The road was raging and burning those who rode on motorcycles. An was ferrying a farang from a hotel on Soi 55 to the direction of Nana. Another one of many foreigners who came in search of sabai to the realm of a billion pleasures. To the place where gods manifest themselves and the Royal Palace shines with its might and splendor.

A village was burning far off down the hill, and almost without pause came the dry gunfire clicking - sometimes short explosions, sometimes cries in a foreign tongue.

Only yesterday everyone had left the temple and departed for Mustang. But the Master told me and three other monks that we must remain here until the very end. Five people had to stay in the temple until the end, because Buddha Shakyamuni teaches ultimate victory, and Guru Padma crushes the enemies of Dharma across time and space.

Whenever someone promises something to another person, or even enters into an agreement, there is always someone tasked to ensure that agreement is fulfilled. Someone who must remind, or quietly guide, preferably without understanding anything themselves. Since there are those who forge agreements. And there are those who would rather see those agreements broken. The less the keepers of paths and covenants know about what they truly guard, the better.