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I stand here, still, watching someone I have not seen in a long, long time walk past my creaking stone body. He has aged far better than me, but this is to be expected from someone who has not fallen yet. I say nothing to him as he walks right up to me, his wings gently tracing along a thin green vine thats been climbing up my legs many ages before I was made into stone. He whispers five words that bring back the soft haze of a life before the vine and a creaking stone body. Just as his wings touch the tip of the vine, he whispers, "Do you remember that night?" His face rises to meet mine and repeats, slowly with care and a hint of desperation, "Do you remember?". His head drops down, he does not say anything more but I can hear in the murmuring of his hectic mind, in the smallest most insignificant thought, I hear "I remember". My right arm begins to crack as the memory of that night becomes real. I remember how...

i i i

... nervous I am. Walking slowly up an old beaten dirt path, clutching a thin piece of paper like my life depends on it. "Ugghhh", I sigh deeply and squint in the half light of dusk at poorly drawn directions scribbled on the paper. "Hey des, do you have any idea where the fuck we are?" I attempt to say casually to the large muscled owl walking next to me.

i

"Uh... Yea, yea just um...We're gonna walk up the path and look for the lights, I guess,"... he says slowly and half distracted, coming out of another day dream. I nod slightly in response, feeling less sure and even more nervous. As I should; this is my first time going to a bonfire worship, and I have no idea what to expect." I'm just really hoping that some weird blood god fucked up shit isn't gonna happen. My fingers cross as I wish for an orgy. I uncross them and smile at how ridiculous that is; then close my eyes and pray for an orgy.

i

"Ow, ah there it is", he says pointing to a large unlit pile of wood and a small group of people. I look closely and see all of them fully clothed, "Ughhh" I sigh again, and whisper to myself "so not an orgy?".

i

As we approach and the sound of our footsteps becomes audible to those by the pile of wood, a large woman carrying a flaming torch looks up at us and smiles warmly. Her eyes quickly survey my cluttered nervous movements "Is this your first time at a bonfire" she says in a tone just as warm as her smile. "No," I say far too quickly. "I mean...Yea...Yea this is...This is my first time."

i i i

She laughs softly, hands me her touch, and says, "Well good then. You'll need one of these." Her lips still hold an easy smile, but she stares directly into my eyes as if it's a serious question.

I answer by reaching out slowly and grasping the torch. She lets go, and I feel a wave of calmness wash over me while hours pass in an instant. I look over her shoulder to the pile of unlit wood, where there are now two massive thrones sitting on top of the pile. Made real by the starlight. I look back to her as she breathes into a glass bottle and hands it to Des. I put my right hand on his shoulder, he nods, agreeing to the ritual.

i

We walk slowly up to the thrones. One has caved across it, a mountain surrounded by icy flames. The other shows only erratic swirls, that move in every direction. I climb atop the mountain, and he sits on the wind. I look to him one last time before we drop our gifts to the wooden pile. Our old bodies becoming ash, and our new ones become gods. Me of the mountain and him of the wind. This feeling, this freeing icy fire...

i i

... lasted almost forever. But then I fell and so here I am remembering. Here I am, my free right arm bringing him in a close embrace, if for only a few small moments before it becomes stone again.