"Children of the moon" by Anne Olga Vea

Children of the moon

The group of men did not try to appear as anything else than what they truly were, cut throats and highwaymen. All fifteen of them carried arms and they did look as if they knew how to fight. They wore armours and some even had the remains of old uniforms. They were the scavengers of war, feeding of the weak and poor, of the defensless. The country had been torn apart by a terrible conflict for almost a decade and men like them tried to take advantage of the possibilities. The kings soldiers did no longer care about the small communities by the borders of the land and few of them had the possibilities and the strenght to create any kind of defense. They were prey and these men were predators, travelling from one place to another, taking what they wanted. They always left before anyone could gather any kind of resistance and they did no longer care about other people. They did no longer see the sorrow and despair their evil deeds caused, all they cared about was wealth and power. Seeing others shivering with fear made them feel strong, invincible.  When plundering small villages they felt like Gods, like warrior kings of ancient times.  They were men who would have sold their own mother for a copper coin and cut her throath for two, they had broken all bonds they ever had to normal life. They had become something people feared, roaming the territory like a pack of rabid wolves, spreading death and darkness.

        Most of them were former mercenaries, men who had become so violent that even the warlords refused to hire them. Some of them were clearly mentally insane, others hid their true self in different ways, common for them all were a total absence of respect for life. Killing was their living and they enjoyed their lives very much. A few were convicts who had escaped prison and they were not much better than the rest. Righ now they were riding down a narrow valley in search of new villages to rob, they rode good horses they had stolen from a group of soldiers and they were making jokes about their last stop as they rode along. They had forced a small village to pay a heavy toll as a sort of payment, they had told the terrified people that they would burn everything if they refused and of course they had payed. The times were bad, the harvest had failed several years in a row and starvation spread through the country like a plague. People did not dare to loose whatever reserves they had.

             This group of men had found their niche in this war torn country and they had no intentions to stop doing what they did so well. They got everything they wanted just by showing their impressive arsenal of weapons and life was indeed sweet. If they saw a woman they wanted they took her, if they needed a new horse, they stole one and they had complete freedom. If they had believed in any Gods they would have praised them everyday in gratitude of this blessed war.

Their leader rode in front, he was a huge man who wore good clothes and an expensive armor. He had class, one could easily see it, his features were handsome and arrogant and he did not seem to fit in with the rest of the group. One could perhaps believe that he was someone who just happened to travel along with this pack of bandits. In reality he was the worse of them all, he had once been a high ranking officer in the kings own army. A man with both power and responsibility, a man of wealth and honour. He was the son of a nobel man and he had owned great riches, for a while. A man he trusted had betrayed him, he had fallen from grace, lost everything he had; including his soul.

He had become a man of bitterness, a man with no heart. His mind had turned into something ice cold, something far from human. He was the true ruler of this gang, they all feared him cause they did not know what to expect from him. He could turn on them all and they knew of his skills. With a sword in his hands he had no equal.  He did no longer know the meaning of the word mercy, he showed no pitty and he did not care about anything nor anyone. To him  they were all expendable, things to be used and thrown away once they failed. He did not care how many he had to kill to achieve his goals and they all knew that nothing could stop him.

They stopped by an old ruin, dismounted their horses and made a simple camp for the night. Soon fire flickered between the old stones and the men went to rest. A couple stayed awake just in case but this was an area with no known villages or farms so they did not expect any visitors. Peace spread among them and they slept without even thinking about the evil they had done. The peace lasted until one of the guards suddenly made a loud cry and grabbed his spear, he was staring into the darkness of the night and the others got on their feet, grabbed their weapons and rushed toward him.

“ What’s up Luharn? What did you see? “ The young man swallowed heavily, rubbed his eyes; unsure if he really had seen what he thought he had.  “ A woman sire, a girl. She had long red hair and wore a black robe. “

 The leaders eyes got narrow.  “ A woman out here alone? Someone, check the area. If she really was here she’s had to leave footprints in the snow”  A man quickly ran in the direction the young man had suggested and returned. “ Nope, nobody’s been here” 

Some stared at the unfortunate guard with angry eyes, they did not like to be pulled out of their sleep like this. The leader gave the guard a not too unfriendly slap across his ears. “ Stop dreaming while your standing guard and  go buy yourself a whore when we reach the next civillized town “ The men laughed and the young guard blushed but was grateful too. The leader could have killed him instead of turning the situation into a joke. He was so damned sure he had seen her though, a beautiful pale creature who had moved like a ghost among the trees; perhaps that was the thruth, that he had seen a real ghost?

The next day they left the campsite and turned north, one of the men thought he had seen smoke in the horizon and even if none of them had heard of any villages in this wilderness that did not mean that there weren’t any. The leader rode in front as always, his sleep had been disturbed through the night. He had a strange feeling of being watched and he did not like it. Even now, in broad daylight he could feel it, a cold chill in his bones, a tingling sensation in the middle of his back. He was a hard man without emotions but he had kept his instincts as a warrior and he could have sworn that something was following them.

When the sun reached as high as it could that day the men suddenly discovered a small road. The leader could see it from afar and with the first glance it looked overgrown and forgotten but when they got closer they could clearly see that it was in use.  Some of the men looked worried, something about it made them feel uneasy but the leader kept pushing on. He sensed prey at the end of this narrow wheeltrack and their greed soon made them forget every doubt they ever had felt.

They soon discovered the village, it was small and well hidden within the deep forest. The houses were made from timber and they were small and dark and the men saw that there were no walls around the place. Usually people would build at least a low barricade around a village like this to protect the inhabitants and their lifestock from wolves and other predators. There were no such protection here, only the open street. The leader stopped his horse, this place did not look poor, he could see that the buildings were well maintained and the few animals he saw looked as if they had been well fed. Perhaps this was their lucky day. He nodded his head toward his men, they all looked as if they hardly could wait to gather whatever things of value this place contained.

 “ Remember men, let me do the talking. We do not use force unless we have too. It is easier that way and we avoid loosing anyone, understood? “  They all nodded, some would have preferred to storm the place, killing and stealing like a herd of maniacs but he knew how to bring a place like this to its knees. The threath of violence was sometimes more effective than open use of it, it could in fact turn on themselves cause some villagers, believe it or not, could protect themselves.

            They rode down to the village and the leader noticed how well organized everything was. It looked like a quite isolated place where one usually could expect bad buildings, garbage and a complete lack of order but this place was the opposite of that. It made him wonder. There were people working everywhere, a farrier stood by the fire and looked up as the group of men rode by. A few women quickly hid their children behind themselves and a few girls was pushed in behind the doors of the dark buildings. A big house appeared to be the town hall and they rode against it, the leader watched the villagers with even more wonder. This place had to be a good place to live, they all looked surprisingly healty.

People were staring at the riders, some with wonder and other with suspicion but noone looked frightened, the leader thought that was weird. In these times people grew cautious and careful. They stopped their horses outside the big building, some men had stopped on the street and they watched the strangers with a strange expression on their faces, it was almost as if these men pittied the riders? The raiders felt unusure, the peace gave them a feeling of confusion. Usually people would run for cover when a group like them entered a small town. These people could not be too used to visitors, this place was really as far from anywhere important as one possibly could get. Some of the men started wondering if these villagers in fact were trying to hide from someone or something.

The leader dismounted his horse, looked at the faces who showed up. He was used to pale people, the hunger had left most of the population in a bad state. He had seen people who looked like walking skeletons and children with their bellies swollen from lack of decent food. He saw no such things here, all appeared to be in their full power. The weird thing was that some of the villagers had a strange lack of tan, they looked white as porcelain. Others looked normal, they were baked by the sun, but they all had something strange about them. Something he could not seem to grasp there and then. The men looked muscular and strong and the women all were good looking, in fact, they all looked young and lovely. What was wrong with this place? He adressed one of the men in his usual arrogant style.

“ You, peasant, who is in charge here? “ The man did not speak, he just nodded his head toward the entrance of the building where the doors suddenly opened, apparently by themselves. The leader turned around, a man appeared and walked down the short stair toward him. He looked like a wise man, perhaps in his late forties cause his hair was turning gray, and he had a nobel face with gentle eyes. Still there were something about his appearance that made the leader wonder, he moved so gracefully, and his features and colours reminded the leader of a wolf. He did not know where that idea came from, it just popped into his head.

 The man stopped right in front of the men and he had an almost sad expression in his eyes. The leader hated weakness more than anything else, he hatet those people who despised war and thought of pasifistic minds as nothing but cowards. This mans apparent friendly attitude made him angry, he wanted to create fear; he demanded it as a right of his. He caught the elder mans eyes with his and for a short second he thought he saw a short glimpse of something else within these mild grey eyes, something that reminded him of hunger?

“ Are you the chief of this place? “ His anger was showing through his voice and the other man nodded his head, there were more people gathering around them and their obvious lack of fear made the raiders feel uneasy. “ I am Lord Arhat of Cha’ thag. I am here to collect your tax” The chief made a strange grin, almost as if this was something he had expected.

“ I am Ruthelo, i am the leader here. What tax might that be? I thought we had payed the king allready this year? “

Arhat grinded his theeth together, what a stupid moron. “ I am not talking about the kings tax, i am talking about our payment, for protection”  Ruthelo continued smiling. “ Protection against what? This place is peaceful, we never had any problems of any kind. We do know of the war but it has not reached us yet, thank the godess. “ Arhat sighed and touched the hilt of his sword, just to calm himself down.

 “ That might be, but we are fifteen armed men, it would truly be sad if something should happen to this place, don’t you think? These buildings for example, they are all made of wood and that burns. We can make sure that something as terrible as a fire never happens” Ruthelo smiled again, he lowered his eyes as in submission but Arhat caught a new glimpse of something far from serene within the mans glance.        

 “ I... understand, that kind of protection, i should have guessed. “ He shrugged his shoulders and sighed, apparently beaten. “ How much? “ Arhat was winning but he had a nervous feeling, this went too easy. He was used to far more resistance than this, was this whole community made of blockheads?

          “ I see many people here, and you don’t seem to be poor, a silver coin for each head, i think that is a fair price, don’t you agree? “ Arhat had never asked for so much before and the old mans eyes got narrow. “ That is a heavy toll,  we can’t gather that much in just one day, we will have to gather silver from everybody here. “ Arhat swalloved, Ruthelo had not said that it was too much, they had to be rich. He looked around him, he got an idea. He knew that some families within the kings court had fallen from grace a few years ago, they had to leave or be executed and he knew that they had brought all of their whealth with them. This could be their hidingplace, that could explain the whealth of this village and the healthy looks. He made a grin, it looked like that kind of smile you would expect from a snake who sees a small rodent trapped in a corner.

“ How fast can you gather the money? We are in a hurry”  Ruthelo looked down, appeared to think hard and fast. “ We can have the silver ready tomorrow evening” Arhat caressed his sword, he should feel thrilled by the possibilities of getting his hands on  a real treasure but instead there was some instinct within him who begged him to leave this place NOW! He overheard the little voice in his head and nodded against his men. 

“ We accept that old man, we will return tomorrow and then the money better be ready or you will truly be sorry you became chief of this place”  Ruthelo swalloved, he looked a little pale and the wolf-like features seemed even more striking.                  

“ I swear, the money will be ready, please don’t hurt anyone” Arhat got his cold arrogant expression back, he smiled coldly and mounted his horse again. The animal threw it’s head and seemed to be disturbed by something, he tightened the reins and it snorted and calmed down. “ I am a man of honour, we will return and do not try to do anything funny. You are not that many and we know what to do with disobediant peasants” He turned his horse and waved his hand at his men, they all rode out of the village in galopp and people had to jump and run not to be hit by the thundering hooves. Ruthelo smiled softly, his hand stroked his beard and there was a strange light within his eyes. “ Indeed you do my good lord, indeed you do”  He turned against the doors again and a few of the villagers followed him into the building without saying a word.

The small group of people disappeared behind the doors and the rest of the villagers returned to their work as if nothing had happened, they knew that their leaders would solve this problem quite easily. The group entered a big room, it was quite empty and looked as if it was almost abandoned. A man opened a small hatch in the floor and a stair appeared. It was narrow and steep but it had to be in use cause the steps were worn by many feet. The group disappeared into the darkness and the opening shut itself behind them, just as the doors had.

They walked for a while, the stair ended in a long corridor and they came into a huge cave. It was natural but it had also been shaped by the hands of people through several centuries. In the middle of the floor a huge ring of rocks protruded from the ground, the rocks looked like giant crystals and they had a deep dark red colour. They were glowing and made the whole cave look a little threatening. The group gathered around a table in a corner, there were comfortable chairs there and they sat down, looked at eachother. A young man with long blond hair and beautiful blue eyes spoke first.

“ What do you suggest we do with these people, they are really bad and i don’t think they will hesitate to attack if they think we’re trying to do something else than paying.”  The others looked at eachother. “ There is only one solution, and we all know it. The thing that puzzles me is how they found us” Heads were nodding and they looked at Ruthelo. “ We can’t allow them to leave, they know of us now and they will spread the word. We have been safe for so long, we can’t continue running from danger. This is our place, our home, the place where we truly belong. We will have to fight for it! “

A young woman spoke, her eyes were blazing and her voice trembled, she seemed to be quite upset. Ruthelo smiled, it was something sad within his glance. “ Aye, we have lived in peace for ages, we haven’t had to kill anyone while living here. It is good that way. “

The others agreed. “ Then what shall we do? “ The young man spoke again and suddenly a dark figure appeared from behind the rocks. She walked toward them and smiled gently, her face was as lovely as a summers day and her long red hair shone in the light.

“ You shall do what is suggested my children, they will not leave this place” Ruthelo sighed. “ You, you brought them here, why? “ She smiled and her unwordly beauty made even them shiver. “ You are right about one thing Ruthelo, as long as we live here the force of the rocks feed us, we do not have to take lives. There is just one catch, the rocks drain themselves of power and now is the time to recharge them. “ Ruthelo looked down. “ So thats why, you have planned the whole thing” She smiled softly.

“ Of course, i have sensed their presence for quite a while. They are like a plague, a tumor eating at the heart of the country. This land is feeding us my children, i think it is time we pay some of our debts and it is a good thing that we also benefit from it. Don’t you also think so? “ Ruthelo smiled slowly ” Well my lady, i do agree, it is time we use some of our powers again, i am starting to feel a little rusty.” She smiled again, a dark light was flickering within her eyes.

               “ We are all becoming a little out of practice, but i can’t say that the idea is too tempting. We have turned our backs on what we were, we are living our lives as ordinary people. I fear what this might awake” The young man looked humble but it was strenght within his voice. She slowly turned her eyes toward him. “ You have a nobel mind my friend, that honours you, but this time there is no choice. They are already here and the rocks need their essence, their lives. I thought it was better with these scoundrels and murderers than innoscent souls, evil doers are more powerful, the rocks hunger for them. “

Ruthelo nodded. “ We all know that my lady, then what do we do? “ She brushed a few loose hairs away from her face and looked just like an ordinary yet beautiful girl who is without a sorrow in this world. “ We lure them down to this place, i think that the oldest of us will have the honour, they can restrain their own thirst and hunger. This shall be a sacrifice, not a bloodbath. We shall do this with dignity. “

Ruthelo tapped his fingers against the table, he looked satisfied. “ It is a good plan, we’ll do it. I’ll pick about twenty of us to do the work, i know the right ones. “ The woman smiled again, there was something very loving in her eyes as she watched the group. “ Words of wisdom my friend, the young ones are better off without ever feeling what the power might do with them. I set the trap so it is best that i also close it. “ She got on her feet again, moving with the grace of a big cat. “ Their leader is mine, he will be my personal offering to our protectors. “ Ruthelo stretched himself, the same dark flame as one could see in her eyes appeared in his glance too. “ I must say, when it really comes down to this, i am looking forward to it. It has been so long since i felt that freedom, that power. “

             The woman walked toward the rocks again. “ We sometimes need to be reminded of what we were, to avoid becoming that way again. It is good for us. I think we’ll do the people of this poor country a big favour by saving them from these terrible men, their minds are as cold as ice and as dark as a starless night. Nobody will miss them”

The young man lifted his head again.  “ What about their belongings? “ She just waved her hand as if it really didn’t matter. “ We’ll sell them, next spring when they are forgotten by everyone” She disappeared within the red glow of the rocks and Ruthelo got up from his chair and smiled towards the others. “ Well then, we better prepare ourselves. Gather the strongest of us and make them start the rituals. We will all need our powers tomorrow night, we need to be unleashed.” Several faces smiled and the group left the room with a feeling of anticipation.

The men had camped not far from the village, near a small lake. They had made several bonfires and their spirits were high. They knew they would be rich by this time tomorrow and they made jokes and opened a few bottles of wine. Songs and dirty stories entertained them through the evening and night and the leader sat on his own and wondered why he was unable to participate in the cheerfulness

In the middle of the night one of the horses  managed to snapp it’s rope and the owner saw that the animal was loose and ran after it. He was quite drunk and was almost unable to walk but he managed to catch the horse again. He was going to return to the camp again when he noticed something weird. The road they had used were close by and it had been a good road, well maintained and in use. Now it was clearly overgrown and some of the trees were huge. It could not have been used for ages. He felt a little scared and told his comrades about the disturbing view when he returned to the campfire.

The answer was laughter, he was drunk and how could he be so sure that what he saw really was the road? It was hard to tell in the dark and there might be other roads in the area, old abandoned ones. He could have seen one of those. He tried to argue, he had noticed a rock with a weird shape and it had been right by the road. Now it wasn’t any road there.  The others laughed even more and told him that he was a moron, who cared about rocks? Tomorrow they would be rich, so forget about this. He had clearly had too much wine.

 Slowly he started to believe them, it was weird but perhaps they were right after all. He was drunk and it was dark and he had seen for himself how the darkness could betray you. He had once talked for a whole quarter of an hour to what he believed to be a friend before he realized that he was talking to the remains of an old tree trunk.

The next day came, the weather was fine and the men prepared for their big day. It was many people within the village, there would be a lot of silver to share and some of them hoped that there would be other things worth keeping too. Some of the women they had seen had been beauties and they had not visited a town for quite a while. They almost hoped that the villagers would cause somekind of trouble so that they could punish them.

The afternoon came fast, the men had gathered their weapons and gotten instructions from the leader and they were ready for just about anything. They rode into the village filled with an arrogant attitude. They were sure of themselves and the outcome of this. The villagers followed the group toward the big building, a silent crowd who seemed to gather from nowhere. If the men had not been so filled with dreams of wealth they would have seen how spooky it was. One could not even hear the sound of peoples feet and nobody spoke. They just stared at the riders with strange small smiles on their faces, almost as if there was something about the fifteen armed men they found amusing.

 The riders stopped in front of the building, dismounted their horses. The lord saw that Ruthelo appeared at the top of the stairs, there was something new about him, he looked like a man who just had some good news or something, not a man who is about to be robbed. He seemed almost jolly and filled with anticipation and he bowed before the lord. “ The silver is ready my lord, we have it indoors and my servants are counting the coins right now” 

The lord was just about to say something insulting when he noticed the woman who appeared at the corner of the house.  She looked like a vision, a dream. He had never seen anything more beautiful and desirable than this pale beauty and he imidiately forgot everything about the silver. She looked like a queen, a godess. Her hair was red as a sunset and so thick and shining it reminded him of a silk robe. It reached beneath her knees and she wore a green velvet dress that left very little to his imagination. His desire suddenly exploded within him, he had not felt such lust for years, if ever. He saw that she remained by the corner and turned toward his most trusted man. “ Yghal, you check this out. Make sure that all the money are there and that there is no false coins among them. I just saw something else i need to have. “

               The other man nodded his head, he did not dare to disagree with the boss but he felt confused. Why would the lord suddenly leave? He had never cared about women before, they all had agreed that he was made of ice. The woman disappeared behind the corner and the lord ran after her, he did no longer care about the others nor about what they would think of this. All he knew was that he wanted that woman, and that he should have her, with or without her permittion. He had seen that her body was sleek and elegant yet busty and that her face had full red lips and a pair of sparkling green eyes. He saw her walk into a small holt of trees and followed, he almost had problems walking and could not wait to catch her and get her undressed.

The woman seemed to realize that someone was after her, she started running and he increased his speed, ran as fast as he could. The sun had set and the shadows grew deeper but he did not notice. All he cared about was the woman in front of him, fleeing like a spooked deer. The moon climbed above the hills, it was full this evening.

He reached her when they’d entered a small clearing, there was some strange rocks sticking up from the ground there but he did not care. He got hold of her by her dress and pulled her towards himself. She did not scream, nor did she struggle, even when he ripped her dress of her. It would have confused him if he had been able to think clearly. She was perfect, no other word could describe her and he forced her down, got on top of her and got his clothes out of the way, panting with excitemt.

She did not make a sound even when he took her, she just lay there staring at the moon while he thought he had died and woke in heaven.  He finished fast and then he relaxed on top of her; he would bring her along with them, she was like no other woman he had ever had. Then he realized that there was someting wrong. She had a small smile on her lips, her face did not at all remind him of the face of a woman who’s just been brutaly raped. She seemed triumphant, strong. She looked as if she knew something he didn’t and he suddenly felt scared. He tried to get up but she grabbed him, pulled him down towards her again.

He liftet his head and to his horror he saw a circle of glowing eyes around them. He recognized the eyes of both volwes, bears, big cats and smaller carnivores and the thruth suddenly hit him. He tried to break out of her grasp but she was so much stronger than him and now she really smiled, showed him her theeth, showed him what she was.

He screamed in utter fear, cried like a scared child while the animals got closer and she bared her fangs. His last thoughts were a chaos, a desperate plee. Why had the gods of war abandoned him? She tore his throath open, got on her feet and looked down at the body in front of her. She smiled and the animals gathered around her, she could feel their fur against her legs and she closed her eyes in delight.

                 “ Almighty mother, godess of all life. I bring thee this life, this blood, this seed. In your blood we all are blessed, from your blood we all are born. I beg thee, bless us once more, let us grow within your power. Free us from the curse of what we are. “ She backed away from the dying man, felt no pitty. He had done too many evil deeds and this was his fair punishment. “ Brothers and sisters, feed well and protect us one more year. Keep the humans away from our realm and we shall honour you as we always have. “ The animals looked at her with fierce wisdom and started feeding. One could only hear the sound of bones crushing and flesh being torn apart. She smiled again, stretched toward the moon like a dancer preparing for a nights work.  “ It is done, now it is your turn my children, now it is your turn”

The men followed Ruthelo into the building, some of them looked worried as the doors closed behind them. The sound was like silent thunder and they looked behind themselves, the lack of light was confusing. Ruthelo grabbed a torch. “ We keep our valuable belongings in a cave, it was here before we came to this place and it is such a good solution. One can not be too careful these days.”  The last words came with obvious irony but the men did not notice. A cave filled with treasure? That sounded more than just a little tempting and they hurried up, they forgot about the darkness and the doubt. It was sad about the lord but if he wanted to loose his share because of a chick then be it. It was his own fault. Ruthelo continued.

 “ We have put the coins in sacks, it is easier to transport them that way. You know, two houndred silver coins are kind of heavy.” None of the men noticed the high number, this place could not possibly house so many people but they were unable to see beyond their own greed. Ruthelo was leading the men into the cave.      “ It is good you are so many, then it will not be such a heavy burden on each of you. “

The men noticed that there were several other people within the cave, about twenty men and women who all appeared to be in their best age, their faces were marked by life but they were all handsome healty people. Ruthelo smiled nervously. “ The city counsil, we have to see that everything is done correctly. “ The man the lord had put in charge nodded his head, he thought it was strange but then again, this whole village was strange. There was a weird red light within the cave and the men could feel that the hairs were standing on the back of their necks. Something here was very wrong, this room contained some kind of danger. The new leader saw that there was a huge table in the middle of the room and upon it lay several sacks which all appeared to be heavy. He smiled and revealed an almost complete lack of theeth. “ You have kept your word old man”

 Ruthelo smiled, his eyes turned towards the floor. “ In deed”  The men walked toward the table, the magic within the room had disguised the rocks as columns carrying the roof and as they entered the circle the illusion failed and faded. They suddenly found themselves in the middle of a strange circle of rocks and there were no table there.

The new leader roared in anger and pulled his sword, ran agains Ruthelo but he did not get far. A kind of invicible wall stopped him, he just ran straight into it and fell to the ground with a scream of pain and disbelief. The men all drew their weapons but the swords and spears suddenly appeared to be to heavy to hold, they fell to the ground and nobody managed to pick them up again. The people gathered outside the circle, Ruthelo watched the trapped men with an expression of triumph, mixed with a sort of sadness. “ I am sorry, but this is the end of the road men, at least for you. You have sinned against the very laws of this land and it’s creators and now you will have to pay the price for your evil deeds.”

The men stared at the gathered group with fear and confusion, they did not like magic and this reeked of it. “ What is this old man, who are you!? “  Ruthelo sighed, his face was really sad now. “ Such waste of life, of youth. I guess there is no other way, this has to be finished” He raised his head again, stared straight at the raiders. “ You want to know who we are? Allright, then see! ”

 The men stared with big eyes, the people changed in front of their very eyes, changed into terrible creatures. The men saw the handsome features change into those of something half animal half human. Ruthelo changed into something wolflike, his eyes was no longer grey but glowing red and the men screamed in fear and tried to escape. The creatures was just standing there, waiting for a signal and the trapped men turned into a pack of panicky animals. Ruthelo bared his theeth, entered the circle. “ Let it begin”

It was a massacre, no other word could describe it. The men tried to fight but it was futile, the were-folk were too strong and fast and each time a man died the rocks seemed to glow ever more intense, one could see a strange red mist around them, sucking the life force out of the torn bodies. The floor was covered with blood but the fluid was sort of pulled towards the rocks and they drank the red liquid like the ground swallovs the gentle summer rain. Screams and prayers and the thunder of the rocks filled the air mixed with roars and growling. Red eyes would glow and fangs and claws were dripping with blood, fur was being soaked with it, they all nourished themselves, released themselves and regained their true freedom for a few short moments.

After a while it was all over, they stopped and looked at eachother, regained their human shapes. The rocks were humming, a deep satisfied sound. They all could feel new strenght within their bodies, felt a sort of awe. They would be safe for several years, in the years to come noone would have to die to feed them and it was good that way. These men had been the sacrifice of the whole land, and it’s inhabitants would be safe of what lived within this village. They left the cave, walked out into the moonlight. The rest of the village was gathered on the square now, their eyes were glowing and theire faces filled with relief and happiness.

 Ruthelo lifted his arms toward the sky. “ Great mother, we thank you! “ The redhaired girl appeared at his side, her eyes were shining and they all lifted their heads toward the moon and started singing with the wolves of the forest. The song filled the valley and told the very land itself that the thirst had been drenched. One day the old road would appear again, lead a new group of dark spirits to this place. There would never be a lack of such as long as the war continued and until then the children of the moon would fulfill their highest wish and live like the mortal human beings they once had been. By the sacrifice the curse had been tamed and the days and nights to come would be peaceful and blessed.