“The people believe suffering has value!” said Welf. “That’s what I saw in the Wilderness lands. We all saw it.”

“Yes, for thousands of years, the people have believed this!” said Amel. “It’s the only way they can go forward in a world where there is so much suffering. They have always believed that a brave man will suffer torment but will not give in. They have believed the gods want the blood of children and the agony of those children when they die, and the agony of their parents when they see them sacrificed. And people have been bred to feed off suffering! To feed off the grief and pain of the victims of war and blood-soaked altars. But there is no value to suffering!”

“There is only value,” said Derek, “to overcoming suffering and seeking to spare others the suffering one has known oneself!” He sat on the edge of the couch. “In the Meditation Center I saw and heard that people of all ranks understand this. They see suffering as inherently a natural evil!”

“Exactly!” said Amel. “And with luracastria, I have locked the Parents and their greedy eyes out of the lives of countless humans! And I have fought with all my being to provide a way of life in Atalantaya that does not thrive off of nor require suffering.”

We sat quiet for a long moment, and then for an endless while we talked about these things. We talked about the stories we’d heard in the Meditation Centers. We talked about all the lessons we’d learned on Atalantaya and how we marveled at life here and the influence of Atalantaya and what it meant for the Wilderness lands.

“It is through example and enticement that I teach,” said Amel. “Not coercion. Those tribes who war and sacrifice are banned from Atalantaya. They are not welcome in our farming or mining villages in the Wilderness lands. And that alone is the most powerful inducement for them to seek the peaceful ways.”

“Yes, we’ve seen it,” I said. “There was indeed so much the Parents never explained.”

Amel laughed suddenly. “They treated you like humans treat their pets, didn’t they?” he asked. “You’ve seen the dogs in the village? You’ve seen the pretty little cats and dogs people on Atalantaya are given to keeping? That’s how they treated you? Am I right?”

“Yes,” said Derek. He was wiping his tears away and trying to calm himself. “That is how they treated us, putting out food for us, letting us wander about, comforting us when they felt we needed it.”

“And any truths or explanations that they sought to teach were just part of that comfort,” said Amel. “They have sent so many bands of you here!”

“But what happened to the others?” I asked.