for a long time.” He swallows and a lonely tear runs down his pale cheek. I have a mistaken need to wipe them away from him and find it difficult to stop myself. The beginning of a smile brushes Titian's lips and looks at me knowingly. "You are not like your father," he says with conviction, "really not."
I hardly react and just keep looking at him. In his eyes, behind this smile, there is something else that I cannot yet grasp or describe. It kind of bothers me, even if I have no idea what it means.
Sensing my insecurity, he glances briefly at Dismas - which worries me even more - and then extends his hand to me. “Come on,” he says, “I'll bring you back. Claim your place.” His voice becomes softer, more pleading, as does his gaze."Do it for us."
I just stare at his offered hand for a few seconds, then I take a step forward and strike. While our hands are touching, I suddenly hear a high-pitched howl of Dismas, and when I turn around at the last moment I notice an almost panicked glow in his golden eyes.
Then there is lightness around me, brightness and light - and with a dull "clong" I touch strange ground.
Rosarboden, as I realize after a moment of shock, after deep in my memory the memory of the coldness of this place flares up again.
"Thank you, Titian," I hear a voice that I know only too well and, with my limbs rigid with shock, I slowly turn around, "you did your job well."
Red-hot eyes bore into my gaze, and inadvertently my heart began to beat faster with panic. Boiling hot, it occurs to me that it is day - and that I am human. Oh well.
"It's been a long time, brother."