8. The fire, part 1.

And then, with all of this gentle beauty, there was something else. In the serenity of his eyes, there was an edge of flame, as though it were reflected on his surface as he regarded it coldly, like he was maintaining a tension between the fire and the void and walking slowly along that line.

This fire was many things: his enemy; his protector; his lover, of a time long past. It was the shape of desire and the sting of fear.

With the fire, along his arms and on the back of his neck, another thing rested: an electrical force, enormous but carefully and quietly coiled: the power of absolute annihilation.