“What did he do?” The Storyteller abruptly broke off her song. Her voice was tremulous, with anger or sorrow, Iris could not tell. “He brought evil. He corrupted the hearts of man and turned them away from Harmony with El. He seduced man with visions of power.” “Why didn’t El stop him?” The old woman shifted her glowing eyes from the horizon back to Iris. “Because, child of fire, El does not want to make slaves of man. He wants the joy of being chosen, and will accept the pain of rejection for a time, out of hope.”
