I will tell you a secret, human, though you will not understand.
The reason is not your fault. Humans are dreadfully unimaginative and shortsighted creatures constantly distracted by the present, unaware of the past, and frightened of the future. They are only concerned with how things currently are, not what they were, or what they will become.
But perhaps a human who abandons their natural ignorance could understand this secret. For this secret stretches between the distant past and distant future, passing only briefly and instantaneously through the present — the permanent refuge of the ignorant human mind.
Like all good secrets, this one is hidden in plain sight. This is a secret surrounded and guarded by those who would never seek to understand it.
The secret could have been discovered by studying the map rooms, but the cartographers and geographers did not. It could have been uncovered by surveying the land, but the builders and architects did not. Or perhaps it could have been revealed by the magic of the mages, but because the mages are the most ignorant of them all, they certainly did not.
The physical facade of this secret has been passed down between kings and queens for generations and treated as their pride, property, and plaything. Inside, they stored their wealth and greatest possessions. They protected it with their armies, planted their flags, and foolishly declared it to be their own. But no human, elf, or dragon could own this secret.
The humans have even named the secret — but of course, this is the tradition of humans.
Its human name changes over the years depending on their whims. The current name is shared with an insignificant creature whose history only briefly overlaps with its namesake. But there is no need to remember this meaningless label. It will certainly change again in a hundred years.
Or… perhaps even sooner.
Humans are drawn to the secret, just like the other animals of the forest. Perhaps they can sense its magnificence. But they cannot see it. They see nothing but wood and stones, metal and glass, unaware of the significance of what lies within this superficial structure. Because neither the minds of humans nor animals can imagine what the secret was before, or what it will become.
Yet, the humans will sacrifice their lives to protect the secret.
This is ignorant, but not misguided.
For this secret is a nexus before nexuses, a source before primal sources. It marks the place where all began, and where all will ultimately end. That is why the secret must forever remain a secret, eternally hidden from the ignorant, throughout the past, present, and future.
Do you understand now, human, what my secret is?
No?
I didn’t think you would.