Moondust: A Dark Faerytale

Chapter 2

Lilium and Inanna drifted through the carved branch corridors in total silence. Never in her life had Lilium been so infuriated, and never in her life had Inanna been so happy. The quietness continued for another while, until Inanna spoke up, “Master, where are we going and when do we start?”
Being called ‘Master’ only infuriated Lilium even further than before. She did not want this, she had never wanted this. They continued through the corridors, still in silence as Lilium had not replied.
“Master?” Questioned Inanna once more. Lilium stopped, and turned around, saying, “I don’t know. I didn’t sign up for this. I don’t know how to train, I don’t want to train, all I wanted was to leave this place. So I really have no idea what I’m supposed to do with you now.” Her words were bitter, as she intended. 

Still, they drifted on even further. Lilium had no idea where to bring the girl, or where to start. She was just flying aimlessly. She had expected that she had upset the girl, but really she didn’t care. To her surprise, after a while Inanna said three words that Lilium hadn’t expected her to say. “Why don’t you?” She stopped. Had a young, ready to be trained, faery really just asked her why she didn’t leave the Hollow? She had thought that the younger faeries were mostly all naïve and submissive. Apparently not, as one had just suggested that she leave the Faery Hollow, disobey her authorities. It wasn’t that Lilium had never considered leaving the place, it was that it was impossible. “I can’t. If I were to leave, I’d die within a week.” This shocked Inanna, “But how? You’re a strong warrior, surely you’d be able to fend for yourself.” Lilium shook her head, “It’s not that. I’d be able to fend for myself and make a living just fine. But it’s our life source I’d be lacking. You know we all need Moondust to be able to fly, do magic, and generally just have some quality to life?” Inanna nodded her head. Lilium continued, “Well, we can’t produce our own moondust. We need moonstones to be able to create it, and moonstones are extremely rare. You’d need to be very lucky to find a moonstone outside the Hollow. If you choose to leave the Hollow when you reach the age where you are allowed, you are given a moonstone that you can use to live. But if you leave before that…You’re done for.”
“What about faeries with no moondust? Are there any faeries that live without moondust?” asked Inanna. Wow, she was very inquisitive. Lilium didn’t think she would ask so many questions, especially these types of questions. “No. Of course not. A flightless, magic-less faery? How would they ever be able to survive?” Lilium shuddered at the thought of not being able to fly. She lived for flying, if there was no flying, life wasn’t worth it.  

“The humans do it.”

“What did you say?” Lilium was thrown by the fact that Inanna had mentioned humans, especially out in the open. It was unwise to talk about the un-magical folk, especially in such a public place… “The humans. They live without magic, or wings, or any of that.. Do they not?”
Lilium was at loss for any words.  Talking about humans was strictly forbidden under the branches of the Hollow, and here this young faery was talking about them as if they were the most mundane subject.
Lilium lowered her voice and said to Inanna, “You should be very careful about the things you talk about. You should know that it is not wise to talk about the non-magical. It could get you into serious trouble, Inanna.”
“But why-”
“I think that that is enough now.” Lilium looked around her quickly, to make sure that nobody passing had heard any of their exchanges.  “Maybe… Maybe it would be best if you were to leave now. Go back to your chambers, or go and socialize, whatever it is that you do.”
“But I thought you were going to train me-”
“It would seem that I have no choice. However, I think that for now, it is best if you were to rest for a while.” It was really Lilium who wanted to rest. “Training is extremely hard work, and you will need your strength. Go, and enjoy your time you have to yourself. You will have very little of it from now on.” Inanna looked very disappointed, but she knew that she had already pushed her luck, and that it would be best to not question Lilium any further. “Alright then, master. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She glided away without another word. Lilium was perplexed… She was tired but also restless. Inanna’s interrogations had stirred her, and she was not sure why. Never had she met a faery, especially not a younger one who demonstrated such curiosity, and such…spirit. Every other faery in the Hollow was submissive, and oppressed, which was why Lilium wanted to get out of there.  There was no freedom, almost no happiness. She just longed to escape.

 It hadn’t always been like this. Or, so she had heard. The faeries used to all work and live together, in joy and harmony. The Queen used to make many public appearances, and everybody got a say in what went on in the Hollow. Then one day, the Queen stopped making appearances, and the council was reduced to just 5 faeries, who all wanted exactly the same thing. After that, whatever was said was how it would be, and no ‘regular faeries’ could have a say. For Lilium, this was what her entire life in the Hollow had been like. It must have been generations ago when things had been different. 

Maybe things had never been different to start with, and it was just some story made up by the eldest faeries to make themselves feel better. Maybe she would never know.

Hybris should be returning to the Hollow soon, and Lilium couldn’t wait. Hybris was the only faery who was on the same wavelength as Lilium, the only one she could call a friend. She really had wanted to go with her to stop the Poxies, but she had not been allowed to go, to her disappointment. Lilium never got to do anything interesting, it was almost as if they didn’t trust her. She flew to the entrance of the Hollow, and sat there. Hybris had promised that she would return by moonrise of the 2nd night, and it would be moonrise very soon now. She couldn’t wait to tell her about what had happened, to get everything off her chest. Perhaps Hybris could even help her to train Inanna, because Lilium had no idea how she was going to do it. She would just have to see what would happen. She waited outside the Hollow, staring at the glistening stars, patiently sitting, until she felt her eyes close and her mind begin to wander away, to a world where reality faded into nothing but dreams.