Moon: The rarest of all breeds--Heaven's Hound
Bestiaries unabashedly adore Hellhounds and vomit lore, modern and of yore. Yet, it is almost impossible to find any mention of Heaven's Hounds, the most noble beasts of all. There is only one we know of now: Moon, celestial companion bound to the world's most powerful conjurer, Magnolia White, a murder-solving medium from the sleepy little town of Moscoso, Mississippi. What follows is an excerpt from an abandoned biography. The academic in you will ask: Why abandon a biography? Let us say that Ms. Magnolia White is as private and protective as she is powerful. I pity the Ole Miss grad student who chose her as the subject of his dissertation.
From Conjure Moon:
"Greens kissed by the first frost of November, ribbed and washed, then frozen, now simmered on the stove. Cold grey dimmed, dipped, and descended into pure darkness. Moon slept, Moon woke, Moon rose. Moon sought out his She. His ears delighted to the sound of her humming. His She had the voice of an angel. Moon knew it to be so, as he had known many angels. He had walked among them before the Fall. Moon was well into his winter now. He went to his She, skimming his head under her plump hand, announcing his presence.
"Lazy hound sleep the day away," his She sang, the lyrics chiding, the melody adoration. Moon accepted her Eucharist. A ham bone, the body; her sweat, the blood. In perfect transubstantiation, marrow and salt nourished his soul. Moon went to the screen door, his She opening it to the darkness for him.
"Go on with your bad self, then. Fell that buck!" The hound tore into the night. Made whole again, Moon illuminated the sky, eclipsing the stars. He threw back his giant head and howled to his Maker. His message echoed across the heavens. A bargain was struck. Death was not to take him. His work remained unfinished. Moon, old as time, would guard his She for the year to come."
~Dr. William B. Baggett, Historian of the Great State of Mississippi; Southern Gothic and Magical Realism Enthusiast
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