Erimentha

Family and friends,

You might think me irresponsible for leaving this way, and you are probably right. There is no rational explanation for what I am about to do. I know only that it feels right, and that looking away is agony.

Do you remember when I was a hatchling, how you told me I would go blind with staring at the sun?

It's true that my eyes are no longer what they once were. But in exchange, I've found something new. There is a color, beyond what exists in nature; a color felt with the heart, a burning warmth and deep, pulsing hum that comes from beyond the sky. Perhaps it is the voice of the sun itself, heard over the distance.

I've heard the voice for a long time, but I could never understand its words.

Today, it spoke to me clearly. It said, Erimentha, you must travel to the Hewn City and seek the crumbling spire. You are needed there.

And so I go. I do not know whether I will return.

With love and the warmth of an eternal flame,

Erimentha