Andar had thought about this for a thousand years. His father had told him that there was always a price for power, and over the years, he had come to understand that price.
He had decided what to give up.
He had not told Mira because he knew that she would not accept it, and he would not be able to refuse her.
Andar would let all of Existence burn for his wife, and still, he took this step, and it took its toll.
What Andar gave up was the capacity to return to his original form. The Andar who had stood in the house with Mira, the Andar who had built the chair from a tree on a dead world, and mourned the deaths of all their children…that Andar would not be available on the other side of the crossing.
The Andar who emerged would be a different shape, a different substance, a different being in the wrapping. He would remember the original. He would carry the memories. He would carry the wooden bird. But he would not be able to be the original again.
