It was only when he had go that he noticed a man was watching him from the middle of the creek.

His presence was static as though he had always been there and Helianthus had simply failed to notice. He stood so firm and calm on a sunny rock jutting from the middle of the water, it was as though the river shifted its course to keep from wetting his feet.

The strange man stared at him with black, shining eyes set deep into a dark, handsome face. Helianthus stared back in a state of astonished paralysis as he tried to think of the man's name or place him amongst the townspeople. There were only a few men in Convallis with his deep complexion. He grew up with them and though much had changed over the past ten years, he was sure none of them kept their hair in long, golden ropes or held themselves like a young prince sitting for a portrait.

Helianthus had been away from home for a long time. He could've moved in recently. Everything had been so chaotic since the moment he arrived. It wasn't impossible for one tall, strong, gorgeous man to evade his notice. Just very unlikely.

"How long have you been watching?" Helianthus asked, slinging his wet tunic over one shoulder. The stranger stepped from the dry rock in the middle of the river to the shore.

The stranger smiled, the sunlight reflecting off his teeth almost blinding in its intensity. "I've always been watching."

Helianthus returned the smile, feeling his cheeks heat under the man's steady, black gaze. Cadmus was sure he had a thing for being watched, but really it just couldn't be helped. Even in a dead riverbed that took a long walk and a climb to get to, there was an audience. "Enjoy the show?"

"Not as much as you, clearly." He took three measured steps forward, hands still folded neatly behind his back.

Helianthus laughed, but his easy smile faltered as he noticed the stranger's clothing. It was shaped about the same as anything someone from town would wear. A simple blue tunic over trousers, a bit bright for the simple farmers and tradesmen of Convallis but he couldn't claim to know the man's background. From a distance, it wasn't too different from what he himself wore, just clean and new.

But now that he had a closer view, he could see that the fabric of his tunic was no simple cotton or wool. It had a sheen almost like that he'd seen in the fine silks at the city markets and what he'd previously assumed to be blue dye was actually a myriad of blues, yellows and pinks woven into a pattern of minuscule starbursts.

"Where are you from?" He asked, keeping his tone sheltered under the pretense of courtesy. The stranger did not have the look of the armor-clad and travel-worn invaders, but Helianthus braced himself for any possibility.

"My palace in the sky," The stranger said plainly.

Helianthus reflexively looked up, finding only a couple of sparse clouds in the bright blue expanse. "Very funny. Look, I'm sorry I don't remember you. I haven't had a lot of time to catch up with everyone. Why don't we start from scratch? I'm-"

"You do know my name, Helianthus." The stranger's face was as polished bronze. Beautiful, impenetrable. He took another step forward. "Everyone does."

He wracked his memory once again but still came up worryingly blank. "I don't mean to be rude, but I have been away for ten years."

"You are never far from me, not for long."

Helianthus rolled his eyes. The soft haze that of postcoital bliss had long faded, leaving behind only irritation at this new and unexpected obstacle. He had plenty more waiting back in town. "If this is a riddle, I must warn you. I am useless with riddles."

The stranger sighed, now no more than a few feet away. He lifted his elegant hand to his temple. "I know, I apologize. It's only that I was sure you'd recognize me. You see, I am the Sun."

"No," Helianthus laughed, perhaps a bit hysterically. If this was another of Cadmus's practical jokes, it might be the first one he didn't immediately fall for.

Yet, he knew that couldn't possibly be the case. Cadmus wasn't capable of the foresight and planning necessary to execute such a scheme. Though it was ridiculous, he couldn't help but believe the stranger just a little. Aside from the man's undeniable beauty and the strange clothing, there was a slow, labored quality to his movements. It was like watching a man wearing full plate armor for the first time. Struggling against the weight of his own flesh.

Helianthus' knees hit the ground before his mind had fully been made, but it caught up quickly. "My Lord, King of the Skies and King among Gods. Please forgive my stupidity, I've had quite the week."

"Yes, I've noticed." The Sun's smile sent shivers down his spine despite the heat of summer on his back. "I found your conduct exceptional. You've impressed me and that isn't easy."

The bottom dropped out of the soldier's stomach. He felt dizzy, giddy and a little bit sick. The shock was so sharp and bright, he wasn't sure if he could bear it. The Sun itself, coming down from the sky to congratulate him for saving his tiny little town? It was absurd. It was glorious. He opened his mouth to thank him for his kindness or welcome him to his home or say anything. Anything at all. But words escaped him quickly as roaches from the light of a lantern.

All he knew was the sardonic laughter of the creek through the lost riverbed. The coarse language of the sparrows as they fought in a tree somewhere overhead. The obscene pounding of his heart in his ears.

The Sun's hand on his face pulled him out of his thoughts. His soft, heavy voice settled over him like snow on a bough, covering all the sharp edges of his mind. "You don't need to speak. I came here to deliver a simple proposal, not receive praise and adoration. Come, sit by the stream in the shade. You're turning all red and panting."

Helianthus complied, allowing the god to lead him to the shade of little birch tree growing from the rocky bank. The Sun plucked the bandages from the stunned soldier's hands and bade him sit. As he spoke, he wrapped the length of cotton tight around Helianthus's wounded arm.

"A... problem... has arisen on earth which I'm afraid can only be solved by coming down here and dealing with it myself. It's been a while since I've spent any significant time in a physical form. I expect it'll be a while before I adjust." The Sun's words floated by like dry leaves carried by the gentle flow of the river. Interesting, pleasant to follow, but almost entirely without consequence. His hands moved slowly to compensate for the clumsiness of his newfound physicality.

"You see, other gods often pop down for a while to be worshipped or impregnate people, but I never really had the leisure or desire to do so. I've spent all eternity fighting for humanity, why on earth would I want to muddy the waters by seducing random mortals?" The Sun took four tries to tie off the bandage, but after the fifth, it felt so secure, Helianthus could forget it was there entirely.

The Sun continued. "Occasionally, I do rather enjoy being a horse. There isn't anything quite like galloping across the open plain with your herd around you at all sides. But horsehood is a much simpler existence."

As he listened, Helianthus quietly played with the god's hand, tracing the lines in his soft, barely used palm. He tried to connect this beautiful but ordinary hand to the entity he's venerated his entire life. All the stories of the great warrior who fought off the eternal night so that humanity could live without fear. All the yearly rituals to honor The Sun's sacrifice in winter and welcome his return in the spring. To have them all wrapped up in a single body, sitting next to him and talking to him like an old friend was unthinkable.

"The experience really doesn't help me with all the complexities of integrating into human society. The advice of the more well-traveled gods is not very helpful in that it focused mainly on how to have sex, how to win a bar-fight and their favorite restaurants that sadly closed down when the entire kingdom sunk into the sea."

"As a last-ditch effort, I tried asking the horses, but their experiences are woefully limited." The Sun sighed. "So, I've decided that the only way to go about this effectively is to find a guide through this strange and foreign landscape called humanity. One who knows the landscape well."

"You think I know of such a person?" Helianthus asked. He mentally sorted through his ranks, cataloging their skills and qualities. Aside from being loyal and brave, they were all incredibly ordinary. "Well, I suppose Fabalis would be a good candidate. He was a silk trader before he was conscripted into the Legion when Astuvia acquired the land of Urb, so he's been around more than most. Trifolium is fluent in five languages, or so he tells me..."

The Sun took both the soldier's hands in his, halting the mindless tapping of his fingers. "I mean you."

Helianthus pulled away, the intensity of The Sun's gaze becoming too much to bear. He laughed nervously and went to retrieve his shirt from where he'd left it to dry.

Since he was by now thoroughly convinced of the stranger's legitimacy, Helianthus agreed to take The Sun back to his town. Clambering up the dead riverbed was a trial as The Sun was new to the concept of climbing and loose rocks, but he caught on quickly. He had an easier time on the grassy footpath by the river. Still, they walked slowly, The Sun watching the path ahead closely as though it might jump out and bite him.

Helianthus openly stared at the god as they walked. It was hard not to, with the knowledge of the man's identity turning over in his mind. He took note of every flick of his long eyelashes in case The Sun turned his gaze his way, every twitch of his generous mouth lest it speaks. "I- I still don't understand. Why me? All I did was devise a few good strategies to protect a town so small the mapmakers don't bother to ask the name of it."

"Massive cities have defenses built into them. They have walls and towers and oil traps. Your little town was lucky that they had that little stone thing to keep the sheep in. But that is irrelevant. I didn't choose you for your brilliant strategic mind, I'm fond of you."

Helianthus blushed, turning to watch the stream to keep from catching fire. "You don't know me."

"I know your mum was away when you spoke for the first time. You looked at a lamb and said 'baa baa'. It's a stretch, but it's what sheep call each other so I say it counts." The sunshine found its way between the tree branches and danced across the thick locks of pale yellow hair arranged about his shoulders as neat as a bouquet of trailing wisteria. "I know you cried every time you had to slaughter an animal, even months after you killed your first man. You love getting up early to watch the sunrise. Is there anything else I should know before I'm allowed to be fond of you?"

"You really are all-seeing," Helianthus mumbled, wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

The Sun hummed, face scrunching up as he considered the statement. "Most-seeing. All things considered, around half-seeing."