I made my way towards the ragtag group of rogues that had rushed into Altia several hours ago. The female they had brought had been close to death but we had managed to save her. To what end, I did not know. At least not now. I tucked my hands into my robe and lifted the hem over the dewy grass, relishing in the feel of it on my bare feet.

The moon was bright and high in the sky, despite the slight warming of the skyline that showed morning would be coming soon. Mene had been lingering in the sky over the territory, as if she were curious of what was happening within her temple. I did not blame her, I was curios as well.

I scanned the group and landed on the burly male with the scraggly beard and blood soaked clothing. I found myself frowning at the state of him. "You have not gotten clean." I stopped in front of the group and dropped the hem of my robes as I tilted my head at him. "This is Altia, what is ours is yours. You are in need of cleansing, we cannot have you running around as such." I gestured him up and down but his dark eyes showed me the reason he had not done as I had first suggested when they arrived.

"How is she?" The words rumbled out of him and I slowly looked over my shoulder to the large temple we had placed her in for healing. It had the largest windows for Mene to look through as the healers worked her given magic. It was always better to work underneath her gaze.

I looked back to the male. "She is alive and should be grateful for those who brought her into our care." I found my mouth turning up at the corners just a fraction before letting out a sigh. "She will not bear children though. Not anymore." A harsh sadness fell over me for the female who had been brutalized as such. It was always a sorrow when one could not complete what the bond wished. "Who ever did as they did wanted to ensure that, and they have gotten their wish. Did you find who harmed her?" I looked them all over but no one but the male would meet my eyes.

He swallowed hard, the gesture catching my gaze at the nervousness it held. "She did." The words were said bluntly and he looked surprisingly pale at the words as if he were remembering something he would rather not.

"She found them?" I tilted my head with curiosity as I watched him shuffle in his spot, looking away.

"She did it to herself." His face turned nearly grey but it was his words that made me give a long and slow blink as I processed what he was saying. A female who had nearly given up her life in an attempt to remove her ability to have children... I had never seen such a thing before. The mundanes had ways of making their females infertile but they were monitored and done with professionals, we did as well with healers present and neither were so brutal.

"Why in the name of the goddess would she do that?" I watched him intently, looking at him as if his skin and clothing would tell me the answer. I had so many questions and I knew that his answers meant very little. I would ask the goddess about this and she would provide me with all I needed to know.

"She cut her baby out." The words were nearly enough to drop my mouth open in shock. As it were I inhaled sharply in horror at what the implications were. The destruction of an innocent life by their own mother. "I am assuming he was an heir to whatever ranked position her male had and she did not wish for the pregnancy but I don't know. She never spoke ill of the child or the pregnancy. We never expected that." The male gave a helpless gesture to the temple as his dark eyes met my own, looking far too soulful for the female who had done such a thing.

"I... I need to meditate on this." I needed to speak to Mene, I needed to have her guidance for what it was that had been delivered into my hands in the deepest dark of the night. "Please, Altia welcomes you and you are free to use our facilities to clean up and to rest. You may stay as long as you wish." I turned slowly, once again picking up the hem of my robe.

"Head Priestess..." The title made me pause but I couldn't bear to look at him, not while I floundered in the knowledge he had given me. "The female... what is to happen to her?" His voice cracked slightly and I swallowed hard. "She doesn't know what she is doing, not really. She can't be punished for what happened, can she?" He sounded so torn, as if he believed a punishment was necessary but he also wished to show a broken female mercy but I did not have the answer he sought.

"That is between her and Mene. What the goddess decides shall come to be, Riley Jensen." I scanned the buildings before looking over my shoulder at him once more, feeling an icy pit grow in my stomach. "And we will not interfere." I clenched my teeth together, my jaw ticking as I turned back towards my personal temple. "I must meditate." I needed to speak to Mene, I needed her guidance now more than ever. For a female to have done such a thing was horrendous and I knew it merited punishment, how severe would be up to the goddess.

I gazed at the moon as I hurried my pace to the small and unassuming temple that held my personal altar to Mene. I silently asked her for direction, for guidance as made my trek. My eyes landed on the temple as I dashed up the small stone steps and into the darkness within. I closed the doors behind me, dropping the draw bar down across them. I could not be disturbed, not while I communed with Mene.

I made my way to the raised dais that sat in the middle of the room. It was bathed in moonlight and the embers within the braziers that sat at the four corners of the dais cast a dull orange glow. I slid my robe off, letting it pool on the floor before I strode up the two stone steps that brought me to the top of the dais. I stepped over the lines of symbols that had been carved out century after century by the Head Priestesses that had come before me.

My eyes landed on the pedestal that held the celestial dagger and I moved over to it slowly, doing my best to tamp down my uncertainty, confusion, and wariness of what I would be asking of our goddess. The inner temple of the Head Priestess could not be corrupted with negative feelings. One moved in this space with reverence and confidence, anything else could taint the rituals that took place.

I stood before the celestial dagger, my eyes taking in the ancient blade as the moonlight danced on it. It was carved, much like the floor and I knew that it's beauty was needed to soothe minds from it's purpose. I knew the sleek lines and designs by heart, I had needed to study the blade before I had been allowed to use it. Treat her as you would a lover, Ambris. That is what the old Head Priestess had told me once she had allowed me to study the practices in the inner temple. Know her every curve and edge and never touch her with anything but love. In turn she will treat you fair and guide you on your journeys beyond the tides. I knew the blade more than I knew my own body at times.

I studied the blade and looked towards the large window where the moon still hung high in the sky, silently asking for permission. I turned my gaze back to the blade and waited for the signal that I could proceed. Sometimes our goddess did not wish to be seen or disturbed and every second that passed had my heart beating harder in my chest. Just when I thought she would not give me leave to continue the braziers flared to life with a whoosh, the fire crackling and snapping high into the air before they reduced.

I picked it up in my hands, the silver cool on my skin as I bowed my head and murmured my thanks to the goddess as I slowly backed away to stand in the middle of the symbols on the dais. The stone was smooth against my feet, worn and oiled by the centuries of females that stood where I now stood. I exhaled a shaky breath and steeled my nerves before I brought the dagger up. I brushed my lips across the silver designs before closing my eyes, turning my face upwards, allowing the moonlight to caress my face. It was as if Mene were soothing me, calming me, for what was to come.

"Mene, I ask for your advice." The words fell from my lips right as I sunk the dagger between my ribs and into my heart. For a moment there was nothing but the feel of blade parting my flesh and piercing deep within me. I felt the moment of death, the darkness wanting to swarm me and take me underneath the tides. I felt it's want to drown me underneath the souls that were being taken from their shells and into the great machine that was Mene's arms. My heart faltered, blood poured down my naked flesh, pooling into the symbols. I did not have to see it to know it was. Death slowly started to grasp at me as my legs wobbled, threatening to collapse and then light exploded outwards.

My eyelids brightened but I knew better than to look. There had been more than one blind Head Priestess who spoke of the ills of such an action. I closed my eyes tighter and braced myself as the celestial blade disappeared and Mene's energy surged through the wound and pulled me above the darkness of the tides and to the shores at her feet. I landed on stone with a thump and a rasping gasp. My knees ached from where they connected and I fought back the small whimper in my throat that I always got from jumping the tides and my near death.

"Why are you here, priestess?" Her question was snapped out, her tone edged with anger and her dominance shoving me further into the stones that rested before her throne.

"A female has been brought to Altia, guiding light. I seek understanding." The words rasped from a throat too tight with fear to come out clear. She had never been hostile to me before, I did not like the dominance she threw at me. It made both my wolf and I cower with an expectation of punishment. The dominance disappeared but she did not speak. I slowly lifted my body to kneel rather than cower. I pressed my hands to my thighs and bowed my head. "May I speak?" I asked it quietly and she was there, lifting my chin so I could address her.

She was dressed in black, as always, the veil covering her face twisting and stretching as if it contained a multitude of faces that only I could see. The throne room was shrouded in darkness and I wanted to shiver underneath it. She was angry, from what I did not know but it was evident in how she held herself as she waved her hand lazily, the dark smoke that had lifted my chin for her slowly retreating to the darkness that enshrouded her.

I swallowed hard and opened my mouth to speak before she held up her hand, silencing me. "I know of the female you speak. So do not regal me with descriptions. I have been following her for a long time and I am glad she had found her way into the heart of my lands." Her voice was tight but her posture was deceptively relaxed as she slowly shifted in her spot, crossing her legs, allowing one pale leg to dangle in the air, free from her robe.

"What happened to her?" I didn't mean to ask the question but it slipped out before I could. Mene had a way of doing that. She always managed to some how push the most important questions from your lips before you could even think of them.

"What happens to every strong female who has been broken." Her words were calm and if I had not watched her hands I would have thought her relaxed but I watched as marble cracked underneath her grip. "A male" Stone crumbled further as she said the word, her rage nearly palpable in the darkness of her throne room.

"A male?" I glanced up at her face and watched as the shadows behind her seemed to reach out and tug at her veil, as if angry it was there.

"A male named Adam, an Alpha born to the position and who sought a female to bear his heir. He found her and took her and broke her." She hissed the word out her foot swaying in the air almost hypnotically as more marble crumbled underneath her grip on her throne. "That is the female you have." She inclined her head at me slightly before she paused. "What is left of her at least." There was an angry sorrow to her tone that I could not even begin to fathom before I shifted my hands on my thighs.

"About the heir, my goddess, she took him from her belly and killed him." I watched her carefully, unsure of how she would react to my next question. With our goddess you never knew with her, she was mercurial as the tides of her Ocean. "Is she to be punished?"

She gave a slow chuckle that raised the hairs on the back of my neck. "Why would I punish her? I told her to do it." She said it so evenly that I blinked, confused and wary before a slight for of indignation rose up in my chest.

The child was an innocent soul, uncorrupt by the ways that this world had and she had ordered his death. I could not understand. "The child was innocent!"

"Do not dare question my judgment, female!" Her dominance slammed into me as she jumped to her feet. It shoved me against the stone, threatening to crush my bones into dust as she shoved me down even further. "I will not have a lowly priestess question my decision! You were not there! You did not witness the horrors inflicted upon her!" Her rage made her words hot against my skin and I couldn't hold back the groan of pain I had as her dominance ground me into the stones.

"That male brutalized her but he did something so much worse, he took my voice from her ears." The words were hissed into my own ears and tears sprang to my eyes as my skin felt seared from her rage before the dominance lessened on me, allowing me to breathe and no longer threatened to turn me into dust. "I had to listen to her soul screaming out for me, begging me for the torment to end. I had to listen to her soul whimpering prayers for me as he brutalized her over and over again to get that heir and I could not comfort her." The pained sorrow was back, it tore into me and I found myself weeping for the goddess who could not do it herself. My tears falling upon the stones of her throne room.

"I could not whisper to her that I held her in my arms, that I loved her and would keep her safe, that I would end the suffering. I could not tell her of her strength, could not beg her to endure so we could see it through to the end. I could not reach her no matter how hard I tried." Her words were edged in pain and despair that clawed through me. It sunk deep into my chest and it caused me to shudder with sobs that couldn't break free.

"I listened to her beg, whimper, and scream until he took her voice away too. She could no longer speak to me and I had to watch as he shattered what was left of her soul and her mind as he buried that child within her belly." A still silence followed as she stopped speaking and I tried hard to stop the tears that were burning my face as her sorrow pushed against my very soul. "Then I learned her wolf could still hear me and I guided her away from Adam, guided her towards Altia, and when she was far enough away I told her wolf to remove his darkness from within her so she could hear my voice again." I inhaled shuddering breaths, tears blurring my vision at her pure and ancient sorrow for the child she could not protect or comfort.

"I asked her to remove it and she did." My arms were grasped and shaky breaths escaped me as Mene lifted me off the floor and wiped away my tears as gently as any mother. She held my chin so I was forced to look at her. I could not see her eyes but I knew that they bore into my own. "Do not weep for the boy. I could not allow a child to be born that could not hear my voice or take my guidance or could ignore it entirely." She tightened her grip on my chin. "I cannot allow any child to be born if they can take away my voice from the ears of others." She let my chin go and patted my cheek with an almost halfhearted affection.

"You asked of punishment, priestess, and there will be one. Her male will be punished for what he has done." She rose to her feet and moved back to her throne, settling into her spot, gripping the cracked and crumbling arms of her throne once more. "She took my request too far and she can no longer bear children. That will not do. It is all about balance, priestess, keeping this world of mine even and just. He will be punished and she... she will be saved." Mene lifted her chin, the veil flowing around her as she moved.

My breathing still shuddered in my chest and I wiped at my sticky cheeks. "What shall we do about the female? What will become of her?" She could not stay in Altia forever and if she was a broken as Mene said then we did not have the ability to help her, not truly.

"Her name is Lilith and you will care for her until the time comes when she is to leave you. Watch her, guide her, allow her to rediscover who she is. There will be stumbles and setbacks as what Adam has done to her cannot truly be fixed but you can alleviate her burdens." She once again moved into that relaxed position, her leg danging and swirling in the air. "Care for her until I make my will known. You will understand it when it comes to pass. If not, I am always here to let you know." With that she waved her hand and I was shoved back over the tides and towards reality.

I landed on the dais in my temple with a gasp of air as I hit my knees and clutched at my chest. I coughed rapidly, trying to catch my breath from the experience of almost dying. I reflexively traced where the celestial dagger had pierced my chest but there was no mark, I knew there wouldn't but but it was habit. A part of me always expected to feel the raised skin of a scar but time after time there was never anything to register what I had done.I lifted my head and sunlight was starting to stream through the windows.

I inhaled sharply, I knew I had been gone for longer than I had thought. I made a quick glance to the pedestal to ensure the dagger was back where it belonged before I dashed down the dais steps and grabbed my robe before slipping it on. I adjusted it quickly before shoving the draw bar up and pulling the doors open. Morning had already started and I watched as a procession of moonborn children, hand in hand, walked towards the eating hall.

We had three of them and I watched them intently, their pale forms seeming to glow in the sunshine. They waked carefully oldest to youngest, they held hands to guide each other through a world they could not see. They were led by an elder priestess, her form stooped with age.

I could feel a priestess move towards me but I held a finger to my lips to silence her before she could speak. I waited with bated breath as dark clouds rolled towards us, covering the sun and making the area dark. The air felt charged with expectation and my eyes widened. We were to witness a blessing.

The lead moonborn stopped handing the grip of the one behind him to the priestess who was leading them. She said nothing, taking the hand of the other child, continuing on her way. The eldest moonborn lifted his head to the sky, his face serene. They always knew when they were being called, they could feel it in the air, hear it in their ears. Mene called to them, becoming them with promises of home. I watched intently and he was engulfed in a bright flash of light and it was followed by a a crack of thunder that was so loud it threatened to deafen my wolf and I before the clouds slowly dissipated and I let the air out in a whoosh.

The moonborn lay in the grass, and even though I was not close enough to see, I knew he was gone. I slowly made my way towards him. "He is gone then?" At the rasping words of the elder priestess I waved her off.

"He has passed, Isla. Do not worry, we will take care of him." They did not worry so she did not need to worry. They knew what their life was and when their time would be called, everything else was inconsequential.She gave a slow nod and continued their walk for their breakfast, not a stride missed in the moonborns' movements.

I knelt in the grass beside the moonborn and pulled his frail form into my arms before I brushed a loving kiss across his forehead. "You have done well, vessel, Mene brings you back into her arms with pride." I smiled down at his peaceful expression. He had done as he was made to do and the world would be better for it.

"What is it that she had done, Ambris?" At the softly asked question I stopped my slow rocking of the boy and looked at her. It was Tina, one of the newer priestesses, she looked stricken at the sight of the boy. I knew it was always hard, seeing the first moonborn die but this is what they were made for. They were sacrificial lambs and they lived and died as such, there was no need to grieve the gift their death brought.

"Here, hold him, feel the lingering of Mene's power and his happiness." I gently shifted him into her arms, making her wrap her arms around the empty vessel. "They spend their entire lives trying to get back to Mene's arms, they are bits of her more than we could ever hope to be. They are only truly happy once they are back in her embrace. Do not weep for those who are happy to leave, Tina." I smiled at her softly, brushing a fallen tear from her cheek as she gathered him closer. "Take him to the temple to be cleansed." I helped her to her feet as she cradled him close to her chest. A mere seven years old, I had always wondered when he would go and what blessing he would bring.

Ambris, the female... what has Mene done?  One of the healers spoke to me through the mindlink and I smiled.

Her name is Lilith. I let the words flow through my mind before I glanced at the temple where the healers had worked so tirelessly. And it is balance. Mene has brought balance. She gives and she can take. Balance had been tilted, she had righted it. I finally met Tina's eyes, sensing she hadn't moved from where she stood. "You asked what it was that Mene has done... she has brought punishment." I watched as her mouth pinched slightly at that, her eyes watering.

"Lilith's male had done a tremendous wrong and so Mene has brought balance. Her infertility for his fertility. This is a showing of Mene's wrath, Tina. Perhaps after you are done with the vessel we can sit down in the library and I can show you other examples of her wrath." I gave her a warm smile and gently pushed her to get her moving towards the temple so she could help prep the moonborn for cleansing.

This was a good teaching moment for the youngest priestesses and priests. We all needed these lessons and it was better they came sooner than later and this was an important one.

The goddess gives... and she takes.