He came close . Really close .

A moment more and his hand would touch me . I felt his warmth .

And it was enough :

Using his spark I ignited ,fire surrounding me . He quickly retreated. A good choice , he earned my gratitude .

I saw through his eyes for a time - the starry sky has changed a bit . Still , so much beauty .The wonder remains the same as the first time .

I was surprised when I first found myself in this new world but not as much as you would expect to : in a way I had both prepared and asked for this . Just like I had prepared and asked for the present I awoke to.The awe remains the same .

Right now I find myself in a peculiar position . I stand triumphant yet exhausted and weak . I feel … out of breath . Can you imagine this feeling ?

Once , when I was a teen , I was collecting shellfish in the sea . For hours I was swimming further and further from the beach following the cliff side . I had a knife with me , a nice diver s knife . At some point it slipped through my fingers . It fell to the depths . I dived after it . I reached out to grasp it again and again , it always seemed to be within reach . It wasn’t .

It eventually reached the bottom .. Stuck in the sand of the sea floor I collected it and turned upwards .

It was deep enough for the sun to be darkened by nothing but depth . I pushed the sea floor with my legs and begun to swim towards the surface .

It still seems to me I had reached somewhere I would never reach without all the special circumstances blessing me . My breath was already out by the time I reached the sea floor you see.

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The water s inflection , always there shimmering in dazzling light as i suffered oxygen deprivation - it stuck with me .

This is the feeling I am going through right now . My mana pathways ready to fill me with power . I’m just too deep this time - just a little bit more , keep going for just a little bit ... A little bit more and I ll reach the surface once more .

Perhaps it is better described by smoking . If you chain smoke - so much that it blocks out your lungs in a very real , felt , conscious way , you can get to experience this sensation . Let me tell you , this is a great way to gain control over smoking . Let the fool persist in his folly and I ll show you the birth of a wise man .

Despite this condition of mine I tried to regain my senses . No vision , besides what I show through the man that woke me up . I lost him and thus sight soon after .But sound and touch was there . I felt my way in and touched upon the edges of my hallway . Blocked . I ll have to breakthrough to reclaim my halls.

I heard a breath and I went up wards . There , it is buried but it still kept growing even under ground .

I pushed my fire and prayed . The heavens answered me and reached down , a hand extend to make me rise up again . I took it : My tree broke out of the ground , fed on my fire and grew out of the top of the hill .As it grew to stand tall I felt the wind . Immediately my power , the flames that surrounded me which had gone so close to being snuffed out due to me using them connected - I felt them dancing upwards , caressing the bark and the branches before settling in their places . They would be flames for a time but before long they would settle into leaves . I hope no one is left around to observe the change .

Now all I have to do is breathe .

My presence will reinstate itself on the surrounding land and I will have once more a home to protect me .

I am tired . I am starving . I am dirty and humbled . I am drained .I am vulnerable , at my weakest . I am exhausted .

I am grateful.

I am alone ,

This is true Mercy .

I am triumphant.