There then appeared a creature with three heads hidden in a mass of golden shining hair, wavy and beautiful, a fantastic mane that ruffled and flew with the breeze from the lonely Sea of Death.

Seeing and knowing him, the albatross left, taking up again its patrol of the shores of the Sea called Death.

He said to Receiver, "I am the Deathmender. Once I cure, you can be hurt but you can't die, of death or other disease." But Receiver resisted, and said, "To live even if I'm crippled?"

But the Deathmender said, "You'll die no more or ever, once I touch you with my mane."

But Receiver still resisted, and said, "To live more lives like this of loneliness, fear, and uncertainty? Go away! Or just give me a normal life!"

But the Deathmender said, "There's no such thing as a normal life", and dropped his mane over him on the sands at the Sea of Death. With that Receiver became immortal and would live forever, more or less.

He wasn't sure that living forever was all good, and he was afraid, and fought his own recovery, since he'd been prepared to die. But he revived, as Deathmender flew away in the wind like thistledown.