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The sun was gone. The only light that shone

Was a reflection off the fading sky,

Yet faded not the gold out of the roof,

For, at the touch of darkness, fireflies,

Lit crisp like Christmas candles,

Appeared and turned the leaves to paper lamps.

By their increasing light Shane darkly saw,

The trees were shorter, less cathedreal,

The trees were further, less orderly ranked.

Under his bare feet there gradually came

The green impalpable caress of grass.

"But what are these woods? How did I come

So deep within their pathless unaware?"

Varr frowned with thought before he answered "Come.

Rest for your weariness lies yonder near.

There shall I answer. For now, I know not

How you came here. I know well how you woke;

So woke I too, though many years ago.

I opened up my eyes, and saw great cliffs

A-towering far above me where I lay

Deep in a shady vale bedecked with vines

And saturated with the scent of fog.

Over the years, I have met many such

Who suddenly awoke on crags and hills.

Yet one who knew who brought him to this place

I never met. Yet see, here the trees thin!

You already had come near to the edge

Ere I was sent to meet you." "Sent by who?"

Asked Shane, now aching from his bleeding side

And limping as he came. His guide gave him

A reassuring, twilight hidden smile,

As if to promise more, but only said

"I long ago was taught, when once the wind

So summons, not to question, but to go."

Then just beyond the trees the boxer saw

An ancient tower, never proud or high,

Now half-collapsed to no more than a hut.

Behind it swept the rearmost stand of trees

Beyond which lay wide plains invisible

And stars appearing like the fireflies.

"Here" Said Varr "May we lie safe, once I a

Watchman capture. Wait here, brother, and watch!"

The warrior disappeared inside, and Shane

Was left to wonder mutely on the need

To catch a watchman. Night breeze brushed his skin,

He shivered, and commanded stern his thoughts

To think otherwise. Airborne drops of light

One by one drifted lazy through the grass.

As he stood motionless, the fireflies

Began to tend toward him, as distant stars

Will slowly list in circles round the holes

Punched through the firmament. They gathered close

Into a living galaxy, with Shane

For axis. There he watched them, pain forgot,

Forgot the mysteries that gnawed his brain.

He only watched with unabashed delight

The drifting revolutions. Cautiously,

Lest he should frighten, stretched he forth a glove.

Two fireflies drifted epicyclical

And settled there, like beacons on a hill.

He drew them gently close, until their light

Cast shadows upward on his face, and gazed

As if he never saw a bug before.

Their shells were jade and golden, and their eyes,

Glittering with solemn curiosity,

Were amethysts. Their lights unblinking hid

The edges of their forms, just as the sun

Conceals the sky by lighting it too much.

And as the boxer smiled and breathed again

The fireflies took flight toward the trees

And joined another galaxy, that spun

Under the forest eaves. Shane felt himself

Go tense, for he could see by fireflylight

That someone stood within this nebula.

Their form was dim, and ill-illumined, but

The boxer knew they had been standing long

Enough for lights to come round him as well

As they encircled Shane. He liked this not.

He raised his fists, and took a ready stance.

At movement of his foot, the fireflies

All scattered, both from him and from the shape

That now was hidden in the velvet night.

Even as he peered, there came the tread

Of Varr returning, clanking as he came,

And carrying a basket of a size

To just contain a kitten. "What is it?"

The warrior whispered, at Shane's warlike stance.

"Something is in the woods. I saw it not

But saw the floating lights surround it, as

It loomed and watched me. It may still be there."

Varr squinted, with his hand upon his hilt.

"I nothing see," said he, "Yet let us not

Purposeless stand unsheltered in the night.

See! We shall sleep in readiness, and shall

Alerted be of any peril. You

Already draw our watchmen near again."

So saying, he swept through the unlit air

The basket to scoop fireflies, just as

A fisherman plucks from the sea his catch.

Light shone strong through the chinks. The warrior said,

"Should any evil thing, intending harm,

Draw near, these fireflies all douse their lamps,

So will we know if foemen lie without

The while we lie within. Thus set your mind

At ease. Whatever wight you might have seen

Can mean no harm to us. The fireflies

Burned brightly all about it, as you said."

They turned to go inside, Shane still uncalm.

"It may have been no foe, but nor no friend.

Why did it hide itself in dark?" he said.

Inside, the ruin had been cleared. The roof

All reinforced with branches. The smooth earth

That was the floor was spread with rushes, and

The fallen blocks of wall were stacked along

The one side of the room to form a bed

With furs for mattresses and quilts. The fire

Lay cold and black upon the hearth, where Varr

Was bent to kindle it. The only light

Came from the basket. Yet a moment more

And up the kindling leapt, and bathed the room

In sunset hues. "Do bar the door," said Varr,

"And sit. You soon will ease your weariness

With bandages, and food and drink, and rest,

But most of all with answers. I have wine.

Waybread have I, and cheese both savory

And sweet. Dried fish and salted meat there are.

So break your fast, and satisfy your thirst,

And presently your questions I will sate."

At first Shane found himself unsure about

The food, for it was not as he was used.

But caution hunger overcame, and soon

He ate, if not with relish, like the fine

And epicurial, but with the plain

Coarse gusto of a man who wins his bread

With hearty toil and sweating of his brow.

The warrior, meantime, laid his armor by.

He stacked it with his shield beside the door.

Unbuckled he his tassets and his greaves,

His breastplate shining and the shoulderguards.

His helm he laid on top. His coat of mail

He hung upon a jutting crack of rock.

His heavy boots he piled against the door.

Beneath his shell of steel plating he dressed in but

A kilt or loincloth, bound about his waist,

A tunic, worn and frayed, and a gold band

Fit snug below the shoulder sinister.

His chest and arms were crossed with many scars,

Some recent, some that seemed almost as old

As he. Now liberated from the weight

Of arms, his limbs relaxed and hung at ease.

His mighty sword and sheath he laid beside

The bed. Then fetched he bandages and gauze

And ointment sickly-smelling, and with these

He dressed the wounds he had inflicted. Then

They broke their bread together, without speech.

At length, when conquered hunger was, Shane spoke,

"You spoke of answers. Three questions have I

That I would speak to you. You spoke of more

Who here awakened, knowing not the why,

Even as you and I; where are they now,

How is it you alone did come to me?

What peril is there, that we need a watch,

For I saw nothing deadly but yourself;

What foe will insect lanterns warn us of?

And finally, you said that you were taught

To follow wind, which led you to me. Who

Taught you this craft, and who drew out this skill

In you?" The boxer silent fell, and crossed

His arms across his chest. The warrior sat

As if in thought, then said "All these are one.

Indeed, there once were many others here.

Indeed, there is a wicked peril nigh.

Indeed, the wind I followed to the place

Where you were wandering was as a guide.

No wind has stirred within those woods for years.

Yea, there was one who taught me of its speech.

To answer all of these requires a tale

Both long and grim. If you would take your sleep,

I gladly shall reserve it for the morn."

Shane shook his head. "I have slept quite enough

Of late, and you will find that I endure

More weariness of body than a tale

Can lay on me. Say on," the boxer said.

Varr fetched a flask, drank deep, and passed it on.

Shane drank, and found the taste was honeylike

But strong as brandywine. Then Varr began,

"The tale I tell you now is more than I

Do understand. Forgive me if stray

Off of my certainty along the way."