Keernah rubbed her forehead and went to the candle to snuff; then she resumed pacing about the hall.
"I want to ask you something. If you foresee that I die in the mountains, you don't tell me, all right? I'm just a human, so it's no use for me to know my future."
"Fine. All the same, you need to prepare not for death, but for living in the mountains. And you really may be able to make it. You still can see us, which means you have a lot of strength. And flexibility as well."
"What if they both run out just by next spring? What shall I do then?"
"They will not," Ayeso chuckled, "In any case, they are running out gradually, and you would feel in advance if they were. Anyway, you are not going to lose them before your turning point. Without them, it just cannot come, and I still see it happen."
"Aw, that stupid point," Keernah muttered to herself, forgetting that the cealds' hearing was very keen.
"Why is it stupid?" Ayeso demanded.
"Well, I don't know — I'm not sure it'll change my life for the better. I think I'm just going to get stuck in an unpleasant story like always..."
"You get stuck out of ignorance, but it is your soul's desires that lead you to turning points in life. Many humans just do not wish to know about their true desires, so they call it getting stuck in something. You are right that a turning point does not always change life for the better — but you do not always need the better. You need what is necessary, but you seldom know what it is. Looking back, though, you might see that you actually did not need anything "better".
Keernah was more alarmed than encouraged by the clarification.
"Well, how do I prepare for living in the mountains?" she asked hesitantly after a pause. "I shouldn't think about being safe when I'm safe, but if real danger comes, I must get alert instantly as if I thought about it all along. Is it the very thing I need to learn?"
"You can start with the latter and will learn the former without effort. Getting alert only when needed can be somewhat difficult for you, because your parents also watch if you are safe and you cannot stop them; so you will not be able to learn it fully. Mental readiness will do you good anyway. Then you will not lose your time and start practicing immediately when you come to the mountains."
"How do I try it anyway? Say, I'm walking alone down the street and see a crowd of angry people who run towards me and scream that they're going to kill me. Should I keep walking till the very moment they attack me? Seems like what I have to do when I don't think there are safer places around."
"Exactly so," Ayeso confirmed nonchalantly.
Keernah was shocked, because she'd been sure she'd deliberately exaggerated and distorted the idea.
"What when they start beating me?"
"Then defend yourself."
"What's the point of this?" Keernah protested, "Wouldn't it be better to run away at once, while I still have some time?"
"It is only better at first glance. But think: when you believe you will be harmed, then you're already harmed, only in the future. So, no matter how hard you try to protect yourself, dangerous situations will constantly occur to you – because you let them enter your future, but then start avoiding it. The future will not become safer because of this, and it will seek any possibility to happen, for you live on and need it to continue."
"Then my future only consists of dangerous situations, but not that it's any bit of a surprise to me," Keernah grumbled. "Are you sure it all applies not only to the cealds but to humans too?"
YOU ARE READING
Elements' Eyes (Book 1: Going-Through)
FantasyIn a sad post-apocalyptic world, Keernah just looked for her childhood friend, who was not like others. By the time she started to suspect he was something more than a human, she was already turning into another being herself - finding out more poss...
