Into an unreal world, our story ventured.

Looking heavenward, one would not spot a sky, only an eerie blackness. No stars shone or twinkled above; only the moonlight of a baleful moon graced the black.

It hung upon the lightless canvas within a twisted cage of thorns and branches.

Gigantic trees of impossible height and girth had stretched towards it and grasped upon the glaring moon and dug deep within the cratered face.

Imprisoned as it was, all it could do was watch the twisted lands below as it raged.

The giants that had captured the moon dripped with the silvery blood of the wounded celestial. The blood mingled with its bleeding amber to stain the musty earth. It flowed together into pools and rivers that flooded unhindered, save for a central clearing that repelled the substance.

Sight drew to this central space.

Illuminated in the silvery glow was a mushroom ring of blood-red caps dotted with white. These fungal growths had sprouted from the watered earth in a perfect circle and pulsed to an unheard tune.

Those with a mind to comprehend would see the fairy ring, that place of weal or woe.

And as often whispered in folklore, within it the fae danced.

Bound within the ring spun half-invisible forms that swayed and danced with mirth at the moon’s impotent anger.

Hooves and feet beat a tune into the soil that only they knew.

They played games of deadly courtesy between themselves. The Summer Court of the fae began as beautiful women with hair like the sun and fine gentlemen with smiles like a promise arrived.

Within this gathering of immortals, a lone mortal danced unrested. A fool of fate who’d failed the unknowable rules set forth. Now his feet were but blooded stumps as the fae dragged him about.

Only a simple amusement that, unfortunately, they were quick to grow bored with.

The fair-folk wished for something new to entertain them and, funnily enough, they got their wish almost instantly.

From a watery womb, it conjured a deluge of briny water. It broke within the court and wetted hems and feet with salt. From an unseen world of depthless ocean, it deposited a young woman in their midst.

Those foolish or simply far too curious for their own good snuck a peek whence she had come, only to tear their maddened eyes from their skulls lest the sight of him infect their existence.

The young traveler lay upon the ballroom floor of the Feywild, coughing black water from her lungs.

Autumn lay clad only in soaked nightwear as she shook with terror, her mind burning with ill-gotten knowledge.

Language was all she could think about at that moment.

Frightened and fascinated, she found could understand every language she’d come across.

A cool night breeze chilled her bones and sent goosebumps scurrying across her skin, shocking Autumn away from her maddening knowledge.

With wild and panic-filled eyes, she scampered to her feet onto the loamy soil. Or was it cool tiles?

The Summer Court of the Seelie delighted in her raw emotions.

Before Autumn could make sense of the otherworldly sights, one of the fae nobles dancing stole her hand. A hand of clawed fingers clamped tightly around her own, so tight that blood beaded upon their tips.

Someone had dumped her within their courtly games and they’d not let the mortal spoil their fun so soon.

A maiden so fair pouted with lips like blood and whispered through teeth like knives into Autumn’s ear, “Won’t thee dance with me?”

The mewling voice sounded like love’s first kiss.

“N-no thank you,” Autumn stuttered as she attempted to extract herself from the fae’s firm grip.

“Oh?” The Fair Maiden cooed in a parody of disappointment. “You must dance. This is a party after all and thou art a guest hither. Aren’t thee?”

Shivers grew along Autumn’s spine as she spied the sight of sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight, “for if it be true that thee aren’t a guest, you’ll just be dinner. ”

The air within the court froze as the fae eagerly awaited with wicked grins. Autumn felt her heart beat with fear in a rapid tune, almost in time with the fae’s unheard melody.

She stood frozen before the immortal predator.

One who’d prey upon mortals like her since time first began.

With awkward steps, Autumn attempted to follow the Fair Maiden in a dance she did not know or could even hear.

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The jubilant atmosphere returned to the Summer Court as the new game began. Their plays and japes were a second thought to watching Autumn for any misstep or breach of their untold rules of etiquette. Their self-made rules were just as much a weapon as they were binds.

As they slowly led her about the court, it reminded Autumn of the few lessons the school forced her to attend to prepare for the prom. She was just as awkward back then as she was now, but at least she hadn’t been worried her partner would eat her for stepping on their toes.

Terror coursed through her veins like thick sludge as she danced.

The not-so-fair maiden watched her with seductive glee.

How long did they dance? Autumn didn’t know anymore, as time seemed to have lost its meaning. It all blurred together. Minutes turned into hours and days to seconds. It changed rapidly, with no concern granted to the mortal caught up in its flow.

All she recognized was that her feet stung something fierce. A glance at her feet showed she had worn away the soles of her feet, and a series of bloody footprints marked her journey about the ballroom. Horror crept into Autumn’s mind as she struggled desperately to think of a way to escape.

The foolish mortal was gone. Only blood upon lips showed a trace of his fate. Autumn would meet that same fate if she failed at their sick game.

Autumn noticed the dancers remained confined within the ring of mushrooms as she frantically glanced about the court. None crossed the unseen line between stalks.

Perhaps it was one of their unspoken rules.

Perhaps her safety lay out there?

With careful steps, Autumn danced slowly to the edge, leaving more bloody footprints in her wake. Closer and closer she drew to that edge, but just before she crossed, her dance partner skillfully pulled freedom from her grasp.

The fae knew their rules, so it was easy to tease her. They had pretended to be unaware of her furtive movements.

Fond giggling erupted from the Fair Maiden as she delighted in her game.

Autumn’s mind clutched desperately at the half-remembered facts she had read about folklore and fae. She was cognizant of her demise growing ever closer. A line conjured forth from an old and dusty book she had once read.

“Around and around the mushrooms the children would dance, nine times they would dance around and never a tenth, for a tenth, would call disaster upon them.”

She had to try.

It was all she could remember.

Already her stumbling dance had led her about the circle thrice, the trail of blood marking her progress. To her, it appeared the Fair Maiden was trying to use her as a living paintbrush, using her blood to create a mark on the floor.

She didn’t know what they were making, only that she knew it wasn’t to her benefit.

Autumn couldn’t force her partner to move the way she wished. The only time she tried, she felt a thrill of danger in the way the Fair Maiden grinned. She would have to obey their rules and dance her way to freedom.

Fortunately, Autumn had learned to dance the waltz in the past year despite her lack of desire to attend the prom or even a partner. She could only silently thank her foster father for insisting that she learn and helping her practice. Autumn regretted not thanking him. So she took the lead, stepping forward with her left foot, forcing her partner back.

The Fair Maiden grinned as Autumn fought back using their own rules and disrupted her plans. She followed along with an eagerness, seeking to foil Autumn’s wishes.

Autumn moved to the right, stepping sideways around the other dancers as they attempted to foul her footwork. Her left foot came to meet her right as she danced with the summer. Back she went with her right as she got into a clockwise momentum and quickly her left foot came backward too. Finally, her right foot drew back to her left and completed the waltz.

As her gaze lifted back to the Fair Maiden, they met her with the multifaceted emotions within her swirling fire-like eyes. What Autumn saw was a twisted sort of pride; pride at her triumph and rebellion at her fated death. Not enough to protect her from being consumed if she failed the fae’s game.

Seeing she knew how to dance, the Fair Maiden challenged Autumn as they spun about the circle. She pushed and pulled, twisted and stepped along to break Autumn’s stride, but they would not lead astray the young woman.

Autumn had a goal now and refused to give in.

So around and around they went.

The Summer Court laughed and laughed as they enjoyed her struggle and her play.

Yet the Fair Maiden did not.

Before, she had been playing with Autumn, guiding her along in the game, but her pride now prickled as she felt the Court laughing as much at her as at Autumn. Now her eyes glowed with the heat of a summer’s sun.

Pure malice focused on the poor mortal with her grip.

Autumn’s heart beat faster as the end drew near. Her ninth dance about the ballroom was almost complete. Escape became an actual possibility instead of the faint dream of before.

The Fair Maiden now spoke like an oncoming drought, “To bid thee a valorous dancer would be a lie, but I must admit thee did last longer than I did expect, yet this must be the end. I’ll drag thy husk for a tenth turn.”

A giggle like a thousand dying men erupted forth from the being of pure malice and hunger.

It burned in Autumn’s ears and etched terror into her soul.

As the ninth dance neared its end, the two entwined dancers prepared.

Under the baleful moonlight, eyes full of burning sunlight met with eyes full of fear. Their fates entwined forevermore.

They took the ultimate step.

A pair of heels clicked together, sounding like a gunshot from a starting pistol. They broke decorum in an instant. With bated breath, the Court awaited, eager to see who would win.

The Fair Maiden bit down upon Autumn, aiming to tear her neck asunder and leave her bleeding in the dirt. Autumn, in desperation, yanked their still-connected hands into the mouth of the furious fae.

Sharp teeth bit clean through bone and flesh with an awful sound.

Free of that crushing grip, Autumn fell outside of the fairy ring, landing painfully on her side.

The Fair Maiden stared out at the sprawling mortal that had escaped her clutches. The mortal that had played her game and insulted her by winning. Her mouth filled with blood and viscera. Looking down, she blankly took in her minced left hand.

A sharp throbbing pain had Autumn looking to her right hand, where a mess greeted her, too. The fae had bitten clean through Autumn’s index and middle finger leaving only stumps behind that leaked crimson. Before her very eyes, Autumn watched as the Fair Maiden swallowed both of their fingers with a loud gulp. Autumn’s eyes traced an unsettling bulge that traveled down the fae’s throat.

The Fair Maiden laughed a high and disbelieving laugh of a being with nothing left but wounded pride and hate. Hot angry tears of a scorned love burned down her cheeks as she cried out to the escaped mortal.

“Congratulations art in order for thy playeth but knoweth this dram wench, I knoweth thy taste and I’ll knoweth thy name anon. Thee’ll regret spurning me, for the summer is long and I’ll has’t mine prey. So runneth, runneth, and be hunted. ”

With fright moving her limbs, Autumn scrambled to her bleeding feet and rushed to the clearing’s edge while the laughter and howls of the court tore at her back.

The stumps of her fingers quickly stained her top as she sought to stem the bleeding.