Ocean's Breath Plateau sun-worshipper

i would be happy to have you here again, pharaoh, aditya said warmly. you are welcome—fire or not. the flames were beginning to ease; their fuel was diminishing fast, and there was nowhere else for them to go. the grasses were still frosted over, and the tree stood alone.

soon, it would be just a charred monument—a memory of this conversation, and of coaltrees of yore.

he smiled, a little sadly, at that, his eyes having shifted to the natural torch. i understand being tied elsewhere, he murmured, almost too quietly for the other man to hear. one of my greatest sins is that i've always cast off those ties—no matter how strongly or fervently they hold me.

never again. he was too old to play the fool, and much too old to wander.

take care, adi said, looking back at pharaoh. he had left brook and suddenly missed her; he wanted to tell her what he had seen today. i must go. with that, he turned, leaving the priest to whatever worship he still had to do.