"Why?!" This seems to Rashad to be the key question. He finally reverses his retreat, leans forward as little flames lick over the whole of him. He cannot sustain this output of energy, and though the fire has spread it is dying down from what it was, sustained at all only by his anger. "Why should I?! You have aided me, I will -- I can return to normal, I am almost certain of it, and that is what I want!"

He presses his lips together, breathing heavily, the fire brightening and ebbing with his breaths. "That is what I want," he repeats, and he finally lets the fire go out. "Leave me," he demands.