K twisted in the wind as he blew about in a state of UN-being with no focus, nor references of any kind. All he had was his mind and those thoughts held within it. For what seemed like days, months, or even years, it went thusly, onward and around, but to what end? He eventually coalesced into a form like vapor similar to shadow.

During this time what he was, who he was, and all that he might become were looked at and weighed on a scale too far beyond imagining to even guess at. The first he was aware of anything was that of thoughts not his own. At first he could not catch their meaning, they were so strange, thoughts that had pitch, timber, and depth to them, all things he thought corporal. It must have been his fierce determination not to be dissolved, not to be eliminated from this own tapestry that forged the link of understanding. .

He heard them quite plainly now. He had gone beyond what should have eliminated his life force on the material plane. He had pushed the limits over the breaking point. By all rights he should have lost this desperate gamble of his. Why then had he not? The gift of a certain Goddess had sustained him, and it seemed the longing of a certain young apprentice of his had added what she could to the mix, that and the power of his gift, his smile. So much he now understood was contained in his smile. .

This is our gift from us all he could hear them saying. We gift you this life and allow you to travel your road. Kadinkadinka as you are now known, you shall travel among the stars as easily as you do among the lands of the earth. Forever in your smile will you hold the truth of what you have experienced here. We put you not above men, but among them once again. .

K snapped back to reality and the room blared into immense light. He could see Silki standing next to him. He had no words, but he knew, that the third circle awaited them both. It was not a different K that entered this final circle than had come before, but more of him than had ever been before.