Page 16 of The Twelve Nights of Halloheen

Although it’s called the Night of Fears, it’s really more about crafting skills than causing fright. Don’t worry if your costume isn’t scary. If it’s clever, intricate, or beautiful, we’ll love it and you have a chance to win the evening.

Tisuran

Standing outside Isla’s door, Tisuran tried to shake off his tension. He was sure she’d approve of his costume. He’d dressed as the scariest thing he could think of—an ancient Talin warrior.

He was wearing what Talins wore before they had body armor and modern medicine. Back then, warriors died all the time of infection or blood loss. Going to war with nothing but steel and strength made ancient warfare the most frightening thing Tisuran could imagine. Of course, that was before the first Monarch unified the planet, creating one language, onegovernment, and one power. His species had been unstoppable ever since.

Looking down, he readjusted the shield hanging off his belt yet again. It was an important part of the costume, but uncomfortable to wear walking around. How had his ancestors marched across vast land masses with this banging their legs with every other stride?

As he was shifting it a bit more to his left, Isla’s door slid open. Looking up, he rattled in surprise before he could stop himself. The truth was, he couldn’t understand what he was seeing.

Isla had taken some kind of creamy white substance and spread it all over her lightly tanned skin. Then she’d taken a darker substance and formed circles around her eyes and contoured her face so she looked pale and gaunt. She’d also found a garment that was all black and draped over her shoulders, hiding most of her body. It included a hood, which was pulled up to cover her hair and cast a shadow across half her face.

The entire effect was far too gruesome and confusing to be his sweet, joyfulloreline!

“You look so shiny!” she exclaimed, examining his metal breastplate.

He tugged lightly on her hood. “What have you done to yourself?”

She beamed up at him. “What do you think? I’m a ghost!”

He sounded a rumble of confusion. “What’s a ghost?”

“Humans have this idea that if someone dies and their soul doesn’t enter the afterlife, their souls turn into ghosts and haunt the living,” she explained cheerfully. “Talins don’t have ghosts?”

How could someone be so merry as they described something so horrific?

“No!” he exclaimed with a little more force than necessary. “When a Talin dies, they go to the Domicile of the Ancestors. They don’t remain behind.”

She wrinkled her nose. “And everyone goes to the same place, even those Talin who weren’t, um, honorable?”

“Yes, but if they didn’t live a good life, they’re doomed to stand in the outer ring of the domicile. They never enter the inner rings where the best of us reside,” he told her. “It’s all very orderly.”

For some reason that made her laugh. “That sounds like the kind of afterlife you guys would come up with. So, what’s your costume?”

He slapped his hastily made breastplate hard enough to make it ring out in the night. “I’m ajorvian, the most feared type of Talin warrior that ever existed. You said to dress as something scary, andjorvianswere renowned for their prowess in battle. All feared thejorvians. They battled in a time before we could heal wounds or cure infections, so their lives were often short and painful.”

“You make a handsomejorvian,” she agreed with a solemn nod of her head. “And you’re right, it’s a scary costume too. Let’s get to the communal building. I want to see what everyone else looks like.”

She took his hand to lead him away. Since the Night of Joy, they’d taken advantage of every moment of downtime to be together. He’d gotten to pleasure her several more times with his mouth and looked forward to getting to do it again after the Night of Fear festivities were over. He had yet to find release himself, but he was patient. He refused to even take himself in hand; he would wait until Isla was ready for more of him.

He couldn’t think of anything more satisfying than having her small fingers exploring his body. She owned him. He was simply waiting for her to finish claiming her prize.

They entered the communal building to find everyone already eating, drinking, and laughing. Tonight was the seventh day of Halloheen and it was clear that everyone had taken time and effort to create their costumes. Even if he didn’t understand what they were supposed to be.

Tisuran recognized Palforma’s right away. He was dressed all in black, with a layer of glow-latch spread on his outline. It was obvious Palforma was a blackhole and the glow-latch was the event horizon.

Tisuran wanted to curse. He wished he’d thought of that! Blackholes were one of the most fearful things in the universe. Looking around, he noticed everyone had scarier costumes than his. Other Talins were dressed to represent disease, ship malfunctions, or natural disasters. He had to admit, hisjorviancostume paled compared to all those.

However, the human costumes were strange. One human had put on a formal black omnie covered in deep red embroidery and had two false teeth meant to look like fangs, but other than that she hadn’t done anything to her appearance. Another human had covered himself in green pigment and had two sets of false teeth that extended far past his own lips up and down. He concluded that, like Isla’s ghost, these must be terrifying creatures from human folklore.

The evening moved slowly for him. Isla flitted from group to group, admiring costumes and conversing with everyone. His human loved to talk. And she found a compliment to give every single Talin and human there. She practically gushed over the human baby dressed as a Tartin grub.

Personally, he couldn’t understand why all the humans found the fake eyeballs mounted to the top of the baby’s costume so humorous. Every time the infant moved his head, the eyes bobbed around, making the humans laugh. It was odd, but then again, humans could find the strangest things amusing.

Isla was enjoying herself so much it came as a surprise when she led him out of the building and to the area where they’d held the Night of Fire. The fire pits were still set up but empty. To his surprise, one of them was full of fresh fuel. There were also thick blankets and pillows on the ground next to it.

“Come sit with me,” she implored, making him realize she’d set this up.

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