Chapter 5 - Let the Sun get Closer to the Ground
Evening had fallen on the valley, but pretty melodies were still floating between the ancient trees. Among a huge oak tree’s branches, a gathering of strange and beautiful creatures were swaying to the music as well as adding to it. They surrounded a lithe form reclining in the shadows, sitting so still that only her hooded eyes, glowing faintly blue, betrayed her presence.
A large crow landed on a nearby branch and cawed quietly, like someone clearing their throat politely. After a moment, Lyruna shook herself out of the half-Dream she had been enjoying.
“What is it, Whispers?” the Elven one asked, blinking slowly.
~Lady, have you seen the moon lately?~ came the respectful inquiry, while the bird shook it’s feathers. Lyruna became alert, glancing sharply at her familiar, then turning her gaze to the newly-full moon crossing the sky. It had a faint magenta tinge (almost red) that Lyruna hadn’t noticed before.
She cursed silently, Lyruna hadn’t realized how much time had passed. She had only meant to stay for a few days, just long enough to enjoy the Phoenix Moon Festival.
“Careless winds will break young trees.” Lyruna muttered, quoting an old Elven saying, as she got up in one fluid motion.
~Luna, Luna, Luna, stay a little longer. Come join our Dreaming~
Lyruna turned and smiled at the swaying creatures while shaking her head.
“I can’t, my Children, I fear I have stayed too long as it is.” Lyruna turned her gaze again to the hazy moon, slightly worried at what it heralded. But she wasn’t afraid, there was still time.
Lyruna’s form shimmered and was replaced by a huge black bird, with silver-blue eyes. As she took off and silently soared out of the sacred grove, the Elven lady wasted no time flying to her destination, increasing her speed with every wing-stroke.
There was still time, but would it be enough?
Darren whistled cheerfully to himself as he walked to the nearby stage. Sound checks were often amusing, sometimes getting downright hilarious as Darren and the girls sang in silly ways.
They were back in New York, after an invigorating rest back home, and Darren’s fear of the city was gone. So were those horrible, monster-filled dreams. Perhaps that was because Darren had found out they were completely untrue; the full moon had been out for two nights now and the singer had not sprouted horns, wings or fur. And, with only one more full moon to go, Darren was certain that his nervousness must have been just a figment of his over-stimulated imagination.
Nicole and Anna were already on the stage, practicing the back-up vocals for some of the songs.
“Anna, your A is a little flat, dear.” Darren called out kindly, ambling up the stage steps. Anna flushed a little but managed to alter her A to a nice, pure tone. Darren smiled encouragingly at her and the back-up singer managed a weak smile in return.
All three of them ran through the song parts the gave them trouble, as well as checking volume levels and other tech things. There were less screw-ups than usual, which Darren took as a good omen.
“Darren, are you ok?” Nicole asked out of the blue, startling the singer.
“Uh, I feel alright, why do you ask?” he replied, slightly puzzled.
“Then why do you keep scratching your ears?” came the answer. Darren froze, realizing that he was indeed scratching his left ear, without even being aware he was doing so. The singer tried to put the guilty hand down, but as soon as he did, his ears started to feel funny, filled with a weird tingling that was almost an itch. It had come about so slowly these past few days that Darren hadn’t noticed it until he kept catching himself scratching his ears, just like Nicole had done.
“My ears just itch a little,” Darren temporized “do they have a rash or something?”
Nicole walked over to get a closer look and peered at Darren’s ears. Her eyes narrowed then went wide and she looked at his other ear, her eyes going wider and wider.
“What’s wrong?” Darren asked nervously. Nicole shook herself a little and then pointed towards the dressing room.
“Go look. Now.” she ordered in a flat voice. Confused and a little frightened, Darren resisted the urge to scurry off and just walked as calmly as he could to the dressing room. Once he had closed the door, Darren rushed over to a large mirror ringed by many lights.
When he looked at his reflection, a gasp escaped him and he sat down heavily, stunned by what he saw. At first Darren thought that Nicole had been worried about how red his ears were, but that was just from scratching. No, what was so alarming was that whatever had caused the tingling had somehow distorted Darren’s ears. It looked like someone had made his ears stretch back a little, like pulling taffy, then pinched really hard. Now his ears looked rather strange.
Almost pointed.
Like an Elf.