I stood and listened as they spoke.
From memory, they recited the Santima Avenna. First, in full. Then, only by first syllables. Then first letters.
Then, without words at all. As if I knew what they were saying not from memory, but from intent. From purpose alone.
Every feeling conveyed through doctrine- hope, shame, penance and the ever-burning desire to survive. Everything I'd known to be reality, in front of my very eyes. Yet still, believing in all they were and all they ever would be...
I knew they were hiding something. Not unfairly. Not out of jealousy, or distrust, or malice.
But... to accuse all I ever admired of omission... it would be sacrilege. To deny the truth of my faith on belief in... in some... feeling. It was wrong. It was sickening, to know I was capable of... of...
At that moment, it all began to make sense. My thoughts cleared, as though I'd risen from a pool of water. One cannot betray themselves. Not like this.
If you doubt something, question it.
Something so simple- the first lesson a child would learn. If it is strange, make it familiar. If it is dangerous, make it safe. If is an enemy, make it a friend... if it cannot be saved...
I questioned the thing before me of what it did not want me to know. It said there was nothing of importance. Thus, I pressed the issue. Once more, It denied me. Over and over, I asked for the whole of what it meant, and it spoke in this same vernacular.
I vilified the thing aloud, berating its answers with the truth it had given. It began to falter, quoting the Santima Avenna again. This time, I countered with another piece of the text. Then again. And again. And again. It was no longer combatting my knowledge, but its own.
It refused to speak, for a moment. I persuaded it to keep talking. It continued, then stopped again. Persuasion failed, and other means were used. It spoke more, and more; I questioned again, and again- until it happened. With no ground left to retread, it stumbled.
The beast was good once. Kind, and knowing. The beast was just, and fair. The beast shared its understanding with the world.
Now, the beast would be put to rest.
