gaia

Her apotheosis foretold his imminent death. He didn’t believe her.

“The words of a woman,” he spat.

What man wants his life sewn between callused fingers, a mark upon her skin which he himself left?

She met his eyes directly for the first time. There was anger there, yes. But the serrated corners of his lids betrayed his growing fear.

The master, now a slave.

Her voice reverberated in his diminishing consciousness.

“You will vanish. This time, not just in my dreams.”

She closed her eyes. Willed him to disappear with every particle of her being. For emancipation, long denied. The cage will not unlock itself.

There was no sound. She opened her eyes.

He was gone. Not even an ounce of his manhood remained on the pavement. No corpse to bury. No residues.

Only victory. For her.

She smiled, now a goddess.