The full moon easily showed her the path through the dense forest. She walked as if in a trance, each step bringing her closer to the terrible truth she knew she must face tonight. Her bare feet walked over crisp autumn leaves and sharp pebbles dug into her heels but she didn't feel any pain. All she could feel was her pulse racing. An owl screeched in the distance but she didn't hear that either. Instead, the frantic beating of her heart filled her ears.
She held her breath as she finally came upon the edge of the clearing and quietly melted into the shadow of a tree to watch him. Maybe she was wrong. Please, let me be wrong, she thought. How could she have been so misled by him? A year ago, she vowed to love him in sickness or in health, in good times or in bad. She was so sure of their love a year ago. Now, she trembled as she watched him place the candles in a circle, his black cape fluttering softly in the wind that seemed to emanate from within.
He spoke in a language unfamiliar to her. The chant sounded almost lyrical as he lifted his arms to the moon. Instantly, a blue flame shot up from the candles around him. The breeze that was so gentle only a moment before suddenly now roared around her, plastering her thin nightgown to her slim body. Mesmerized, she gazed at him as the chant grew in strength. The light of the moon seemed to fill him so that he glowed with it’s power.
As abruptly as it had started, the gale force wind stopped. She gasped as the sorcerer turned and lowered the hood from his handsome face. The sky blue eyes that she had loved so much were now looking straight at her but they were black now, not blue. In their depths she found the truth that she so desperately wanted to deny. This was her husband‘s body but not his soul. His soul had been consumed by the evil of this spell caster. She watched in horror as his lips slowly curled into a devilish grin. As she turned to run, she heard him whisper, "It has begun..."
