A DIALOGUE WITH STENDARR
Between gleaming arches, crystametallic eaves and windwhipped flags ticking backward/forward to eternity: A scene unfolds. The shepherd bears his chalice with eyes closed, hearing the inquisitive few who ask -
- Why does MAN confound us? They do not count backward (but their eyes face to the darkness of infinity) They do not count forward (plunging blind into the night they crave)
- Unenlightened, they revel in a fate worse than death.
The shepherd chews on a handful of jhari-fruit seeds, squeezing the last bits of moisture from them. He waits for the clamor to die.
Whence came MAN? he asks.
- From the NORTH, burning and freezing our kin with devilish words, carving wounds which cannot heal
- From the WEST, slashing and cutting our kin's flesh to drive a flag in dry, dusty earth
- From the HEART, breaking GODS with profane magics and growing the unsightly burden we carry
He begins.
MAN comes from us, as we suffer their pain. can you not forgive them? they awoke without the light of remembrance. fear guides them to burn and freeze merish bodies, to cut through merish flesh, to break our GODS.
- A conclusion: they must be destroyed
He rages.
the keepers of knowledge turned oafs! do you think your fear pure and theirs unholy? the fear which taints compassion (the sight of suffering), infecting merish minds - shameful. their suffering is our suffering. teach and be led not by fear. do not forget. the darkness within their hearts sleeps in yours.
His eyes open. The chalice is emptied.