Tag: babas yaga

Moon Bait (Part 3)

Curiosities-of-the-Moon-Curiosities-1-KindleThe witches laughed as they stepped out of the shadows the cottage cast upon the clearing. The sight of their hooked noses and bright eyes would haunt the moon for a very long time, provided she survived whatever witchery they had planned.

“Silly child,” the first chided. “Silly, silly child.”

“It wouldn’t have been a very effective spell if you’d heard it,” the second said.

The third said nothing. She just gave the moon a sweet look that hid sharp things like teeth and claws and rusted knives, and somehow that look said everything.

“You cannot kill me,” the moon said with more surety than she felt in that moment. “I have no blood to bind my death.” Never before had she appreciated being immortal.

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Moon Bait (Part 2)

Curiosities-of-the-Moon-Curiosities-1-Kindle“Yes. The familiars serve the witches.” She gathered the cloak close about herself, careful to keep the hem from dragging or catching on any of the needles. She wanted to make sure she returned the cloak in exactly the state she’d borrowed it in.

“If you’re sure.” He grinned at her before resuming the course he had chosen.

The cat walked for a time, leading her along a path that only he could see, for he certainly didn’t follow any of the trails crisscrossing the forest for very long. Every so often he’d stop and clean his paws, watching her through glowing eyes as he did.

On the third such stop, rather than sitting down, he remained upright, his ears straining at the night. “I think I have need of the first favor,” he said without turning around.

Wordlessly, the moon lifted the hood from her face, washing the forest about them with her silver light. Without warning, the cat darted off to the right and ran up the side of a tree as though the earth’s pull had no permission to impede his movements.

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Moon Bait (Part 1)

Originally Published in Curiosities of the Moon

Curiosities-of-the-Moon-Curiosities-1-KindleThe world had been dark before her coming, or so the sky said.

Mortals lived in darkness, eased only by hungry fire that devoured everything it touched and was never satisfied no matter how much it consumed.

Then the sun came, and for half the day, mortals could blink up at the light and see things clearly for the first time. But the world wasn’t complete until she came to light the night with her presence and a scattering of stars.

The sun walked in truth, but she spoke in stories and traveled by wisdom’s path.

So why was she stalking a witch—three witches to be exact?

The moon very rarely involved herself in the affairs of mortals, not that the witches were mortal by any means. But still.

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