Drip. Drip. Drip.

The icy raindrops fell heavily, splattering against my skull and dripping from my drenched hair. I clenched my teeth together tightly, desperately fighting the chills that trembled through out my body. I pushed the sensations aside in an attempt to detach my mind from my physical self, to withdraw deeper into the quiet depths of my soul. I searched and strained with every last extension of myself for that safe place within, that intangible sanctuary of focus and power.

The wind rose higher, howling in my ears like the painful screams of a child. The rain pounded down on me relentlessly. It soaked through my clothes and into my skin, drowning me from the inside out. My whole body began to tremble and vibrate with chills as with each passing second, I became more aware of the world I was so feebly trying to ignore. I had closed my eyes in an attempt to shut it all out but my lack of vision was only intensifying the sensations around me. Raindrops steadily trickled down my neck, sliding down my spine in an ominous chill.

It was all too much. I was miserable, I was afraid, I was exhausted, and frozen, and wet. A dampness had set into my bones that I felt sure I’d never truly rid myself of. This was torture and there was no reason why it should continue. I had the power to end it – so why didn’t I? My necklace was glowing faintly against my chest, its quiet warmth the only comfort this moment had to offer. Its heat increased with my emotions, and as I became more aware of my miserable surroundings, fiery frustration flickered around my heart.

My eyes snapped open.

I found myself staring directly into his intense, gray-blue eyes. He sat so closely that I could have reached out and touched him – but I didn’t dare. The smirk that had once pulled up the corners of his soft, pink lips had now completely disappeared. There was nothing to lighten the overwhelming strength of his steady, ancient gaze. I immediately recognized my own powerful frustration, magnified and reflected back at me ten-fold in his mysterious eyes. His lips pressed together, his eyes narrowed dangerously, accusingly as they darkened from a light bluish-gray to an intense, thunderous gray that bordered on the edge of black. I fought the instinct to shrink back from him.

I determinedly refused to look away. I would not back down - I would not cower before him. The air in the small space between us seemed to crackle with the intensity of our emotions, the vivid focus of our wills. The only sounds were those of the wind stirring the branches over our heads and the steadily falling drops of rain. Our eyes were locked together, unwavering, unblinking.

Drip, drip, drip.