Exhausted from shuffling through deepening snow, the old man leaned one arm against a tall pine tree, bent over and pulled deep, raspy breaths. Billows of condensate swirled from his mouth with each wheezing exhale. Cruel had been the disease, stealing away breath, strength, and even the will to live.

"One more time," he silently pleaded to the angel of death. "Let me reach the cirque where we first met. Just one more time."

✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

"Leave!" Levi ordered the man who had attempted to kidnap Celesta.

Needing no further urging, he jumped up and raced away, but stumbled across an overturned metal trash can with a clatter. Celesta's blast of starlight had singed his eyebrows and reddened his face in what would likely become a painful, blistering sunburn.

Silence prevailed as Levi gazed at Celesta's dazzling starlight form. The small crowd of townspeople who witnessed the altercation also stared, but in shocked disbelief. No longer could Celesta's ordinary beginnings be claimed.

This will have consequences, Levi predicted.

The starlight faded, resolving Celesta back to human form. But the gray dress that Levi bought for her only two days ago hung in scorched shreds, nearly falling off her lithe frame. The blue laced bodice hung open, exposing a breast. She approached Levi, head bowed while holding up her ruined dress as best she could. When his arms opened, she fell into the embrace, nuzzling her silver-haired head against his shoulder.

"I came to save you," Levi said, "but it seems you saved me instead."

"I couldn't let them hurt you," she replied.

"That starlight thing..."

Celesta lifted moist, pleading eyes to his. "Do you think less of me?"

His heart reached out. "My dear lady star, I think no less of you. If anything, it was, umm, enlightening."

Celesta peeked up at Levi's growing grin, then one appeared on her lips. "A star pun, Levi?"

"Perhaps a small one," he replied with a wink. "But in all seriousness, how did you light up like that?"

"I know not how it arose," she answered. But when she held out a hand to examine, rotating it, a dazzling shimmer surrounded it, growing brighter, then fading again. "Perhaps you awoke it?"

Levi drew Celesta back against his chest. "It's like in the story. Remember, the star powers? And how she saved the hero?"

Mrs. Williams came up behind Levi, then draped a cream-colored shawl over Celesta's shoulders. "Ya' need to cover up, dear, before any more private parts be exposed."

Levi sighed, "It seems, Mrs. Williams, that we need another dress."

Back in the General Store, behind a changing room curtain, Celesta tried on a new black and blue plaid sleeveless dress worn over a white long-sleeved top, a casual style popular with many local women. It well matched Levi's black trousers and white buttoned shirt. Also, new black, flat-soled shoes covered her feet. Mrs. Williams wrapped up another dress and a cloak that Celesta had selected earlier, before the incident, holding them back for later retrieval.

When Levi pulled out a pocketbook to pay for the extra dress, Mrs. Williams waved him off. "On the house," she said.

"I can pay," Levi countered.

"Nah. Showin' them ruffians a thing or two be payment enough. I'll be savin' money from them not thievin' from me anymore." When he turned to leave, Mrs. Williams cautioned, "Ya' be careful out there, Levi, ya' hear? And take care of that gal of yours."

"Will do."

Not knowing how the town would react to Celesta, Levi took the advice seriously. Peering eyes scattered from outside the front window as Levi and Celesta approached the front door. Levi took hold of her hand, interlacing fingers, and led her outside.

Eyes and hushed muttering followed them as they walked along the main street toward the stables. A few words reached Levi's ears. "Did you see? What is she?" came one voice. "A demon?" answered one. "No, an angel," answered another. "Why is she here?"

Those crossing Levi and Celesta's path abruptly altered course, and when Celesta met their gaze, they turned away.

Celesta leaned closer to Levi and said, "Why do they avoid me? Do they fear?"

"People fear what they do not understand," Levi replied, sighing. "Do you think you could call up that star power again at will?"

"I believe so."

"Good. I wish to pay Rector Brown a visit, and I wouldn't mind putting fear into him."

"Is that wise?" Celesta asked.

"We need to resolve this, or he will come for you again."

Levi rubbed his sore jaw, concluding that a dark bruise would eventually appear. It puzzled him that the rector — even being the stern, self-righteous man that he was — would stoop to such measures as kidnapping Celesta, much less associate with those three lowly thugs. Something didn't add up.

Levi's horse, Star, took them to the edge of town where Rector Brown's house stood. Compared to other homes, it was a mansion, standing two stories high and painted white with contrasting black trim. A flagstone walk led from a surrounding white picket fence, wandering between manicured shrubs, to a covered, wrap-around porch with painted railings. Servant's quarters, a horse stable, and an expansive rolling pasture stood behind. Anger simmered within Levi that a man of the Creator, who preached charity, would live so lavishly.

Levi tied Star's reins to a hitching post just outside the picket fence, then, with Celesta, swung open a decorative iron gate. Once reaching the painted front door, Levi slammed down the shiny brass knocker three times, causing Celesta to jerk at his intensity.

"Come in," a voice bellowed.

Odd, thought Levi. Normally, a servant would answer.

After twisting the brass doorknob, they stepped inside to a foyer lined with dark wood paneling. Colored light through an arched stained-glass window above the door provided the only illumination, and it took a moment for Levi's eyes to adjust to the relative dimness.

"Come in here," the voice said again.

Following the sound, Levi and Celesta stepped into a library. Dark wooden shelves lined the side walls, filled with books or mementos, most of them religious. A large, polished wooden desk dominated the room, with three leather-upholstered chairs before it. Someone — Rector Brown, Levi presumed — occupied a single leather chair behind the desk, but with the chair turned away, the high back hid his identity.

Celesta's eyes widened as she grasped Levi's arm. "Something very wrong here," she whispered with a shudder.

When the chair swung around, she took a step back.

Sitting in the chair with one leg crossed over the other was Rector Thaddius Brown, but also, not. He wore the usual black suit, but the rector's usual stern, frowning expression had been replaced with a mocking sneer. Darkness filled his eyes, and a faint, dark shimmer surrounded him. "Welcome," he said with many voices that sent tingling shivers down Levi's spine.

Celesta let out an airy gasp. "He is Shadow."

"Very perceptive, Celesta," the rector responded. "I sent three creatures to retrieve you, but why had I bothered? So unreliable. But fortunately, you came to me."

"What do you want?"

"Why, your soul, of course. So delicious is a Deus essence. So fulfilling," he answered, then pointed at his body, "unlike these putrid creatures. So disgusting. Could you imagine the disappointment when the Void took your star, only to find it vacant of its Deus?"

Levi pushed past Celesta, standing resolute between her and the Shadow-possessed man. "Let her be!" he ordered.

For a moment, the rector focused an amused stare at Levi, then threw his head back in icy laughter. "I see you acquired a pet," he mocked, turning his attention back to Celesta. "How quaint."

From an upturned hand, a hissing black tendril, like dense smoke, shot out and wrapped around Levi, then filtered in through his skin. At once he gasped, eyes widening and unfocused, then collapsed to his knees. Darkness invaded, and icy anguish gripped his very existence. His soul cried out, an airy moan its expression. This was the Darkness the Writings described, that devoid of the Creator, yet the text failed to capture the absolute desolation.

A comforting voice came to his mind, and with it, warm, comforting light. "I am here, Levi," Celesta breathed. "I am with you."

Levi cradled the light within his soul, then lofted it within all that he was. The light, as pure as Celesta's heart, brightened like a new sun. And the Darkness fled.

While Celesta shared a part of her inner light with Levi, his consciousness expanded. He sensed her primal essence through the link — truly warm and beautiful was it. But he also sensed the Shadow, her antithesis. Soulless, darkness devoid of all light, Levi dared not look too closely lest it took his soul like the Void devoured a star. Strangely, the Shadow did not exist in this universe, he somehow knew, but was an extension of a greater Darkness beyond, protected by an invisible barrier. Yet there was a small opening where realities touched, sort of a portal that allowed its existence here.

"Thank you, my lady star," Levi said to Celesta over the mental link.

As Levi rose, eyes narrowing in defiance, Celesta warned, "Avert your eyes, Levi."

Dazzling white flooded the library. Celesta's light.

Although he could not see, Levi sensed the Shadow's hissing revulsion. A thud and a clatter reached his ears. When the white light faded, Celesta stood defiant, cloaked in glowing starlight. Rector Brown's body lay slumped and curled next to the desk, his chest rising and falling in weak shudders.

But the Shadow floated above, now a separate amorphous being of swirling darkness like condensed black smoke. A sickening nausea rose within Levi's stomach.

The Shadow extended a semblance of hands and launched ribbons of darkness, which wrapped Celesta like constricting black snakes. Crying out, she pulsed blinding light in all directions and flung her arms out, dissolving the attacking ribbons by sheer brightness.

Before the Shadow could attack again, Celesta clapped her hands together and shot out a beam of concentrated starlight. But the beam merely passed through the Shadow, burning a smoldering path across books and the bookcase.

A hollow laugh came from the Shadow. "You cannot win, Celesta. No Deus can."

Celesta gritted her teeth, and through their link, Levi sensed her simmering rage. Flinging her hands out, she fired another starlight beam at the Shadow, once and again, but to the same result. Then her eyes widened as determination faded.

"Do you not see the inevitable?" the Shadow mocked.

The Shadow advanced slowly toward Celesta, as if to savor the moments before victory, and the swirling blackness spread wide, threatening to engulf her. With a quivering lip, she stepped back, but found her way blocked by a paneled wall.

Cold, resigning fear came to Levi over the link. "You must run, Levi," Celesta cried out. "I cannot defeat it."

"There is a way, a link between realities where your light might penetrate."

"I do not detect it."

"I do." Levi replied. "The beast is pure Darkness within, and darkness is but the absence of light."

Confidence returned to Celesta. "Then guide my light."

As the Shadow came ever closer, Celesta formed a dazzling point of light between cupped hands, like a miniature sun, then set it free. With his mind, Levi directed the light down where the barrier between universes was thin, like a gap in armor.

"There!" he shouted over the link.

"Now I see it."

With a hand thrust that mirrored her mental effort, Celesta pushed the light within the Shadow. Then she flung her hands out, miming an explosion.

The Shadow stopped its advance. And for a tense, silent moment, nothing happened. Then tiny beams of light pierced the Shadow from within, widening and becoming brighter. A mental scream erupted as the Shadow exploded in brightness. Levi shielded his eyes, but when the light faded and he glanced again, the Shadow was gone.

Simultaneous victory smiles blossomed on Levi's and Celesta's faces.

"You did it!" Levi exclaimed.

"No," Celesta countered, shaking her head. "We did it."

Heaving, mournful sobs shifted Levi's attention and cut deep into his heart. The rector, now free of the Shadow, curled in a fetal position on the hardwood floor, trembling. Not long ago, Levi wished fear upon this man, but not like this. No man deserved that kind of spiritual torture. With guilt bitter on his tongue, Levi kneeled down beside Rector Brown, but knew not what to do.

"Father!" shrieked a voice from the threshold. Face paled, Abigail dashed inside, then kneeling down beside Levi, lifted her father's head in her lap. The rector's wet eyes turned up to his daughter and recognition flashed across them. He opened his mouth to speak, but only a hollow moan came out. "Father, please..." she pleaded as water traced her cheeks.

Before, Abigail was an annoyance to Levi, but now his heart went out to her. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and said, "Abigail... I'm sorry."

Celesta stepped forward, still shimmering brightly in her starlight form. "The Shadow is gone, and your father's soul has returned, but in so much pain."

Abigail's upturned eyes widened as she gazed at Celesta. "Who...?"

Celesta interrupted the question, saying, "I may help him."

Abigail did not resist when Celesta kneeled beside her and placed glowing hands on both sides of his head. The rector stiffened, letting out a guttural breath as a warm shimmer surrounded him. Where there was darkness, Celesta offered light. Levi sensed the relief, and the rector relaxed and fell into slumber.

"Deep are his spiritual wounds," Celesta said to Abigail in a gentle voice. "But in time and love, he may be well again."

The white starlight of Celesta's form faded, and she returned to human form. 

"Thank you," Abigail whispered as she gently stroked her father's thinning hair. "What was that evil that would take my father's soul?"

Celesta glanced at Levi, then answered, "Darkness."

Abigail's grateful eyes turned up at first, Levi, then Celesta. "How did you...?" she stammered, searching for the right words.

"By giving Light."