Time came and it went, and he never paid much mind to it. Summer faded into the luster of autumn, to the frigidity of winter, to the soft warmth of spring and round, and round it goes. He is ever present, quiet and contemplative along the eastern shoreline of Tephra, where the pale sunlight touches the supple sand with its splendor from a vast and endless sky. His gaze rises to meet with hers as the tide moves forward, enveloping his legs with frothing sea foam, and a faint smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

  ”Jord,” he says softly, but with a glint of warmth in his steady stare. ”it has been a while.”

  He is not splashing in the water (he is too old for it; there are deep sullen lines beneath his eyes, and a deep sway to his back where his age is beginning to show), but his dark and heavy gaze does soften as he watches her savor her youth. His immortality had slipped away from him when he embraced the darkness of the fire gifted to him. It was so long ago, it felt like a lifetime – or perhaps an eternity had passed since. No longer is he plagued by the terrible memories nor the dark and insidious nightmares that had kept him up for so many years. The memories have begun to fade away, as did the rest of his anguish. Lost to the ever-moving tide, swaying to and fro across the pale sand and volcanic rock lining the shore.

  ”I’ve been better, and I’ve been worse,” he says evenly, watching her closely. ”and you?”