The first thing Helel heard was his name.
"Helel."
He opened his eyes.
Light filled the place around him. He raised a hand, and light shone through it too. He turned it slowly, watching the brightness gather in his fingers.
Someone was waiting for him to look up.
Helel recognized the voice that had woken him. This was the Speaker. He had called Helel into being, as he had called the stars and worlds into being before him.
Now there was so much to see that he scarcely knew where to look.
Beneath his feet was a floor he could feel but scarcely see through the brightness. Behind him stood the Speaker's Seat. Ahead, the floor curved toward an opening onto the stars. This bright realm was the Vaults.
Beyond the opening, some stars burned steadily; others were still clouds of fire drawing together. Around one of them a small world turned beneath white cloud.
Helel stepped toward it. The world remained far beyond his reach.
"There will be work for you there."
The one beside the Seat had spoken. Helel turned.
This was the Heir, the Speaker's Son, who had been with him before the first star. The life Helel had felt in the voice that woke him came through the Heir still. So did the life of the little world beyond the opening, turning beneath its clouds.
The Heir held out a hand. Helel took it.
Together they walked to the opening. Helel stopped where the floor ended. Beyond it, a bright cloud drew inward around the heart of a forming star. A faint pull reached his fingers. He opened his free hand, and the pull spread across his palm.
"What is that?"
"The star gathering itself."
Helel held his hand there, feeling the pull change as the cloud turned.
The opening joined the Vaults to the young Cosmos. Here he would learn to reach into it and tend what was forming. He glanced at the Heir's hand beside his own. For now, he was content to watch.
A sound behind them made him turn.
Others were waking near the Seat. Like Helel, they were made of living light. One had already risen and was looking from face to face, making sure each new arrival had someone beside them.
"Michael," the Speaker called him.
There would be many of them. Together they would be known as the Host.
One of the newest stood apart. He took a step toward the Seat, raised an arm across his eyes, and stopped. When he lowered it and tried again, he had to turn his face away.
Helel glanced at the Heir, then went to meet him.
The light passed through Helel as he moved. He discovered that he could soften it, spreading its brilliance until the other could look up without flinching.
The newcomer took a step toward him.
Helel held still. He had found something he could do.
"Keep the approach," the Speaker said. "Help them come near. Let them see him through you."
Helel looked back toward the Heir. The light he was sharing came from there; he could feel it flowing into him as freely as he gave it.
Another of the Host approached, and Helel made room.
Beyond them, the little world turned beneath its clouds. There was no one on its surface yet to look up at the stars. Helel wanted to see what would happen there. He wanted to learn how to help.
But first there was someone beside him who needed a little more light.