Chapter 4

A lute filled the air, flirting with the fiddle. The beat lifted higher and higher as my legs moved of their own free will. I careened across the grass, its blades tickling at my toes. A giggle erupted from my throat and I lifted up my arms. My legs carried me deeper into the throng.

Eyes like those of a cat turned to watched me as I passed. Purple skin with blue stripes gleamed under the bright dancing lights. They floated to me, curious. It was then I noticed they were not lights at all, but pretty little girls with cornsilk hair and skin that glowed. Fluttering wings, fragile looking with their gossamer sheen, brushed past my arm. There were seafoam-haired women with multicolored scales decorating their skin that danced with horned men that had the the lower body of a goat.

The trees around us were not trees at all, but women with brown skin that was rough and knobbed like bark. Their hair was made of a dazzling array of green leaves woven together. They rose their hands, and exchanged whispers, watching from the distance as the light grew stronger, and heat drenched my skin. Distantly, I realized I was sweating.

Still, I danced.

Euphoria thrummed through my veins as I was consumed by a fiery heat,  and I danced like I had an endless supply of energy. The sensation radiated from me in waves as the music rolled over me.

I turned, meeting the hands of a smushed-faced gentleman. He was wearing a top hat a tad too small for his wide head. My partner bowed, the hat nearly toppling to the ground, and clasped his thick-skinned hand in mine.

He danced with me and soon I was passed from partner to partner. More slit cat eyes followed me, along with other eyes that came in dazzling unnatural shades. Bright oranges the color of fresh apricots, to the endless black of thick coal. Every single one of them watched me as I danced. Their attention lingered, urging me to dance more for them. I wanted to make them happy. Suddenly, it was the most important thing I could think of.

They smiled with sharp-toothed grins.

Males twice my size passed me between them. I blinked and then I was surrounded by a flurry of small women, flying through the air with pointed ears and high piercing voices. They dispersed and then before me stood the tall toadstool, a large bonfire at its base. Beside it, a mismatched band of musicians played. Tapping their feet to the rhythm of their music. I blinked, then noticed the musicians instead looked rather tired, haggard faces gazing back at me empty-eyed. Thin bony arms moved at a frenetic pace, blood running down their fingers in a continuous rivulet.

A throbbing ache radiated up from my feet, into my legs. I furrowed my brows, for a moment lost. But then it disappeared, warmth flooding me all over again. I danced some more, my feet slipping over the slick grass in a continuous twirl.

A tall woman appeared before me, her skin as green as the grass at my feet, hard jewel-like scales lining her skin. I paused my dance to turn to her, the world momentarily continuing to spin around me.

"Such a pretty dancer you are—for a mortal. You look thirsty. You should have a drink," she said, her smile never leaving her face.

A whisper spoke from deep in my mind as she held out a golden goblet to me. Cold-looking clear liquid within its depths sloshed over the side. I batted the whispers away.

I was just then aware that I was parched.

I opened my lips to thank her, but only a heavy wheeze came from my throat. I frowned. How long had it been since I started dancing? I looked down at my feet. When had I lost my shoes? There was soil and mud-caked between my toes.

The strange woman pressed the cup into my hands, a slithering tongue reaching out to lick her lips. "Drink, little pretty. You have already shown us you can dance as much as we can." She made a sound that could have been a laugh, but it sounded a lot more like hissing.

I wrinkled my brow as I stared down at the goblet of liquid It was clear and looked as refreshing as water, only it had a slight green tinge to it. It shimmered against the golden insides of the cup.

Desire made my whole body quake as I lifted it to my lips and took a large gulp. The most divine taste filled my mouth. It was as if someone had liquified the sun and poured it into my cup. It erupted in my mouth, and soon I was downing the whole thing. Stars bust behind my eyes. Everything appeared to glitter and glow as if the very air around me was filled with golden dust.

I looked back at the green woman, who hovered around me. She was watching me with sharply jerking slit-pupil eyes. Something told me, that if she so wished, she could turn her breath to fire. "So? What do you think? Would you like some more?"

Even through the haze, the way she said it struck another warning inside me. I started to look away, my eyes catching on the other people dancing around me. When had things started to change? There were now great beasts among the men and women, hard tusks escaping their lips. They gripped women close to them. They laughed at their screams. Screams? When had there been screaming? It was so loud...

I frowned.

"Oh," I rasped, my throat sore. Even after drinking, my mouth was still dry. I craved so much to have another glass of what the woman was offering me. Every cell in my body rebelled as I refused. "I think I'm okay."

A flicker of something sinister sharpened in her eyes. Then it was gone.

Her opposite appeared beside her. This time it was a woman with rose colored hair and amethyst eyes. She looked like an angel. Surely she was there to save me? Relief poured into me. Surely someone who looked like that would help me with whatever was going on?

But as I tried to focus, my head spun.

The angel held out a tray to me. It was layered with some of the most delightful-looking fruits I had ever seen. My mouth watered, already tasting the juices that would burst upon my tongue when I bit into them.

I was ravenous.

"I told you that wouldn't work. Perhaps she would like one of these." The newcomer said as she held them close to me, but I was too entranced by her dazzling smile to look down. "Have a taste." Her teeth sparkled like pearls, her skin shimmering in the light of the fire as if diamonds were embedded in her skin.

How could I refuse such an offer? I lifted a strawberry, it was plump and red, oozing with delicious juices before my finger touched it. But as I took it into my hand, something didn't feel right.

A terrified scream punctured the air, the sound loud and dangerously mortal. The strawberry I held became heavy and jagged. A rock. Had I put that in my mouth, I would have chipped my teeth.

The beautiful woman's face erupted with fury. She flung the tray to the ground. She glared at me but made no move towards me.

"Foolish mortal. I hope you get claimed by a vile beast!"

Before I could stumble out of her reach, she was flying away with a bat of her wings, the small gust of wind rustling my hair.

The green woman smirked one last time at me and shrank back into the crowd. I was no longer dancing, and the glow of the world around me started to fade, leaving a macabre scene behind.

The lush green grass at my feet was stained with rivers of blood. They came from hundreds of half-conscious humans who were being forced to dance on bloody feet. The monsters threw them up into the air and laughed some more as they fell.

My pleasant haze from a moment before was evaporating.

Beside me, my eyes caught on something on the ground, and I froze in shock. A girl no older than me lay splayed at an unnatural angle. She had two bloody stumps where her feet should have been, her once blonde hair matted with mud and filled with twigs. Her eyes opened, and turned to me, lips opened in a silent scream. One of her hands twitched as it slowly rose to reach towards me.

She moved her lips, no sound coming out.

"Help me."

I stumbled back. Pain lanced its way up my legs. My arms were battered and bruised from where my dance partners had held me. And my feet...

I cried out, everything catching up with me. Hot coals of pain shot through them with every step I took.  I looked down at my toes. Despite the pain, they were still intact. All except for a few layers of dried mud and scratches from the twigs. They were whole, if not unbearably sore.

It took everything I had not to collapse right there.

"We have a candidate over here," said a voice behind me.

"Aw, that's too bad, I was hoping to have more fun with her!"

"I saw her first! She should be mine!" retorted the first voice with rising anger.

There was a scuffle, but my eyes felt too heavy. I pinched myself trying to keep myself awake. Move, move, MOVE! I tilted forward and I fell to my knees, my body unable to listen to my desperate pleas. My bruised knees bit into the dirt, the ground slick and damn from a mixture of dew and blood.

"Stop, fools," came a new voice. It was sugary sweet, and oddly familiar like it had once appeared in my dreams. "She is not yours, she belongs to the Hunt."

Silence came from where the two had been fighting, but I was already wavering on my feet. Large hands fell on me, lifting me up under my arms. I let out a whimper as I was placed back up on my feet.

"You're coming with me, girlie."

Before I could protest, a dizzying force barreled into my mind like a hit on the head. Darkness filled my vision. The last thing I saw was a black-clad headless body holding me up in their arms as we flew up into the starless sky.