The Lay of the Land

I was sucked into the void of the binding, into that dark and frightening place. But then my heart jumps, pounds back to life, threads blood through my veins, along with crackling heat. My skin combusts with power. My pulse becomes the shuddering rhythm of life, and the moment of terror vanishes, buried under an avalanche of bliss.

My skin fizzes, every hair on my body stands up, and my lungs inflate with the thrill of pleasure.

I'm euphoric.

I'm bound.

Nothing else matters.

Nothing.

I'm me, but not me. I'm this tree behind me, but not that either. I'm not Aiden, but he's here. The wind, the flame, the dirt and Aiden—they're all in me and through me.

The music rides in my muscles, a golden thread tying me to Aiden, moving me, moving him. A dance that twines us soul-to-soul. And in the middle of it, when he calls my name, all of me answers.