Yarlessto and his father, Prophet Al, had had quite a clash yesterday.
That debate.
He and the prophet of the Logos people almost came to blows in the Pattern Garden, right before the eyes of all present.
The priests hurriedly separated the father and son, knowing that the two had differences in many matters. However, these priests who spent their days in the Pattern Garden never imagined that the disagreements between the father and son would escalate to fists and kicks.
"Doubt, doubt, you're always doubting! Must you doubt everything!?"
A few priests held back Al's arms as the aging father scolded his eldest son, who was expected to inherit his mantle.
"Everything is worth doubting, including God's love!"
Yarlessto argued furiously, his face turning red.
He was younger, so it took one more priest to restrain him than it did Al.
"What are you saying?! Rebel!"
Al rebuked his son, the respected prophet wanting desperately to break free from the priests and give Yarlessto a solid punch.
The Prophet taught:
"If you just did as I said, there wouldn't be so much debate! You are the moth in the Pattern Garden!"
"What nonsense are you spouting? Self-righteousness will only plunge us both into the Abyss!"
Yarlessto retorted defiantly, his anger flaring,
"We are slowly digging our own graves, don't you think it's time we stopped?"
"What are you doing then? You doubt everything! Doubting God's creation, doubting God's revelation, doubting the reason given by God… Is there anything you don't doubt?!"
Al, both pleading and angry, stated:
"For the people of Logos, this has never been a rational choice."
Yarlessto suddenly composed himself and stared intensely at his father.
"Exactly because He is God, He is worth doubting!
Father, I must tell you:
Doubting is closer to divinity than blind faith itself!"
............
............
After yesterday's argument, neither the father nor the son had spoken a word all day.
The next morning, outside the Pattern Garden of the Logos Kingdom,
Yarlessto sat in front of a group of children.
The prophet's eldest son was passionate about telling the kingdom's children all kinds of stories. Among all the priests, only he never had a condescending attitude.
Beside Yarlessto was a wall used for drawing, which the prophet's eldest son utilized for teaching.
In the Kingdom, there was a custom that no one, besides the priests, could enter the Pattern Garden.
Thus, Yarlessto could only share the legends and tales with the kingdom's children outside the Pattern Garden.
"Do you see this?"
Yarlessto pointed at a painting on the wall, depicting a hunter with a bent bow and sword, slowly walking into the forest, pushing through the misty woods.
"The area was overgrown and shrouded in fog. The hunter saw a hawk in the mist, summoned his courage, and vowed to hunt the hawk, but no sooner had the thought arisen, he turned into a rabbit with a broken leg, and with one breath, turned into loud cries…"
Outside the Pattern Garden, children listened intently and obsessively, pointing at each painting, while Yarlessto drew on the wall, narrating stories he often heard as a child.
Al had told this story to Yarlessto many times, and when his brother was born, he told it to Dertulian many times as well.
Yarlessto drew swiftly, accustomed to speaking and drawing on the spot rather than waiting for a painting to be perfected before recounting it.
In the process of narrating and drawing at the same time, Yarlessto intentionally simplified some drawings, initially by omitting an arm, then by omitting some decorations, until now, he even reduced some drawings to a mere symbol.
For his dismissive attitude, Prophet Al had admonished him many times.
However, Yarlessto didn't care.
"When the hunter thought, 'The hawk and I are as close as brothers; I must love my brother,' just then, the hawk suddenly transformed into a swan, and the hunter couldn't believe what was happening. He unconsciously spread his arms and found himself extending wings, those of a swan."
That's how Yarlessto finished the tale of the Swan Hunter.
From there, he received vigorous applause from the children, these carefree young Logosians cheered, whistled, and pleaded with Yarlessto for one more story, just one more.
Naturally popular, Yarlessto tried to smile and push the children away, but these young Logosians weren't ready to let him go, and the Prophet's eldest son, unable to resist, was about to tell another when, from the distance, two familiar figures approached.
He squinted to see better; it was his father Al and his brother Dertulian.
Yarlessto did not care much for his naive and immature brother.
Just as Dertulian cared little for him.
Since he saw Dertulian grow from babbling infancy, their overt and covert battles had never ceased.
Initially, these conflicts had some purpose, but as time went by, they found they had evolved into fighting for the sake of fighting.
"Father."
Yarlessto stood up from the wall and addressed Al, who was slowly approaching.
Although they had argued just yesterday, Yarlessto was not one to hold a grudge, and his father Al never remembered his son's defiance.
Then, he nodded at his brother Dertulian.
Dertulian didn't respond, not a bit, this younger son inherently possessed a kind of arrogance towards his brother.
In his eyes, a true Logosian ought to hunt large beasts with a spear in hand, and the priests who did not hunt, except for father Al, lacked the courage a Logosian should have.
Therefore, he particularly looked down on Yarlessto.
Al noticed the expressions of the two brothers.
As a father, how could he not know about the discord between his sons?
However, Al did not plan to overly interfere in their matters; he hoped his children could handle things on their own.
"Father, I have something to tell you."
Dertulian, as if trying to boast to Yarlessto, suddenly spoke.
"Oh, what is it?"
Al asked.
Dertulian glanced at Yarlessto, then turned his head, looking straight into his father's eyes, and said slowly,
"Not long ago, I learned from my companions that the Vanguard on a hunting expedition discovered a piece of Dragon Relic in the mountains, magical as legend has it."
"Dragon Relic, magical as legend has it? What exactly happened?"
Al emphasized.
"Yes, magical as legend... Father, that person assured me there was no exaggeration.
They say... they say that when they discovered the relic, the Dragon Relic was glowing with a pale light. Then, the first person to touch the relic accidentally got pricked by a bone spur inside.
After that, miraculous things happened... The first person to touch the relic became decades younger within seven days!"