Rooted in Moonlight

"I crave the moon," she says.

I watch as she reaches both hands upward, one to steady her on an invisible wall of stars littering across the sky, and the other hand grasps in a pinching motion for the golden orb above us.

We are alone on a coast, a land she had never stepped foot on until now. She peeks over her shoulder, and her eyes, a once pale blue, now sharp and glowing, are in awe of the new world. It warms a small piece of me to see her near completion of the change, but it does not reach my heart.

Instead, I let my eyes roam over her figure, stirring me again to take hold of her and lay her beneath me. Her slender fingers are pale and delicate in the moonlight as she tries to capture what evades her.

A peal of small laughter bubbles up from me, and I stand up to reach for her, drawing her back close to my chest.

"We do not have the means to obtain stars or wonders above our reach, but you will have eternity to seek out how to do so."

I squeeze a little tighter, sensing the warmth of life fading from her body, quickening my desire. I lean down and leave a soft kiss on the sleek curve of her neck. A faint cry escapes her, gripping her attention away from the night and centering it back on me.

Her ocean eyes, a complete and opposite pair of my dark pools, are wide with innocence and full of hunger as they meet mine. She is barely one-and-twenty, a shy creature lacking any experience with life or love, and could not bring herself to ask of the pleasure I gave her earlier while taking her innocence.

"How can we not reach the stars, my love? You can fly." She whispers these words into the night. In my state, I can see the crisp breath of her life become the words she speaks of, dancing off into the breeze.

I do not respond, for I am a being who takes action. I gently guide her to face me. We let our lips speak naturally as a man and woman do for a moment. She pulls back for air while I fight my instinct to push her to the ground. I fight the urge to plunge myself into the heat of her desires until she screams with pleasure.

But something happens. Her body begins to give out, leaning into my chest. I hear her sigh and mumble something of sweetness.

She is fearless and too trusting -- I lift her into my arms and carry her to where we made love some moments ago. We lay there for some time until she spoke.

"I long to be rooted in moonlight, my love. To conquer all beings who come to cross the thicket of this land, seeking her silver hair."

"Is Selene that beautiful to you that you must defend her honor from all men?"

"All men? No. Just those that seek to destroy her light."

I remain quiet.

"I yearn to feel her eternal embrace, cooling the flames I had been born from."

"And you shall after tonight," I say, reflecting on the life she would have had if she had remained longer with her cruel father.

She did not respond, but the rhythm of her heart no longer beat as it should.

"Kiss me," she says. Her words are slow, and her breathing is becoming short. "...Before I change into the night... am yours forever---"

My lips crush hers once more. I can feel her strength waning. I allow her some delusion of a dream to secure the promise of eternity and safety she sought.

When the sun rises over the horizon along with its amber rays, her body will be a radiant pyre over the sea, withering into ashes and dancing with the breeze toward the flaming sky.