*Ember*

It was time.

The full moon was at its peak.

Standing naked in the moonlight, I could feel it beneath my skin, as though it was alive in my veins.

The clearing around me hummed with energy as the Moon Maidens chanted and burned fragrant incense around the perimeter where the grass met the towering old pines of the darkened woods. Chastine, who was facing me within the circle, recited something ...