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       I</i>t was dark. She couldn't remember it ever being so dark. Even the golden light that normally infused her immortal body dulled no luster, no shine. The mist that poured from the shore was dank and cold and the scent of sulphur clung to the chilly waves that lapped at the earth. Ice and fire. Her face was scoured with heat; it fell in liquid paths from her golden eyes. Sobs shook her frail body as she knelt there at the base of the cliff, surrounded by the midnight blue of the waves.
       
       Every bone in her body ached, every muscle, every joint. Even her thoughts caused pain to seize the flesh rigid. A howl boiled up from her chest was poured free of shattered lips and tore through the air. Anguish stole grace from her form, harsh and angular it seemed no longer a goddess of the sky, her wings clipped and shredded. The fiery pinions were scattered around her, lost in the casual toss of the waves. Grief struck she was now, a creature no longer aloft, the path to the stars denied. The Skyborne Goddess wept not for the loss of flight, but for the loss of self.
       
       "Come back, please."
       
       It was his voice, the Earthbound Demon. His blazing sapphire eyes cut through the smoky mist, and reached out toward her. She shoved him away, her eyes tightly shut, her words cold.
       
       "I will not. Let me go."
       
       The fire of his eyes dimmed. Still he persisted; his fingers outstretched, and his voice coaxing.
       
       "Come back."
       
       "Go away, why do you stay?"
       
       "I care."
       
       "No."
       
       This battle was played out over and over again. The Demon coaxing. The Goddess refusing. A stalemate, neither giving any ground. The earth was chewed up by the waves and the sky devoured by mist. Time's hourglass shuddered to a halt, the wheel of life stopped, and the world held its breath. Still they stood like war torn generals upon a watery field, the snapping pennant of her hair flying around and he spoke yet again.   
       
       "Come back."
       
       Implacable, his voice consistent.
       
       "I can't."
       
       Muted, but her voice the same.
       
       "You can."
       
       Rage flared, and then pain.
       
       "It hurts."
       
       Softer now, unsure but offered.
       
       "I know."
         
       She shuddered, the Skyborne Goddess upon the stone, wreathed in the cold. So much inside those two words, how long had he known the Earthbound Demon? How much pain did he hide behind those fiery blue eyes? She turned, his powerful hand was outstretched over the crashing midnight water, waiting. Fear clawed at her chest, and the broken stumps of her wings beat frantically against her shoulders. She couldn't span the distance without her wings to carry her over the waves. The stone was cold, but safe.
       
       Another cry tore free of her throat, a keening wail that speared his heart and took part of his soul. The water ate up the ground with greedy gulps of its fingers. It snapped off chunks of wet sand as he walked forward into the raging maelstrom around her. Each new surge of water he beat back, steadfast, constant. Again his hand was offered, closer.  
       
       "Come back."
       
       A tentative hand, fingers gingerly reaching and ready to pull back at the slightest misstep. He hauled her up off the rock, his strong body a bulwark against the storm. He let her cling to him, a soothing voice in the darkness. Over and over she repeated every beat of her shattered heart shouting the words.
       
       "I can't."
       
       Quiet, calm. The wheel spun and time's hourglass began.  A breath he wasn't aware of holding slipped free, and he set her down upon the moonlit beach. His hands brought warmth back to her body, swept tangled hair from her face, and a soft kiss was placed upon her lips.
       
       "You have."
       
       A sound, as if to rebuke his words and he placed a fingertip upon her mouth, then spoke.
       


        "One step."