The Dragon's Blood (Part 70)
During which Blackmoon protects a child...
70
“He came to me often then, my mysterious savior, this man of the shadowy deeds who fought off demons. Now he was no stranger, we'd shared an experience that breaks that barrier between people. Now we were something more, now we were friends, brought together by this new bond formed of shared experience.”
“I believe he watched over me as well during those visits, protecting me from the monstrous things that lived outside our home. Perhaps it was his presence in the house that kept them from entering, from seeking vengeance for what I'd brought down upon them.”
“In any case he was there now, and he brought with him stories, tales from a bygone era. He told me of the Norse hero Sigurd and his enemy, the dragon Fafnir. He told me of Arthur, England's own mythical hero, of the hooded man of the forests outside of Nottingham, of the gods and warriors of ancient Greece. He talked of heroes and the monsters they vanquished, of Beowulf and Perseus, of Orpheus and Lancelot, of Medusa and Charybdis. He opened my mind to the possibility that every one of these stories was as real as you and me.”
“With the stories came the visions, I saw the heroes of old. I saw Robin of the Hood, saw his nemesis, the Sheriff of Nottingham, met the beautiful Maid Marian, walked through the ghostly forest of Sherwood. I watched Perseus battle the dread Gorgon Medusa, avoided her loathsome fatal stare, trembled at the sea-monster Cetus.”
“It was as if he'd been there, my husband, this, my strange savior. It was as if he'd lived those lives, taken part in Odysseus' journey from devastated Troy, watched that great city's sacking. The images entered my mind with the tales told and they have been there ever since, replacing the faces of the little demons that had tried to assault me.”
“I became ill during this time, my encounter with the creatures in the woods leaving me with more scars than those to my mind. It was violent at first, I vomited out everything the servants tried to feed me, lost a great deal of weight those first few days. With great patience and perseverance eventually they were able to get me to begin eating, but I was bedridden for the better part of two weeks and it was during that time during the evenings that Blackmoon came with his stories.”
“There was a commotion in the house during this time. Many men came and went, meeting, according to my sister with my father and Blackmoon in the library late at night. Neither myself because of my illness or my sister because of her cowardice were ever able to witness any of the goings on during those gatherings but I can tell you that they went on late into the night and involved some of the most powerful and influential people in the whole of Europe.”
“It was about half a month later that I saw the last of Lord Blackmoon, that is until I heard what may have been his voice this very night in my own home. He bid me farewell very quickly and quietly one particularly pleasant afternoon and departed by carriage, leaving me wondering if I'd ever see this enchanting individual again.”
“He must've told my father something though he never did speak of it, for neither my sister or I were allowed to venture far from the house for the remainder of the winter and once the season was finished, we were again on our way to our summer home in London and never did return to Norfolk again.”
Ananias Dare leaned back, away from his wife, and studied her. He believed her of course, the last few weeks had taught him that any blasted thing was possible. The world had grown much larger to him, becoming more frightening in it's vastness.
He watched as her eyes returned from that time, two decades ago, and though he had questions for her, wanted additional details of her Blackmoon, he saw the weight of the day slumping her shoulders. She was tired. Whatever reserves of life she'd taken from in order to tell her tale, to relive that most frightening and bewildering period of her childhood, were most certainly her last.
She reached for her cup of tea and with trembling fingers brought it to her lips. He watched as her blue lips regained some of their color with the still very warm liquid emptying into her.
He watched those eyes and that hair he loved so much and knew that he had to get her out of here, had to take her and Virginia and get the hell away from this place. Something told him that if someone like Stefan Blackmoon was about, other otherworldly strangeness would be about. This time he would be he who protected Elyoner Dare and he would do it by getting her away and to safety.
“Now, my sweet husband I would appreciate your assistance in getting me to our bed where I may rest,” she replaced her cup on the table and made to rise. “Strength and weather willing I will meet this Blackmoon on the morrow and I will deduce if he is one and the same as the one I knew as a child. If it is he, then we must heed his warnings.... but again, that is something for the morrow and now I wish nothing but sleep.”
Sleep though, was not on the schedule for the Dare family this night as evidenced by the sudden loud banging on the front door of their home, so loud and so hard that it shook the entire cabin most violently.
End Part 70
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