Chapter 10 - The Moon Goddess
When Dante finally fell asleep on the bench, I unlaced myself from his arms and looked for more wood to put on the fire. It was low and only a soft glow of coals remained. I didn't want to bother him with igniting a new batch of wood, and I couldn't sleep.
Now and then I heard him mumbled in his sleep and I'd check on him. His angular features radiated in the dying firelight. He was the most striking man I'd ever seen. My heart jerked and I felt a dull ache of foreboding. Did I want to return home, back to the Garden now, without Dante?
Suddenly a large gust of wind from the South blew out the flames of the smoldering fire. My vision adjusted as I noted how completely dark the night had become. Dante muttered in his sleep. I went to him and placed my fingertips on his wrist. He still had a pulse and was breathing evenly. He's fine, I thought. And he said we were safe here. With that in mind, I decided to explore the beach some.
I looked out across the water to where the strong wind had surfaced. The waters were calm like all life in the sea had stopped. I glanced out at the end of the pier, thinking I wouldn't see anyone, but I did. The moonlight appeared, bathing a figure in light. The person retreated and sat down in the hammock, looking my way beckoning me to join him or her, then reclining in the hammock, rocked back and forth, whistling. I remained frozen, closing my eyes temporarily, so I could focus on the sound. Did I know the tune? I could hear the song floating over the breeze. Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird.
My throat tightened and my legs lurched forward. Could it be? My mother had sung that lullaby to me when I was a baby. Could it be her? Cautiously I made my way out along the pier, hoping against hope it was my mother. When I approached the figure, I realized she was a woman. She wore a white chiffon dress that hovered and moved around her. The dress sparkled with gems that had been woven throughout the sleeves and upper bodice.
Taking a moment to stand, the woman tossed her blonde hair away from her face and over her shoulder, just the way my mother did. I recognized the gesture immediately. Her face, I did not recognize. But her eyes. Her eyes I recognized. They were the color of mine. Tranquil pools of amber love gazing up at me.
"Elana, my love."
"Mother?" I ventured. It had to be her.
"Yes, my love," she said. "Don't let my appearance concern you. It is me."
"What happened?" I asked as I took her feeble hand in mine and guided her along the pier towards the beach. I wanted to hug her, but I was afraid I'd break her in half. She was so gaunt and frail.
"The last token of friendship my best friend took from me before she pushed into the fire. Since then, I've aged some while learning my magic. The previous Moon Goddess retired and handed things over to me. I have some big shoes to fill."
I halted in my tracks, glancing down at my dress, and then at her. "You are the Moon Goddess?"
She simply winked at me, a hint of calculating knowledge crossing her features.
"This is wonderful!" I exclaimed.
In response, a grin beamed on her face. "You were always such a natural wolf. You understand, yes?"
"I think so."
"Let me look at you," she stated, again changing the subject. "You have grown up into such a beautiful lady. Look at you!" She stifled a thin giggle of excitement. "Do I look that old to you, my darling? Too old to hug? Oh what am I saying? That doesn't matter, let me look at you. I'm so happy to see you!"
It was indeed my mother! Her constant chatter. Her changing subjects often. It was indeed her. When we made it to the end of the wooden pier, she whirled me around and fastened both her hands on my elbows like clamps. There was no mistaking. She may look old, but her grip was strong and firm. Her strength had increased, not diminished. Her magic probably had as well. It would have to if she was now the Moon Goddess. Her nails dug into my flesh and I quietly cringed, pretending I felt no pain.
"It's been so long," I said, wrapping my arms around her waist as I hugged her. Delicately, I cradled her bony frame against my body. Foregoing the formalities, I planted a huge kiss on each of her wrinkled cheeks which seemed to delight her.
It seemed my stepmother had drained the very life source from her. I felt enraged. A wave of anger flashed across my face and I was sure my mother had seen it. I'll kill him for this.
Immediately, she turned my attention to the beach. "Are you alone?"
"No," I replied, patting her hand like she was a hundred years old and I was but a child. "I want to meet someone." I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the moonlight seemed to follow us, shining a spotlight on us.
"He is close to your heart, yes? I feel this radiance permeating from you."
"Yes, Mother. I think I..." I paused, not daring to utter the words my heart already knew. "I think I love him," I finally admitted. Feeling ashamed, I quickly shut down and blurted out. "He's willing to save me from Lucifer's clutches and that's all that matters."
She contemplated me, never once believing my hesitation. My mother could always see through any of my charades. She ran her fingers slowly over her lips in a circle, listening intensely to me, but thinking at the same time as she carefully composed her next statement. It was a habit that drove my father nuts. "Elana, who is this boy? Is he a demon? You can't trust..."
"No, you don't understand, Mother. He's sworn to protect me. Even though his father is Lucifer, his mother was a sorceress. I trust him with my life."
My mother pressed her index and middle fingers to her lips. Her golden eyes darted about as she thought. Then she heaved a great sigh. "The spark. You felt that with this young man, didn't you?"
"Yes, Mother. The minute I met him in Hell. I couldn't deny it and neither could he."
"True love," she whispered.
I nodded. "I think so."
"Oh, this is lovely," she said as she rubbed her hands together in contemplation. "I must meet him."
My heart soared. Perhaps Dante and I did have a chance. She patted me on the hand, as I had done to her previously, almost in a mocking manner. Perhaps it contained motherly love with the advice only a caring parent could give, but her tone reminded me of the elite air of a god, something she may be already possessed and it made me immediately understand that I did not completely know this side of my mother. This old woman before me was a source of unknown power like all the celestial goddesses.
Once we made it to the sands of the beach, she paused for a moment as she looked at her feet. "I miss the beach," she muttered. "It's been too long."
I stood by, collecting my thoughts as my mother danced about in the sand. The moonlight's rays reflected the gems lined in her dress and she sparkled amid the night. Visions of that awful night haunted me again. A savage desire to kill my father rose up in me again.
My mother reached out and took my hand in hers. "Elana, you must move on."
"I'm sorry? What do you mean?"
"You can't keep hating your father. He's angered the gods. He will pay. I have it on good authority. You will have your revenge, but it will not be by your hand."
Throwing my head back in a roar of laughter, I let my voice reach to the heavens and then listened as the echo returned to us from across the water. Finally I asked my mother in a low, gritty voice, "I'll stop hating him when he's dead and gone. He refused to step in and save you that night. He must pay. What do you mean I will not have revenge? He will pay for what he has done to our family, what he did to you. He will pay." I clenched my fists over and over, glaring at her.
I felt a soft and familiar warm touch on my shoulder. "Dante."
"Elana, are you okay?" he whispered.
I recovered and, like a statue, I introduced my mother to him, getting the distinct impression they already knew one another.
"Let us sit down. We have much to discuss," my mother announced as she took Dante's arm.
He escorted my mother to the wooden bench under the palm trees as I followed. Gently he touched my arm and my angry mood lifted. "Are you okay? Truly?" he asked. He gestured for me to sit by my mother. I muttered that I was, even though I was greatly confused and reeling from the hurricane of emotions flooding my system.
"Amore. I couldn't wish anything more for you, my daughter. I'm so pleased. You've done very well," my mother mused.
"Who will have revenge on the Werewolf King, Moon Goddess?" Dante asked, directing his question to my mother after we, ladies had settled on the bench and he stood nearby. The moon bathed us all in its light.
When my mother answered him, I nearly passed out, not because of exhaustion, but because of shock.
"You know the answer to that, Dante," she began. "You've shared your blood with my daughter. Have you not? Lucifer' blood flows in her veins now. Does it not?"
He nodded at the same time I glanced up, not believing the gesture he made.
"What do you know? What do we know here?" I yelled, realizing I was in danger of losing my patience and having the Wolf burst forth and interrupt our reunion.
"The bond of our blood," Dante spoke up.
"Yes," my mother said. "You will be my daughter's champion then and she will be yours."
"Oh, wait a minute. What do you mean, Mother? I can defend myself. I don't need anyone's..." I started.
My mother stopped my next words by gripping my knee in her bony fingers. A twinge of pain radiated down my leg. "That is true," she began. She took both my hands in hers. "If you have not completely changed by now, you will be the next full moon. Tasting even a drop of this demon's blood has shifted your path as a werewolf. You must be very careful because you are a danger now to yourself as well as others. You need a protector. His blood has activated the curse you were born with."
"No," I whispered. "That can't be."
My mother nodded. Dante knelt before me and rested his hand on my other knee. "I'm sorry, Elana," he said.
"Sorry Hell," my mother exclaimed. "No, this is perfect. Neither of you knew, but this is perfect. Just as it is written in the Book of the Moon, a wrong can be righted by those bound to the moon. Both of you are bound to the Moon. Don't you see?"
This time I watched as Dante struggled to understand my mother's rapid discourse. She leapt from her place on the bench and pranced about the white beach, dancing in delight and triumph. "Don't you see? The red moon in Hell. The white moon in the Garden. You both are children of the Moons. Whether you are a werewolf or a demon, even a dragon or vampire. You are chosen by a Goddess or God. And when a wrong is made..."
"Because both of our mothers are witches?" Dante blurted out.
"Both of your mothers are goddesses," she corrected. "Yes, and those Gods and Goddesses reign supreme over Heaven, Hell, and Earth."
Dante joined me on the bench, clearly shaken. "I need to sit down for a minute," he mumbled.
"Great things are in store for you, my boy, for both of you." She chuckled softly, and then louder with a laughter of hers I had long forgotten. It was a quiet sound that lodged in the back of her throat at first and grew in volume when she knew she risked all by vocalizing a defiant response in front of my father, but she did it just the same. The sweetest of threats. "Yes, you have the right to seek revenge on the one who caused harm to your mother. It is written. No one is allowed to mess with a goddess, in this realm or others."
Dante took my hand in his. He was shaking or I was, or we both were. The news of our ancestry was overwhelming. It left me motionless. I simply clung to Dante's hand, keeping my body steadfast to his side.
"What do you want to do, Elana?" Dante asked me.
My mother interrupted without anyone asking her, a personality trait that reminded me of my stepmother. "I can inform you that you will be allowed to seek revenge for the deaths of your family members. There are more than just your aunt and sister unfortunately. If you are strong enough, my dear, then you will have your revenge. Dante can be your champion or you can do it together. It doesn't matter by the rules."
I watched stunned as I saw Dante's features grew still. My mother, the Moon Goddess, was giving us permission to kill Dante's father, Lucifer. No one was asking Dante what he wanted to do. Good or evil, the man was still his father.
"If I avenge my family, I'll destroy yours, Dante. I don't know that I can do that," I announced, looking in his direction while I knew my mother still listened. "There has to be something we can do to prevent a war."
Dante spoke up as he held my hand. "I agree. There has to be some compromise we can reach."
My mother laughed at us which I found really odd, only adding to my suspicions. "I see love has found you as well. Love, love, isn't it grand, my dearies?" She walked over to me, reached out, and wiped my face. A stinging sensation flooded the right side of my face and I screamed falling backwards.
I heard Dante yell, "Elana!"
I managed to stand up and I saw what I had suspected all along I would see. The woman before us claiming to be my mother was actually my wicked stepmother. She had embraced the dark side as well. Her white chiffon dress morphed into a shiny black color and her amber eyes blazed a fiery red. Her blonde hair filled in with the colors of black and ashen gray.
When she opened her mouth, it was filled with rows of fangs.
Dante clamped down on my hand, jostling me slightly. "We have to move, Elana. Move."
"You bitch," I screamed at her. "What have you done? So help me if you've killed my father?"
My wicked stepmother howled with laughter, a high piercing sound that set my teeth on edge. "Oh he's dead alright. Along with all your family."
"No!" I stepped towards her, but Dante pulled me closer to him. He slipped a small object in the palm of my hand. "Drink this, quick!"
"What a sight you too misfits are? Lucifer was right, Dante. You make a weak-ass demon. Maybe I'll start my own collection of skulls like your father, starting with yours."
Raising her hands out, the monstrous woman roared at us. Balls of fire surfaced on the palms of her hands and she took aim at us.
Before I could respond, Dante snatched me out of harm's way. "Run," he yelled. "Run and drink that potion now!"
I didn't look back at my wicked stepmother as I raced behind Dante. She was still there and I felt the fire bombs hitting all around us. Even as small as they were, about the size of an orange, their force was brutal. Opening my hand, I saw the small blue bottle of magical potion and I quickly remembered Dante had used it to turn into a cloud of smoke. I kept running, seeing that Dante was making his way to the end of the pier.
He arrives moments before I did. He grabbed my hand. "We'll drink this together. Okay? On three."
"Where are we going?" I screamed, frightened I'd never see him again and end up in some awful place like home. I knew, after seeing my stepmother, that the Garden had been burned to a crisp.
"Call Orlando's name. Say it over and over," Dante demanded. "Okay?" He flipped the cork out of my glass bottle, flipped the one for his, hit his bottle to mine and then slammed the contents down his throat.
My eyes widened and I giggled. He was no demon, I thought. He was my white knight!
"Drink, Elana!"
I drank the contents of the potion down and felt the syrupy sweetness lodge at the back of my throat. I thought of pomegranates or cherries.
Dante pulled his arms and buried his hand in my hair, at the base of my skull. "Orlando," he said. "Say it with me." He rocked me in his arms and the motion calmed me.
I prayed we were out of harm's way, but I had no idea now where we were headed. As long as it's not here, I thought. I returned Dante's embrace and closed my eyes just as a saw a mist of blue smoke rising around us.
### To be continued ###
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