert took Elara’s other arm. Ari only saw Kaelan with her. Her husband and Zorren must still be tending to the lofar. Perdita was a stocky woman who could outwork anyone in town. She was generous, capable, and the mother Ari had needed after her own had passed. Rylan ran to his mom and grabbed the legs of her heavy shahtoosh pants. Perdita was the closest thing to a healer for miles, but she was not remotely polite. “What does that even mean, ‘The forest has taken him?’ Did you find his body, or even his camp?” Mrs. Calvert asked bluntly. They weren’t just short Ari’s hands this year; Faren was their off-and-on helper with leather and fur work. “No, we didn’t get that far. Our guide led us in circles all day. We just made it back.” Garen eyed Bolrick, clearly blaming him for Elara’s state. The other villagers in the search party murmured in agreement, avoiding either man’s eyes. Sometimes it seemed like the villagers trusted the moonfallen less than the shadows. Bolrick looked down first, letting the red leave his face before turning to Elara. “Thank you for going today. I know how hard it is to be in that forest, and I don’t even hear as you do.” He took a deep breath and looked deep into her eyes. “Elara, what happened?” “There was a… a thing out there,” Elara said, her voice shaking. “Something big. It didn’t show itself, but it was watching. I couldn’t get a guardian to come out to silence the lesser voices, and none of the lesser voices would speak the truth.” Sobs escaped as her strength failed. Elara had been born early- and she had never grown out of that frailty. Her mother was already having a troubled pregnancy before moonfall and should have had another two months, but something about the moonfall had forced all pregnant mothers to give birth that same night. Ari’s grandmother had told her about it after her mother had died. According to her grandmother, it was the ultimate test of the human spirit. Ari’s mother, Carrissa, and Elara’s mother, Lewme, had been dearest friends. Carrissa had asked Granny Ersa to take some leftovers to Lewme’s home and to tell her the good news about Ari. Bolrick called that lucky. But Granny insisted love saved Elara. The love of a friend who didn’t know how much help they were sending, the love of a father who carried his tiny babe through grief and falling skies, and ultimately the love of a mother who faced the unknown without faltering. No, calling it luck only created distance from the pain, and Ari would not do that.
Perhaps it was luck that Zorren was also born naturally and early in the night. With babe in sling, Perdita had spent the rest of the night tending to the womenfolk of Wyndell- some who hadn’t even known they were pregnant. That was not luck. Perdita had an iron will and a big heart. She wasn’t just a force to be reckoned with; she was, and the town moved in response.
“If there was something out there, you should have turned back, Garen. You can’t blame your guide if you don’t listen to them.” Ari clenched her fists, ready to speak. She didn’t understand why people blamed the moonfallen-even if she understood where their pain came from. Bolrick and his tiny baby had spent Moonfall and every night since in her mother’s house. Carrissa had nursed both girls and slowly fell in love with Bolrick’s gentle spirit. He had been the only father Ari had ever known and had shown her his quiet strength in a thousand ways. It is what carried all of them through Carrissa’s death.
The crowd broke into small groups, lit torches, and headed home. The light of the sun was nearly gone as Ari wiped tears from her eyes. “Rylan, are you ready to go see if granny needs any wood for the fire?” Ari smiled tearfully at Perdita. “We have been having so much fun playing together; do you mind if he stays over a few more nights?” “Of course,” she said, squatting down and embracing her son. “Elara had a really tough day today, so I need you to help both of your aunties and Granny Ersa with any chores. You got it?” “Yes, Mama. I’m going to protect them too. I found a really good stick in the wood pile, and I am going to make it a sword tomorrow.”
Rylan loved playing pretend and could be as rambunctious as his older brothers. “Make sure you give it a good name,” Kaelan said sagely, surprising Ari, who had forgotten about the young man. “A good sword with a bad name could break at any moment.” Bolrick, Elara, Ari, and Rylan said their goodbyes to Perdita and Kaelan at the gate of their farm and headed home to granny. She would have dinner ready and the central fire built as tall as Rylan. Ari took one last look over her shoulder at the distant torchlight of Perdita and Kaelan. Of course, Perdita was the last mother of the moonfallen left in Wyndell; the Calverts were as strong as the Golgaith Mountains.
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