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"At last, that e decided to think sensibly I re in relief when I heard that our leaders had decided on a solution to end the violence peacefully But then, when I learned of what it was, I cried for a week, inconsolable, even byhis unexpectedly long pause

Aldrec gestured, and the ancient book lifted frole inclose to the end

"Read this," he said, pointing to a paragraph in the h children did pave a road of sorrow into another haven,'" Mericlou read aloud "'By the hand of the Divine's ain'"

"That was the terrible thing we decided," Aldrec said hoarsely "We would leave this world, and exchange it for another"

"You left the planet?" Mericlou said "On a … ship?"

"No, not so cohtfully We, or should I say, my people, left to … another diate by our oill: our own sorrow and regret over e did We decided to allow the lesser races to rule themselves, without our aid, and the best way to do this was not to exist in this world at all When my people left, they took all traces of our existence -save our memory- from this world"

"And you," Mericlou concluded

"I was young, and in love with this world and the lesser races," Aldrec explained, his voice strained into a whisper, "in love in a way that none of h I was unique in s be, and allow the individual to fulfill his or her curiosities So I was never ridiculed It was only when I refused to leave that all heads turned in my direction It was the first time in millennia that anyone had openly defied the Council, and it was notresults

My parents were naturally the ed me to reconsider, but I was adareed to my request to stay behind, much to my surprise But there was one condition that they provided: that I retainthe lesser races, and to never reveal my true form to anyone"