The bell tolled once.

Then it stopped.

Silence rushed into the chapel. It filled the stone. It pressed against the glass.

Thomas sat alone.

He was a soldier.

Or he had been.

Now he was a ghost.

He looked at his hands. They were steady. They were pale. They were not his own.

They were made of light.

They were made of memory.

The chapel was not a chapel.

It was a place between.

It was the space where the dead wait.

It was the space where the truth lives.

Thomas knew this.

He had always known.

He just did not want to believe it.

He stood up.

His legs did not ache.

His knees did not lock.

He felt light.

He felt empty.

He felt nothing.

He walked to the window.

The view was of a field.

The field was green.

The field was still.

The field was dead.

He looked out.

He saw a man.

The man was sitting on a bench.

The man was old.

The man was wearing a coat.

The coat was brown.

The coat was worn.

The man was reading a book.

The man was not looking up.

Thomas knew the man.

The name came to him.

Arthur.

Arthur had been his teacher.

Arthur had been his friend.

Arthur had been his brother.

Thomas had killed Arthur.

No.

That was not true.

Arthur had died of fever.

Arthur had died in the war.

Arthur had died before Thomas arrived.

Thomas had not killed him.

Thomas had been too late.

He had been too slow.

He had been too weak.

He had failed.

He had failed so many times.

He had failed his country.

He had failed his queen.

He had failed his friends.

He had failed himself.

He turned from the window.

He looked at the altar.

There was no priest.

There was no cross.

There was a stone.

The stone was black.

The stone was smooth.

The stone was cold.

It was the core.

It was the heart of the place.

It was the anchor.

It was the thing that held them all.

It was the sacrifice.

Thomas walked toward it.

His steps made no sound.

The air grew thick.

The air grew heavy.

He could feel it.

The weight of the others.

The weight of the dead.

The weight of the living.

They were all here.

They were all waiting.

They were all watching.

He stopped before the stone.

He placed his hand on it.

It was warm.

It was alive.

It pulsed.

It beat.

It was a heartbeat.

It was the heartbeat of the world.

It was the heartbeat of the community.

It was the heartbeat of the whole.

Thomas closed his eyes.

He let the heat in.

He let the pain in.

He let the truth in.

The truth was simple.

The truth was brutal.

The truth was this:

He was not the hero.

He was not the savior.

He was not the man who would save the world.

He was the man who would break the world.

He was the crack in the stone.

He was the flaw in the design.

He was the necessary failure.

The sacrifice was not his life.

The sacrifice was his identity.

The sacrifice was his name.

The sacrifice was his past.

The sacrifice was his self.

He had to give it up.

He had to give it all up.

He had to become nothing.

He had to become the stone.

He had to become the void.

He had to become the silence.

He did not want to.

He wanted to keep his name.

He wanted to keep his memories.

He wanted to keep his pain.

He wanted to keep his guilt.

He wanted to keep his self.

But he could not.

The stone demanded it.

The stone required it.

The stone consumed it.

He felt himself dissolving.

He felt himself spreading.

He felt himself becoming part of the whole.

He felt himself becoming part of the community.

He felt himself becoming part of the dead.

He felt himself becoming part of the living.

He felt himself becoming part of the world.

It was not a loss.

It was a gain.

It was a release.

It was a redemption.

It was a peace.

It was a love.

It was a destruction.

It was a creation.

It was a death.

It was a life.

It was a sacrifice.

It was a rescue.

It was a salvation.

It was a damnation.

It was a blessing.

It was a curse.

It was a truth.

It was a lie.

It was a beginning.

It was an end.

It was a middle.

It was a now.

It was a then.

It was a forever.

It was a moment.

It was a breath.

It was a heartbeat.

It was a silence.

It was a sound.

It was a voice.

It was a word.

It was a name.

It was a no-name.

It was a yes.

It was a no.

It was a maybe.

It was a never.

It was a always.

It was a here.

It was a there.

It was a everywhere.

It was a nowhere.

It was a home.

It was a exile.

It was a prison.

It was a freedom.

It was a cage.

It was a sky.

It was a earth.

It was a air.

It was a water.

It was a fire.

It was a ice.

It was a light.

It was a dark.

It was a good.

It was a bad.

It was a right.

It was a wrong.

It was a true.

It was a false.

It was a real.

It was a fake.

It was a human.

It was a god.

It was a beast.

It was a angel.

It was a devil.

It was a saint.

It was a sinner.

It was a king.

It was a beggar.

It was a rich.

It was a poor.

It was a strong.

It was a weak.

It was a brave.

It was a coward.

It was a wise.

It was a fool.

It was a smart.

It was a stupid.

It was a fast.

It was a slow.

It was a high.

It was a low.

It was a big.

It was a small.

It was a loud.

It was a quiet.

It was a bright.

It was a dim.

It was a warm.

It was a cold.

It was a hot.

It was a cool.

It was a wet.

It was a dry.

It was a soft.

It was a hard.

It was a rough.

It was a smooth.

It was a sharp.

It was a dull.

It was a clean.

It was a dirty.

It was a pure.

It was a impure.

It was a holy.

It was a profane.

It was a sacred.

It was a secular.

It was a divine.

It was a mortal.

It was a eternal.

It was a temporary.

It was a permanent.

It was a fleeting.

It was a lasting.

It was a changing.

It was a static.

It was a moving.

It was a still.

It was a active.

It was a passive.

It was a doing.

It was a being.

It was a having.

It was a lacking.

It was a gaining.

It was a losing.

It was a winning.

It was a losing.

It was a winning.

It was a losing.

It was a win.

It was a loss.

It was a gain.

It was a loss.

It was a life.

It was a death.

It was a birth.

It was a end.

It was a start.

It was a stop.

It was a go.

It was a stay.

It was a come.

It was a leave.

It was a here.

It was a there.

It was a now.

It was a then.

It was a when.

It was a where.

It was a who.

It was a what.

It was a why.

It was a how.

It was a which.

It was a whose.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.

It was a whom.