A very large circular window carved upon the stone headed towards the impenetrable night outside, only lit by several moon rays among the clouded skies.  Ominous grunts and growls came from below as many false notes in this peaceful harmony. 

A girl in her early twenties was standing leaned against the right outline of the window, her pale hand gracefully fitting with the alabaster stone it was covering as if carved into its very core.  Her flawlessly oval face was permeated with concern arching her delicate eyebrows and filling her luscious, rosy lips with a nervous twitch.  Her white skin irradiated warmth and the soft fragrance of a ripe fruit picked up in sumptuous gardens when the season comes.  How beautiful she was at the moon light gleam with her cute hazelnut eyes, perpetually smiling to the world lasciviously in an unintentional way, as the girl was the epitome of ingenuousness!

 A gorgeous, heavenly sight the tiny flies in the surrounding air had to behold! One of them would witness elegant locks of the sweetest lightly brown hair cascading around het beautiful little nose, partially covering her left eye and going beyond the bottom of her fragile, sensuous neck to unveil her nude right shoulder. Another would testify of the splendour of her perky breast, immense and mouth watering at this scale and voluptuous in human standards.   A few others would be staring utterly dazed at the softly whispering crotch hidden behind her ruby red toga, never-ending source filled with promises of the greatest genre.   Finally, the last ones would be in awe in front of her slender bare legs that stood like artistically curved pillars with her petite, elegant feet shivering in the cold night.

A voice came from behind.  She instinctively rose her thin perfectly round buttocks in surprise and turned around.

-A lovely night for contemplation, perhaps?

The girl wore a radiant smile.

-Star of my life...she said of her sweet, quivering voice.

-A delight to see you, crescent of my night.

The girl ran to him, her bare feet vibrating the stone floor at each excited step.   The young couple stayed enlaced for a whole minute, gazing each other amorously until their lips met in a long, passionate kiss.

-Evelyn... I have longed for the taste of your lips for what seemed an eternity.

-And so have I, my love, so have I.

The moon light shined on her cheeks.  Ryan realized those tiny spots of brilliance were actually tears.  He felt nauseous at the idea of his love feeling sadness.

-What troubles your heart, darling, of which I can extinguish the embers?

-I am about to be named shadow maiden...

-Which most certainly instils pride in your benevolent spirit...

-Which abhors me to no end!

-What? But...

-Ryan.  Unlike you I am not born here to serve... I was sold as a slave by my father to solve his drunken misery. 

-No! How could you use such a term!

-A slave! Don’t lie! The poor drunk! The moon blesses him, although he forfeited my life for so little a reward.  And my mother, how beautiful and sad she was when the acolytes came for me.  No, of this I have no regrets because I encountered my greatest love in the bonding of faith.  But now that we are reunited a part of me wants to be free of those...   

-You do know we both belong here equally.  Thinking otherwise is considered a sacrilege and you are well aware of what horrible things lay in the path of treachery.  Please, my love, do not utter such words!

She sobbed softly.  A huge, overwhelming wave of compassion assailed his heart.

-My love...wha...whatever it is that I can do to dry my two favourite gems off their tears, I will do, even...even if it oversteps my duties.  Are you not happy with the other vestals?

Evelyn knew Ryan too well not to realize how much it cost the pious man to abnegate his faith for the sake of love.  A huge, overwhelming wave of blissful joy assailed her heart.

-My life among them is easy and safe...but I crave for so much more! The rules are unfair! Look at the differences between men and women in this temple.  You get all the prestige and talk one to another with blessings that we women never get to share or grant, merely serving during the rituals as catalysts.   

Ryan’s eyes were wide opened in shock.  He had always suspected his sweet heart to be of the pragmatic variety but he never knew this would come to overwhelm her own sense of duty.

-But you certainly know that those were the commands of the Moonlight Avatars eons ago...we cannot undo what was portrayed by the stars themselves!

- I pray the moon every night that we may venture into the world together as one and live out the exciting life of the blessed ones during the Era of the Sun...Oh...how strong and versatile a duo we would make, my abilities and yours combined...

-You know how dangerous the world of the outside is.  You know what terrible creatures lurk and creep in the forests and mountains! How humanity is forced to live cloistered and secluded to avoid extermination!

-But we can most certainly elude it! Think about it... I was blessed at the age of five by the Shadow Lady herself and your powers have grown far beyond anyone’s expectations.  We can crush difficulties as easily as pebbles on our path!

-The cult has...

 -To the abyss with the cult!  What worth is it if it compromises the very idea of love...Sorry...I didn’t mean to...

-Nothing to forgive my love.  I will brood over all of this in peaceful meditation.  For the moment let’s allow love to dictate the right behaviour.

At the same time, somewhere else within the temple, in a hidden room in which several occult objects laid scattered on the floor, two sinister-looking individuals conversed at candle light, their ominous shadows pervading the walls in their twisted shapes.

-I already told you, Salierna, as much as we might despise him, there is absolutely no way to get rid of him without awakening suspicions in the mind of our brothers and sisters.  And we are not murderers, may the moon preserves us from this dreaded fate.

-My dear Arthurus, there is no need to kill when all we require is that he vanishes forever, never to be seen again.  Think carefully...Are you certain there exists no single ritual that would perform such a deed, even among the darkest ones? It is your duty to...

-You would dare transgress the laws of the cult in the name of some trivial human feeling? It is you who need to remember the word duty.

-Think about how he discredits you every day with his colourful, ridiculous attitude.  How he seems to excel at everything...how your own status may be sacrificed to the hungry altar of his vile ambitions.

-I already know about this, thanks for remembering me.  It is why we are here, after all.  There is a way to make him vanish.  This is a highly forbidden invocation hidden in the most secluded parts of the Vault of Secrets.

-And what exactly does it involve?

Arthurus whispered something in her ear.

The woman known as Salierna smiled, revealing pure white teeth fixed into some excited, carnivorous smile.

It was almost morning time.  Ryan bowed to his mistress and departed after a soft kiss.  The next night would be great; there was no doubt about it.  He headed to his room, heart both jubilant and troubled.  On his way he met the vestal matron.

-A drink for the most eminent Seeker of Stars, my Lord?

-Such a fine offer cannot go unanswered, Salierna.

Ryan addressed her his usual deferential look when being served by a woman of the cult.  She watched eagerly as he took a first sip and focused on her attitude with all her might as she well knew of the young prodigy’s ability to perceive motives despite his great naivety.  She watched in ecstasy as he emptied the content of the cup.  Suddenly, a violent cough gripped the young man

-Feeling bad, my Lord? Here, come.  Let me guide you to my quarters where I will attend to your needs.

-Ahu...euhm...Su...Sure...he muttered.

His thoughts were clouded in a thick mist, his drugged brain unleashing contradictory images and emotions in a raging storm.  Every object enlightened by the torches on the walls appeared blurring as is the air around scorching, dancing flames.  Ryan was in a delirium crisis and no matter how hard he tried to regain hold of his train of thoughts by force, everything faded away at great speed. 

-This will be alright, my Lord. 

“The tone didn’t sound convincing or am I being driven by my disease? Why am I ill anyway? Why can’t I even remember!? Why is she leading me there...the restrooms are in another direction, are they?”

The vestals’ room was empty since no ritual was to be undertaken before dawn; everyone was sleeping deeply for the cultists had no business to attend during day time.

-Evelyn...

That last word escaped his narrow lips before a huge tremor in his brain made him pass out.  He barely noticed the looming figure of the woman that seemed so far away and near at the same time.  Behind her stood a man he barely had time to recognize as one of the Keeper of Secrets before everything went black.

Arthurus was shocked in disbelief.  He had never expected this plan to work and now that he contemplated the former Seeker of Stars reduced to this puny size, he wasn’t confident anymore with the well going of this whole affair.  His resentment towards him was no modest, but this was just too much for him to handle.  Compassion and pity pervaded his thoughts.

-This is pure madness, Salierna.  The moon knows why I let myself fall into this trap of yours.  This has gone way too far...

-Stay put and relax.  No harm was done to this man beside an insignificant cough.  And no warm will be done to him if he cooperates.  You have gone this far with me...It would be tremendously stupid to back off now, wouldn’t it? We are committed and need to carry this out properly.

-Nevertheless, I shall not partake in this any longer.  May the sun burn your rotten soul for trapping me under the seal of secret, for I shall not betray you.

-Wait! Don’t you dare cross this door, Arthurus... I will rip your heart from your very chest and feed it to the beguilers themselves!

-Off with you, bitch.  I am far beyond your reach.

He passed the threshold without a look behind.

She would have to deal with this accursed fool before the next night...

-Sleep well, little one.  You and I will have a great deal to do.

She smiled.