Two Moons Blood

The Legend of the Fairies

With great sadness, the enchanting, faraway land of Owenland had not seen the fairy folk in twelve years. Some had begun to connect their disappearance with the passing of the great King Julius Mortimer IV. Others believed that couldn't be so. King Mortimer ruled in favor of their existence and would have left them alone.

Among the tall trees in the far end of the meadow, the fairies roamed long before the establishment of the Mortimer reign. The valley below the great castle settled the village of Owenland. The people adored the royal family and lived in harmony with the fairies. No one could understand why they would disappear, and where they would go.

A fortnight after King Mortimer's death on the eve of the second eclipse, his first born Angus Mortimer was crowned king. He had the heart of his father and was expected to rule right and just. But he needed a successor, as it was not uncommon to look forward to who would rule after him. There was a princess in the close land of Winden who was young and fair and who's parent's were willing to make a contract between the two regions. Winden was just over the sea on the other side of the valley. They could make commerce over the seas. The alliance was made, and the princess was sent on the voyage over to her betrothed new king.

Down in the valley during the celebration of the alliance, the farmers who lived on the outskirts of the valley came to celebrate with the rest of the village. The daughter of the royal bread maker fell in love with one of the farmers, and soon they were married and moved out to their own farm. It was an enticing pastureland with a glorious view of the castle atop one of the valley hills. She spent her days cooking and cleaning for her husband while he worked all day on his land.

Two years passed and the queen had still not given birth to a child. But the king was not giving up hope yet. He loved his princess from Winden more than anything, and he was content on just the two of them ruling until his death. His brother or sister could have an heir to one day rule. The queen, while thinking she was too young to have a child anyway, would one day want one of her own.

On the pasture in the kingdom of their own, the farmer's wife had not given birth either. They, too, were content with just the two of them, but she longed for someone else to care for. She also knew it would be nice for her husband to have a young boy to help in the field or a young girl to help inside the cottage. Her parents were constantly seeking answers about her wellbeing and even offered to have the royal physician examine her. She knew that wasn't necessary and told them they would have a grandchild soon enough.

One afternoon, on her way to the village to visit her father in the bakery, she passed through the abandoned fairy meadow. She remembered what it was like to look around and see their trail of sparkling dust high above in the trees. Sometimes when a fairy was flying close enough, the dust could fall in the palms of your hands. It was magical.

Something caught her eye amidst the trees and she stopped to se what it was. It lurked in the shadows just far enough away from her that she couldn't make it out. Walking closer towards it, it stopped moving. It wasn't an animal, it was too big and dark. She was puzzled because the mystical beings that lived in the forest were believed to be gone.

Telling her father what she saw, he retold her story to the delivery maiden at the castle, who relayed it to her friend. The tale of the dark being in the fairy meadow made it's way to the king's table, and thinking he knew all who lived in his land, Angus was intrigued. He led a small outfit to the woods to explore to maybe find this dark being. Perhaps it could give an answer of the whereabouts of the fairies.

The screech of nothing other than an insidious beast came from the hills on the outer rim of the valley. For an instant, fear spiked the heart of the king. In all the generations of harmony along the valley, how could this be happening? It had to be the culprit of the disappearing of the fairies. The king needed their help. More troops were brought to the woods to search for whatever made that screech.

On the pasture inside her cottage, the little wife sat donning her husband's socks. Upon hearing a strange sound, she got up from her seat and opened the window overlooking her husband in the field. Something big came rushing out of the tree line towards him. Fear stoke her entire being and she went running down the stairs to get outside to save her husband. She began calling out his name as the thing went rushing towards him. Turning around to look at her, he saw the thing in the corner of his eye.

It let out a loud screech as it was running towards him and vanished right as the wife reached him. The pair were crouched low to the ground, huddled together. When nothing happened, they looked around them. In the distance was something strange. Getting up to get a closer look, both of them began walking towards it. It had black wings. The wings were sticking up in the air, the rest of the body facing the ground. It was covered in a black lace, whatever it was.

Startling the couple, the wings lowered as the body was rising. The farmer put his arm in front of his wife to guard her. They took several steps back. It turned around towards them, finally showing it's face. Through the lace they could make out a nose, two darkened eyes, and it's hands were dripping in black liquid. But the dripping fluid disappeared before hitting the grass.

It moved towards the couple. The voice came out in a screech at first, then became more human. Lifting the black veil from it's face, the skin was pale white. Only the eyes were dingy, the same as the hands. If the couple would give her sanctuary while the king and his men were out searching for her, they would receive the greatest gift she could give them. Believing she was a fairy of some type, they invited her in to their cottage.

The king's men searched for weeks and to no avail, went back to the castle. Thankful to the couple for helping her, the being would give them whatever their hearts desired. The husband knew his wife wished for a child more than anything, and told the being to grant them a child. Pleased with them for not asking for riches or power, for that was it's inner desire, she said she would reward them when the time was right.

On a summer's first rain, they would see her come again. But the following summer, she did not return. Nor the following summer, or the summer after that. Still, no child was born without the aid of their dark friend. The farmer began to wonder if it was even true that it ever came to their land. Years kept going by, and the farmer's wife had to hide her hope every first rain of the summer.

Twelve years after the king's marriage, they still had no child. His wife grew sad with every passing year. It seemed they would have no child. He wondered it it had to do with the fairies mysterious withdrawal from the meadow. Deep inside, he wished he had found the dark being in the woods. He thought that if he had found it, it would give his wife a child. But it never came back to the valley.