GRAVESTONE READING UNDER A FULL MOON

Maryon ran behind Flunky. He had offended the once powerful fly for the hundredth time this night. Maryon still ran after her, knowing that she would soon turn and wonder what had happened. Maryon also knew that if he was too far off when she forgot what she was doing, that she panicked.
"Flunky!" he called.
"Maryon!" the fly called, "I’m lost!"
The decaying dwarf could hear the fly sobbing somewhere close by. Sighing, he tensed his big vile-green ears and tried to decide what direction the crying came from. East, further into the eldest part of the burial ground. At least he would spend the night in a nicer part of the cemetery tonight. The oldest part was filled with dwarves and elves, ghouls and goblins, whereas the new part had too many human spirits spoiling the fun. For some reason the humans all acted so sad and lost when they died… not to mention all the girl spirits told him to go away when he approached them for a good time.
"Flunky?" he called, "Keep talking if you want me to find you. What can you see?"
the fly remained silent for a while, but finally he could hear her tiny voice squeaking: "it’s dark here. And wet."
Great, that irritating little fly had gotten her stuck on the bottom of a well no doubt. Well… she had to die once a day, better to be over with it. Maryon shrugged, maybe one of the elvens would like his attentions… pushing aside some shrubs, he finally saw a small hole in one of the elaborate grave monuments that littered these grounds. It would just be like Flunky to fly into that hole and not find her way out again.
"Flunky?" he called.
"I’m going to die today." Her voice quavered.
Maryon smiled, but there was some sadness in his mushy features. Somehow he always suspected her to remember, to know. "I’ll get you out, don’t worry."
Reaching in, he felt her small quivering body, her wings beating against his palm. "Keep quiet and I’ll get you out." Maryon carefully tried to squeeze his arm out of there.
He cursed as a soft creaking sounded and he suddenly pulled lose from his wrist. This happened at times, losing a limb, an ear or a nose, but this was a rather bad time for it to happen. Sighing, Maryon pulled his right hand out with his left and opened his fingers. Flunky lay buzzing inside his palm and asked: "How did I get here? Why is your arm detached?"
"You shouldn’t worry about it." He answered, "I can mend it."
Maryon had gotten quite handy in reattaching limbs. Getting out his tiny sexing kit, he had his hand reattached within seconds, tying knots as a professional surgeon. When he was cutting of the extra wire, Flunky suddenly buzzed higher than usual and said: "In the riddles of old you future shall become clear."
"What the hell does that mean?" Maryon asked.
"What?"
"You’re unbelievable Flunky." Maryon shook his head.
"Thanks!" Flunky called out, like all females happy to get a compliment every so often. Of course she did miss the point, but Maryon didn’t care to explain her mistake. She would forget it anyway. "Let’s just read some headstones, shall we."
"Yay!" the fly called out, "I always like that."
"Because you don’t remember we have read the same writings thousands of nights before."
"Please…" Flunky asked, her wings drooping a bit.
"Ok, ok." Maryon said, hadn’t he suggested it to begin with? Sometimes hanging around with Flunky was confusing. The two of them set out between the headstones, reading the stories of Bernhold the great – the goblin king that had beheaded himself for treason - and Aldaminde – the elven that had died from exposure waiting for her long lost love, a sea serpent, to return, of course that sea serpent had in reality run off with a mermaid, thus being cursed by the dieing Aldaminda and had ended up cooked alive by a group of cannibals on a fieldtrip.
Running further in the hillside, following Flunky as she flew from one monument to the next, resting on mossy marble and cracked granite, calling out names and remarks he had heard before countless times.
Suddenly, Maryon stopped in front of a weathered monument that had but a few words that were still readable. They had not lingered around here long before, usually staying in the group of stones that belonged to the goblins and fairies. Maryon did not know exactly what was buried here, only that it seemed big.
"The riddles of the past fly free tonight." Flunky buzzed before she continued as if she had never said those words: "Maryon, what do you think lives here?"
"Riddles." He said.
"That’s odd. What is a riddle?"
"Never mind." The dwarf sighed, picking up one of his ears and taping it back to his ear. "I wonder what the statue on the monument was, looks a bit like a snake with oaws.
"But with wings, like me!" Flunky called out excitedly.
"Why do you think it hadwings?" Maryon asked.
"Did I say that?" Flunky asked, "I don’t know. Let’s go back home to play with the faeries."
Maryon looked at his companion and saw that she was starting to look tired. In the distance he could already see the sun starting to rise. It would not take long before Flunky would die again, rising by noon from a pop that appeared every day in his house. That had not always been so, but he was so used to it now he could not remember having it otherwise.
"Yeah, We should go home." Flunky always died more calmly when she died at home.
Carrying his friend on the palm of his hand, Maryon said: "I think today won’t change our lives very much, Flunky, no matter how right you can be."
"I don’t want to go away." Flunky said sleepily, her eyes almost closing.
"Neither do I."
"You’ll never leave me right?"
Feeling his friend’s uncertainty, Maryon shook his head, "Never." He hated her at times, but she made life a whole lot more interesting. Like that time when she had told a dead goblin with the bulk of a century-old tree that she would die before she ever became friends with him. Flunky had not meant anything bad with it, she had just told the truth. The goblin had not taken it the right way though.
Moryan smiled, they had had to avoid the goblin graves for months. And he had been left with having to tell Flunky over and over again why. Looking back at the grave he wondered if he would ever go back.
"Only if you want to." A silent, creepy voice told them.
Maryon gasped and turned back to the road. There were only shadows, but suddenly two bright green eyes seemed to appear out of nothing. One part of shadow became loose and finally walked into the light. The blackness of the great winged serpent denied the light to touch it. Maryon’s eyes grew large and he got ready to run.
"Your friend is dieing." The dragon said, "I can tell." The voice sounded almost hungry.
"Now and." Maryon said, "She’ll return in the morning."
"Is that so? Then laybe she can come as well."
"Come where?" This was going bad, Maryon thought, he needed to get away. Taking steps back, he suddenly bumped into the monument. Only one thought ran through his mind, he was trapped.
"Silly dwarf, I shall not hurt you." The dragon said, "I sent you a message."
"The riddles of the past shall change your future." He whispered.
"You got it. Good." The dragon came closer, it did breath, Maryon noticed, it was alive. "So, what past is the riddle talking about?"
"Your past?" Maryon asked.
"Close. Think deeper, who better to tell you about the riddle than the one who created it."
"Flunky?"
"That’s all you need to know. More and she would die for real this time." The dragon turned, "Go and when you return you’ll both be stronger… maybe then it will be time."
The dragon-shadow faded back into the shadows around the monument, until there was nothing remaining to tell Maryon it had been real.
"What…?" Maryon started, but before he could finish the words he was swept away, thrown front and back, upside down. He fell to the ground, stone all around him, but not the marble from the gravestones he was used to. Feeling he had lost a leg and his nose, he felt around for his sewing kit.
In stead his hands found Flunky. "Oh no…" he gasped, if Flunky awakened without him she was always terribly upset. In the beginning he had tried, forgetting his companion after he had swatted her early to run off with a girl dwarf. He had always regretted it afterward.
"Maryon?" her voice asked, "Where are we?"
"Are you alive?" he asked.
"Of course, what else would I be?"
Maryon had not the heart to tell her she died every day. But why was she still alive? Looking outside he saw the moon over the land. Where were they indeed? Maryon had no clue.
"We’ll find out soon enough." He said to calm Flunky down, "Soon enough."
From the cave entrance a creature, half the size of his body and vaguely reminding him of the dragon in the cemetery flew toward them. The creature was white, but glowed faintly orange. The creature landed before him and chirped.

"Do I need to take care of you too?" he asked, it never hurt to have an extra alley. Especially when the other one was not the most dependable around.
"I like her." Flunky said, then called: "Eek! What’s that?"
This was going to be a long night… Maryon thought in a sigh.
"Welcome, new candidates." A voice called from the shadows startling Maryon because he had not felt the eyes upon him, "I see that you qualify. I wish you the best of luck at the hatching. Until then you’ll be made useful around the Ring of Fire."
"Ehm…" Maryon started.
"Do not question. Just do as your told." The way the voice sounded it did not seem as if they had much choice. Going with the old hierarchy of being a lesser ghost, Maryon decided to settle into this new, disturbing universe. For Flunky at least, not much would change…

[Continue]

Maryon and Flunky are candidates for the 
Flight of the Dead 2004-5 at The Ring Of Fire

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Image used for this background is an oilpainting named 'Landscape with a Graveyard by Night' and was painted by Mathias Withoos.
It's quite pretty for being old, neh?