This story is my contribution to the memory of Alexander, to mark his passing from this world in the early days of June.

First, about the title that is obviously borrowed from the famous book by Mary Renault. I don't know if she ever put in words the explanation for this title but for me it was always quite self-evident, by "Fire from Heaven" she meant Alexander. Was the reader supposed to connect this description of Macedonian king with fire from heaven brought by Prometheus to earth? I don't know but I always suspected it. So, why go with this title and not come up with my own? Well, because in my story I made the connection to Prometheus obvious, though not direct.

Though this story could have been written any year, I am glad that I came up with this storyline in 2014 – the year of the tenth anniversary of Oliver Stone's movie. In this way, the story is tribute both to Alexander's memory and Oliver's endeavor. So, I am going to admit that not only I borrowed the title from Mary Renault, I also borrowed from the movie. By "borrowed from the movie" I meant the story of the ring. It appears prominently three times in the movie – when Hephaistion gives it to Alexander on his wedding night to Roxana, when the plot of the pages happens and when Alexander dies. In my story the ring serves as a centerpiece though I gave this piece of jewelry quite a different background. What else did I take from the movie? The eagle. Though, still, no Cassander; but I hope Philotas fulfilled his role effortlessly.

A few more notes. Some time ago I realized all our fan fiction stories contain an expected list of historical personages (and a whole wonderful slew of OC) – there are about 20-30 of them. But what about all the others, those who were mentioned by Arrian, Plutarch, Diodorus, Curtius and Justin once or twice, do they deserve the oblivion just because they weren't mentioned too often or died too early in the campaign? So, I decided to introduce new historical personages into my stories, even if I don't give them the main stage. The first one was Alcetas, Perdiccas' brother, who appeared in the final chapters of my story "Alexander, Revisited."

So, now, making my promise public, I want to introduce you to another character, Ptolemaeus. His name spelled the same way as the future Pharaoh of Egypt, but I left the original spelling, not the Latinised one. Actually, it was quite a popular name at the time, and there were quite a few of Ptolemaeuses in Alexander's army, and by "quite a few" I meant only those who made it to history books. This particular Ptolemaeus was one of the seven Somatophylakes, or Bodyguards, that Alexander inherited from his father Philip. Very little is known about him, just these two short phrases from Arrian narrating the siege of Halicarnassus (Arrian, i. 22):

"The second party, which sallied forth by the triple gate, was met by Ptolemy, one of the royal body-guards, who had with him the regiments of Addaeus and Timander and some of the light-armed troops…..Of the men in the city about one thousand were slain; and of Alexander's men about forty, among whom were Ptolemy, one of the king's body-guards…."

Not much to go on so everything in my story about him is just my imagination. However, there is one more interesting fact to notice. This Ptolemaeus was the first of Philip's Somatophylakes to die (at the siege of Halicarnassus) and because tradition demanded that there always has to be seven of them, the first Somatophylax appointed by Alexander himself upon Ptolemaeus' death was Hephaistion.

And now the final note. We all know that Alexander slept with a copy of Iliad under his pillow, that he liked to compare himself to Achilles and Hephaistion to Patrocles; but I think it sometimes slips our minds that all the personages and events of what we nowadays call Greek Mythology were part of the everyday life in those times. This is why I think this story, heavy on Greek Mythology, would be an appropriate contribution to his memory (and that of Hephaistion as well).

If I didn't scare you yet from the reading, below is a short glossary of some mythological names mentioned in the story:

Son of Menoetius – Patrocles

Rhesus – king of Thrace who came to help Troy in the last months of siege. Odysseus and Diomedes went on reconnaissance night mission and not only managed to steal king's famous horses but killed Rhesus himself and a lot of his men. So, the captain of king's guards, obviously wasn't good at his job.

Alexander – I am sure you all know that the name translates as "defender of men", but just in case.

Deucaleon – the king who survived the deluge sent by Zeus (think Biblical Noah). He and his brother Hellen were indeed sons of Prometheus in Greek Mythology. The rest of the story told by the priest is my own invention.

I hope I didn't put you to sleep with this long author's note.

Long live the memory of King Alexander and Hephaistion, his true and only love!