Bab 26: The Last Riddle
285 AC, Tyrosh, Temple of Trios...
"Cowards are trying to hide, foxes are trying to cheat, however, time is going to prove when we will all meet. Try to guess my true name but you'll learn it only when the time comes. Who am I?"
Gerold only had three minutes so he needed to be quick to analyse the riddle and solve it. He first thought the first words of the riddle; cowards are trying to hide. What would cowards hide from? Maybe battle he thought but there were many things cowards were afraid of, after all, "coward" was a broad term.
Thus, Gerold's thoughts went to the next part of the riddle; foxes are trying to cheat. Foxes were more specific than the word of cowards. Foxes were shrewd and the shrewd people were manipulating cowards trying to better their gains in something so it was okay to say that shrewd people and cowards were of the same kind.
However, what would the shrewd try to cheat, Gerold thought. That was a confusing phrase for Gerold as there were many things shrewd people would try to cheat in like money and politics.
Nevertheless, even the second part didn't make sense so, again, he looked to the part; however, time is going to prove when we will all meet. The first question on Gerold's mind was where all people were going to meet. This one looks tricky as it can be many things, he thought. The first thing that came to his mind was civilization because it was where all the humans meet at some point in their life. However, he quickly discarded that thought because civilization was also were only humans met.
The words were important in riddles as they hid the answer between those words. As the word "we" was used in this part, it could mean anything from animals to the people, Gerold thought.
So, again, he looked to the next and the last part of the riddle; Try to guess my true name but you'll learn it only when the time comes. When the time comes… when the time comes…
Suddenly, Gerold was enlightened and he found the answers for all the parts. What would the cowards try to hide from, death; what would the shrewd people, who symbolized the foxes, try to cheat, death; what would time prove and where will all beings meet, death; death was something you can only learn when you meet it.
There was one minute left for Gerold to answer so to be sure, he thought about the riddle again and after feeling certain, he opened his mouth to answer, "Death!"
Suddenly, the fires in the first head's eyes roared and something came out of his mouth and fell to the floor. Then, the lips of the head moved to talk, "Get buried with it, only then you shall be granted the passage to eternal heaven." After his words, the fires in his eyes were extinguished and the first head returned to his original state.
Gerold kneeled and picked the thing that fell to the floor. It was a small coin with the depiction of the Trios on it. He put it into his pocket and, quickly, went towards the third head. Unlike the white first head, the third head was completely golden and there was a huge smile on it, unlike the angry face of the first head.
Gerold stood in front of it and waited for the second riddle. The eyes of the third head glowed with golden lights and it opened his mouth, "I am a flint when I am small. I have a house that is small in which I live in the dark. It has neither doors nor windows and if I want to go out I must break the wall. What am I?"
Gerold stroked his non-existent beard and began thinking, immediately. The first part was easy to guess as flint was something small and hard to break and it was also something that could create fire.
Gerold thought about the next part of the riddle; a house that is small in which I live in the dark. This one is tricky as it only said house, Gerold thought. A house was where you live but it was also not a permanent place for you to stay so it could be said this was somewhere temporary to stay.
Then, Gerold thought about the next and last part of the riddle; It has neither doors nor windows and if I want to go out I must break the wall. A house that has neither doors nor windows was more like a prison more than a house.
All in all, this was something that stayed in a place for a while then moved on. Can the house be a womb, Gerold thought. After all, that something was a sentient being as it is implied in the riddle, it was able to break the wall of the house. However, he quickly discarded this thought as babies in the womb did not break anything to go out and, instead, it was the efforts of the mother that pushed them out.
A house that is dark and that can be only left by breaking its walls, like a shell. Thus, it can be said that the house was an egg but many things were born in an egg, from fishes to the birds.
Gerold, suddenly, recalled the first part of the riddle because it was completely different from the other parts as it described something other than the house, flint. The being was a flint when it was small. What does flint symbolize, Gerold thought.
Flint was resistant and created fire so what did create fire and was strong even after the birth? Gerold's eyes glowed with intelligence as he found the answer for the second riddle.
He looked at the third head and answered with a resolution, "Dragon."
The third head's eyes glowed brightly as Gerold blocked his view because the light was too strong. However, he still heard the raspy voice of the third head, "Only with care, it will be your child, only with neglect, it will be your doom." When the lights died, Gerold lowered his arm to see what the third head gave and what entered his view was an egg.
The egg was only as big as a finger but Gerold felt great power within it. It was bright white-coloured and it was sparkling like the stars in the night sky. Gerold took the egg with great care even though he knew this was something given by a demon. He put it into his pocket, just beside the coin then he turned to look at the second head.
The second head was different than the others as it was pure black as the night sky and there wasn't any expression on his face. A simple mouth and eyes without any lustre were looking at the front like it was not caring anything about the world.
Gerold stood in front of the head and waited for the final riddle. As of now, it was going easy. Though the riddles were not something ordinary people could solve, it was easy for someone at Gerold's intelligence. However, there was an urge inside him that this one will be harder than the other two riddles.
Indeed, The second head answered the riddle with the expected difficulty, "We are both old and young. We are both sinners and innocent. We are both ruthless and merciful. We are both revered and shunned. We are both ugly and beautiful. What is our name?"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone