The Darkest Knight opened a Hostel for the Homeless under and by, quite close, next to, above and below, and soon the gates of the city of Az. Much that any wandering ancient or young, with nothing on their backs to call a shirt, might have a pallet to lie and a bit of a bite to sustain and quell the pangs of hunger.
He darkest Knight needs must listen and absorb all their sorrow stories, until he was full up and needed a break. Take a break, said the Sphinx, Take a break.
So, in passing short, they went on holiday, the Darkest Knight and the Sphinx.
Where shall we, said the Knight,
I know a place, said the Sphinx
They found it by a tree and a river where the Sphinx had once felt at peace, or at least not at war.
Settle here in this tree while I guard it. Wait soft, here is a rabbit which has lost its way.
The Sphinx confronted the wandering rabbit whilst the Darkest Knight found peace in slumber beneath the tree at the river side.
You are great in size, said the rabbit, looking up at the crouching Sphinx, are you also great in spirit?
Unfortunately, I have no spirit, said the Sphinx resting her chin upon her great paws, in an effort to come closer into the rabbit’s world. I am half Lion and half Djinn; both of these wild creatures are leaves in the wind of fate. They burn brightly in their time and then are gone away. The fact that I appear, by some twist or knot or flip of a coin, to have been caste immortal, is no measure of the absence or otherwise, of a flickering candle of spirit, which is separate from the intellect, be it great or small.
Say that again, said the rabbit frowning, I am not sure what all that meant. Anyways, I myself have a spirit, I can feel it burning brightly in my breast and I am confident that when my time comes to depart this mortal spiral, my spirit will be taken down to join the ancestral rabbits in the great warren under the earth. Are you to tell me, Oh great immortal Sphinx, that your intellect is solely a function of your mortal brain cells and has no other level of being?
Yes.
And you’re OK with that?
Sure
So, you take responsibility for all your actions.
In so much as a dice is responsible for the way it falls, yes. Though I am the instrument of chaos, I am fully responsible for my actions and believe that all of life, including those heaven and hell things, are right here and right now.
Interesting, said the rabbit, and do you live in a humungous burrow with your kin?
No, said the sphinx, I must roam the earth as there is no home large enough to give me shelter. I some time rest upon the desert between jobs. By the way, have you seen my tail? It is particularly elegant, and some might say attractive.
I did notice a long thing at the back end as you turned earlier, very handsome I’m sure. Have you seen my tail, different from yours in every way and yet I am proud.
And so you should, agreed the Sphinx, so you should. As you seem to me a wise and well educated rabbit and the Darkest Knight is still in the depths of his healing slumber, tell to me a tale of wisdom from the world of rabbits.
Settle and I will relate, said the rabbit.
The Guardians of the Cave 