Estavir slowly opened his eyes to see the inside of a house, a somewhat familiar house. He stood up and examined his surroundings; he was in the shrine at the foot of the mountain. Behind him, presumably where he had come from, was the wall that looked like a door. He looked around to find there was only one room in this hallway now. There was no more bedroom, no more kitchen, no more bathroom, only the large dimly lit room with all the candles.

Reluctantly and afraid of what he may find he walked into the room. He hoped it would be empty as it was when he first arrived.

The room was still dark, and the candles still lit, but the shadows and corners of the room were no longer empty. Everywhere he looked he could see black shadowy creatures crawling around. Above every candle hung a darkened silhouette, piercing the dark in his direction with an intense stare from their red glowing eyes. The room felt heavy and stuffy and darker than it had done before, though visible nothing had changed.

He walked into the middle of the room and sat down.

He prayed.

He prayed in absolute silence with his eyes closed, feeling the beaming of all eyes in the room on him.

He knew this feeling well, he knew who they were and why they were here now.

He finished his silent prayer before bowing his head as low as he could.

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Upon raising his head a singular large candle had materialised before him and above it hung three shadowy figures.

They said nothing and did nothing.

Estavir bowed to them before kicking the candle over and walking out.

He left the shrine at the foot of the mountain and made his way to the campfire where he had met Bolfog.

No one was there but the campfire was lit, with the kettle starting to whistle.

He took the kettle off the fire and poured it into a cup that was already there, waiting for him.

He took the cup up to his face to smell the tea and sat as he saw the flames engulf the shrine.

The stars were bright, the sky was clear and the flickering light from the fire cast playful shadow on the first gate and on the mountain face.

He watched mesmerised for hours as the shrine burned. The shadows played until night turned to morning.

As the day crept in, the mountain Sensan-Ghi faded from view until it was completely gone. All that could be seen in its stead was a clear morning sky and a rising sun. Estavir remained sitting, drinking his tea until the shrine had stopped burning and all that remained was a pile of ash.

When the last smoke trail left the pile of ashes he got up and walked to the gate, which was no longer glowing in its golden hum.

As he got close, as if looking through a gateway to a different world, he could still see the mountain Sensan-Ghi towering ahead under the arch, though it was no longer there.

He held out his hand to place it on the archway and felt only cold wood.

He bowed and thanked the gateway.

I was not worthy.

He turned around, kept his head low and walked off into the bushes from whence he first appeared.

The three dark shadowy figures rose from the ashes in time to witness Estavir's silhouette obscured by bushes.

"May your journey lead you back to us one last time." They echoed in unison, too softly for Estavir to hear, as they evaporated in the rays of the morning sun.