Maiden of the Red Moon

A/N: Original version has been edited to change some names and concepts concepts

Chapter 1: The Ritual

The moon, red and luminescent, shone brightly amongst the blackness of the night sky. The Blood Moon, a rare occurrence that bore much importance to many occult rituals. Tonight was finally the night. Years of planning, years of preparing, years of selecting, years of recruiting years of choosing, all finally came down to this one night. The red moonlight spilled from the skies down through the room's glass ceiling onto the very center of a circle entrenched within eight-pointed star wrapped by a second circle that was intricately painted onto the very center of the room. Runes decorated the boundaries of each of the star's eight points. Words written in a lost language danced on the outside lines of the circle. The words working in conjunction with the runes were designed to draw in and store as much ambient Mana as possible. Glyphs were painted at each of the points of the star to enhance the effects of the spell. The room illuminated only by the light of flickering flames burning from candles that glowed with an almost supernatural luminescence.

He stood in the middle of the room, standing at the very center of the pentagram. Dressed in a robe, black as the night itself, he patiently waited. He had waited decades for this night. A mask with a demonic visage hid his face from the world. He preferred it that way. He had given up on his humanity years ago when he had set out to perform this momentous task of his. At long last he would see his plans come to fruition and fulfill his ambitions. Any man would have given up on such a grand scheme years ago; however he was no ordinary human. In fact after the enchantments, mystical contracts and transformations that he had placed upon himself, he wasn't even sure he could be considered human anymore.

But it was all worth it, all for tonight. The black robe felt cool and silky draped loosely over his nude body. The hood of the robe drawn over his head to hide his face from the female members of the cult: The Coven of the Red Moon. An appropriate name, especially on a night like this. He had spent decades building this coven, reaching out to the lost, the poor, the abused, the addicts, the curious and the ones seeking belonging the ones seeking a place to call home. He had found each one and molded them to fit his purpose. They obeyed him and in return received food, clothing, shelter, family, purpose and most importantly: belonging. All those years of work, years of recruiting, years of careful manipulation, all was so he could see her again. How would she react when she found out about his efforts? Surprise? Honor? Disgust? It didn't matter. He would bind her to his will. Right? An odd sense of anxiety washed over his body.

It had been years, decades even, since he had felt something so...human. The soft sounds of chanting heralded their arrival. They had kept him waiting for so long. The guards opened the massive wooden double doors to the sanctum. Each one wielding long spears covered in engraved runes. The guards stepped aside to allow the tributes in. Each crimson robed tribute entered two by two, the sacred runes of Ishtar sewed all throughout their red robes. Each rune embroidered on with pain staking detail and effort. Thirteen bodies entered the room, half moving to one side of the room and the other half claiming the opposite side as their own. The thirteenth and final figure came in dressed in a white cloak almost as pure as snow. This one came in surrounded by hooded guards carrying long shafted spears. He smiled as he watched her enter; her snowy white cloak was etched with black ruins, a stark contrast to his black robe etched with white ruins. The light to his darkness. The yin to his yang. The white-cloaked figure walked towards him from the center with soft dainty, almost otherworldly, steps.

"Daughters of the Red Moon, you have assembled tonight to rejoice in the return of your progenitor: Ishtar. Though you may come from different cultures. Though you may come different faiths, from different countries, you have united in this coven. Tonight you have gathered as sisters to rejoice in the rebirth of Ishtar the Maiden of the Red Moon." He said, his voice booming throughout the hollowed ceremonial hall. "Each of you has pledged your body, life and soul to Ishtar. Each of you has taken a vow to uphold the beliefs of this convent and to serve our Mistress Ishtar. You have each sworn an oath of sisterhood, tonight you shall join together in our holiest of rituals."

He took a breath allowing the wash of emotions to calm down his body. Yes, surely Ishtar was watching. "Let the tributes reveal themselves." The red robed figures let down their hoods revealing beautiful women underneath of all colors and heights. Each one of them stood naked in the dim candlelit room. Yet the darkness did nothing to hide the perfection in each of their bodies. Well-toned and voluptuous, thin and curvy, long legged and smooth skinned. Features that any woman would kill and die for. Their eyes seemed lost in a hazy trancelike state. He wasn't surprised. Each woman had partaken in the Blood of Ishtar, an ancient concoction designed to lower inhibitions and prepare souls for rituals. The ritual called for thirteen women, twelve surrounding the summoning pentagram and one to act as the Vessel.

"Let the Vessel step forward." The white robed figure stepped into the center of the pentagram and removed her hood. In another life the males all around her would have worshiped the very ground she walked upon. Long blonde hair framed a heart shaped face blessed with the bluest of eyes and the fullest of lips. She discarded her robe in a smooth almost unnatural movement exposing the flawlessness of her body. Her breasts, moderately sized, were like two perfect mounds of flesh, well formed showing off the vigor of her youth without the slightest hint of sagging. Her tummy was flat, smooth and toned from hours of daily exercise and careful dieting. Her legs long and well shaped from years of dancing and exercise. Her skin, lush and fair, glowed in the red moonlight without the slightest hint of any imperfection. A small tattoo of a five-pointed star inside of a circle, a pentagram, sat on her pelvis just inches away from the lips of her womanhood. She was a goddess of a woman. Beautiful in every possible way. "Your name young one." He said.

"Lisa." She replied without even the slightest hint of hesitation or doubt. Her beautiful blue eyes were also glazed over. Her mind, body and soul ready to receive the power of Ishtar.

"Tonight you shall discard your name, the last remnants of your former life. Tonight you shall unite with your sisters in order to bring about the rebirth of the Scarlet Mistress, Ishtar." He said to her. "Vessel, have you been untouched by a man since the day you took your vows?"

"I have." Replied the Vessel, her voice unwavering.

"Have you honored your pledge of chastity since the day you entered into this coven?" he asked circling around her. His voice powerful and unforgiving.

"I have."

"Have you freed yourself from your desires of the material world?" "I have." "Do you swear to uphold the values of this coven and the values of our mistress Ishtar even when you ascend?"

"I do."

"Tonight you shall become one of the Nameless." The man circled around the pentagram. His eyes watched each one of the women, the tributes, standing around the pentagram. Each of the women had now kneeled to the ground. Their eyes looked downwards, knowing better not to meet his iron forged gaze. "You all have taken your vows of sisterhood and devoted your bodies, lives and souls to this coven. Tonight you shall become one. Tonight under the light of the Red Moon, you shall all discard your past lives. You no longer have families. You no longer have pasts. You no longer have names. Tonight you shall all join together and bring about the rebirth of the Arch Maiden Ishtar!" The flames of the candle ignited in a brilliant blaze He delicately placed his hand to the Vessel's chin and tilted it upwards so she could look directly at him. "Are you scared, young one? She shook her head. He smiled. He knew that that would be her answer. "Good. Let's begin." He slipped his robe off of himself exposing his naked form to the room eliciting a gasp from the Vessel. The tattoos of runes scattered throughout his body glowed in the light of the Blood Moon.

He softly stroked the Vessel's cheek. She was so beautiful. Perfect in every sense of the word.

His cock hard and erect pointed skywards.

"Now my precious Vessel, get on your knees and suck my cock." He said softly. The Vessel nodded and eagerly complied, dropping to her knees. Her hands found his manhood in a hurry and grasped onto its length. She let out a sigh of pleasure allowing her warm breath to graze over the engorged head before engulfing her warm wet lips around his cock. He shuddered in pleasure when she began to lick at the swollen purple head of his cock with her tongue before bobbing her head up and down onto his member. Soon. Soon his ambition would be fulfilled.

Soon all would bow before him.

***

Raymond "Ray" Grayson Wolfe stepped off his motorcycle. Despite his destination being a good four blocks away, he still decided that with this particular mission, especially on a night such as this, stealth would be a much better option. He took a deep breath of the cold San Francisco air before he began to check his gear. His silver knives were in place, one on the side of his belt, another hidden away in his boot. Paper Charms concealed within the confines of his black leather jacket, and finally his sword. Though it seemed to be an almost cruel cliché for a demon hunter to wield a sword. It was widely known that the upper echelon demons could only be slain with a blade forged from Soul Steel.

The sword felt right in his hands. It wasn't a massive broadsword like the ones wielded by the hunters in the depictions found in the ancient texts. Nor was it a katana used by the amateur demon hunters, who tended to die on their first hunt. No, this sword had been passed through the generations from hunter to hunter. A straight sword that was neither too long nor too thin. Despite its size, the sword was still capable of cleaving even the strongest of demons.

The Blood Moon hung overhead, a constant reminder of the terrors and dangers a night like this held. Energy from the Source flowed freely in the air on such a night, magnified by the presence of the Blood Moon in the sky.

He began to walk towards his destination. His orders from the Organization had been clear. Stop whatever ritual was being performed in his territory and kill the ones responsible. The Blood Moon occurred rarely, usually once every 600 years. A reflection of the surface of Mars combined with the light of the Sun and the presence of a full moon amplified the magic in the air. Every single warlock, witch, and spellcaster would be taking advantage of the Blood Moon in order to conduct spells, charms and rituals that could only be done on a night such as this.

Which was why he was here to stop them.

That was the function of the Organization. At least the particular sect that he belonged to: to kill any supernatural threats. Any practitioner of the supernatural arts, be it magic or qigong were expected to obey the laws set forth by the Council, the ruling body of the human world in regards to the supernatural. Violators were to be cut down by Hunters, their punishment for breaking the Merlin Accords. Of course there were exceptions to the rule.

"Ray! You're approaching the source of the supernatural disturbance." Said a deep metallic sounding voice from his right wrist. "Yeah, even I can feel it from this distance." He replied, raising his wrist to eye level. The metal dragon carved onto the band of the gothic silver bracelet stared back. Garuban, the Guardian that had been assigned to him by the Hunter's Tribunal, looked annoyed to be out on this particular night. As annoyed as a bracelet could possibly look. Garuban hated being outside in San Francisco, always insisting that he would end rusting because of all the ocean moisture in the air. He ignored the annoyance of his partner for now. He lowered the bracelet back to waist level and looked ahead. Mists gathered from the seas and reflected the glow from the red moon giving the area an odd sense of mysticism. Lights from street lamps provided the only source of light. Except for the Crimson Moon hanging overhead. "The Blood Moon will amplify whatever spells they've put up." Said Garuban, "Be careful."

"Got it." Replied Ray as he turned to the direction of the disturbance and began to walk towards it. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he reached deep into his psyche and undid the Seal and opened his Third Eye.

Suddenly the world around him seemed so much more...colorful. The dark dank warehouses in the area looked as if a brilliant splash of color had been hurled on it. He could see the residual energies of the people who worked here during the day. Dark yellow people shaped outlines that silently moved throughout the area.

Strange twisting rainbow ribbons of light, ever changing in color, caught his eye. The movement paths of the few spirits that inhabited this place. This place was spiritually dead. A place that was automated and empty. No place for spirits. A luminous glow of color caught the corner of his eye. He turned towards the glow. A deep purple aura emanated from one of the warehouses in the distance distorting the very image of it. The way strong heat distorts concrete on hot summer days. A regular person without the Sight would have waltzed right past it without feeling anything other than a momentary feeling of dread and discomfort. Yet with an aura this powerful, even newly awakened Hunters would have sensed the disturbance. Whoever was responsible for the aura was invoking some very powerful magic.

Meaning that that person was dangerous. He quickly took out three long strips of yellowish white paper, Paper Charms, from his pocket and drew a quick glyph on each piece of rectangular white paper with his finger. Energy burned from the tip of his finger as he drew with careful precision. He tossed the Charms into the air, the glyphs for bird and servant glowing as it floated upright for a second. The Charms quickly folded themselves into a bird-like shape and fluttered around in the air for a few seconds before hovering in front of his face.

"Scout around the area." He ordered. The paper birds nodded and flew away. The paper birds soared towards the purple miasmic aura, each one spreading out and flying in a different direction. "Garuban, do you detect any barriers?" he asked, raising his arm up towards the miasma, as he walked forward.

The dragon carved onto the bracelet opened its mouth. A beam of light shone from its jaws like a searchlight scanning the area. "Nothing so far. But the ambient magic around the building seems to be gathering around the top of the building."

"Like a blast?"

"No. More like....a bridge...or perhaps a portal."

"Fuck." Muttered Ray, someone had already begun to cast a summoning spell. And judging from the maelstrom of Mana in the area, it was a powerful one. Most likely one used to summon a demon. Usually lesser demons were capable of breaching the gaps in the Veil between the Human World and the Nether World on their own. However larger demons needed help from the Human World to breach the Veil. Usually a ritual of some sort was required. One like the one that was being performed at this very minute. It made sense, reaching into the Nether World to bring a powerful demon into the Human World usually required a huge amount of Mana. More than most humans usually had available to them. Even if some idiot, or a group of idiots, had managed to summon a demon of any sort into the human realm, they would have exhausted their Mana reserves and would be unable to bind the demon to their will. Leaving them to be eaten and for the demon to run wild until a hunter or shaman would be called in to send it back or put it down.

Drawing ambient Mana provided by outside sources, such as the Blood Moon, was the best option when attempting to summon a high caliber demon into this plane of existence. The energy produced by the light of the Blood Moon would provide enough ambient Mana within the environment to do a number of devious things. That was why tonight had been an especially busy night for him. Already he had slain three werewolf gangs, stopped two minor rituals and killed countless demons attempting to enhance their powers by absorbing the energy of the moonlight.

Even worse had been the previous month's events preceding the coming of the Blood Moon had left a great amount of residual energy within the city's boundaries. Several violent murders, angry police protests, the annual Gay Pride Parade followed by a huge amount people partying. All of these things had left a huge amount of ambient emotional energy within the atmosphere to go along with the light of the Blood Moon.

It was the perfect storm of circumstances.

It was almost as if it was planned.

"My orders didn't mention anything about a summoning." Fighting a warlock was one thing. But fighting a demon would be way more difficult. "Are you sure you'll be able to handle this?" asked Garuban. "If needed, the Organization can send Numbers 5 and 8 to back you up. Even Number 3 needs help sometimes."

"Shut up Garuban, have you forgotten who I am?" growled Ray sounding slightly annoyed. The damn bracelet was always going off about how he would constantly bite off more than he could chew. Always claiming that he had seen too many Hunters get killed because they got too reckless during a hunt. "We need to hurry."

"Right, right. Apologies. The energy is starting to reach its peak, any more waiting and we won't be able to stop the ritual." Replied Garuban. "We wouldn't want another Colorado Springs situation do we?"

"No, of course not." Ray said quietly, his hand strapping the sword tightly to his back. "Let's get going." As if sensing the sudden urgency of the situation, the paper birds returned in a hurry and fluttered all around him. Ray quickly took out a small metal lighter the size of a kiwi fruit, runic patterns carved throughout the entire lighter. He lit the lighter with a flick of his wrist and burned each of the paper birds with a brilliant flash of blue flames.

"Now." Ray said. "Show me what you've seen. The fire mixed with the Paper Charms, each tiny inferno forming a luminescent image of a building surrounded by purple mist, each moving image taken from a different angle and distance than the last. The birds had done their job well. He looked through each image, taking every detail into account, the Seals placed around the building to keep out intruders, the Runes carefully spray painted on each side of the building would be used to enhance the caster's magical abilities. Additional runes were painted in order draw in and attract ambient mana in the atmosphere like a magnet.

This was the work of no amateur.

Whoever was behind this had considerable knowledge in the field of Spell Casting and Magical Theory. Off the top of his head, there were only a few people in the world with the power and expertise capable of conducting a spell of such magnitude, and they were amongst those working for the Council. He took a minute to analyze the surrounding area of the building. Taking into account every detail. Robed and hooded spellcasters sat cross-legged on each of the building's four corners and on the roofs. His Third Eye watched the mana flow from each spellcaster. Strands of light streaming from all around each spellcaster and interlacing at the very center of the buildings.