The eagle came by every day, and every day it pecked out Prometheus' liver. And every day Prometheus would cry out: "Please, unmerciful eagle, spare me!" 

But the winged king of the skies ignored his pleas. And the rivers would run red with blood. 

The call of the eagle heralded the arrival of noon.

Prometheus had learned to despise it, but not fear it. No, fear had gone away centuries ago.

The chains chafed at his wrists, encircling the huge rock whose face he hung on. His toes were mere inches away from the huge outcropping below him - inches that made him feel the ever-hungry gravity of the Mother Earth herself.

The sun hung low in its sky, and the eagle had not arrived. Prometheus raked the landscape with his eyes, wishing for the wait to end. The pain was fleeting, yet the hours that dragged by wouldn't speed up. 

A cry in the distance reached the ears of the previously mighty Titan. It was the angry cry of the eagle - but was it angry? No, it was filled with pain. 

Trailing broken feathers, the eagle crashed onto the stone below him. 

Its wings unfurled, and Prometheus gasped. A man lay on the unforgiving stone, charred arrows poking out between feathers. He didn't move until the moon hung silver and round and the stars softly gazed down. 

Golden eyes opened, rivaling Apollo in their light. Laced with fury, they watched Prometheus, captive and captivated, as he hung as still as the moon. 

He raised himself up, wings weakly fluttering. His clawed fingers pulled out an arrow, burned black. 

"This is your doing," he said, and his voice echoed with the eagle's cry.

"Do not put me together with the humans. We are not the same. Fire was not meant to hurt." Prometheus answered. 

"Intentions don't matter in the world of humans. Only the outcome." said the eagle. 

"Then run along, eagle, run to Zeus. He will heal you."

"I cannot leave until your punishment today is exacted." he paused. "And I cannot leave even if I tried." 

"Your broken body holds you back." Prometheus' lips curved into a resemblance of a smile. "You are your own chains. Now you know some part of me. We are not so different."

Instead of rising back with a blazing insult, the eagle hung his head. "We never were so different. My punishment is punishing you."

Prometheus' eyes widened. "You are being punished? What for? I could not think a majestic creature of your likes to have any faults."

He didn't answer. Instead, he raised a slightly shaking hand. A golden glow of power surrounded it, and Prometheus groaned as it ripped out his liver. 

The eagle dropped his hand and sank to the ground, closing his eyes. 

In the distance, the first rays of the sun drained the night of its shadows.

When Prometheus opened his eyes, the eagle was still there. He didn't remember falling asleep, just watching the sun paint his feathers into shades of bronze and gold. 

It was just after noon, and the eagle wasn't moving. A buzzard circled in the awfully clear blue sky above them, eyeing the body. 

Prometheus shouted at it to leave, and woke the eagle up. Dazzling golden eyes, outshining Apollo himself, flared open to stare at the unfamiliar surroundings. 

"Where am I?" dark, seemingly blood-stained lips shaped the words. "Why am I here?"

Prometheus examined the man. "Don't you remember? You were hurt, hurt by the humans and their flaming arrows. You accused me of being at fault."

He frowned, thoughtfully. "Yes, I... yes. I remember." His eyes lingered on the pile of charred arrows, his own wounds, his broken human body.

A quiet settled over them, broken by the cries of the buzzard, angry to have lost his prospective lunch. The eagle finally broke it.

"I am so used to these wings." He lifted up one shimmering example. "But I didn't think they'd follow me here, to my first self."

"Your first self. You're not an eagle?" Prometheus asked, surprised.

"Oh, what I've been. I remember being a boy - six or seven. And then I remember the Titans and their alluring calls, and I just wandered off to find them. I found a shattered piece of their power - a sliver of rock but a centimeter long, thin as a gossamer thread. It called to me, so I picked it up. Just like glass, it cut my finger."

"And you changed?"

"No. Not immediately. But the stone didn't just cut my finger, it got lodged inside. I cried to my mama, please, it hurts, heal me. But she could do nothing, and neither could the village doctor." The eagle curled its wings around itself. 

Prometheus waited for him to continue his tale. But he wouldn't speak. 

Instead, his hand quivered with that golden power, and ripped his liver out. 

Night brought coolness, soothing red-hot skin and stone. As a calm wind wandered through the trees below, Prometheus felt his eyes getting heavier with Hypnos' touch.

The eagle was long since sleeping, his chiseled chest rising and falling. Everything was quiet.

And then Prometheus heard a yell. Not the pitying cry of a trapped bird, or the haunting howl of a wolf. It was distinctly human, and angry at that.

A lone burning arrow whistled out of the trees and clattered onto the stone near the eagle. 

He burst awake, all wings and muscle, shooting up into the air. His mouth opened in a silent scream. Wide golden eyes frantically searched the area for the source of the arrow. 

Nothing. The night was quiet again. The eagle landed on the outcropping. 

"I heard the humans." said Prometheus. "They are right below us."

His words were punctuated by something clawed screeching against the lip of the outcropping. 

The eagle grabbed it and tossed it down, but it was only followed by more. A couple stuck in cracks in the old granite and wouldn't move. The eagle pulled at them, panicking, but couldn't do anything.

"Help me!" He cried, but Prometheus could only watch him struggle. 

The first human clambered up onto the stone. He was holding a spear whose sharp point wickedly gleamed in the moonlight. 

It was pointed straight at the eagle. 

Prometheus began to pray. He was sure that the thunderous King of the Heavens could hear him at any time, but the sky stayed cloudless. 

"Please!" he whispered into empty air. "Save us, Lord Zeus. We have been punished, but we don't deserve our deaths!"

The eagle thrust out an arm and wrenched the spear from the human with a gust of magic. The man cried out and stumbled, tripping off the edge of the cliff. 

The eagle heard him shout as stone gave way to unforgiving air beneath his feet. And yet more humans clambered onto the outcropping.

A small tendril of mist began curling up Prometheus' leg. It crackled with barely contained electricity, and Prometheus almost sighed in relief.

It reached his ear and began to speak. 

"And why don't you deserve death? Death at the hands of your own creation, how perfectly entertaining. Convince me, Prom, why should I spare you and that creature?"

"Because I haven't heard his whole story. I want to know my own tormentor, and because..." Prometheus paused. There was something else... "And because you would have killed us both long ago if you had wanted to. Why kill us now?"

Golden magic arced between the eagle's hands as he beat away the humans. But their sheer numbers began forcing the winged warrior towards the place where Prometheus was hanging. 

Above their heads, silent clouds rolled across the night sky, smothering the stars and rending the land into a greater shadow. 

The eagle took three more steps backwards as the humans advanced, yelling and shaking their weapons up to the sky. 

He was forced up against Prometheus' prone body, wings spread to shield the Titan.

And thunder sang across the land. 

The humans shrank back as lightning crashed to the ground right in front of them.

The eagle caught it in his glowing hands, and directed its boiling power right at the humans. 

They shrieked in fear and began stumbling off the cliff. 

Once they were gone, the clouds began to melt away. For a second, a rippling image of Zeus appeared before them. "They have forgotten about this place. You will not be disturbed again."

Then his image was blown away by a gust of wind as the stars resumed their watchful place above the rock. 

The eagle was still pressed against Prometheus. He coughed lightly, and the winged man stumbled forward, embarrassed. 

"Will you tell me more of your tale?" the Titan asked. 

The eagle lay down. "If you so wish."

"After the pain in my hand faded, we all began thinking that nothing had gone wrong. After all, a tiny piece of rock can't do much, said my mother. But she didn't know that it wasn't just rock, it was a piece of a Titan. The pain hadn't just faded, it had been replaced with other feelings. Feelings that simmered inside, trapped and colliding with other feelings."

"You couldn't control yourself." Prometheus said. 

"No, a young boy could not control such a thing when it erupted. Neither could a man. But it wasn't too difficult keeping it down. For three years I forced these powerful feelings deep into myself where I thought they couldn't escape."

"Someone triggered those feelings. The Titan whose piece you inadvertently stole?"

"No. It was just a man who I chanced upon in a dark alley one summer evening." He shuddered and fell silent.

They said nothing as the sun rose. 

When the sky returned to its normal blue, the eagle sat up and turned to the Titan. "You know, I never enjoyed hurting you."

"I'm glad to hear I'm not hanging next to someone who enjoys causing pain to others." 

The eagle smiled. Then he slumped a little. "Would you understand if I said I had no choice?"

"I might understand if you told me the rest of your story..." 

The eagle looked up at the smiling Prometheus and huffed. "You know, it's actually really nice to have someone listen to me. People hear my calls and either ignore or revere me, but nobody... actually listens."

He made himself comfortable on the rock, and then continued. "I like to believe to this day that the man was evil. Or that at least some part of him was rotten beyond rescue. He stopped me and asked me for spare change. I didn't have any, but the man soon proved to be not a beggar, but a more wicked person than I had assumed. He grabbed me and told me that if I didn't give him my money, he would make me pay in some other way. I told him that I didn't have any money, truly! Instead of letting go, he tried to pull me somewhere. But he didn't succeed."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

He took a deep breath before continuing, steeling himself for the next part of the story.

"At first, I was plain afraid. I was praying with all my heart that he was just a harmless nobody, but it soon proved that he was strong and bent on taking me away. But when he didn't believe my words, I grew angry. And as if someone had pulled the plug, all the roiling emotions I had been holding inside splashed out. Tears ran down my face as a full spectrum of anger, fear, exhilaration, sadness, and pain burst through me. And I felt myself starting to change."

He sat up and raised his wings. "Back then, I didn't know it was going to be permanent."

He laid back down and continued. "I saw feathers grow out of my arms and legs. My nails turned into claws and my feet into talons. The anger wiped my vision into white fury, and the rest... I can't remember."

He covered his face with his hands. "I don't want to think about it, either."

"Well, if it matters to you, I'd love to hear about it." Prometheus said. 

He didn't know why, but this man didn't make him think about the suffering the eagle had caused him. They were one and the same creature, but it was like Prometheus just couldn't fit that into his brain. Maybe it was the guy's dashing looks, or beautiful eyes, but he just didn't want to think about him as the terror of the skies that had brought only misery to his life.

"I'll continue at night," said the eagle. "Don't want you getting bored of me."

"I don't think I would," noted Prometheus. "get bored of you."

When the sun set, Prometheus realized something. "Aren't you going to..." He vaguely gestured at his stomach. "I mean, don't you have to?"

The eagle raised his hand, already glowing. "I'll make it painless."

Shocked, Prometheus opened his mouth, then closed it, imitating a fish. He opened it again. "You mean you could have been doing that all this time?!"

"I couldn't have." said the eagle. "This only works in human form."

Prometheus sighed. "Look, it's night. Would you continue your story?"

"Sure." Prometheus could see stars reflected in his eyes.

"When I opened my eyes, he was dead. Long gashes tore up his chest and face, and at first I was afraid. Who had done this? Surely not I. But when I looked down at myself, I found the body of an eagle. My talons were crusted with blood and its metallic taste filled my mouth - beak, I guess."

"It must have been terrifying."

"You're a Titan. Haven't you done much worse things?"

"Something I think that bringing fire to the humans was the worst thing. But other times, it's just all the killing we did. Smiting villages and empires was fun..." He trailed off, unsure of how to finish the thought.

"I see you have a story of your own." said the eagle, looking interested. "Please, tell me."

"You haven't told me your own yet." said Prometheus.

The eagle shrugged. "A story for a story?"

"Tell me yours, I'll tell you mine. But you must finish yours first."

"Sure." said the eagle. "I immediately flew off to the nearest lake. You should understand - children ten years of age aren't wise enough to fully understand their actions sometimes. At the edge, I turned back to a boy, but I was still covered in blood. I dove in. While I was washing myself, I felt something new. It was as if someone had tied a string to my heart and was pulling. I pulled back, and suddenly, scales erupted across my body. My legs melted together and my feet turned into flippers, my arms to fins. I had turned into a fish!"

"So you can turn into more than one animal? I do not know which Titan your power was taken from."

"I do. It was taken from the fiery Titan Helios, King of the Sun and all things that fly."

"Fish can't fly." said Prometheus. 

"I believe it was the power stabilizing inside me. After the fish, I had turned into things that were closer to the eagle form: a dragonfly, a cheetah, a woodpecker, some smaller birds, a crow, and I've been a falcon several times."

"Do tell."

"After my swim in the lake, I returned home, a boy again. I stayed that way until I turned fifteen. One day, while I was buzzing across a lake in my dragonfly form, I found an enticing river leading towards what I hoped would be the ocean. But the river twisted and turned into a forest, and I became afraid that some sky predator would see my little dragonfly body and eat me. So I flew towards the water, hoping to turn into a river animal. Imagine my surprise when I surfaced, shaped like a jungle cat! Before then I had never noticed how disgusting and impractical water was, but now that was all I could think of. I immediately swam to the river bank and loped along it, still following the river."

"Did you see the ocean?"

"I did. I saw an armada of ships, their sails waving in the clear, breezy air. I saw a city, tall as a mountain, by the shore. I saw the waves, pounding away at the sand, and I saw the horizon, stretching far away into the unknown."

He yawned. "I'd like to continue in the morning. Good night, Prometheus."

Hearing his name from the lips of the eagle was... odd. Prometheus felt a tingle in his chest.

He closed his eyes, smiling, and the moon calmly watched over it all.

Birds heralded the arrival of Apollo’s chariot. Sometimes Prometheus wondered where Helios had gone, but the path of the sun through the sky hadn’t changed. So his mind drifted to other, equally mysterious things.

Mysterious like the man sleeping at his feet.

“Wake up,” said Prometheus. “I have a question for you.”

The eagle stirred, then opened his striking eyes. He stretched and flopped his wings open to the rising sun. “You have a question for me?”

“Yes. Why are you here?”

The eagle opened his mouth, then slowly stopped. “I don’t… I think, I… I shouldn’t tell you.”

Prometheus raised his eyebrows. 

The eagle sat up, suddenly tense. “Well, it’s… Mm, no, this… But!” He sighed.

“No, do go on. I’m intrigued.” said Prometheus. 

“It’s Zeus.”

“Oh?” was all Prometheus could say. 

“He told me he was… getting bored with our usual procedure.”

“Bored of watching a huge bird pecking out someone’s liver?”

“I believe he used the words ‘after the Titan stopped screaming, there was nothing interesting.’”

“And he asked you to spice it up by… doing it with magic?”

“...No. Not- no, that’s not it.” the eagle covered his face with his hands. “You know what, let me just continue my story. Then you can tell me yours, and then I’ll tell you this one.”

“You seem oddly excited to switch topics…” drawled Prometheus. “But let it be your way. I’ve been waiting to hear about your life.”

“I turned into an eagle for the first time. I spread my wings and flew as fast as I could towards the horizon. But as I sped towards it, it ran away from me. Soon I grew tired and finding only ocean around me, collapsed into the water. I would have drowned if not for the Naiads.”

“You’ve met the Naiads?”

“They are cruel beings, as cold-hearted as the ocean deeps. They decided to play a fun prank on me… and on Lord Zeus.”

“Is that how you got punished?”

“It is. They fed me, let me rest, and sent me up to Mount Olympus. The Naiads told me that I could ask Zeus to give me the rest of the powers.”

“That could not have gone well.”

“It didn’t. When I came, Zeus heard me out. When I finished, his face turned purple with rage. He began by telling me that the Titans were not to be meddled with, then he claimed that by asking such a boon I was planning to take away his throne, then he said that I was an insolent little boy and my punishment would come swiftly. I fell to my knees and cried for mercy, for I thought I would be killed on the spot.”

The eagle looked up at the clear sky. “But he told me he wouldn’t kill such a lovely creature as I. Instead, he said, I have a man who needs to be punished. And you, little one, will be the punisher. Each day, you will come to him as an eagle and peck his liver out. Go, now, I will show you the way.”

“And that’s how we got stuck together.”

“It is. Now, I believe you have a story to tell.”

“Before I do, could I have a glass of water? The rains are not enough to quench my thirst, and my throat is dry as a desert.”

The eagle nodded and leapt off the rock. He had taken but two flaps from the rock when he seemed to hit something mid-air. It hurled him right back into Prometheus. 

The breath all knocked out of him, Prometheus gasped for air. The eagle collapsed in a pile below and didn’t move.

After Prometheus could breathe normally, he poked the eagle with his toe. “Are you alive?”

He groaned and rolled sideways. 

Prometheus sighed in relief. He had been alone for so long, he didn’t want his only company to have been killed by accident. But… was that an accident? Maybe that was what the eagle meant when he said that he couldn’t leave. Was this Zeus’ doing?

“Wake up,” he told the eagle. “Don’t die, please?” But the man didn’t stir again. 

Prometheus waited for something, anything to happen. And finally, when night fell and cooler winds came to blow, the eagle began to move again. 

He slowly spread out his wings, arms, and legs. Then he carefully bent each limb, checking for broken bones. There were none, just bruises. 

“What was that?” asked Prometheus. 

“Zeus,” said the eagle. “This barrier keeps me in and the people out.”

“But why does he want you here? For a fight? I cannot do anything, not even use my powers. You could tear me apart and I would just regrow here again.”

“That… that’s not what he wants. And it doesn’t matter yet - you promised to tell your story first.”

“That I did.” Prometheus looked up at the dark sky above. “But it is night, we should rest. Especially you.”

“Good night.”

The eagle awoke before Prometheus. “It’s so cold,” he griped. “And I’m so sore.”

The Titan, being more used to the unfavorable weather surrounding the rock he was chained to, didn’t complain. 

“Tell me your story,” said the shivering eagle, wrapping himself in his wings. 

“Before I do, could you possibly bring some water here with your magic?”

The eagle stretched out a glowing hand. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

A trickle of water appeared above the lip of the rock. He let the Titan drink as much as he wanted, then let the rest splatter down into the forest. “So. Tell me your story.”

“My story begins during the conquest of Perethmon.”

“Perethmon? Before the Dark Times?” the eagle asked. Prometheus nodded.

“Our warriors were conquering a huge port town, as we watched and guided, invisible, in the sky. As we watched the tiny dots of insignificant humans, smaller than ants, pour around each other, blue and gold and red. Until a poorly-aimed catapult swooshed one of its stones through the air, smashing into me. Surprised and dizzied, I fell. The fall broke many of my bones, and even though I could heal much faster than a human, this much damage was not erased immediately. I was forced to lie there, helpless, as I watched people, now gigantic and very significant, run around, hurt, frightened, screaming and praying to Gods that had abandoned them. I lifted my head and said ‘do not waste your time praying, for your Gods have left and will not return.’ The praying woman lifted her tear-stained face, and I watched it contort into anger. ‘How dare you say such disrespectful and horrible words! You are not a good man, begone.’ She then ran, crying, away, as I watched on.”

The eagle noticed tears running down the chained Titan’s face. He stood up and brushed them away. “Don’t cry, please. We have all done terrible things in our lives, and witnessed things much worse. As I get to know you, I begin thinking that maybe fire wasn’t the worst gift to the humans that the Gods have made.”

But Prometheus couldn’t stop. As if the floodgates inside him had opened, he continued. “I saw a young girl scream as a heavy beam fell on her, trapping her under its burning weight. She soon stopped making any noise, her body burning to a crisp. An old man, leaning on a piece of wood, was hobbling away from the battle. ‘Father,’ I said, though he was younger than me. ‘Are you afraid?’ ‘No,’ he answered. ‘At my age, one isn’t afraid of death.’ ‘Then why are you running away?’ I asked. He smiled sadly. ‘I do not want my sons and grandchildren to lose their minds seeing me die.’ People ran by us, and he turned and followed them. ‘I wish you a place in the Fields of Elysium, young man.’ he said before vanishing in the smoke and dust. I did not want to watch more, but my broken body kept me trapped here. There were women with babies, old men and women, children, running around without anyone helping them. Animals, dogs and cats and chickens, all terrified and running together. As soon as I could fly, I cowardly ran away from the burning city.”

He was shaking, tears flooding down his face. The eagle awkwardly hugged him, covering him with his wings. He began murmuring something, an old lullaby perhaps, and Prometheus slowly stopped crying. 

Their gazes met. Eyes of burning coals met eyes of golden sunrise. 

The eagle looked away first. “Tell me the rest.” he said.

“I tried to convince the Titans that we hadn’t been seeing the full picture in these wars. After Aphrodite sided with me, it wasn’t very hard to convince everyone else to destroy these monsters we had created. But Helios didn’t want to destroy them. He said that there was much beauty in their civilization - their language, their dance, their smiles when they saw the colors of the rising sun. He said that humans found a purpose in the world, that without them, there wasn’t anything that mattered.”

“What happened, then?”

“Mnemosyne erased their memories of their bloody pasts. We destroyed any trace of their civilizations. They restarted from nothing - we had hoped that this would give humanity a new start.”

“Did it work?”

“No.” said Prometheus. 

“Why?” 

Prometheus closed his eyes. “It was my fault.”

“It couldn’t’ve been.” the eagle curled up at the Titan’s feet. “Tell me more.”

“I saw how the humans began dying. As the cold nights and winters got to the smallest, the oldest, and even to the strongest, over time. Diseases from eating raw meat took them down. I knew that they wouldn’t survive - wouldn’t survive without fire. And I knew that this had happened because of my intervention, because I had seen their wars and decried them. So it was mine to fix. One starry night, I came down to the earth. Gaea rumbled a warning - she knew what I was going to do. But by then the Gods had taken over, so she couldn’t do anything. I granted the humans the knowledge of fire and its creation.”

“And Zeus?”

“When the first fires blazed across the land, Zeus caught me and trapped me in an endless void. And when you came along, he freed me just to trap me again, and my real punishment began.”

They were silent until darkness fell, and even then, they were silent.

The sun rose and they were still awake, thinking about what they had learned about their previous enemies. 

The eagle looked up at the Titan. “Prometheus?”

“Yes?” he asked.

“Would you like to hear why I’m here?”

“Another day, perhaps. I am tired.”

The eagle smiled and covered himself with his wings. “Good night, see you in the morning.”

They woke up the next morning to the pitter-patter of rain.

The eagle groaned and tried to hide his feathers from the downpour, but Prometheus lifted his head to the sky and let it wash the sun-baked dust from his skin. 

Once the short rain ended, Prometheus looked down at the soggy eagle. 

“Will you tell me that story now?”

The eagle, instead of answering, reached out and snapped a branch from a nearby pine whose top was just inside Zeus’ shield. He shook the rain off himself and stuck the end into a crack in the stone. He then huddled underneath it in hopes of staying dryer, and spoke.

“The story begins on an evening but ten years ago. I don’t think you were afraid of me, no, your eyes filled with anger upon seeing me and your chains rattled with your barely contained ire.”

“I was not afraid of you. Maybe I had been, decades ago, but now… And more, I don’t feel anger when I see your human form.” he said, gently. “But I was sure you hated me, enough to torture me every day. But I know your story now. I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too.” said the eagle. “And I never hated you. I hated only myself, for only bringing pain to this world. I thought I would hate you for the burning arrows… but it was never your fault, was it. Humans are entrenched in beauty and pain, and they are odd and dangerous creatures. I’m glad they exist, because I’m one of them. But I am afraid of what they can do, now that I’m not one of them.”

“But that’s not why you’re listening to me.” said the eagle, after a pause. “I should finish the story.”

“I flew away, blood in my mouth, and behind me clouds began gathering. Thunder rolled, rain began falling, and I was soon overtaken by the storm, no matter how fast I flew. The first lightning strike that hit me, as I soon realized, was Zeus’. I found myself in the throne room of Mount Olympus. The Lord of the Gods towered above me, and his voice told me that…”

The eagle’s face flushed red. 

“He said that… I should, need…” clearly embarrassed, the eagle tried to say it while not saying it. “He said we should be… together. A pair. Um, well, in love.”

He curled up into an even smaller ball under his rain-soaked branch, waiting for a reaction. 

Silence. 

And then Prometheus burst out laughing. 

“Hey!” said the eagle.

Helpless with laughter, he hung on his chains, shaking and trying to breathe.

The eagle regally waited for him to calm down. Well, as regally as one can while looking like a soggy cat and hiding under a pine branch.

When he finally stopped, the eagle poked his head out to look at him. 

“What’s so funny?” he asked. 

“It’s just that I’ve wanted to kiss you since I saw your eyes.”

Silence.

The eagle choked on air and flopped on the ground, coughing. 

Wiping away tears, he gasped for air. “You… what?”

In a more commanding voice, Prometheus said “Kiss me.”

The eagle leapt up and did exactly that.

Above them, the skies cleared. The setting sun colored the sky with reds and pinks. 

The bubble around them popped, but they didn’t notice.

They separated for air. 

“I like you,” said the eagle. “But you’re chained to this mountain, and I don’t want to chain my heart alongside you. My wings seek freedom, and you can only take it away.”

Prometheus barked a bitter laugh. “No. I would never keep you here. But I want you to come back. Please, will you come back?”

“I will always come back.” said the eagle, sweetly kissing Prometheus one last time. 

“I promise.” he added, leaping off the mountain.

Soon he became a silhouette, fading quickly against the golden fire on the horizon.

And he came back. Month after month, year after year, and Prometheus learned to welcome and yearn for the bright eagle’s call.

Because his body may have been chained, but his heart lived in the sky.