In the distance, the scout ship has taken to the air.
On the Brink
(THE RETURN)
I am submerged in the Voice of the Land.
I am attacking the Clearing, feeling the weapons fire in my hands, seeing their soldiers die with my eyes, hearing the roars and screams of battle in my ears. I am up on the hilltop, on the rugged lip of it overlooking the valley below, but I am there in the battle as well, living it through the voices of those fighting, those giving up their lives for the Land.
And I watch as the water tank falls, though the Land close enough to see it fall die rapidly under the hand of the Clearing, each death a terrible tear at the voice of the Land, a sudden absence that pulls and pains–
But is necessary–
Necessary in small numbers only, the Sky shows to me, watching, too. Necessary to save the entire body of the Land.
And necessary to finish this war before the convoy arrives, I show back, hitting the strange word that I did not teach him.
There is time, the Sky shows, his concentration still on the city below, still on the voices that reach us from there, fewer now, more on the run.
There is? I ask, surprised, wondering how he knows for sure–
But I set my concerns aside, because the Sky’s voice opens to remind me of what is still to come tonight, now that the first goal of toppling the water tank is achieved.
One way or another, tonight is where the war will change.
Their water was the first step.
All-out invasion is the second.
The Land has not been idle these past days. The Land’s parties have attacked the Clearing unpredictably, from different directions at different times, hitting them hard in surprising and isolated spots. The Land are far more at one with the ground and the trees than the Clearing and can disguise themselves more easily, and the Clearing’s floating lights dare not get too close or the Land will shoot them down.
The Clearing could fire their larger weapons down the river, of course, hitting even the Sky himself, though they cannot know he watches them from so near.
But if they did fire, the river would come to drown them.
And there may be another reason. For why would the Clearing have such a powerful weapon and not use it? Why would they allow themselves to be attacked again and again, in increasing severity, and not answer back?
Unless, as we originally barely dared to hope, they had no more weapons to fire.
I wish I was down there, I show, as we continue to watch through the voice of the Land. I wish I was firing a rifle. Firing it into the Knife.
You do not, the Sky shows, his voice low and thoughtful. They will be desperate now. We have progressed this far because they have not made a coordinated response.
And you want them to, I show.
The Sky wants the Clearing to show itself.
We can attack now, I show, my excitement growing. They are in chaos. If we acted now–
We will wait, the Sky shows, until we hear the voices from the far hilltop.
The far hilltop. Our distant voices, the parts of the Land that go out to gather information, have shown us how the Clearing has divided itself into two camps. One in the city below, another on a hilltop in the distance. We have left the hilltop alone so far because they seem to be those of the Clearing that have fled the battle, those that are not interested in fighting. But we also know that the vessel landed there, and that the larger weapon was more than likely fired from there, too.
We have been unable to get close enough to see if they have more weapons.
But tonight we find out for certain.
The Land is ready, I show, barely able to contain my excitement. The Land is ready to attack.
Yes, shows the Sky. The Land is ready.
And in his voice, I see them.
The massed bodies of the Land to the north of the city and the south of it, too, gathered there slowly these past days, along paths the Clearing is unaware of, kept just distant enough for the Clearing to be unable to hear them.
And in the Sky’s voice I see another massed body, hidden, but ready and waiting near the far hilltop.
Right now, this moment, the Land is ready to march in full force on the Clearing.
And slaughter them all.
We will wait for news from the far hilltop, the Sky shows again, more firmly this time. Patience. The warrior who strikes too early is a warrior lost.
And if the voices show what we want them to show?
He looks at me, a glint in his eye, a glint that expands into his voice, that grows to the size of the world around me, showing what is to come, showing what will happen, showing all that I want to be true.
If, he shows, the voices from the hilltop find that the Clearing have indeed spent all of their big weapons–
Then the war ends tonight, I show. With victory.
He presses a hand on my shoulder, wrapping me in his voice, warming me with it, pulling me into the voice of the entire Land.
If and only if, he shows.
If and only if, I show back.
And in a low voice, maybe even one that only I can hear, the Sky shows, Does the Return now trust the Sky?
I do, I show without hesitation. I am sorry if I doubted you.
And I get a feeling in my stomach, a tingling feeling of prophecy and future, a feeling that it must happen tonight, that it will happen, that all I want for the fate of the Clearing is here and now, in front of me, in front of all of us, that the Burden will be avenged, that my one in particular will be avenged, that I will be avenged–
And then a sudden roaring splits the night in two.
What is it? I show, but I can feel the Sky’s voice searching, too, reaching out into the night, looking with his eyes as well, searching for the sound, feeling the rising terror that it is another weapon, that we were mistaken, that–
There, he shows.
In the distance, far away and small, on the far hilltop–
Their vessel is rising into the air.
We watch as it lumbers up into the night, like a river swan in the first heavy beats of its wings–
Can we not see closer? the Sky shows, sending it out far and wide. Is there not a voice closer?
The vessel, little more than a light in the distance, begins a slow circle over the far hilltop, tilting as it turns, and we see small flashes from its underside, dropping into the forest below, flashes that grow suddenly brighter in the trees, accompanied seconds later by booming sounds rolling across the valley towards us.
And here come the voices from the hilltop–
The Sky cries out, and we are suddenly under the flashes dropping from the ship, under the great booming explosions ripping through the trees, flashes everywhere from every side, impossible to run from, exploding the whole world, the Land’s eyes seeing the flashes and feeling the pain and then snuffing out like a doused fire–