Tao stood up and took a step closer. He could feel the very edge beneath his feet, but he didn't care. Everyone watched, but stayed seated. They knew that no amount of words that flew from their lips would change his mind. Frankly, they weren't even sure that they didn't want him to go through with it. It wasn't like he cared about their opinions anyway though. He had made up his mind. It was only a matter of when at this point. For a long time the world sat in silence, and all was still. Then time stood still. Tao could not look back, but he could feel it in the air. Time truly stood still for him at the edge of the world. He had forever at his fingertips. It was him that decided when the world would start again. It had been waiting all this time for him to move the earth again.

Then the first stone was cast, and the world shifted. The screams of the innocent began. The wicked rushed to the edge, and pushed everyone over. In their rush they couldn't help falling over the edge as well. That day everyone fell, but there were those who got back up, and those that sank further into the abyss. Through the darkness a light shined. Many saw it, but only one was brave enough to pursue it. Tao embraced the light, and stole it away from the pit where it lay. The old world was burned to the ground once again, and replaced with a new one. He brought it to the new world as a gift, in memory of an old friend. The light healed the world as his friend had healed him, and his memory lived on. There was no way to tell if this world would be the one that never saw even a flicker of a flame ever again, but with every generation came another light in the dark, and another that would take it.

"After ever that I fought

Peace of mind I sought

Truth all but for nought

Let be it twice forgot"