Secret and strange are the ways of the Night
When the light is forsaken and drear;
Beware of the tricks of the Maiden Moonlight
'Till the day makes the dark disappear.

"I hardly think you are in a position to bargain, fair Goddess," he said, licking his lips and moving ever closer to her, a hunter approaching dangerous prey. "I hold all the keys to the Sorcerer’s Curse; you cannot solve it without my assistance. The Bargain has already been struck, and it is too late to alter it now. Give me now what is mine."

"You are right," Ciantarah admitted, unabashed. "It is my own folly that I ever trusted you. Now my path is set."

Suddenly, her fear evaporated and her eyes flashed once more with the fire of her determination.  She took a few menacing steps toward him, their roles reversed. "But know this, Serhieon: I will triumph. Though I go willingly with you now, I know that your designs are Dark and deep."

A moment of hesitation lingered in his eyes; she seized upon it, closing the last distance between them quicker than thought.  The soft curves of her body pressed into his muscled frame, and her arms wrapped sinuously around him as she smiled… but her cerulean eyes burned defiantly. "You cannot keep me from my destiny,"

Serhieon’s expression softened, his gaze resting gently upon her as he brushed a loose strand of hair tenderly from her face, leaning down to whisper in her ear.  "I am your destiny, sweet Ciantarah," he said, sliding his hands down to seize her shoulders and pulling her body more tightly to his.  She stiffened at his touch, instinctively trying to pull away, but all at once his lips were upon hers... cold lips that sucked the heat from her body and took her breath away.  His cloak swirled around them, engulfing them both in blackness as the rose at Ciantarah’s neck began to pulsate with powerful waves of Dark energy that radiate through and around her, overwhelming her senses with lust and possessive desire...

He is too powerful, Ciantarah thought even as her body went limp, losing the battle against his mere touch. I am slipping... slipping into darkness...

The last light faded from her eyes as her immortal body surrendered, betraying her to her dark captor. Serhieon smiled as he drew back from the kiss, lifting her limp form easily as if she were a mere child. He laughed, unsurprised, as a multicolored Phoenix emerged from its hiding place behind an obelisk and flew swiftly away. Like a joyful bridegroom carries a bride across the threshold, he bore the Goddess toward the yawning black gates... but her mind had already entered the darkness therein.