Moon Girl, Finale

The physician hesitated. He entertained the thought of running for the woods, but couldn't muster the courage, nor could he abandon Sara to face the horrid man alone. He must have paused for too long, for Keam draped a seemingly friendly, but very firm arm across the physician's shoulders.

"Come on, doctor. I'm sure you have much more important things to do today. I know after we get this…business… taken care of, I know my men and I will be busy the rest of the evening, tending to our weapons, preparing to defend the defenseless."

The physician hung his head and continued across the meadow, and toward the cliffs.

Dusk was just falling and the first few stars were appearing when he caught a flash of silver from the edge of the cliff. He stiffened. Keam felt the sudden tension, saw the flash and, with a gesture, quietly brought the whole procession to a stop.

Keam pushed the physician to his knees with a hard hand on his shoulder, motioned for a nearby soldier to guard him, then cautiously stepped toward the small girl sitting by the cliff.

"Moon Girl."

Sara started out of her daydreams at the sudden and unfamiliar voice.

The first thing she saw when she turned was the physician, on his knees, with his head in his hands, and two very large strangers standing over him. She saw the villages, standing still and grey, solemnly looking on.

Closer, Sara saw a dozen or so more of the huge smirking men. She stood and slowly moved her gaze to Keam's.

If Keam was startled at the calmness or the clarity in those little eyes, he didn't show it.

"In return for our protection of his kingdom, your King has granted us a skein of your precious hair," Keam said simply, and not at all harshly.

"He is not my King, and this is not my kingdom."

Keam chuckled lightly. "Surely, you would be saddened if it's people were harmed by the foreigners."

She tilted her head, and narrowed her eyes. "And you would use this hair to sharpen your swords and string your bows?"

Keam nodded.

Sara looked at the villagers, the men, and the physician, then back at Keam.

She opened her mouth to speak and, with the slights of hesitation, said, "No."

A hushed murmur swept through those assembled. Keam colored slightly.

"Are you certain?" Keam said darkly.

Sara took a step back and stood firm.

"Yes."

"We are not averse to taking it by force," He said, looming just the slightest bit.

Her gaze flicked over the crowd again. Everyone held their breath.

Sara lowered her eyes. She gathered her hair in her fist and held out her hand. "Your knife."

Keam straightened up and with a black smile, handed it over.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sliced through the tangle of hair. Then, in one quick move, she flung the strands out over the sea.

Keam's smile melted into a stunned gape. He made a feeble attempt to lurch after them, and watched as the hairs scattered in the wind.

With a roar, he turned on her, the anger coming off him in waves.

She stared him full in the face. Her whole body trembled, but her eyes shone with defiance.

He snatched her up, his hands around her neck. There were several exclamations from the villagers and the physician cried, "NO!," but, when he attempted to stand, he was viciously thrown back to the ground.

Sara gagged and pulled at Keam's hands. He pulled her in close to his face, and started to speak, but could only sputter in anger and frustration.

Sara's attempts to escape were becoming weak, and her eyelids began to flutter.

Keam set his teeth and with a putrid sneer, spun and hurled her over the cliff face.

Everyone stood frozen in shock. The brute had thrown a small girl over a precipice, to what was certainly her death. But their shock immediately swelled to full astonishment.

Reports vary here. Some insist she must have been caught up by a huge black bird that everyone had failed to notice. Others say she just disappeared. Those too cowardly to have attended said that everyone was lying, because they did not want to think of the girls body lying at the base of the cliffs.

But every child who was present (for children, who do not feel the need to rationalize everything they see, are the most trustworthy in these situations) all told the same story. That she simply fell up, into the sky.

When thrown over the edge, it seemed the laws of nature had reversed. Her body had arched up instead of down as it should have, and she plummeted into the heavens.

The people watched long after she had disappeared from sight.

The rest of the story is uncomplicated.

Keam and his men left, without a word, and headed back to their own land. The foreigners charged straight for the capitol, where, in a quick and bloody battle, they captured the king and took his throne.

And life continued much the same for the people in the village.

The silver strands of Sara's hair had fallen into the sea, where they rested on the peaks of the waves, trailing after the Moon's reflection in a long tail, and there they remained all nights the moon shone, and there they remain still.

And every night, for as long as he lived, which was very long, indeed, the physician would go and sit on the edge of the cliffs, and gaze up at the Moon.