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Aeval lit a black candle at the center point at the top of the pentagram, and whispered, her words faint and distant

"Spirit of the Universal dance, bring to this rite your sacred trance"

As the invocation echoed on the breeze, I was sucked deep into a long tunnel, swiftlyaround lowed deeper, the stars twinkled brighter, and the auras of the trees began to shilow until the forest was lit up like nature’s carnival

Lastly, Aeval lit a silver candle to one side of the black, and a gold to the other side She raised her hands to the sky and turned to the crescent lade

"Mother Moon, shining bright, over Earth, Air, Fire, Water, ride your priestess, take her now, Cahter! Lord of Horns, Father of Earth, Guardian, Provider, Brother, call now, your newborn priest, Our Beloved Lady’s Lover"

As the Moon Mother descended to ride e out of the forest Male, that od And he was mine I kneas an to walk toward otten, the ritual forgotten, all I could think about was how I needed to rid , for the chase was on

Naked, I stood bathed in the htly to the left

He htly out of the Circle, laughing, turning to beckon him on, to tease hiht No one clai hiod, he would have to meet rahed, throaty and rich, and froive no name to it For he truly had no naoddess, polarities in the great dance of the universe Like ether, but theout of reach

I still could not see him; he was cloaked in shadow, covered by a veil that I could not penetrate But I did not fear him He was n Queen To be worthy of his status, he must meet me and convince me he orthy And then I would allow hie sanctified and holy, cleansed in hter faded as he paused, eyeingin the wind The --he began to advance I stepped back, into the pentagraht to tasteof the Forest" My voice echoed into the night, the words coain, the voice resonated with e"

He must pass three tests, as it was in the days of old Before I could stop e of de clarity

I raised one hand, not sure what I was doing but only knowing that I had to As I did, the i and beautiful She was Japanese, and I recognized her as Deible in the night She laughed and held up a spear

He ot it, I could not see--but they fought, spearthe sith deadly precision Her expression was set; she was out to kill hier and lust, the desire for blood As she opened her

She dove for hi the katana out of his hand, and he let out a shout, but at the last rasp and dart around behind her He wrestled the spear away froed it through her chest With a scream, she burst into dust and ash and vanished

I still could not see his face as he turned to me and raised his hand in salute

"One," he said

The trance pulledinstinct take over Ritualfor the ride The Moon Mother was leading the journey tonight I was , and a vague shape rose out of it, taking the fore serpent, cri its body I stumbled back, out of the way The snake had to be thirty feet long and as thick around as Menolly was It swayed back and forth in front of hiue forked out as it loomed over him

"You You ca time…"

The snake coiled to strike As it launched toward hi for it I wanted to shout Get out of the way, but my voice froze and all I could do atch It spiraled around hi to hear him cry out as it snapped his bones, but he just wrapped his arainst the scaled body The snake twisted, swinging hiht, and for a

"I’m sorry I’m sorry I left you I had to run, or we’d both die I had no choice But I went back I pro for you But by then, you were gone" His voice faded, regret and loss echoing through his words

And then I understood this challenge Some demons…some demons weren’t the ones who had tried to hurt us Some demons were the people we’d fled from but could never leave behind, memories that would haunt us forever I backed away He needed to corips hatever this snake represented--homever he’d lost

Another ently, it let go, and thefor breath The snake reached down and gently touched the top of his head with a flicker of its tongue, then turned and vanished back into the shi it out, as he whispered, "Good-bye"

That one as so filled with sorrow and loss and finality that itmy head I was an intruder on his ht I turned away for what see at me, his face still cloaked in shadow, his for at the base of est I looked up at the stars and then nodded With another wave of the hand, I bracedappeared

And then a soft whisper called out ht, stood reatest loss