A
cave mouth loomed open on a set of rocky cliffs to the right of the
mountain path Ia and his disciples were walking along as they spread
Ia's word and Ia's teachings across the land. Ia took note of it and
pointed it out to his followers, saying, 'Look you at that cavern,
that gateway to the strange realms which lay beneath the earth. What
do you come to know when you gaze upon it?'
'I
am apprehensive, to my core,' replied Preston after a moment of
reflection. 'I cannot know what might lair inside it, or where that
cavern might lead, or what its existence may portend. Caverns are
places far from the light of civility and reason, where the offspring
of mated darkness and danger grow in secrecy. I fear the harm such
places may hold in store for the charges we are sworn and oathbound
to guide and protect.'
'I
pay it no mind,' replied Destair. 'The cavern does not trouble me by
simply existing. It is a thing, unable to act out or project wants in
neither helpful nor harmful manners. If I run afoul of any which
reside therein, it is only because I placed myself there, and the
fault would be my own for intruding where I am not welcome.'
'And
what of you, Creassin?' asked Ia, for his third great disciple was
silent and pensive. They waited as Creassin continued to meditate,
until at least he spoke:
'I
have reached no opinion. I cannot fairly judge a thing's merit before
I am impacted by it, and by then it has already colored what my
perception ought to be. So all I can say to you in truth, Holy Ia, is
that a cave mouth is present upon those rocky cliffs.'
Ia
said nothing, only gesturing for them to resume their journey. They
traveled without speaking for miles, before Destair at last found the
courage to ask of Ia, 'Did any of us, Holy One, come close to the
wisdom you hoped to teach to us? Did we adjudge the cavern properly?'
Ia
replied, 'The cavern was not what you were meant to come to know,'
and then said no more on the matter.
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