In the burning, at the body, on the night of the Blackenings, Maethan did the rite. The rite was the six. The six were the Orenthe of the Hoard.

The Fourth, from the fleet. The Fifth, from the Grey Quiet. The Sixth, from the tower. And the body, the cup, the thousand years of the drain.

He set the capstone on the body, the way the rite was set. The setting was the waking. The waking was the taking.

The taking did not die.

---

The three embers went to the body of the god, on the night of the Blackenings, the way the rite had set them: the Fourth from the fleet, the Fifth from the Grey Quiet, the Sixth from the tower, and the body, the cup, the thousand years of the drain.

The going was the chest. The chest was the water. The water moved. The ford did not know about the moving, and the not-knowing was what the singing was for.

Ashe put the First on the body. The putting was not a cup. The putting was the hand. The hand was not closed.

And the body took the First. The taking was the resting. The water did the resting. The water was the cistern. The cistern was cold, and the cold was what the god had been, before the light.

The First Ember, the dawn, went back to the body. The Fall did the going-back. The Fall was ten thousand years before the counting. The counting was the empire.

The body did not take the Second and the Third. They went back to the chest, in the water that moved. The chest was the road. The road walked. The walking did not stop.

Liora unmade the binding, on the night of the Blackenings. The chisel did the unmaking. The forges were the blood, and the blood was the light.

The binding was the singing, a thousand years ago. The singing was the cup. The cup was drained, a thousand years before the counting.

And the binding came off the body, and the coming-off was the wound that bled under the city's white stone, and the stone was not white, and the not-white was the Blackenings.

Maethan's rite was set. The setting was the taking. The taking was the Orenthe of the Hoard, and the Orenthe of the Hoard did not die.

But the Orenthe of the Hoard was the candle, and the candle was what the exsanguination had done, and the doing was the thousand years.

And the thousand years were the cup. And the cup was dry. And the dry was the god. And the god did not wake.

The rite took the heart of the god, on the night of the Blackenings, the six of them, and the six were the candle, and the candle was the thousand years.

And the heart went to ash, and the burning was Cressen, and Cressen was the two hundred and thirty, and the two hundred and thirty were the village, and the village was the water.

And the water moved.

Maethan stood at the rite, at the body of the god, with the ash of the heart in the hand that was closed.

The rite was the taking. The taking was the Orenthe of the Hoard. The Hoard did not die.

But the Hoard was the hoard: what the sun had swallowed, ten thousand years ago, out of the fear of the dark between the stars. The dark was starving, and the starving was the feeding, and the feeding was not the ending.

And the feeding was the first of the stars.

The sky, on the night of the Blackenings, was not the hoard; it was the first of the stars.

The first stars came up, on the night of the Blackenings, in the sky that was not the hoard. The feeding did the coming-up. The feeding was the taking. The taking was the rite.

And the rite was the candle. The candle was out, on the night of the Blackenings, in the hand of Maethan, at the body of the god, under the city that was not white.

---

The three of them stood in the Vault, with the ash of the heart in the air. The burning was the air. The burning was Cressen.

The god did not speak in the Vault, on the night of the Blackenings. The dying did the not-speaking, and the dying was the taking, and the taking was the rite.

But the dying was the last dream. The cup did not hold the last dream. The cup was dry. The dry was the god.

In the burning the last dream is me. I am the body. The body was the cup. The cup is dry. The dry was the thousand years.

And the thousand years were the Harvest. The Harvest did the burning. The burning was Cressen. Cressen was the two hundred and thirty.

The heart is ash. The ash is the village. The village is the water. The water moves.

What I am is the god. The god is the sky. The sky is the first of the stars.

And the stars are the feeding. The feeding is not the ending. The not-ending is what the singing is for.

Do not sing it back in the cup. The not-singing-in-the-cup is the ash. The spymasters did not do the ash. The Fall did the not-doing.

Sing it back in the dark instead. The dark is the sky. The sky is the first of the stars.

And the first of the stars is the feeding. The feeding is not the ending.

And the not-ending is the world. The world is the night. The Orenthe did not do the night. The not-doing is what the singing is for.

The dream let her go. The three of them stood in the Vault, with the ash of the heart in the air, and the air was the burning.

Maethan was not in the Vault on the night of the Blackenings. The tower had done the not-being. The rite had been set. The setting was the taking.

The taking was the heart, and the heart was the ash, and the ash was the village, and the village was the water that moved.

The ford did not know about the moving; the singing was for the not-knowing.

---

The Long Night came, on the night of the Blackenings. The rite had not done the coming. The rite was the candle, and the candle was out.

The coming was the dark. The dark was starving. The starving was the feeding. The feeding was not the ending.

And the not-ending was the first of the stars.

The three of them went out of the Vault, on the night of the Blackenings, into the Long Night. The ash did the going-out, and the doing was ten thousand years before the counting.

And the counting was the empire. The empire did the burning.

And the burning was Cressen. Cressen was the two hundred and thirty. They were the village. The village was the water. The water moved.

And the ford did not know about the moving.

And the singing was for the not-knowing.

And the singing was the night, now. The not-doing was the first of the stars.

And the first of the stars was the feeding.

And the feeding was not the ending.

---

In the burning the Long Night came on the night of the Blackenings. The coming was the dark. The dark was starving. The starving was the feeding. The feeding is not the ending.

The first of the stars came up in the sky that was not the hoard. The coming-up was the feeding. The Orenthe did not do the feeding. The not-doing is what the singing is for.

The god is not, on the night of the Blackenings. The not was the heart. The heart was the ash. The ash was the village. The village was the water. The water moves.

What the singing is for is the night. The world did not do the night. The not-doing is the first of the stars.

And the first of the stars is the feeding. The feeding is not the ending. The not-ending is what the singing is for.

— Dream-Ledger, final entry of the night of the Blackenings, written by Ashe Wren on the road out of the Vault, into the Long Night, the index of the god that was not, and the first of the stars that were