I peeked an eye open, staring at Torin, and nearly collapsed in a fit of giggles at the expression on his face.
“You look constipated,” I whispered, losing the fight with my mirth.
Torin smirked, a laugh bubbling through his tightly closed lips as well until the two of us were a tangled heap of limbs and aching bellies.
“Are you quite done?” Fate asked, annoyance written in every word.
“Yes, yes,” I gasped, wiping the tears from my eyes.
Gods, it felt good to cry for something other than sadness.I’d done enough of that for four lifetimes.
“You must offer it to Meru. It’s like any offering to any god; Meru is just a sentient place rather than a being.”
Huh. That might be the first thing Fate’s said that actually makes sense.
I positioned my hands against the soil once more, this time focusing on the four balls of life in my chest.
Everything else faded away the harder I concentrated, until it felt like my consciousness was floating somewhere deep inside me, yet elsewhere in the same instant.
Iwasmy magic, and my magic was tied inexplicably to my soul.
Tentatively, I reached out to caress each of the four wells, surprised when they came easily to my call. Destruction—the first power I ever used—jumped eagerly, pushing ahead of the others in a bid to escape. I laughed at its eagerness and basked in the flashing display of embers that twined so tightly with the diaphanous strands of ash.
Calling forth Destruction was like reuniting with a long-lost lover, and I nearly wept as I released my hold on it, forcing it into the ground beneath my fingertips.
I groaned at the sensation; ecstasy closely entwined with agony as the original Destruction Magic flooded my veins to innervate Meru. It was like a never-ending torrent of power, and I could feel my soul shredding, thin wisps of it detaching completely to follow the flood of Destruction.
Multiple times, I tried to cut off the release of power, to remove my hands from Meru’s soil, but something cemented me in place, refusing to release its grip on my magic.
I cried then, tears streaming down my face to drop to the dry earth below until I was flayed open, my insides exposed to the cosmos.
Pain quickly followed Destruction, attaching itself to the end of the ashes and embers.
Where Destruction ripped my soul apart, Pain flooded my being with an agony so intense, I lost consciousness. Blackness consumed me as I floated in a river of the oily magic, demons and nightmares consuming my essence until I was certain I’d drift away forever.
But in the river of darkness, a bright light pulsated as a pinprick in the distance. It grew steadily larger, consuming the purple viscous liquid until it burned away completely, and I was consumed once more.
Light and pleasure like I’d never known invigorated my thoughts, causing uncontrollable giggles and a nearly indescribable urge to touch myself, to pleasure my physical form as my magic pleasured Meru.
Groaning and writhing, the desire took nearly a painful edge as I shut my eyesagainst the pounding light. Lust, thick and cloying, filled my lungs and made my movements sluggish as I fought against the torrent of emotions.
When I was certain I’d die from the Pleasure coursing through my veins, it began to wane incrementally, then all at once, leaving me cold and bereft once more.
I came back to my physical form, then, my eyes opening on a gasp as I saw the magic no longer writhing in the clouds. Instead, millions of crystalized droplets froze in the clear sky, each the color of an Original Magic.
Cautiously, mouth open in abandoned awe, I turned to regard Torin. Unsurprisingly, his eyes were already fixed on me, a similar look of wonder etched in his face.
“I have Water remaining,” he croaked, clearly having fought as hard as me as we released our magic back into Meru.
“Creation,” I whispered.
A breeze started then, whipping my hair and caressing my skin as I closed my eyes to simplyfeelit.
“Create,”the wind whispered.“Heal the earth. Bring the rain.”
I felt the command deep within my bones, as if the words were etched upon my soul from the moment I was born.
With a cry of desperation, I tugged at the magic within my chest, pulling it away from my soul and deep into my veins. The power of Creation rushed through my blood, and I pushed it deep within Meru’s soil with every ounce of energy remaining.
