Dreams and Shadows by C. Robert Cargill Page B

aback a person and riding them like a horse. In centuries past, many pixies and sprites were known to jump astride horses in the middle of the night and ride them to a lather, returning them before dawn exhausted and useless for the next day. This was not done with malice as much as it was done in the name of good humor. There was no permanent damage, as a tired horse could always rest. Such is the thinking of the Aufhocker. Rather than riding horses, they jump on the backs of travelers and ride them into the forest. Much like pixies and sprites, they find the stunt funny, intended only to scare the traveler, riding them until they are exhausted and cannot take another step. What the Aufhocker does not consciously realize, however, is that they are driven to ride these people to their deaths.
    It is why one should never trust a bogey, even a well-intentioned one. Like a wild dog, it might look approachable, but if you get too close its nature kicks in. These creatures must be avoided and their tactics understood. If you run across a maiden in the woods and she asks you to dance, she’s a bogey. Perhaps she might offer you gold or some manner of payment to dance, lie, or otherwise find yourself occupied with her, but the end result will always be the same.
    Or take for example the infamous Erl King (or the Elf King’s Daughter, from whom the tales of the Erl King arose) who will strike you ill for rejecting him. Damned if you dance, damned if you don’t. In this case there is nothing one can do. Thus it is wisest to ignore any and all travelers while wandering through the woods. There is a good chance they mean you harm.
    It would seem that these creatures feel emotion only to serve an end: to feed. Like a human being feels a rumble in its stomach to alert him to the need for food, a forest spirit feels love, jealousy, or anger. In this way they are both drawn to their food and possess the means to lure it to its doom. It is entirely feasible that a nixie truly loves the men she lures to watery graves, hoping and believing that they will live forever beneath the waves. Though one must never mistake this emotion for true feeling, nor believe you might be the exception to the rule. The soils of many forests are littered with the bones of people who thought the same.

 
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    T HE V EIL R ISES ON THE G REAT S TAGE
    E wan and Dithers hovered over the small boulder, careful not to step in any of the blood pooling at its base. Abraham Collins lay sprawled across it, his back broken, legs shattered, savage fragments of bone tearing out through flesh. His legs twitched and jerked, still dancing, jagged bone sawing away at muscle and skin.
    Dithers looked down with pity. This was no longer sporting . Abraham Collins looked up from his rock, broken almost in two, reaching for Ewan, his eyes bleary with blood.
    â€œAngel?” Abraham wheezed out in between coughs. Ewan took one deliberate step backward, leaving Abraham’s hand pawing desperately at the space between them. Dithers and Ewan exchanged looks.
    Dragana the Veela peered over the side of the cliff, one hundred feet above them, her heart as broken and mangled as Abraham’s body below. She flung herself over the side, dancing slowly down along the cliff face, each elegant foot kicking off stray rocks and ledges, toes perfectly pointed as she stepped. Drifting to the ground, she rushed up, put a gentle hand on Abraham’s chest, watching as blood seeped—occasionally spurting—through gashes punctured by splintered ribs. She looked away, dramatically. “Why did you have to leave me?” she whispered, her voice cracking with tears.
    Dithers motioned to Ewan and then pointed at Abraham. “You know what you have to do.”
    â€œWhat?” asked Ewan, not actually sure what he had to do.
    â€œLike I showed you, like you would a rabbit,” said Dithers. He paused, waiting for Ewan to catch on. “It’s not