We sat silently in the balloon, floating gently this way and that - slaves to the mercies of the wind. Mother sat silently with tears rolling down her cheeks. I sat silently – desperate to comfort my mother but not having the faintest idea of how to do so. My father sat silently – unrepentant, and the balloon floated this way and that.

I looked at my mother and thought of all that she had done. She had raised me as a child. She had loved me as a child. She had protected me, when our home was gone. She had guided me through the mines, when our protectors were gone. She had found a way out of Hafen, when all hope seemed gone. She had loved me and she had protected me.

We sat silently in the balloon, floating gently this way and that - slaves to the mercies of the wind. Mother sat silently. I sat silently. My father sat silently. And the balloon floated this way and that.

I looked at my father and thought of what he had done. He had abandoned us. For years, he had lived a life of luxury and done nothing to see how we were and when we had arrived he had sacrificed our two closest friends – our guardians who had guided us up the Schwer to Nirvaasan. He had sacrificed the two souls – without whom we would never have reached him.

I looked at him and I wondered to myself, who was this villain who wore my father’s face.

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