It hadn't been a very good year for Zoe. She had lost her job, filed for bankruptcy, and had to move back home to live with her parents. On top of all of that, she had been diagnosed with uterine cancer and had been given just six months to a possible year to live.

After weeks of pain caused by chemo therapy, she decided she was no longer going to sit idly by. It was time to take back her life.

She had studied Majik under a Master, Rowan, to a certain extent and felt relatively confident in her ability. Although, to date, she had only performed a few minor spells, and always under Rowan's direct supervision, she thought that she was ready for her decided route. She had never tried anything this complex before, but she had made up her mind to summon the goddess Rosemerta.

She began gathering the supplies that she would need for the ritual. She collected a white candle to represent the Goddess and purity, a black candle for protection and to repel negativity, a green candle to induce physical healing and success of personal goals, a brown candle to ask for special favors, and a red candle to promote survival. She also acquired a blessed herbal candle, purple in color, to represent healing.

She then collected limbs from an apple tree for healing, an aspen for protection, an oak for strength, and a willow for enchantment.

She also gathered her runes to place about the circle for additional protection.

She nervously awaited the new moon, for this was Rosemerta's domain. She knew that the new moon was the most opportune time to ask for health and wellbeing.

At long last, the night arrived. Zoe made her way through Jardenia Forest just before sunset with her offering of milk and honey in her hand and her bag of supplies on her back.

The wood felt alive to her this night. The health of the trees around her was palpable. She could feel their breathing on the nape of her neck as their viney arms reached out to embrace her. They left their mossy imprint upon her clothing, almost as a seal of approval.

She walked through as though floating and soon came to a small, perfectly circular clearing in the center of the wood.

She set her bag down in the center and took the runes to the nearby brook to cleanse and sanctify them.

As soon as she was finished, she began using them to set up the perimeter of her inner circle. At each of the four cross points she inserted her tree limbs into the ground, with the apple at the most important northern point.

She placed the five candles at what would be points of a pentacle around a large rock she had found to act as an altar. She placed a sacred cloth over the rock and placed the herbal candle, milk, and honey at triangular pivot points on the surface.

Finished with her preparations, she changed into a long, flowing, white robe with nothing on underneath. She settled in to await dusk.

Once the moment arrived, Zoe lit the candles and raised her arms and her voice to the sky. "Oh, Rosemerta, goddess and keeper of the new moon, I hail thee. Hear my cry and visit me this night."

The wind began to blow and within seconds all the candles were blown out, leaving Zoe with only the hazy light of a cloudy night. Just as suddenly, the wind stopped. A single moonbeam cast through the clouds and settled on the makeshift altar.

"I offer these gifts and my services in exchange for your help." Zoe said to the encompassing presence emanating from the ray of moonlight.

"Child," the night whispered, "you cannot provide service to me. You have nothing to offer. However, your gifts are appreciated. Ask what you will, anyway."

"It is a selfish request, I know, but I wish that you would restore my health to me and rid my body forever of the disease that is eating it alive," Zoe responded.

Before she could get a reply, she heard the crack of a twig breaking off to her left. A black snake slithered out and rose to its full height of nearly six foot tall. "Foolish child," it hissed, its tongue leaving traces of red tinted light as it flicked through the air, "you know not what you do."

From behind her, a red snake sprang up. "Your ignorance enables us," it hissed.

To her right, a yellow snake made its way to the circle. "Your arrogance impels us," the traces of light enunciating his words.

Directly in front of her, a white snake, already three times the size of the other three, stared her in the eye. "Your greed has brought us forth," he claimed. "You have summoned us, and now we will reclaim our territory."

One by one, the three smaller snakes entered the circle and merged with the other. The fearsome creature created was a bearded dragon with a long scaly body, with bands of yellow, black, and red circling its tail. It had grown to three times the size it had been originally. The traces of light the former snakes had created now became fiery breath that singed Zoe's hair as the creature hissed at her. As he began to breathe in, it appeared that he was sucking in the moonbeam. Slowly the light of the goddess dissipated and became one with the dragon-like being.

Previously frozen in terror, Zoe now began to shiver uncontrollably. Her mortal mind could not conceive either what was happening or how it had happened. 'I used protection precautions. How could they have failed? And what territory is it referring to?!' she thought.

"You had no idea of what powers you were releasing when you meddled in Majik. You do not possess the strength or skill to control the forces you intended to invoke. I am back and this forest will soon become mine again," the dragon claimed. "And after, I shall take back the rest of this land."

Off to the left, behind the dragon, Zoe noticed a flash of red. Averting her eyes from the dragon for a second she attempted to discern the source of the movement she saw without drawing the being's attention to it.

"I once was the caretaker of this forest and the surrounding areas, before man came and contained my power. These mere mortals, fearing for the life of their livestock and families, betrayed me and imprisoned my spirit in the trees. The humans thought that I had too much power to be allowed to be left alone, so once a year they would come and perform the containment rituals anew. Soon, however, the mortal memory faded and as I was forgotten, my power began to grow again," the dragon continued. "I soon learned an incantation so that every new moon of the spring I was able to roam the woods in snake form, but never as a whole being."

As he talked, Zoe noticed more movement behind him. She came to realize that it was her mentor, Rowan. Rowan had begun to creep closer and closer to the circle unnoticed while the snake spoke.

"I was peaceable, once," he went on. "I never would have hurt a soul. Not until their betrayal and distrust was I capable of the travesties they accused me of. They molded me into the demon that I am today. Centuries of being trapped with nothing to do except reflect upon their betrayal has embittered me. Now you, a simple, selfish mortal, have come and freed me and I will reclaim my glory."

Rowan came flying out of the woods with a shout and jumped into the circle. "I know you, Nyx. I know your pain and your triumphs, but I will not let you destroy mankind out of vengeance," she cried, her long red curls flying in the wind and her black robe billowing around her. "You were mistreated, but you cannot punish the world for the mistakes of the past."

"What do you know of this, girl? You are one of them. I see your power and feel your strength, but you alone are not enough to destroy me. I will prevail and I will start with this silly child before you," he proclaimed.

Before anyone could move, Nyx shot a fireball at Zoe. It hit her in the stomach and sent her airborne for a few feet. As she came down, she hit her head on the mock altar and was rendered unconscious.

Rowan flew into action and whizzed a ball of light at Nyx. With impact, the yellow band on his tail disappeared. "You took an oath in your younger years to harm none. You will abide by that oath or we will both die trying," she yelled.

The wind began to whip more around the two, as if in anticipation of the next blow. Nyx lashed out with his tail and smacked Rowan into a nearby tree.

Recoiling from the blow, she staggered forward. Before she could catch her balance, Nyx threw another fireball at her. Gracefully, she stopped it in midair and flung it back at him. With the force of his own might tossed back at him, both the red and black bands on his tail disappeared.

Weakened, Nyx wrapped his tail around Zoe and dangled her in front of him as a shield. "I…will…not…go…quietly," he puffed. "This child will die, too, should you destroy me."

"I have no intentions of destroying you, noble Nyx," she whispered sympathetically. "I wish to free you from your curse. You will finally be at peace in inexistence. You befriended man, and they turned their back on you. Allow me the chance to set it right."

Almost transparent with weakness, Nyx dropped Zoe back to the earth and looked mournfully at Rowan. "Why do you care, young one? This is not your battle, yet you willingly put yourself at risk for this girl, for people you don't even know?"

Rowan just shook her head and raised her arms to the sky, "Come forth goddess of the new moon. Be free of this shell you have been trapped in. Be released!" she shouted into the wind.

The whipping of the wind increased momentarily and flung Nyx about as if he were a rag doll. As his mouth opened to scream, the solitary moonbeam flooded out of his open jaw and once more landed on the makeshift altar.

"Nyx," the night once again whispered with the voice of the goddess, "my son, this is not the path for you. You are a creature of Light. Let the love grow in you once more and you will be free forever."

Suddenly a warm glow came about Nyx, as he felt the presence of his goddess all around him. "Rosemerta," he sobbed, falling to the ground. "I am truly sorry. I don't know why I allowed this hatred to blacken my soul. But can I ever be truly forgiven?"

"Nyx, you know you were forgiven before you even committed the wrong. You are mine and my love for you is eternal. Go now and join your brothers in the sky." With this the moonbeam flooded the circle with a blinding light before dissipating altogether.

Nyx started to become more transparent and appeared to be melting away into starlight. Just before floating off into the night forever, he looked at Rowan. "You are a brave mortal. Raise more generations like you and this world will not be in such dire circumstances." With the last breath, he disappeared and a new star shone brightly in the night sky.

Rowan walked over and knelt by her fallen pupil. Touching the wound in her stomach, Rowan began to cry. With tears streaming down her face, she looked to the sky.

Once more, the night whispered in her ear. "I will heal this wound, but I will not cure the disease. Teach your student to respect the forces around her. Make her understand that 'dabbling' in Majik is unacceptable for those who do not appreciate the full consequences of every action. Take her home now and care for her. She will be as she was by morning."

Rowan picked Zoe up and carried her back through the wood and to her car. She watched closely on the drive home and, as she placed her into her bed, Zoe's eyes began to flutter. "Rowan," she croaked hoarsely, "I understand now. My cancer is my burden to bear in this lifetime. It is my trial to overcome so that it shall not overcome me. Nyx had to fight his demons and you fight yours. This is just mine to face, for I am not intended to wield Majik, just to comprehend its existence." Zoe's eyes fluttered once more after this speech and closed. She fell into a deep slumber with a smile on her face.

Rowan also smiled down at the child lying in bed with the covers bunched all around her, dwarfing her small figure. "Yes, child. You do understand now."

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