The Moonshawl: A Wraeththu Mythos Novel Read Free

your position, I’d do my best to give them.’ He grinned. ‘As you might be
able to tell, I don’t follow faithfully the heritage of my home country. I’m
not the most spiritual of hara.’
    ‘Not spiritual, and perhaps a
sceptic,’ I said, smiling also, ‘but are there no special... energies to this
area? A sceptic might give me a more accurate opinion than a dazzle-eyed
believer.’
    ‘Now, here’s the thing,’ said
Rinawne, leaning forward a little. ‘I wouldn’t call myself a sceptic
particularly. I’ve my own tales to tell.’ He wrinkled his nose. ‘There are...
spots that raise my hair here and there. This is an old land, soaked in blood.
We hara are sensitive to echoes, aren’t we?’
    ‘Yes,’ I said simply.
    Rinawne suddenly became alert,
twisted his body to look out of the window behind us. ‘Ah, here is Wyva,’ he
said. ‘I’ll go and organise us some tea.’
    And so he left me, before his
consort and lord of this domain came into the room: Wyva har Wyvachi.  The phylarch
looked at the air in the doorway as if he perceived a shadow passing by, then
he turned to me, smiled. ‘You must be Ysobi.  Thank you for coming here.’
    ‘My pleasure,’ I replied,
getting to my feet.
    Wyva waved a hand at me. ‘No
need for that. Please, sit.’
    I did so. Wyva was a slim har of
medium height, with rich brown hair that hung down his back, a swathe of it
drawn away from his face into a band decorated with feathers and what appeared
to be a rabbit’s foot. His face was finely sculpted, and suggested a sensitive
character. I perceived the smallest of weaknesses in the chin, but it could be
overlooked. ‘Tiahaar Rinawne told me you have accommodation for me,’ I said. ‘I’d
like to thank you for that, too.’
    Wyva’s smile widened. ‘Well,
you’ll need somewhere to work, won’t you?  And I’m sure the place I’ve chosen will
fascinate you. It’s called Dŵr Alarch, an old tower, built as a folly some
hundreds of years ago. It was renovated late in the human era and used as a
holiday home. In winter and early spring you can see it from here, but the
trees hide it during other seasons. At night, if you light all the lamps, it
can be seen from three counties, or so the story goes.’
    ‘Then I hope it has ghosts,’ I
said.
    Wyva laughed. ‘Oh, plenty of
them! This land does seem to retain them as much as the lichen on the rocks.
There is a wealth of material out there for you to discover.’
    ‘I can already feel it,’ I said,
and indeed my senses were twitching eagerly, wanting to be immersed in this
magical landscape. I felt it wasn’t going to be difficult constructing a rich
and mystical system for these hara, tuning in to whatever was around me.
    Rinawne reappeared, accompanied
by a har bearing a tray laden with things to eat and drink. The vanilla aroma
of freshly-baked cake filled the room and made me hungry. After we’d set about
helping ourselves to these refreshments, Wyva told me of his library. ‘The
volumes here have been collected by my family for many hundreds of years.’
    This was an unusual statement,
of course. He was clearly referring to human ancestors as well as harish ones.
I simply nodded, my mouth full of cake.
    ‘Among them are quite a few titles
concerning local folklore. In fact, an ancestor of mine wrote three of them.
You’re welcome to frequent the library as often as you wish, as if it were your
own. The doors here are never locked. Come and go as you please.’
    ‘That’s generous of you.’
    Wyva made an airy gesture with
one arm. ‘It’s not a problem. But for the most part, I wouldn’t be surprised if
you merely wish to walk in the fields and forests. That is perhaps the true
library of this landscape.’
    I nodded. ‘Most certainly, but
other... people’s experiences and thoughts are very interesting. I love
folklore and personal accounts. Even if it’s just down to wishful thinking or
hallucination, it produces rich imagery.’
    Wyva