The Beginning of the End

Thousands stood before them. Airships, make fist battle cruisers, transport skiffs, and repurposed drones all floated in waiting. The Silence’s capital was just above them. After years of skirmishes and failed attacks, it was time to invade the very heart of the enemy. But that would not be what the unified rebellion would be doing. Azag had one more trick. 

As he looked out at the sea of would-be fighters, he prayed his plan would work. No matter what happened to them, it had to succeed in keeping The Silence’s watchful eyes off of Sayane’s covert mission.

Sayane’s hand was in his. Their touch had barely separated in the hours since the concert at the Akna’s grove. Soon, they would part, and both knew there was a strong possibility it would be for good. The pit that had grown in both of their stomachs was as much from that realization as it was fear of the conflict ahead.

Sayane let the wonder of seeing all these disparate people fill her heart. All those years as an idol before this were spent dreaming of a crowd this size that would be enraptured by BrightStar’s surface-level cutesy music. But now that she finally had a true audience, she cherished the fact that they were here for something so much bigger than her or her music, even though both had grown so much in her time in this world.

Remnant rainclouds hung in the sky, muting the barred sunlight even more. Azag inhaled. It was time. Sayane’s emotions pulled themselves from reflection to marvel at the growth her companion had also undergone.

“Azag, everyone is listening to you now,” she smiled.

His thumb grazed her wrist once more before he clacked forward on his crutches. As he stepped to the voice carrier’s stand, Esca’s flaming thrusters clicked to life in the background. Cheers and claps began to sound.

“Azag! Azag the Guardian! Azag the Guardian! Azag the Guardian!”

“I have no desire to be a ruler,” Azag said to start.

The crowd silenced.

“Sayane and I were appointed to lead during this crucial moment, but neither of us wish to be your new royals. We merely wish to help you all tear down this old world so that a new, more compassionate one can be born.”

Sayane’s hands crossed before her as she listened. His words were confident yet reserved. There was no impassioned fluff, just reality.

“Long before The Silence, so many of us were already oppressed or forgotten. Sayane and I implore you all to imagine a world where that is not the case. A world where all are equal and tended to. Where machines of war are turned to tools of harvest. Where clean water and nourishing green is available to all. Where parents never mourn children taken too soon, and children do not fall asleep afraid of never waking.”

“I am no fool to think that such a world will be made easily or upheld without struggle. But we believe it can be done! Join us, and let us march to better days!”

There was a cheer that shook the ground. Fists and paws of myriad races lifted in support.

“The songstress has one final Shard to liberate, but it is within the very heart of the empire. In order for us to succeed, Sayane will need us to create a diversion. That is why I have ordered every willing combatant to scatter across the realm. No single grand finale where The Silence can rain down on us. Let us be poisoned thorns of frustration, stabbing at the entirety of their body! While they are stretched thin, Sayane will find and free the last Shard. When the Dissonance is gone and The Silence is weakened, our remaining force shall descend upon them with righteous fury! Death to all who stand in our way, and mercy for those that wish to join us and grow!”

As Azag shouted, he pointed to Echo, who bowed in recognition.

“May we all learn that we can change and dream of better days! That is what I have learned from Sayane the Songstress: No one’s hope or purpose is ever too far gone.”

Sayane blinked away her tears as she joined Azag and waved to the crowd.

Azag stepped aside with a bow.

Thousands of hopeful eyes looked to Sayane for one final time. She allowed the moment to stitch itself to her memory, so that she could carry it into oblivion should the darkness finally come for her.

“I do not know why I came to this land,” Sayane started.

“But I know why I am here…”

Cheers sounded out.

“I am here because millions of souls thought that music and song were gone from their world forever. But let my song show you that your voice and your music are never gone. If you ever feel alone, or without hope, know that I once felt the same. But this world, and all of you, helped pull me out of that. My song was always there, you just helped me uncover it from the dust of sorrow. I ask you to do that for one another.”

“Listen to my song over the voice carriers when the time comes. Lend me your own voices, wherever you are. Sing with me. Soon, may we all sing together in a better world! One without silence!!”

As the roars of the crowd and the thrusters rocked the earth with excitement, Sayane and Azag shared one last embrace. As he pulled her close, Azag lifted his mask slightly to expose his mouth so that his lips could meet hers once more before oblivion.

He would be joining the fight, staying near the capital with Esca. Erosc and Attis would lead the charge at the edges of The Silence’s main hubs of occupation. Echo would escort Sayane alone to avoid imperial surveillance. Once the Shard was found, he would guard her during her desperate song. There would be no crowd. No instruments. The final leg of Sayane’s tour was beginning. When she faced the Shard, she would be alone with only her voice and the hopes of millions.