The wisp of grey floated above his palm. It was steady and strange, like a whispered rumor upon the wind, or the words of a fickle man.
Nero had never seen anything so... so...
So unassuming.
He stared at it for a long moment. It was hardly a flame at all. In fact, it was barely much of anything. Even candlelight had more substance to it. It gave off no light or heat.
It was, in essence...
Nothing. It was nothing.
A flame of nothingness.
It just... was.
Small, quiet, and utterly unheroic.
Nero grimaced. He had no idea what he was looking at. He paused for a moment then placed his hand above it to test its heat.
The warmth reached his palm immediately. Much to his surprise, the flame did give off heat, similar to the flame of a candlestick. However, its intensity was rather weak, even by comparison. He could hold his hand directly above it for a while without any discomfort.
'What is the point of this useless thing?'
