The last few months had aged him.
Four felt more like six and the aged marks upon his face surely did no thing to help. Yet he returned to a familiar place that lashed deeper marks upon his heart. He recalled a warm place. He recalled his beloved within this now empty and dark space. Back then it had been a brilliant spot in the shadows of the mountains.
He recalled the youth of his two children. How it had been robbed from them by smoky winds and he had been unable to bring it back. How he had not seen any of them since then. Yet he knew, in some old primal way, that if any of them might find him again it could be here. In a place where they had all began.
Slowly he lowered himself to the earth. Laid down like a stone guard at the mouth of the den. For a moment, a ray of late day sunlight slipped through the clouds and his eyes closed. Yellow light tried hard to push through his eyelids. He could not help but imagine that it was the gaze of a loved one.