Hunters Moon, The Fae Medallion (Seer's Of The Moon)
Hunters Moon
The Fae Medallion
Geraldine Allie
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locals, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 Geraldine Allie
All rights reserved.
ISBN-10: 1492380148
ISBN-13: 978-1492380146
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Sale of this book without a front cover may be unauthorized. If this book is coverless, it may have been reported to the publisher as “unsold or destroyed” and neither the author nor the publisher may have received payment for it.
Cover art and design: CreateSpace
Printed by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
Printed in the U.S.A.
prophesy
for there be the truth of the sword and the king that WIELDS it. for a time will come when the true king shall awake and WIELD it once more, and its name shall be, excalibur….
Prophesy of the Fae king
Avalon, the fae lands
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
i
1
Chapter One
5
2
Chapter Two
29
3
Chapter Three
38
4
Chapter Four
50
5
Chapter Five
60
6
Chapter Six
67
7
Chapter Seven
83
8
Chapter Eight
92
9
Chapter Nine
97
10
Chapter Ten
109
11 Chapter Eleven 117
12 Chapter Twelve 132
13 Chapter Thirteen 145
14 Chapter Fourteen 155
15 Chapter Fifteen 164
16 Chapter Sixteen 166
17 About the Author 169
18 Meet the Narrator 172
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thank you to my children and all of my family for believing in me enough to write, my mother and father for their encouraging words, my beautiful grandchildren that bring love and light to life with their sweet angelic faces. To Miss Susie for the excitement every time a new book is released, and to J, thank you for providing the tools to get started and an ear to listen, and life lessons on responsibility and goals. And thank you to Mr. Alex Hyde-White and Punch Audio for bringing the story to life on the audio version, and for giving me a chance. Alex, you are a talented Actor with a beautiful heart. Last but not least, my agent angels; Though they may not be here, they are never far away. Thank you Aunt Mary. May God keep and bless you all. You are the gallant knights in my life, the sword that rings true in the darkness, to help me keep on the enlightened path. Blessings to all.
Hunters Moon
The Fae Medallion
Geraldine Allie
Chapter One
Sixteen year old Victoria sat outside under the darkness of a starless night, her skin frigid and cold from the cool fall air. Although it was dark and the moon only cast a half glow over the beach, it was quiet, the only sound being the gentle rush of waves from the ocean lapping against the rocks on the far shore.
The longer Victoria sat out among the quiet of the night, the calmer she always seemed to become. Quiet was something that Victoria had come to cherish, a quiet that she always had to fight to hold on to. In noise there was always chaos, of a worse darkness awaiting her.
Victoria had never been a normal child, not like the other children in the village she had grown up with; her childhood had always been filled with nightmares of monsters and terror lurking around every corner, monsters that preyed upon her very soul, with a goal to take it from her at the merest touch, and would if not for the medallion.
The shadows that dodged from every corner of the room were not mere afternoon shadows, no; Victoria had always known the truth of what they were.
But with darkness also comes light, for Victoria also had the magic that surrounded her. There were the fairies that had made a home with her, and made a habit of prancing around her mother’s garden. But also, Stella the unicorn, always trying to masquerade as an ordinary horse, and just as proud as any prize winning stallion.
By far the worse nuisances were the pixies, as they were constantly tying her hair in knots as she slept. Just the thought of it made Victoria raise her hand up to rub the tender scalp.
She looked down at her feet thinking of the small house elves, elves that had a compulsion to polish her shoes, almost to the point of wearing holes in them. No wonder her mother had become angry so often when Victoria would go barefoot claiming she could not find her shoes.
Victoria sighed, then there was Madeline, her over obnoxious little sister.
All of these creatures including Madeline drove Victoria to the point of near insanity. Her mother had always complained that she had too much of an imagination for any child. To her, her daughter’s imagination was something of the devils doing. It wasn’t enough her mother thought she was crazy, but had also insisted that she wear a charm to protect and keep her safe. It was more of a medallion actually.
It was a pretty piece that she wore around her neck held by a small linked metal chain. She really didn’t mind wearing it; it was about the nicest thing she had owned since her father had died.
Since then, her mother had worked very hard to keep food on the table for Victoria and her sister, taking any odd job her mother could find from sewing to house cleaning.
Although her father was no longer with them, she missed him dearly. It was through him that Victoria began to see all of the magical creatures around her. Her father really did love to spin a tale; so well in fact, his stories had actually seemed to come to life. At the time, she loved being surrounded by all of the fey tale creatures, even was thankful for it when she had lost her father. It was like still having a part of him with her, and then they showed up, banshees, reapers and shadow people. Those were not part of her father’s stories; those were the creation of her nightmares.
And now, here she was sitting out in the quiet of the night, seeking that calmness to ease her fears after yet another nightmare.
As Victoria clutched at the medallion around her neck, she was thankful for the peace it gave her. Just touching the charm seemed to ward off all of the evil beings of her dreams. She never dared to take it off; she surely felt her nightmares would be freed upon her if she failed to wear the charm.
By the time Victoria finally crawled back in through her bedroom window, she was chilled to the bone. Not from fear, but from cold, her teeth had already set into a loud chatter.
Happy to see her bed, Victoria crawled into it snuggling under the covers. Waiting for the cold to pass, she glanced over at her little sister who was fast asleep. Victoria grimaced and wrinkled her nose. Even asleep her little sister still annoyed her.
With her sisters loud bearish snoring, Mama would never hear her sneaking out of her window at night, let alone thunder if it clapp
ed in the night sky.
Thinking about throwing a pillow at her sister, Victoria thought better of it, deciding the snoring was easier to put up with than her sisters constant blathering. Somehow maybe sensing her disgruntled mood, Madeline rolled over and quiet once more returned to the room. Victoria stretched under the blankets, the warmth finally restored to her body. She yawned, let her heavy eyelids close, and drifted off to a deep sleep.
***
“Victoria” her mother yelled, “Wake up. You have been asleep half the morning and I need you to watch your sister.”
Groggily forcing herself out of bed, Victoria was soon dressed and down the stairs where she found her mother in the kitchen.
“Why do I have to watch her?” Victoria whined.
“I need to be getting to work young lady, and I don’t need any sass from you.”
Victoria hunched her shoulders in surrender. “Yes Mama”
“That’s a good girl. Now I should be home before supper, if not be sure to warm some stew up for you and your sister.”
“Yes Mama” Victoria sighed.
Victoria watched as a fairy darting past her face tickled her nose with a chimed little laugh. Trying to ignore it, she pretended not to notice. But the more Victoria ignored the fairy, the more irritated the little creature became. Finally the fairy flew around to perch on her shoulder. With a loud protest, Victoria let out a shriek. The little creature had yanked her hair, and hard!
Startled by her daughters yelp, Victoria’s mother turned eyeing her. “What has gotten into you Victoria?”
Knowing not to divulge the true reason, Victoria shrugged off the pain in her scalp and turned to her mother with a smile. “Nothing mother, just a tangle in my hair.”
“Well make sure to give your hair a good brushing out.” Her mother just stood there shaking her head.
“I will Mama.” Victoria was glad that the explanation seemed to satisfy her mother. Besides, what was she supposed to say? A fairy pulled her hair? Her mother couldn’t see them, and it was bad enough her mother already thought she was losing her mind each day with every odd occurrence that happened.
Her mother rushed around the small kitchen gathering up her belongings. “I already fed Madeline; I left you a covered plate on the table.”
Realizing there was no disturbing presence, Victoria looked around for her little sister who was nowhere in sight, “Where is Madeline Mama?”
“She’s in the family room playing with her dolls. Now give me a hug and let me get on my way before I’m late.”
***
As her mother left the cottage, Victoria watched her leave shutting the door behind her. Feeling her stomach protest in hunger, Victoria went to check on her sister before sitting down to eat the early meal her mother had left aside for her. Amongst a circle of dolls sat her ten year old sister Madeline. “Well that should keep her busy for a while,” thought Victoria.
Heading back to the kitchen, she sat at the table uncovering her plate of food in front of her. Victoria was greeted with a half runny egg, and a cold half potato with a slice of bread. As much as she loved her mother, splurging on meals she definitely did not do. That would be except when her mother made sweet confections of cakes, cookies and pies, but even then they would never get to sample them as those were for selling for additional income the family dearly needed. Victoria sighed, the way money was right now; her family could not afford those types of luxuries anyways.
After eating her simple fare, Victoria washed the morning dishes and swept the kitchens tile floor. Going upstairs she tidied the beds and cleaned the toys from her and her sister’s room that lay amiss and scattered about. By then, Madeline was waiting for her by the door of their room.
Madeline cocked her head to the side and leaned up against the door frame. “Are we going outside to play in the garden today?”
Victoria placed both hands on her hips and gave her sister a stern look. “Now Madeline, you know Mama don’t like us squishing her flowers, she would tan both of our behinds!”
Madeline looked every bit as innocent as her age. “I won’t squish them, just look. I like to watch the butterflies.”
“Butterflies” thought Victoria, “I guess she would see butterflies when all I see are fairies.” Looking around the room one last time to make sure she was done in there, Victoria turned her attention back to her sister. “Ok, but go downstairs and pick up your dolls first.”
Already making a beeline for the stairs, Madeline called to her sister over her shoulder. “I bet there are a lot of butterflies today!”
***
Outside, Victoria spread a blanket out on the lawn beside the garden to sit on while she watched her sister play. As she looked up she saw Madeline chasing the “butterflies” around the yard.
“Stay out of the garden Madeline; I don’t want to explain to Mama why her flowers are crushed.”
“I’m not in the garden Victoria, don’t be so bossy.”
Of course Madeline would step in just mere inches of the garden, but would not go in. Although from the look on her face, you knew she was just itching to.
Victoria lounged in the sun enjoying the feel of it on her face. For a fall day, it was nice and warm. Stretching, she let her head slowly fall back, she closed her eyes. In the background she could hear her sister giggling as she chased the “butterflies” around the yard. The serenity of it all filled her with calmness, a calmness that wasn’t about to last.
Noticing the silence that had set in around her, she realized she did not hear her sister’s shrill laughter any longer. Opening her eyes, she saw Madeline standing at the threshold of the garden.
“Madeline, are you ok?” Victoria asked
With a sad look on her face, Madeline looked up with tears streaking down her angelic young face. “I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to hold it.”
Victoria looked down at her sisters cupped hands as she slowly opened them. Seeing a lifeless fairy in the hands of her little sister, she knew that all Madeline could see was a butterfly with a crushed wing, worse, the other fairies were swarming her little sister even now.
With a look that told Victoria that her sister was frightened, Madeline looked up. “I don’t want to play anymore Victoria.”
Victoria knew that she had to act fast and try not to frighten her little sister any worse than she already was. “Come here Madeline!” Of course the fairies kept swarming her little sister, not a single one relenting in their attack. Madeline had accidentally hurt one of theirs and now they were going to punish her for it.
“Stop” yelled Victoria, “Leave her alone!”
More fairies were swarming around Madeline now. Running to her sister, Victoria snatched up a stick from the ground and began swatting the little creatures away from Madeline. That was a mistake, the fairies aimed their attack at Victoria now as well, bearing their little teeth and hissing at her. All the while, the fairies were backing her further away from her little sister who the fairies were now biting and scratching. Screaming and crying, Madeline fought with sure will to get away from the little creatures that were now drawing blood.
Victoria had to do something and quick. Thinking fast, Victoria went and grabbed the water bucket from the side of the cottage. Filling it, she rushed to her sister throwing a full bucket of water. Only her sister was no longer surrounded by fairies, nor was her sister Madeline there any longer. Dropping the bucket in shock, Victoria frantically went around the yard calling for her sister, desperately searching for any sign of Madeline.
“Madeline, where are you? Madeline!” There was no sign of Madeline or the fairies from the garden. “The garden, of course! Why didn’t she think of it before?”
Rushing in the direction of the garden, Victoria searched through the mass of flowers. Hearing a slight whimper, she went to the sound. There on the ground lay Madeline shivering and sobbing covered in scratches and blood.
Victoria bent down beside her little sister trying to console her.
“Oh Madeline, I was so worried. Can you get up? Let’s get to the cottage so I can clean you up.
“But Madeline refused to move.
“Come on Madeline.” urged Victoria
“No, no, I can’t move!” whimpered Madeline
“Come on Madeline, let’s go now!” Victoria protested as she jerked on her little sister’s arm.
“No! They might come back.” cried Madeline
“Let’s go to the house.” Victoria knew the fairies had done their deed, but she also wasn’t taking any chances.
Madeline began to cry again, “I want Mama!”
“Mama’s not here Madeline.” Her little sister really began to cry then.
“I Want Mama!”
With heels dug in and a gaze filled with fear, Victoria drug Madeline from the garden kicking and screaming. Once in the cottage, Victoria took her sister to the sink to clean her up.
After washing off the blood and cleaning up the scratches, Madeline didn’t look so bad, that is until the bruises began to show. By the time Mama got home, Madeline’s bruises were so dark she looked like a black and blue plum.
***
Her mother paced back and forth across the floor, shaking her hands with frustration.
“Do not tell me butterflies did that to your sister Victoria!”
“But Mama they did!”
“Butterflies don’t leave bruises, welts and scratches Victoria.”
“Well these do Mama.”
Her mother was silent for a moment before turning to look at her. “Did you hit your sister, Victoria? The neighbor said she saw you hitting your sister with a stick!”