Yet the demons of the past again prey upon her hope…..

……. leaving her with little air to breathe….and the demons of the present hit her again and again….all that she has left is hope for the future…..if there is one for her………her past keeps haunting her……the moonlight is again hidden behind clouds so thin…..yet so dense and thick they prevent her from seeing the light she yearns for with all her heart…....it is too dark to walk within the shadows any longer……somehow she must break free of the darkness……..but how she wonders……..everything seems so bleak………peace seems beyond her reach at this moment…….so many demons to slay……..they never cease to appear…….as she sits motionless with tears in her eyes she hears yet another demon beyond the harbor’s edge…….this one shall not get away…….she moves with lithe speed freeing her dagger from its resting place and stands ready……the demon lunges but she drives her dagger into its heart……taking the life of yet another evil vampire that has drained her of life too many times……...it cannot happen again……she must hold on to hope and believe……for there are good vampires out there too…..just as hope exists somewhere within her heart…….it beats erratically within her convoluted by despair and loneliness……..the power of her love struggles to overcome………..

The Dark One breathes in the pure air of freedom……

……she walks upon the engraved walkway once again and forever…….turning, she stands and sees the glow of the full moon moving upward towards the night sky and she gasps with awe and smiles……sitting on the bridge she admires the beauty and serenity that surrounds her…..as happiness fills her with hope……the Dark One feels faith in herself that she will ever walk within her harbor of peace…..and knows it to be truth….within her heart that beats steadily…….just as she is sure of her place and of who she is……more than she ever knew or could have imagined…..love will be her guide in everything……as she imagines, feels, receives…..and more than anything…….the love that she gives……..will bring to her all that she desires……

The Dark One is spent from long hours of dueling with the demons that lurk in the shadows and attack her time after time without resolve…

….she sits and breathes in the cool night air, breathing to give life to her own heart……she has fought too hard for one day and needs the peace of her beloved harbor…..she aches with sorrow at the lies and delusion that the demons throw at her over and over…….knowing that she must hold on to hope and move to a life without such things within…..her only hope…….she holds on knowing they will come soon…….and she will be free to live again……a new start…….a new chance…and she must make it work……..and she will…with love and hope…….for she will not return to the lair of the past ever again……….

As the Dark One steps upon the path that leads to the gazebo on the hill, her heart beats…..

….as if it is telling her to be still and listen to the power that exists within her…..to the love that is still there buried deeply beyond the scars of the past......for it is love that will bring to her all that she wants…….light shines like a beacon from the full moon as it rises high…….a cloudless sky……..stars sparkling as if they are the orchestra performing a brilliant aria conducted by the universe……hope rises within her and she feels it as she has not felt it for so long…..stronger……with more belief that she will surmount the demons that lurk on the edges of her mind……in the darkness……the moon rises full above the lake shadowing the water with a brilliant pathway of light to the other side of existence……where she has longed to be for so long…..an existence filled with light, hope and love……no despair…….no demons……..only love……so that she may have the life she has dreamed of for so long……and she knows it will be…….

A ray of light so pure streams down and casts a shadow on the pavered walkway of the Dark One herself.....

….and she gazes downward at the armored profile wondering…wanting…..wishing….hoping for another shadow to join her among the bricks engraved with memories of day’s past……..someone new, someone with a heart that feels her own……a man or immortal who will feel as she does about her beloved harbor and will walk with her……..not against her…….as so many have…….someone of truth……..not one who holds back……..but one that gives all in passion of thought, feeling and belief……..not like the others who surround her who ignore the reality of existence……..what good can a life without truth be…..the Dark One knows it is nothing that she desires……her strongest desire is that of knowing truth from lie……..and to walk with someone who knows the same……who believes the same……but where is he……..hidden from her eyes for this time……but he shall appear from the shadows when her heart is free…….when that day comes is a mystery to her……..one she feels ripping at her very soul…..she desires light more than anything within her heart to free her from the sadness that has taken joy from her on far too many star-filled nights…….her only peace that of the glowing moon………but, soon, the Harvest Moon will be upon her and she hopes with her entire being that it will be on that night that love fills her heart more than ever………..forever………

Ever as she wanders, the Dark One seeks the light within….

….yet the demons that lurk by day continue to rip at her heart and soul……their intent is to bury it beyond her grasp…..each time the Dark One reaches out for hope she is forced backward toward the cliff’s edge where darkness seeks to take her last breath for its own….she holds on for one more day with strength of will……..fighting against the evil that threatens to take control……within herself she fights against the ghosts that threaten to throw her from her chosen path……one given to her by fate……a fate that has long eluded her…….a fate that she holds close to her heart…….hoping, seeking, wishing for what she has waited for so long to know……to feel…….to live another day…….to have love and music and laughter invade her life once again to stay with her until the end……………

As the heat of the sun warms her, the Dark One sits overlooking her beloved harbor gazing at the bluest of waters…….and her mind wanders….

….she seeks within her heart a way to move forward to new light and new hope……..at once she sees the musical one make his presence known within the harbor and her peace is taken from her……but an illusion is what she needs at this moment to be free of her thoughts if even for a short time…….he moves with the crowds among the seekers of fame……with words for all……the Dark One sits studying the scene before her and wondering……..wishing………hoping…….for a life that holds within it magic, music and peace….things she has fought for so long to have…….when shall they come to her……will they ever come…….thoughts race within her mind…..she remembers the first who brought her childhood dreams to life…….then Blackbeard who showed her places and brought music to her heart…..and then the Angel with Wings who brought laughter and fun, if even for a short time….so few……so rare……..how can there be anyone else she wonders…..someone who can bring all to her…….a childlike view of life, beautiful music and laughter………where is he……within her heart she hopes for such a Prince or Pirate or Immortal who will bring a smile to her face once again and breathe life and love back into her heart….one who will make her believe again that all is possible…..she must find just a glimmer of belief within her soul….within her heart……and, perhaps, he will appear…..one who she can give her love to……one she can share her life with…...she wonders if he does exist……..

As the Dark One sits upon the carved stone near the water’s edge, she remembers the love she once had, yet lost for so long….

….and, yet, never can be ever again but she feels the warmth of love from moments past that lit within her heart a love that shall forever be with her…..for her lost Prince shall always be a part of her heart and of her soul even though he is gone…..gratitude fills her heart for the time that they once had as they played within their castle in the magical field surrounded by a forest, dreaming of the life they would have forever…….wildlife played upon the grasses nearby and beneath a winter moon star-lit eyes shone above the snowy field……that of a stag and its mate watching them……as the Dark One and her Prince of Scots gazed upon their beauty…..magic filled the air……yet, one day, it was gone and sadness ruled over the Kingdom…..leaving the Dark One in deep despair at the loss of her Prince as she sat looking out at the heart shaped pond from her tower windows……the one who held her heart….her whole life…..in his hands……he chose to take another path away, far away from their love and in that moment a great love was lost…..forever……..as the Dark One searched her heart she found her way with tears and sadness……sadness so deep that it broke her heart so deeply that no one could enter…..she wondered if ever anyone could ever touch her heart again……..and her journey began to the place where magic filled her heart…..her beloved harbor……the place where she felt she belonged more than ever she had felt before…….

Out of her memories, a duck appears as she sits on the stones……..and tears fall down upon the ground beneath her remembering the loss but feeling love in her heart for what once she had…..and knowing that it will always be with her until the end of time…….rising from her seat she holds the silver ring within her palm feeling the heat of the love that once existed…..within its band the words “all I refuse and thee I chuse”………with strength, she throws it into the water far beyond vowing to give her love to this place forever……knowing that what once held her heart can no longer be but that she can carry the love within her…...as their love shall always exist in life and in death…….

The scent of darkness is in the air, overcoming the gardens nearby as the Dark One walks upon the pavered walk……….

….yet even as the Dark One’s light shines brightest, the serpent that is darkness slithers at the edges of her reality hoping to strike at the very heart of her soul…..trying to bring her down to the level of its underworld existence….but she must fight against it and its mate until it is not a threat to her happiness any longer…..it is a battle of wills……darkness against light…..over and over………never ending………but she will overcome it with strength, courage and valor……..as the serpent has none of these to fight with…….its only weapons are that of ill will and underhanded ways……and they cannot overcome her no matter that her heart is bleeding with sadness for loss once again……the loss of a thousand nights knowing that one of her own blood is borne of hell and has refused redemption……she cannot save the serpent…….the serpent has chosen its own path of shadowed light…....shadows of guilt covered with lies and deceit………light beams down upon it and it hisses wildly burning in the heat…….but no one cares to hear its blackness…….and the Dark One is upon it wielding her Sword of Truth…..striking it down for the last time and not looking back……..moving forward to a life without the darkness of the serpent’s will……the serpent whose given name denotes that of a rose covered in thorns is banished forever from her life and cannot hurt her ever more……….the Dark One stands upon the hill where the gazebo rises toward the sky……..the sun sets and the moon rises and the stars appear……..gazing upon them she stands strong with her sword at her side…….slowly, she raises it toward the sky and vows that no one shall ever take from her ever again that which is most precious…….her happiness and her light……..forever they shall remain within her as she guards her magical harbor once again…………