nothing while the world burns? We are gods—and you tell me we can do nothing?”


    Recklessly?” Surya cut him off, his voice trembling with rage. He slammed his goblet onto the floor, the metal clanging loudly. “We sit here while our worshippers die—our worshippers, Vayu! What use are we if they are gone? What good is your balance if no one is left to remember us?”


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    In time?” Lord Surya’s eyes burned as he turned on Agni, his voice cracking, rising in intensity. “In time for what? For our temples to turn to dust? For every last soul to forget we even exist?”


    Enough!” Lord Surya roared, his voice echoing through the hall. “The barrier was meant to protect us, but it has become our prison! What good is immortality if we are forgotten?”


    What am I without them? he wondered. Without their prayers, their faith, their light... am I still the sun? Or just a fading flame in an empty sky?


    Time? Time is inconsequential to us but time is everything for mortals. What good is everlasting time when they don’t exist? What is a god without worshippers? Without prayers to sustain him? What are we without them?”


    trapped in this prison?”