Darius' Report

            Despite its relatively small size ( larger only than the Desert Moon ), the Third Moon was a place mostly unexplored. Cities of polished stone rose from oceans of forest, and the way to the next city was air transport. It was deep in these forests that the tacouin lived.

            The swift fox-like creature stopped before a small range of low hills. It rose up on its hind legs, its fur melted into its body, changing from brown to light green/gray, and a pair of delicate batwings unfolded from its back. When the transformation was complete, a little green/gray, black-haired demon-faery stood before the mossy slopes.

            Darius had come home.

* * *

            If there was one thing the tacouin did well, it was hide. The Lunatacs and their legends had mostly forgotten the moon-faerys. If you searched the mythology very carefully, you might find one tale of the Hastanath. It was the Little Ones, the tacouin, who told the story's hero how to defeat the whisperers. Beyond that, nothing.

            Darius carefully picked his way down the corridor lit only by sunlight filtering through the moss at the entrance and the faintest of glows far down the tunnel. Once far enough, that glow revealed itself to be luminous fungus, carefully grown into fantastic shapes. After hours of walking down the earthen corridor, the little demon-faery stepped into a large, brightly-lit chamber. As he blinked in the sudden glare, someone noticed him and shouted, "It's Darius! The changeling has returned!"

            Little green/gray hands grabbed at him from all sides, and he was pulled along by an enthusiastic crowd to the foot of the dais where the rulers of the tacouin sat. Once deposited, the crowd drew back respectfully, though all eyes were on the one they sent to the upper world. Darius bowed deeply to the King and Queen, but didn't say anything. There wasn't any need to.

            The King said, "Welcome back, changeling, from the Upper Realms. Long have we awaited..."

            Queen Tanja nudged him with an elbow. "Oh hush, Elian," she scolded, leaning forward, "Let the fellow speak." The sentiment was picked up on by the crowd, "Yes, yes! Tell us of the Upper Realms!"

            "How did you escape the yerin?"

            "What are they like?"

            "Is it true some breathe ice?"

            "No, silly. That's impossible."

            "When I said 'let him speak', I meant you lot as well."

            The questions from the crowd faded to general muttering at Queen Tanja's reminder. Darius smiled slightly. Much as he liked the Lunatacs, he had missed his people. Clearing his throat, he started, "As you know, I volunteered to become a changeling; one who lives among the yerin. But I didn't just spy on them. No, I admitted my purpose to the then-king of the Lunatacs."

            There was a collective gasp from the tacouin. Even the children ( who were crowding around Darius feet ) stopped squirming for a second.

            "The yerin aren't as our legends remember," Darius explained. "They are still somewhat warlike, but nothing like the savages we knew long ago. And more, they have surpassed us. Have any of you been to the Upper Realms at night? Have you seen the other Moons?" There were some noises of agreement, and at least one 'Mommy said the yerin would eat me if I left the caves'. Darius waved his hands for silence and continued, "The other Moons also are inhabited by yerin, but they are adapted for their homes."

            Darius' form became a bit smaller, his black hair lengthened and lightened to a midnight-purple, while his skin went to a pale mauve. His wings and little antennae vanished, and his irises went white. "These are the yerin of our legends," said Darius, in Tycho's form. "And see how much they are like us? But there are others."

            'Tycho's skin went to a pasty white, while his hair went lighter, shortened, and stuck up on the top. Dark markings bloomed around his eyes. While his body became a few inches shorter, it widened until the final form was female and fat, but muscular. "The yerin of the largest Moon look like this," said Darius as Valkyrie. "If we went to that place, we couldn't walk, much less fly, due to the high gravity. This type is very strong, and can jump very far when on other worlds."

            'Valkyrie' became taller, much taller than any tacouin. Again the hair shortened, but it bleached out to white. The sickly-pale skin deepened to blue, and green eyes became navy blue with yellow irises. The fat vanished from the new form, leaving only muscle. "The yerin of the White Moon are the strangest of all," Darius/Cameo told them. "That white is snow; frozen water made fluffy. These ones can spit ice and throw fire. They are the most savage of the yerin, but also the most tradition-bound."

            'Cameo' became yet taller, and the yellow in his iris spread to the entire eye. His skin changed from blue to a dusty purple, but around his eyes stayed bluish. White hair lengthened and darkened to gray, though thinned on top. The overall shape was angular, slightly bent, and corded rather than strong. 'Alluro' said, "These are from the small, tan Moon. The tan is sand; their world is a desert. These yerin aren't that strong, proportionally, but they have psychic powers. Some read minds, some lift objects from a distance, some see things before they happen."

            'Alluro's tall form shortened, but the lost mass was more than made up for in his broadened chest and shoulders. This one was proportioned differently from the rest; the arms and torso longer and the legs shorter. The long, gray hair vanished completely, and the skin paled to a light peach tone. The eyes widened, and became a sombre red. "These are from the Dark Moon, the one that can only be seen when it blocks the light from another Moon. They are strong, and can see even better than we do in the dark. I didn't see many of this type. They mostly keep to themselves."

            'Red-Eye' shrank down to the tiny form of Darius, who stretched his wings slightly. "And that isn't all! There are other worlds beyond the Moons! The planet below is inhabited by cat-like beings, another by creatures of even more varied shapes. In the winter months, if you look to the western sky, you can see a tiny cluster of five stars..."

            "Yaddith," interrupted someone.

            "No, no, Yaddith was long ago," said Darius. "The world has new masters now, beings called Solarians."

            "What happened to the dholes?"

            Darius shrugged. "Maybe the Nug-Soth beat them, maybe they all just died out. I don't know. Solarians are rare visitors to the Moons."

            "You said you told the 'then-king' about us," prompted Queen Tanja.

            "I told him about me," corrected Darius. "I said I was a changeling and a spy sent by Interested Parties, and offered my services to the king. I have been his bodyguard for the last two years."

            "But what about the 'then'?" asked King Elian.

            "Lunatac politics has been confused since their race-father Yerith died," explained Darius. "For fifteen hundred years, the yerin have been embroiled in various civil wars, trying to run their Empire. Tycho was king when I arrived, but eight months ago his cousin Aristarchus took over. It was just recently that Aristarchus was removed from power by the true Queen; Yerith's granddaughter Luna. I think things will stabilise now that she's here."

* * *

            For the next couple of days, Darius the Changeling found himself to be Darius the Celebrity. Whether he was explaining the political situation to the King and Queen, informing the adults how things had changed, or telling stories of the Upper Realms to the children, he was rarely alone. Not that he minded. It had been too long since Darius had been trusted by so many people. Just because Tycho was his friend didn't mean any of the other Lunatacs were overly fond of him.

            Which brought to mind the one thing that ruined his homecoming; he missed his friend. The other tacouin loved him because he was one of them, Tycho did by choice. He could immerse himself in the adoration of his people, he could breathe the earthy air of the Lower Realms, but at the back of his mind, he worried that this little vacation counted as deserting his post. He shook that aside; Tycho was staying with his cousin, no less than the Moonqueen. He would be fine for a few days without his bodyguard, and he got along fine before Darius showed up.

            On the third day, he was again summoned to the audience chamber of the tacouin rulers. King Elian said, "We have listened to your tales of the yerin and of the Upper Realms..."

            Darius strained forward slightly. "And?"

            "And while the yerin have improved since last we met, we will wait to see how stable their government truly is before showing ourselves."

            The changeling's face fell. "I understand."

            Queen Tanja got up and descended the stairs to her subject. Laying a delicate hand on his arm she said, "I see you have become attached to the yerin and Upper Realms, but we have the safety of the tacouin to worry about. In a few years, we will send another changeling to see if this new Queen has stabilised her kingdom."

            "Another changeling?" questioned Darius.

            "Of course," smiled the Queen. "You will remain here, a hero for all your days. You will want for nothing, changeling Darius, and we will love you."

            "But... but I can't," Darius stammered, backing away slightly from Queen Tanja. "I have duties, responsibilities in the Upper Realms. I can't just abandon them. And if I'm not back soon, Tycho will worry about me."

            The Queen was undeterred. "Then go back and tell him you retire. Your place is here, with us."

            "Is it?" asked Darius quietly. "I was no one until I accepted the changeling assignment. Only now that I'm a hero am I known here. Among the yerin, I became second to a prince just by declaring my loyalty. I have no one tying me to this place, while in the Upper Realms, I have a friend."

            "We are your friends."

            "I'm sorry, Queen Tanja, but my place is with the yerin. I will return with new reports when I can, but I can't stay." Bowing again, Darius left up the twisting passage to the Upper Realms.

* * *

            The fox-creature paused within sight of the city of tan stone. Again it rose to its hind legs, but the form it changed to was not the one that went to the Lower Realms. This shape was tall, over half a foot taller than he was naturally. The body filled out to a medium rather than slight build. While the hair stayed black, the eyes lightened to yellow and the skin darkened to mottled turquoise. The delicate antennae and little wings melted into the body, though the small horns lengthened somewhat. This was the body the yerin knew, though prince Tycho and the Goliath's chief medical officer knew Darius' true form.

            The turquoise-skinned pseudo-Lunatac walked without incident into the palace of Queen Luna. The Lunatac power base was here, though the Goliath was there to remind the other Moons who was in charge. And since Darius was a well-recognised figure on the Goliath ( at least, in this form ), the guards gave him no trouble.

            Tycho looked up from his book at the knock on his door. "Darius," he said, marking his page. "How was your vacation?"

            Darius closed the door behind him, shifted to his natural form, then plunked himself down on the edge of Tycho's bed. "They want me to stay."

            "That's great," said Tycho, though his smile faded when he saw Darius' expression. "But isn't that what you wanted? To go back to your people a big hero?"

            "I did, but I changed my mind. They don't really want to come out of hiding; they just wanted an infusion of new stories. I'm staying with you and the Goliath."

            Tycho nodded his acknowledgement and smiled slightly. "Welcome back then." Then he picked up his book again.

            The changeling picked up another book, and finding it mythology, flipped through it looking for the whispering Hastanath. If Tycho was reading legends, he was likely trying to find references to the Lunar Blade again.

            Darius looked over at his friend, whose expression of fierce concentration was somewhat ruined by the fact that his little feet didn't reach the floor, and smiled. Now he was home.

 

The End.

 

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