Chapter 10
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Chapter 10: The Fire Thief
In fact, this long table was arranged like a buffet, yet most people maintained a sense of decorum.
Even those who arrived in splendid carriages, adorned with shimmering gold, and whose strength bordered on the colossal, adhered to the unwritten rule of taking modest portions.
At this moment, only a gray-haired young man was causing a scene at the dining table.
His mouth was agape, so wide it seemed one could see straight to his stomach, as if he wished to clamber onto the table and devour everything in sight.
Just as El thought he might lose himself in this delightful dream, a powerful hand seized the collar of his robe at the nape of his neck, lifting him with ease.
“Hey, little one, don’t you know the rule of taking little but often?”
The man towered over the average adult, and in his grasp, El felt like nothing more than a large rag doll.
Flustered, El dropped the food and wine he was clutching and turned to face the man—a figure of near-perfect build, with a curly beard.
Upon seeing the man’s arm, as sturdy as a tree trunk, El immediately knelt down in a swift gesture of submission:
“I’m sorry, I was wrong.”
Holding El aloft, the man cast a thoughtful glance around, then murmured to himself after a pause,
“It seems others can’t see you. What’s the matter?”
“I don’t know either.”
El spoke truthfully, facing the situation with practicality.
“Alright.”
The man set El back on the ground and bent down to say,
“I have no intention of punishing you, for this is the heavenly kingdom at the mountain’s peak, where all the world’s beauty resides.
“Though I don’t know where you’ve come from, the heavenly kingdom welcomes all who are brave enough to reach this place.”
El nodded eagerly, like a chick pecking at grains.
“So, can you return my gold button to me?”
The man’s voice echoed in El’s ear once more, and El felt his body stiffen, as if paralyzed.
Truth be told, El had regretted taking the item the moment he laid hands on it; it was merely a reflex of his old habits. Why else would he have been so reckless as to steal a pure gold decoration from such a strong man?
Especially after being hoisted up like that.
The man could easily best ten—no, a hundred of him!
Reluctantly, El handed the item back to the strong man and was left standing there.
True to his word, the man did not punish El for his transgression; he simply took an apple and walked away from the long table.
El himself didn’t understand how he had ended up here; every time he tried to recall the events leading to this moment, a dull ache throbbed in his head.
After several futile attempts to remember, he gave up the struggle, resigning himself to his current state. Now that he was here, he naturally began to indulge in the sumptuous feast before him.
However, the delight of the food was directly proportional to his hunger, and once his appetite was sated, he quickly grew weary of this lifestyle.
He was a person who thrived on social connections; the prolonged absence of interaction was driving El to the brink of madness in his solitude.
Though he had seldom interacted with others in the outer city, that was entirely different from his current predicament.
He perched on the giant’s shoulder, savoring the scenery, sat in a radiant carriage pretending to be revered by all, and even dared to tug at the beard of the king of the gods during a solemn banquet…
Eventually, he once again encountered that towering, formidable figure.
“I’m telling you, I’m bored to death, really,”
El summoned his courage to speak, though he felt no fear now.
In the face of profound solitude, other terrors seemed to pale, especially since the tall man had done him no harm the last time.
When the strong man saw him, a spark of anticipation lit up in his eyes.
As if transformed, the virtuous and robust man led El to a secluded shadow, bending down to consult the Young Man, visible only to him:
“I’ve been searching for you for ages.
“How did you manage to steal my decoration last time? Could you demonstrate it again?”
“Huh?”
“What I mean is, I want to learn that trick. Could you teach me?”
“You mean this?”
El produced two similarly sized stones, deftly shifting them between his fingers, while his other hand mimicked various pocket shapes, showcasing an almost magical skill.
Starved for interaction, El was nearly driven mad by the silent world, so he eagerly agreed to the man’s request. After several days of teaching and practice, the burly man mastered the skill.
A day later, he presented El with a sparking fennel ball, asking the unseen little one to deliver it to the primitive humans dwelling at the mountain’s base.
El consented to his plea.
He next saw the strong man on a sheer cliff, where a bloodthirsty eagle daily feasted on the man’s liver, which regenerated miraculously each night.
El wasn’t startled; he suddenly recalled someone once boasting about the liver’s potent regenerative ability, flaunting that it could regenerate enough to be sold twice!
Who was that person? El’s memory was foggy.
But he wished to save this man, who sacrificed himself for humanity.
“It’s you, little one.”
The man, shackled to the cliff with iron chains and nails, watched as El cautiously climbed up, weakly urging him to leave this perilous place.
El tried every method, but none could damage the divine restraints.
“Give up; you’re not fated to break these chains.”
The man endured the relentless exposure to wind, sun, and rain, while El, observing the eagle circling daily, conceived his only possible solution…
“Are you sure this will work?”
The man’s voice carried a tinge of pain, but El clenched his teeth, cradling the liver nearly as large as his own head.
He wasn’t certain it would work, just as he didn’t know his origins, but… a voice within assured him this was right.
“It can’t see me anyway; it’s just two larger stones,” he replied. “Piece of cake.”
Soon, the bloodthirsty eagle returned to feast on the delectable organ.
Its tiny brain couldn’t fathom why the meal was already exposed before it began its usual tearing.
But a free feast couldn’t be bad, right?
Its claws gripped the cliff, and its sharp beak struck down, but then it sensed something amiss.
The eagle glanced down, blood spraying into its eyes; it was devouring a heart, a pulsating, blood-gushing heart—its own.
The eagle felt its strength waning, and finally, losing its grip, it plummeted into the abyss.
“I guess that’s all I can do,”
El said to the man after performing this miraculous, impossible exchange.
“Thank you so much.”
The man noticed El’s body becoming translucent and asked,
“Are you leaving?”
El looked at his arm, nodding uncertainly.
“Perhaps, yes. Anyway, it was nice to meet you.”
“Me too.”
