Rapture

Moon

The king pins the stake in the ground, leaving the Vampire Lord's corpse impaled on display. His burnt off eyes leaking blood; his mouth slacked open from a broken jaw, showing the rod that ran up his skull.

I could never imagine a sight that gave me such peace.

Maybe because I never dared to imagine there could be someone more powerful than this monster. But there is. There are.

I look at his back as he walks in the house, then to the queen as she walks to me.

"Join me," She extends an open hand, and I know to take it. Her grasp feels soothing and vast; wrapping me like the chill of night sky.

She leads me towards the forest as the king flings werewolf corpses out the house behind us.

The forest swallows us into its mass of dark twisted trees. The sky above taken by morass of leafless branches and dead vines.

"Where are we going?" I ask, holding her hand.

"To the clearing." A smile touches the corner of her lips.

The trees around us get taller and less tangled in each other's branches as we walk. Then the trees are no longer skeletons; flourishing with dark leaves and berries of red and blue.

The sweet smell of spring reaches my nose, and my lips smile on their own. It's been so long since I breathed life.

I stare to the queen beside me in wonder. I've ran hours through these woods, and never caught a hint of nature like this.

Who is she?

"Ask." She says, catching me by surprise. I forgot she had been inside my mind before.

"Are you the werewolf queen?" I offer my best guess.

"Some werewolves want to believe that, but it's wrong."

"So what are you to them?" I ask, my eyes studying her face; the elegant lines of muscle along the neck, holding her chin up with ease.

"Their creator."

My eyes blink, and she proceeds:

"Long ago, when the moon was yet full, a tribe went amok with logic. They sought to tame the wolves of the wild to their ego. With cages and abuse, they broke their connection to spirit, and aroused rabid rage within the beasts. With beastial fury bound in their iron chains, the tribe conquered and enslaved other tribes to it.

"So they spread suffering for an illusion of power, until one night the moon grew full. The wolves howled together and broke out their cages, devouring every men women and child of the tribe that dared to disrespect nature.

"Then the wolf pack bound by vengeance came across the cages of the slaves. Their howling stopped. For although they were in the forms of their abusers, their pain marked the same wound in their hearts.

"So the wolves tore apart the cages, and set the humans free. And they fell to their knees alongside the pack, joining as beasts to their howl to the moon."

The queen looks up, and follow her gaze to the space opening in the trees above us. The moon lighting the darkness of the sky with an orchestra of stars.

"Their wish was heard, and granted. Their pain, fury and bravery united in one."

The realization dawns on me as I look at her again, and realize how familiar is the presence. The glowing presence that lingered in my dark and lonely nights; now walking beside me and holding my hand.

"Goddess of the Moon." I gasp.