Dry bones shook and rattled gently somewhere in his consciousness followed by the gentle hail, "Elias." She was calling him. "Elias, it's time to wake,"  her delicate voice whispered in his ear.

"Yes, Mistress," he sputtered in return as he blinked and came to from a long trance.

The room was in total darkness. He must have been in this last catatonia for hours. The thought pleased his weary mind. He was able to hold them longer and longer now, and that thrilled him. It meant he was getting closer to his mistress every time - closer to shedding his mortal restraints and entering into the immortal realm with her.

"Wake the child,"  she whispered.

"Yes, Mistress. The child. I can't forget the child," he repeated more to himself than to her.

In the dark room there was a groan from the corner. That's where he'd left the little thing, bound and gagged. She'd been a handful the first twenty-four hours, but now that three days had passed without food or water, he found she hardly made a sound. She only whimpered or moaned when she heard his voice. But, he hardly spoke. So, he rarely had to listen to her.

"She's the one," he told himself as he rose from his seated position on the floor, and stretched his long limbs by the empty hearth.

He felt tired and a little light headed. Leaning on the mantle, he closed his eyes and tried to centre himself. It was always a chore to reorient his mind and body when he woke from these transfixtures. He often felt a deep sense of emptiness afterwards. Now though, he also felt physically weak and unbalanced as if his body and spirit were not aligned properly. It was the price he had to pay for spiritual power.

Dry bones jingled somewhere near by as if attached to a wind chime. "Hurry Elias," that sweet voice urged him.

"Yes, Mistress," he answered straight away. To the air he repeated, "She's the one," as he reached for his captive's bound legs and dragged her across the floor to the back door of the ancient little hut he occupied.

The girl, a human child of twelve years of age, groaned but did nothing else. It seemed her energy was spent and she didn't have the power or the will to put up a fight anymore. Elias was pleased. He preferred her silence.

At the door he checked in his priestly robes for the Lunar Crystal and for his ceremonial dagger. Both were there. He petted the pocket they rested in and grinned to himself as he grabbed the young girl's arm and hauled her off the ground. With long, loping strides he and she vanished into the pine and spruce forest that surrounded his hermitage and rendered it invisible to most.

Out in the woods, up a small incline, there was a clearing dedicated as holy ground to his mistress. This is where he would perform the Red Moon Ritual. Afterwards, he would know one way or another whether the human child tucked under his arm was indeed the one his beloved mistress had been searching for. 

Bones rattled somewhere close at hand. Elias heard them and stepped gingerly into the clearing all the while looking for a glimpse of his enchanted mistress. He stopped short when his eyes fell on her mysterious form. Much to his delight, she had arrived before him and now stood by the small alabaster and onyx prayer altar he had built for her. He would know her anywhere. There was no other figure like her in the mortal or immortal realms.

Letting out a sigh of delight and wonder, he marvelled as the light of the full moon engulfed her entire frame and rendered her more empyreal than ever before. He admired her supple skin, which was as black as the darkest of Tahitian pearls, and appreciated, the stark contrast of her long silvery white hair overlaying her dark flowing tulle gown. But, it was her argent irises and snow white pupils set in charcoal grey sclerae that had him spellbound. She was indeed the Mistress of the dark side of the moon - the Moon goddess' other half.

"The child," she whispered with both her hands raised to take the girl.

Her voice broke the spell he was under and Elias rushed forward to the altar. He handed the little human to the Dark Moon Mistress, who never touched the child but whose power raised the girl from Elias' fingers and held her suspended in the air. A black mist gently wrapped itself around the child and unbound and ungagged her. But, the poor thing was unconscious and remained blind and deaf to everything around her.

"Quickly," the Dark Moon Mistress urged Elias, "While the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn are still aligned."

Elias dug in his elaborately embroiderer velvet robe for the Lunar Crystal, which he placed in a small depression about the middle of the delicate alter. And from that same pocket he pulled the silver and gold ceremonial dagger, which he used for all spiritual rites and rituals. With the dagger in hand he begun to recite a number of prayers that were necessary to initiate the Red Moon Ritual.

Though the prayers were not long, he worried his Mistress would become impatient. But she said nothing while he continued with the necessary invocations. With a racing heart he finished as quickly as he could, and looked anxiously at her for approval and instruction.

The Dark Moon Mistress extended a taloned finger and the girl's right arm was flung forward. Elias stepped up to the altar and briefly looked up at the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn. He could see with his own eye that the three were aligned in a perfect triangle - the sign of unity and of ultimate dominion. He felt giddy with excitement.

Dry bones clacked together somewhere in the clearing."It's time," his mistress intoned.

Elias was over come by a nervous energy as he took hold of the girl's small, pale arm and made a delicate slice in her soft flesh. He started near the elbow and drew the tip of the dagger down to her wrist. The child immediately revived and cried out. But, just as quickly, the black mist choked her voice and hampered her effort to struggle free. Her wide, frightened eyes could only watch as her arm bled profusely over a petite stone on the alter.  

The sacred stone - a smooth moon shaped opaque crystal about the size of a plum - absorbed the human's blood directly into its core. Not a drop of it spilled anywhere on the altar. And when it had absorbed enough the crystal gave off a blinding scarlet light, which was greatly enhanced by the light of the full moon until the entire clearing was filled with the bright red glow of the Lunar Crystal.

"Hide her and the stone away until the Day of Darkening," the Dark Moon Mistress commanded Elias immediately after the extraordinary display.

He nodded eagerly as he plucked the Lunar Crystal from its place and stuffed it into his robe. Once out of the moonlight, the stone ceased to glow, but it would remain scarlet in colour now until the Day of Darkening. He knew what this meant without having to be told. She was the one. His mistress' search was finally over. 

Turning to grab the girl he found both she and his mistress were gone. A large, thick cloud had covered the moon and thrown the clearing into darkness. Elias looked every which way for the Dark Moon Mistress, but could find her no where. The sound of something rustling nearby caught his attention though. He sniffed the air. While his mistress had vanished, the girl had not. She was simply hiding on the other side of the altar.

"She's the one," Elias said in a sing song voice as he leaned over the alter and snatched the girl from her hiding place.

She gave an ear piercing scream before passing out entirely.  Elias dropped her to the ground so that he could rub his sore ears a little. Angry, he came around the altar and gave her a little kick. She rolled onto her stomach but didn't stir.

"Stupid girl," he complained as he bent to pick her up under her arms and flop her over his shoulder.

He thought it was a pity that she was human. If she were a lycan like him, she would not protest so much. After all, it was her great fortune to be the chosen Blood Bride, who would usher in the Age of the Lycanthrope.