A Heavy Price

“First, your kami. I have need of them.”

Once again, one of her hands fell across the jars at her waist. “No… what do you mean?”

“I believe I was clear.”

“I would never give them to you.”

Virren snapped his fingers and a Silver Kami appeared at his side. “Alas, my servants do not simply spring forth from the earth. They are created, Lily. I need kami, alive, dead or anywhere in between.”

She shook her head as she looked at the Silver Kami. At the gleaming patterns that seemed to be faces… and maybe they were. Faces of trapped kami? Is that why the Elder Kami called him the grave-robbing serpent? she thought. Poor things!

Virren sighed. “Are you sure a denial is the answer you want to give me?”

She glared at the man. “If the only way you will help us is by killing kami, then we don’t need your help.”

“Interesting. And what of the Lionsheart?”

“Meaning?”

“After it was sabotaged by those who fled, I hid the battleship away until such a time as I deemed it necessary to repair. That time is now, should you choose it. In that sense, we are both happy, yes? I’m rid of more humans, and you can take those you care about to safety. They won’t have to suffer the death and decay that will overwhelm the earth.” He glanced to the still-gleaming ship. “You could easily fit all who dwell within these lands inside. Lives that you can save now. No-one else will have to die while you search for the Silversong, and believe me, Lily. People are always dying before their time down here.”

Could I really save them? Lily asked herself. All of Haven. The Olana. And so many others from different parts of the land. People I’ve been trying to help all along with this quest, anyway…

[You assume we would take you at your word,] Gabriel said. [And what of other countries – would the survivors fit in the Lionsheart?]

“Not all of them, no.” Virren smiled, and it was a rather unpleasant smile. “You could always… return to collect them.”

Lily narrowed her eyes. It seemed like an obvious attempt to goad them. “We’re not like those who abandoned their fellows, all those years ago.”

“How reassuring.”

“It should be.”

He shrugged.

“Then where does this leave us?”

Virren turned his gaze on Sasha. “With Sasha and her people. Those you call mutants.”

Sasha straightened. “We are the Olana.”

“That I know. And here is my offer to the Olana. Join me. Help me wipe the earth of the remaining humans, and I will protect you. You and your people can live here in peace, after the humans are gone.”

Sasha did not answer him.

“You would be free from their hatred and violence.” He wore a kind smile now. “Their distrusting eyes. Their pathetic, hypocritical judgements. Their constant attempts to cheat you, whenever they trade for the honey that you toil to harvest. And above all, you would be free from their appetite for death – it will vanish and you will remain, Sasha. Finally, truly free in a world that is safe, where food and shelter is plentiful, where your loved ones might grow old and happy, and when they die, they will do so in peace.” He stepped closer, and reached out a hand. “Instead of crushed beneath the uncaring steel of machines leftover from a time when humans ruled.”

Lily tensed.

The young woman was blinking back tears, but she hadn’t spoken. Instead, she was staring into Virren’s blue eyes. Her golden skin was beautiful beneath the sunlight.

“Come, Sasha. With one brave decision, you can save your people this very instant.”

Lily realised she was breathing hard.

Finally, Sasha spoke. Her voice wavered. “Forgive me, Father. Mother.”

Virren leant closer. “What is your answer, my dear?”

“No.” She fell to her knees, her face in her hands. “My answer is ‘no’.”

Virren sighed. “I see. I had hoped for a little more foresight.” He turned back to Lily. “My original offer stands, Lily. You can still end everyone’s suffering.”

“Here.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, but only here, as you said. And only if I sacrifice Emerald and Blue.”

“If you are unconvinced, I will leave you with a final offer. Think upon it, and then simply tell the Silver Kami to call me. I will return for your answer. Your final answer, I hasten to add.”

“What is it?”

“In exchange for your kami, I will restore your brother’s hearing. I will then send you, along with any you choose, on your way to safety in the Lionsheart. You may take this kami as pilot.”

Her mind seemed to freeze.

Gabriel would finally have his deepest wish – his hearing restored! He’d be able to hear music again, or the sound of birds, something he’d once told her he missed as much as anything else.

Lily opened her mouth to speak but the stamp of a foot stopped her.

[No!] Gabriel signed the word almost like a blow to the air.

He was right.

She knew he was, and even if Virren could be trusted, it was wrong to abandon so many. She glanced at the ship. More, it was foolish to assume that everything would work out fine with a Silver Kami as their pilot.

Or to assume that those who fled would welcome us, she thought.

She smiled at her brother. [Sorry. I wasn’t going to accept. It was just… for a moment, I imaged it could be possible. It’s what I want for you, Gabe.]

He returned her smile. [I know. Just making my answer clear to Virren.]

The god-spawn shrugged. “So you have. And such a touching display.”

“Then will you help us?” Lily asked, unable to keep uncertainty from her voice. Virren could still strike them down or punish them in some way, for their refusal. He obviously had the power to simply take her kami… so what would he do?

“No. I will not lend you my aid.” He waved a hand at the Lionsheart and the battleship began to descend, to slip back beneath the lake’s surface. “You have a long and dark road ahead, children.”

And then he was gone.