Gryffi's Fairy Tales: Ignorance Blesses You

***Ignorance Blesses You*** is the tenth chapter in the Library book *Gryffi's Fairy Tales*. It tells the story of a young boy who is fascinated by Mistwanderers and embarks to find one, which ultimately leads to his demise.

## Story

As a young child, he was told stories of the mysterious and elusive mistwanderer. His parents warned of the dangers associated with thick swaths of mist and perpetual fog. They told him that should he ever encounter any of those infernal hazy seas, he should turn tail and run unless he was keen on being devoured. He heard stories about their hunting techniques and about their glowing red eyes, the way they confused their prey before striking.

He was not scared by these tales. Rather, his curiosity had always been piqued by the idea of such an eerie yet stunning creature. When he was seven years old, he went wandering off into the woods in search of one. His sack full to the brim with a water canteen and various parcels of food and a knife his father had given him, he ventured off, ready for an adventure. In his mind, it was just a big quest lain out before his eyes; it was his journey and the excitement radiating off him was almost tangible.

When the moon hung high in the air, he snuck away from his house, stories about how mistwanderers were beasts of the night floating through his thoughts. The moon cast such a bright glow over the forest that he had little difficulty seeing, and the thin beams of light filtered through the leaves, leaving behind spatters painted across the earth. Almost half an hour into his quest, his energy wearing thin and his child-like
patience even worse for wear, he stumbled upon what he was seeking. A large cloud of mist sat before him, so densely covering the area that he couldn't see very far beyond it.

It was as though a certain level of subtle calm washed over his skin as he gazed out upon the mist. The boy walked straight into it, feeling no fear, only pure curiosity and excitement humming beneath his skin.

Then he saw eyes in front of him, burning red and intimidating. Those eyes were like the blazing embers that sat beneath the hearth of his home, yet within them was a more deadly and sinister tint that shimmered with the crimson hue that stained their surface in the night; he wasn't fazed by this terrifying gaze, either. Instead of being promptly eaten, an eerie voice split the silence of the night; it was barely a whisper, almost as though it were a part of the mist itself. "What are you doing here? You are but a mere babe. Go home, child."

"But I want to see you!" the boy replied, taking a step forward. The words the creature uttered seemed to sink into his mind as it hissed and brushed along his consciousness, almost as though they rang through his very thoughts themselves.

"Any other would have been killed by now. However, I do not enjoy taking the
lives of an innocent. Leave."

The boy didn't want to leave, though. "Can I see you? Let me see your body!"

"I give you one last chance to turn back, child. Heed this warning, for it is one many are not given the opportunity of."

He took another step forward, his hands in front of him, trying to feel around for the mistwanderer. If only he could see it! He was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet in eagerness. "We can be friends!"

The fearful beast muttered one more thing before devouring the child and his soul. "Ignorance blesses you, boy."

## Links

* Gryffi's Fairy Tales
* Ignorance Blesses You