The Faery Sickness came about when I read an article about a small
village that still believed in the fae. They didn't have modern medical
exposure or help and so, when babies died, they were said to have been
"taken by the faeries". When medicine did arrive in their
village, and the babies stopped dying, they were asked what they
thought. Their response was that the faeries weren't taking so many
babies now. They didn't really associate the fact that medicine had
played a big role, just that the fae were appeased somehow. So, I
started thinking, what if the fae really were taking the babies, and
what if someone tried to defy them and find out exactly why. And Vala
was the perfect person to do that.
"So," Odig snarled, stepping forward. "You're
leaving?"
Vala gasped, too terrified to do anything else. How could he have seen
through her disguise so easily? And yet, how could he not? She was the
only person in Strander with her coloring. Donning a disguise would not
mask that. She took another step back, as Odig's gaze flicked over her,
seeming to assess every inch of her. It was something she'd endured
before, but something she'd never gotten used to. She had learned not to
move, not to make any indication that she held anything he might have
been searching for, whether it be a bit of stolen bread crust to tamp
her incessant hunger, or a chunk of pilfered wax to light the cold
darkness of her room. Odig had found them all, and she had been punished
severely many times over. Now, she remained as if frozen, her heart
pounding, her breath fogging in the cold night air. She was very aware
that the only thing she had that might intrigue Odig was the medallion.
She had worked hard to keep it from his reach in the few years she had
lived at his home. She had kept it hidden behind a loose board in her
room, only donning it when she left. Except that one time...she shook
the horrible memories aside and watched Odig, her senses on the alert.
It seemed an eternity passed before Odig again spoke, his voice cold and
hard. "You do not belong here. Go back to the darkness from which
you were spawned."
"I am not a demon," Vala protested
weakly. "I am your brother's child."
"You are no relative of mine!" he spat. "Vala died the
night she was born. You are a demon housed in her body. You have brought
nothing but grief on this village." He thrust his walking stick
forward, driving the blunted end into her chest.
Vala staggered backward, momentarily stunned. Then her anger abruptly
surged forward. "If I am a true demon, Uncle, then why do I not use
my powers on you?"
He started, as if he'd never thought of that. He lifted his cane high.
"Be gone, demon of darkness! Be gone!" He brought the cane
down toward her head.
Vala gasped, instinctively arching her back, getting her head and face
out of range of the heavy stick. It slammed against her shoulder
instead. She crumpled from the impact, and he came at her again,
bringing the cane down in a fierce blow to her chest. The stick hit the
medallion hidden beneath her clothing. Red light shot outward, raced
down Odig's walking stick, and engulfed him. He staggered backward, his
face ashen, his eyes wide. He staggered, and fell to one knee, then
suddenly toppled over in the dirt.
Vala scrambled to her feet, terrified and confused. Too startled to do
anything else, she turned and bolted. Past terrors pursued her, down the
road, across the meadows and into a thin copse of leafy trees. Still,
she did not stop, but raced on, stumbling, falling, picking herself up,
and always moving on. The waterskin banged and sloshed against her hip
as she ran, leaking cold water down her leg.
At last, exhausted, out of breath, she staggered to a stop, using a
birch tree for support. Her chest heaved with exertion, her leg muscles
quivered. Confusion numbed her. What had happened? What had caused the
red light? Shaking, she pulled the medallion from beneath her shirt and
looked at it in the moonlight. The large red stone embedded in the
silver sparkled. How could it have done that to Odig? What exactly had
it done? So much didn't make sense anymore. Not Tyrs' words, not her
uncles', not the strange occurrence with the medallion. Vala shook her
head, and returned the medallion to its hiding place beneath her shirt.
When she was rested enough to be aware of her surroundings, she gasped.
She had never seen this part of the meadow before. Two huge boulders
stood like sentinels, black against a darker background. Puzzled, she
straightened, her leg muscles quivering in protest, and walked toward
the rocks. As she passed between them, a tingle shot through her body,
much like the ripple of excitement she used to get as a child, playing
hide and seek. She paused, one hand on each boulder and leaned forward
as a gust of wind swept around her. It brought a strange scent, one she
had never smelled before. She took a hesitant step forward, then
shrieked as the ground beneath her suddenly gave way.
She slid down a steep embankment, clawing and grabbing at anything she
could find to arrest her fall. Sharp grass sliced through her fingers,
small shrubs broke free in a cascade of dirt and stone, jagged rock cut
into her stomach and arms. And still she fell, until at last, she landed
on a small ledge jutting out from the bank. She lay still, stunned, one
hand still gripping a piece of plant she had pulled free.
A new sound reached her, pounding and roaring in her ears. She struggled
to her knees, her head reeling. She had only a second to take in a vast
stretch of water, sparkling in the moonshine, before she toppled,
plummeting over the side of the ledge to a pool of water far below
