There was once a hermit in the Citadel of Lhira: Masani, a woman of the forest, endowed with its unspeakable powers. But Masani left Lhira years ago.

None have been so glad as Yarek to see her go: Yarek, who hated her for reminding him of his failings. But now Yarek has another hermit on his doorstep, one that insists Masani was murdered...
 

    For years after Masani turned her back on us, no other hermit came to the citadel of Lhira. On Lord Rakhte's orders, I had carved the patterns of cobras and elephant tusks into the gates, to deny the god-touched wanderers entrance. But my wards were weak, and the dead wood of the carvings decayed with time.

    Seven years after Masani's departure, another hermit came to me.

    I found him one morning in my workshop; as I entered, he turned to me, his eyes silently reproaching me for abandoning Masani's teachings. We faced each other without speaking. I did not know his name, but I knew his kind. All too well.

    His face, framed by a shock of snow-white hair, was covered with a fine network of wrinkles, and veins stood on the back of his hands. Despite that, I knew he had been born after me. Contact with the gods aged hermits.

    If the gods had been kind, they would never have allowed him to enter Lhira. But the gods have always been on the hermits' side.