Page 80 of The Legend of Meneka
I leave the illusion in her hands.
Amaravati tugs at me, and I spy Kaushika on the ground. He stands with his army again, blazing, all the chakras glowing within his body. He is coated in magic, watching me warily, seeing the illusions I carved. I float toward him, and suddenly he is there, rising to meet me. I hear his voice, golden and beautiful, across the barrier. He sings his mantras to maintain his shield from the devas and celestials. To maintain it from me. He watches me but does not stop.
Let me in. I know he can hear me.
He blinks, but the shield does not give.
Let me in, I say again.
Kaushika’s mouth pinches in pain. We stare at each other across the divide, his defense pulsing against me. My prana flows in waves of illumination, drenching me from head to toe. I can break his magic if I want, so great is my power. He knows this. He can see it.
Who are you?He asks.
Find out, I challenge.
Kaushika blinks again. A wry, humorless smile forms on his lips.
He opens the barrier.
ISHOW HIM.
The second the shield drops, I shoot toward him.
I take him in my arms, and his shock radiates to me. Whatever he expected, this was not it. Magic whirls around us, raising us, cocooning us. He is still singing, chanting, protecting his people from the imminent onslaught of the devas. His eyes widen in question and confusion, even as shlokas and mantras pour out of him. His arms encircle my waist, and he pulls me closer.
It surprises the both of us.
His mantra stumbles, a mistake as he drops a note, then hastily picks it up. He looks at me, startled, both at his mistake and at his desire. I press my body to his. I interlace his fingers with mine. I stare into his wary eyes.
Holding him, I move.
It is a dance like no other, his body rigid and unmoving against mine. My body sways, ever so slightly. He sings—and I do what I do best. I dance.
Our magic entangles together. Note by note, twist by twist, it merges.
With our bodies so close, touching, our fingers entwined, a vision of love overtakes us.
He is carried away, both with his control and without. He is horrified, and curious, as I show him who I am, and who he is. Whoweare, together.
A mirror forms between our very beings, like the time it did when we saved Kalyani. I will him to see within me, laying my heart bare. He dips himself into me, a touch in a pond, a hesitant exploration.Look inside, I say.What do you see?
I see you, he responds from a lifetime ago, and the memory grows alive in both of us.A vision of beauty, sacred and deep.
Kaushika shakes his head, pulling away, face distraught.
Stay, I whisper, and the illusion magnetizes with my emotion. Stolen kisses. That night on the pond. The words of devotion we said.
Real, I tell him.All of it was real.
Rainbow colors surround us, and in every direction we look we see only ourselves. Hand in hand, laughing. Me astride him, riding him. Him kissing my wrists with reverence. Our foreheads touching, like we are praying to what is between us.
Who are you?he gasps.
I sway.
Whoareyou?he pleads.
The mirror shows him.
