The Phoenix returned to his birthplace and the temple which had been erected for him.
Days passed into weeks and the Phoenix grew restless as he waited for the time when he could leave the temple, mature enough so that he could become a human again if he wished—which he desperately did. In the interim, he was guarded and worshiped by his acolytes, as he had been by their forefathers since time immemorial. Usually he accepted their adoration as his due. Now it only annoyed him. He didn’t need their fawning idolization. What he needed, what he yearned for, was to be with the only man he had ever truly loved in all of his eternal existence.
It was with great relief when the day came when he could fly away, soaring into the clouds, vanishing from the sight of his fervent worshipers. Much lat
