“And without me you are unrestrained, a tyrant of radiance. I am not your absence; I am your complement. Your light exists only because I give it shape. Together, we are not rivals but the rhythm of the world itself.”
“Poetic of you,” she mocked.
We exchanged our next steps, and they held us true, bringing the light closer to the dark with every delicious move.
“It is hard to trust you when I see how easily you can consume those who linger too long in your depths,” she said, her voice softening now.
Another tile, another slash of distance between us.
I replied, “Perhaps trust is not required—only the wisdom to know when we must share the sky.”
One tile left. We stood right in front of each other, a measure of two tiles was all that remained between us.
“I might have underestimated you,” she said, close enough now I could almost reach her.
Taste her. Devour her. Possess her.
This next exchange could see one triumph, watching the other drown beneath their feet. I studied her brilliant eyes, trying to find her deception, but her ability to withhold all emotion was as masterful as mine.
“The strongest light casts the deepest shadows,” I whispered. “We are inevitable.”
“Your step is forward,” she said, voice equally as hushed.
“So is yours.”
Our legs lifted in unison, our eyes locked on each other, then…
The dark and light collided, exploding through the room in a violent storm of night and starlight.
We gripped each other harshly; my hand clutched tightly in her glittering hair, hers fisted the front of my jacket, our stares clashed with such passion and hatred it was pure nirvana.
“Share the sky with me, Astraea,” I said, coming around from the effects of the trial I only now remembered we were in.
Nightsdeath wasn’t me anymore. That beast that paced in me was slain by Lightsdeath, unable to take over my emotions ever again.
But Lightsdeath was real in this trial and still had a hold on Astraea, who glared at me, debating if she wanted to kill me or kiss me.
I took that decision from her, claiming her mouth as the ground fell away from both of us. Frozen waters sucked us deep into their depths and tried to tear us apart, but I clung to her like she were my last breath.
We were drowning, but panic didn’t find me. I pulled Astraea’s mouth to mine again and we floated. Water turned to sky, our bodies to constellations, and here we belonged, never against each other, always necessary to each other.
Astraea held me back, her essence wrapped around every inch of me, and I didn’t care about anything else so long as she could never drift far from me.
She broke our kiss, lifting her hands that blended seamlessly into the starrynight, as did mine. “We are the stars and night itself,” she said, observing her starry form.
“Yes, we are,” I said, so overcome with emotion.
Astraea’s stretching smile faltered as she choked. Panic surged in me, and I held my breath too as we fell, two shooting stars plunged back underwater.
Then…air.
Too much yet not enough.
We swallowed water and choked until we reached the shallow end and crawled out. Over rocks and snow and…stone.
Gasping on all fours, I blinked against the dizzying confusion, whipped from one illusion into another, but I thought this was real now. The polished marble beneath my hands seemed fitting for the temple we’d entered. Though despite there being no body of water around us now, we still suffered the effects: wet and frozen.
Glancing up, I saw an altar, which made this temple more like one of worship.
