"Illusion"

He had eluded me for millennia, constantly slipping through my closed fingers, ethereal, a mist constantly hanging about me, yet never touching. And now, finally, he would be mine.

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His sapphire eyes were unfocused, staring past me and into the distant horizon. I turned to see what had captivated him so, troubling him, much like he himself troubled me endlessly.

“The storm is building fast,” I said, breaking the heavy silence that existed between us. Unwittingly, he touched his hand to mine briefly, before withdrawing it once more; my skin tingled at the unconscious brush, and my mind flew to forbidden thoughts springing from the innocent gesture.

“Yes,” he agreed, his voice hushed like mine; perhaps it was only the result of the oppressiveness of the atmosphere and no conscious effort of ours. “Do you see the size of those clouds? Remarkable.” He shook his head, peering at my face before returning his attention to the sky.

I humored him, glancing petulantly at the architectural wonder of those billowing thunderheads. Cumulus, I believed they are called. That’s what he would have said, had our conversation about the swollen apparitions continued.

I sighed quietly, so that he wouldn’t hear me. Unabashed, I gazed at his face, soaking up the pure, unsullied beauty of it. Oh, such fair, flawless skin! Oh, what glorious perfection of form!

Oh, what marvelous eyes!

His eyes were his wonder, the quintessential essence of his mind, body, and soul. Deep pools of endless blue as stunning as glaciers and as dark as the mystery of the ocean… I could lose myself in such magnificent splendor again and again, if only he would let me.

The breeze grew stronger, blowing my raven strands and his golden ones about, commingling in a way I could never hope to duplicate. My hair was all over the place, but I didn’t care; I lived for the way my longer locks would shyly approach his, caressing his face, his neck…

Oh, this was far too much. I scowled, collecting my hair and pulling the cowl of my cloak back over my head. How comical a pair we must have been! A beautiful Angel of light, accompanied by myself, his dark counterpart, not fit to brush the dirt from his shoes, much less touch his lips with mine…

The sky had completely disappeared, overshadowed by the pearly brooding of the clouds. Then, suddenly, the wind died.

I touched my hand to his shoulder, and he turned again to face me. “What does it mean?” I asked. I could imagine my obsidian eyes reflected in his.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. He furrowed his brow in thought.

On impulse, I reached up and touched him, hoping to wipe the creases from his beautiful sloping forehead. He looked at me in surprise, and I explained, “The wrinkles don’t suit you at all.”

He smiled at me, illuminating my soul and the surrounding gloom of the clouds with its brightness.

“You have a beautiful smile,” I breathed.

He touched his fingertips to my cheek. “So do you. If only you’d use it more often.”

The atmosphere crackled with intense electricity, my heart fit to burst as he leaned in close to me…

“No!” I wanted to shout, but the warning died on my lips even as he touched them to his in a sweet, innocent kiss.

The wind picked up as suddenly as it had died, wrenching us apart with tremendous force. The ground shook beneath my feet, unsteadying me, and I fell, watching in horror as it opened beneath me, a great and terrible maw, waiting to claim me.

I fell, faster, faster, gaining more velocity as the darkness claimed me; down, down, always down, until—

Up.

He held me tightly in his arms as we climbed; I shook in silent horror at the fate that would await me, await us both, but for the moment we were safe. His white wings had manifested, enormous, but I knew that it was not he that controlled their movements, carrying him—us—inexorably upwards.

The earth screamed its betrayal, its rage, and the heavens echoed it in a terrible symphony; I whimpered, at first in fear, then in agony as a bolt of pain shot through me, up and down my spine.

I now stretched my own wings, the velvety blackness of the membrane a stark contrast to his flowing white; I was naked, we both were, my temporary human form discarded, the transformation complete.

I begged him to let me fly next to him, but he shook his head resolutely, and I remembered that, if he were to let me go, I would plunge relentlessly back into the darkness while he would continue skyward.

“Almost there,” he murmured, pressing his heavenly lips into my skin. “Almost there…”

We lurched forward suddenly, startling me; I nearly fell, but he held fast. For a bittersweet moment, we were suspended in midair, completely devoid of all movement whatsoever. Then the moment passed, and his muscles bunched beneath me; we were moving again.

Slower, now. Oh, so agonizingly slow! I wanted to tell him to stop, to let me go, let me fall; I could see the hurt I was causing him, the way it pained him to move. Every inch was precious, paid for by drops of his pearly sweat or muffled gasps for air, but still he held tight to me, refusing to let me go.

I had waited so long for this moment, and yet, I wanted it to be over.

“Stop!” I cried, unable to bear it much longer. “Stop! You’re hurting yourself! Stop!”

But still he plodded on; I could hear the labored pulsing of his powerful heart, the agonizingly-slow beat of his wings.

I extended my wings to try to help him, to aid him, but they drooped, leaden down as if saturated with buckets upon buckets of water.

“Almost there,” he panted.

“No,” I sobbed. “No, please, stop…”

He was glowing; it hurt my eyes to see him, beautiful, terrible in his splendor, only increasing with each labored stroke.

“Almost there.”

“No…”

And then, the Gates came into view; I turned away, seeking solace in his radiant chest.

“We made it.”

I was sobbing, my eyes closed. He set me down gently, brushing his lips against my forehead; the tender touch caused me to cry out, his skin burning into mine, searing.

“Wait here,” he whispered, and took off, one of his wings brushing against my cheek as he went.

Suddenly, I was falling again, and I screamed out for him, my limbs flailing, my wings dead, useless.

I opened my eyes, only to see him reaching down towards me, now only a pinprick of light in my darkness.

The Endless Night consumed me, utterly, completely, and I knew then and there I’d never see him again.