Suddenly he felt the heat; he felt
it touch him as it had in Athens. He felt it dance about his face, he felt
his eyes watering. Steadily he regarded the distant tiny source. And then
for reasons that he might never himself understand, he chose not to drive
back the fire, bur rather to see what it might do to him. Every fiber of
his being said, Give it back. Yet he remained motionless, washed of thought,
and feeling the sweat drip from him. The fire circled him, embraced him.
And then it moved away, leaving him alone, cold and wounded beyond his
wildest imagining. Quietly he whispered a prayer: May the twins destroy
you.
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