He took the silence for him to continue, and he did.
“They howled and wailed in angst and despair, choking on their pride and regrets. So high on their pillars of peeling gold and self righteousness. Below them knelled their Hero. Their Chosen. Smoldering amongst the flames and ash.”
“Their Hero did not flinch nor did they burn.”
“Why are you standing there, Hero? Why do you stand there and watch us burn?”
“Help us! Save us! Burn with us!”
“The Hero replied back in kind. Their voice was larger, fuller, than they were. Bigger than the flames and smoke. “
“Your heads are too far high above the clouds of common sense, of common men. You scream for help and a savior, but you have not once cast your head down. You can not tell the only reason why you burn is that you haven’t removed your feet from the coals.”
“Oh how they shrieked at their Hero.”
“The whole place will burn!”
“Throw yourself on the coals! Put them out!”
“They were the burning gods, the dying gods’ Hero. They put themselves over the flames and only then did they burn. The gods watched as their Hero cooked and charred and made no move to save them. The god’s feet burned and burned and burned and they choked on their smoke, before they were utterly consumed.”
He finished, looking over at the Speaker.
“It’s a short story I ran across in Dracula’s library. The meaning a bit too on the nose for my liking.”