Chapter 23

I stared at Vessa sobbing on the chair. She had been fooled as well… Who else had they deceived? I shivered, remembering what Gard had said about Zarin. They had enslaved their people, just like the Council had done. And Stella had said that Tanur, the Guardian of Zarin, could touch the Flow without being infected… Had both the Council and Tanur been deceived by them?

Mitrandes got up.

“Let’s rest. We’ll need to prepare Aegon tomorrow.”

The others got up. They’d fooled so many people… Why did they do this? Why did the Worms want to deceive us?

To feed on your fear and multiply so our offspring can spread through the world as we’ve done for aeons…

I shivered, remembering their words when they spoke to me that time in the cave. Ifrim had said they wanted to enslave us. But… Apart from those first times, I hadn’t been afraid when they spoke to me…

I didn’t see Lucius the next morning, and not all day as we prepared. But even so, what could I have asked him to know he told me the truth about the Worms? He’d probably deny it even if they did work with them.

I shivered. I knew they didn’t tell the truth, but… Couldn’t I ask them? If I knew they lied, couldn’t I resist it? Maybe I could ask them about Zarin and the Council. I didn’t think the others would agree, and I’d promised to tell them if the Worms talked to me again. Plus, if the Worms really worked with Tanur and the Council, would they really tell me the truth?

I was too busy to ask the others about it, and when evening came, we gathered to say goodbye. Stella had decided to stay and instead take Iris’ ships and travel to the villages to continue what Mitrandes had done with Aegon. It was bittersweet to see her go, even though I was happy she didn’t want to attack the Sanoor villages any longer.

Mitrandes gestured for us, and we climbed up the rope ladder, and as the last sun disappeared behind the mountain, we set out.

I didn’t get a chance to speak with them on that first night either, and as the morning came, the first rain began to fall. Soon we were soaked, and the air became so humid our clothes didn’t dry even during the day when we rested. It was miserable, and the only good thing about it was that the Monsters were less likely to attack us. They didn’t like water, so even if the Rains had come earlier than we’d thought, there was one less thing to worry about.

We landed in Kalla on the fifth day, and Fain must have seen us from the air because he was already waiting for us as we came down to land. It wasn’t that long since we visited them, but with everything that had happened, it felt like a lifetime.

“The Rains have started,” he said as we climbed down. “What brings you here?”

“It’s a long story, my friend,” Mitrandes said. “Let’s find shelter first.”

Fain led us to the dining hall. It seemed we had arrived during their morning meal because it was full, but we found a table away from the smoky fire pit and accepted the bowls of porridge passed to us. The others soon began to tell him the news about Tovira, and by the end, Fain leaned back in his chair.

“You really brought down the Council?”

Kine hesitated.

“We want to try to do the same in Zarin.”

Fain frowned.

“You want to take down Tanur?”

Mitrandes nodded.

“We hoped to ask you for advice."

Fain sighed.

“I left a long time ago. I don’t know much any longer.”

“We’ve heard he’s getting more paranoid,” Tore offered.

Fain snorted.

“That wouldn’t surprise me. He already was when he expelled the people from our land.”

He straightened his face.

“But I believe he’s still strong. He’s spent years mastering the Flow.”

“You know him well?" I asked.

“He's my uncle… He…”

He sighed.

“I know you might not believe it, but he was once liked by our people. He was wise and defended our land. But when the Monsters came, he became a different man. More watchful, some would have said paranoid, and when he heard about what the Council had done to the Ice Dragons, it became even worse.”

I shivered. Was that the Worms who had whispered to him to make him so fearful? Is that what they would do when they said they would help you? But I hadn’t been afraid…

“For a short moment,” Fain continued, “our people stood behind him when the Council tried to take our Crystal as well. But then…”

He sighed.

“It got worse. I left shortly after when he wouldn’t let our people live on their own land.”

He fell silent, and Mitrandes said,

“We believe he’ll only accept a Challenge from another Sanoor.”

Fain nodded.

“It might be right. But I still don’t believe he will play fair. He’ll do what he can to set an example so no one else will rise against him.”

He sighed.

“Is that why you have come? To ask me to put forth that Challenge to him?”

Kine hesitated,

“We have the Council’s harness. It will let you touch the Flow.”

Fain fell silent, staring out into the room.

“How long haven’t I waited for a chance to help my people…?”

He turned back to us, putting his hand on his heart.

“I accept it, even if it will be the last I do.”

Mitrandes smiled and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Thank you, my friend.”

“Who do you plan to rule in his stead, in the unlikely event that we succeed?” Fain asked.

I glanced at the others. We hadn’t discussed it.

“We are yet to find someone,” Mitrandes said.

Fain frowned.

“You’ll need to decide it and bring whoever they are with you. The Fire Nations cannot afford to fall into more chaos.”

“You…?” Aase said hesitantly.

Fain shook his head.

“I don’t even know if I’ll survive. You should choose another race as well. I don’t think the people would trust another Sanoor.”

“Stella?” Aase asked.

Kine shook his head.

“She… I don’t think she’s given up on her ideas of revenge. I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

The others fell silent. New Guardians had always been young by tradition, and it was seen as a great honour to be chosen, but I guess it would different this time.

“Fain is right," Kine said. “We don’t want someone who can be suspected of wanting to take power for themselves.”

I hesitated.

“What about Luna?”

The others turned to me.

“She… She’s Stella’s friend, in Tovira.”

Kine frowned.

“She’s inexperienced.”

“But it might be an advantage with the Worms,” Mitrandes said.

They turned to him.

“We will need to help her, but if she can learn to see through their lies, she’ll be better equipped to withstand them than someone who has ties and something to win from their whispers.”

Tore sighed.

“It wouldn’t have been my first choice, but… You have a point. Don’t we know someone else?”

“None that I know well enough to trust asking,” Kine sighed.

“Me neither,” Fain said. “Those who escaped with me were scattered across the land. I no longer know where they are, or even if they are alive.”

Mitrandes sighed.

“Luna it is then.”

“We’re going to Ulin after this,” Kine said. “Gard will have spoken to the traders, and we might learn something more. Tovira isn’t far from there.”

“That means we’ll leave tonight,” Mitrandes concluded.

He got up, and the others followed. Aase leaned over to me.

“Shall we go and visit Nolar?”

I nodded and followed her out. Almost as soon as we’d stepped onto the path, Aruna’s small figure burst out of the tall Torii, and she threw her arms around us.

“You came back!”

She pulled at Aase’s hand and began chatting about all the plants she had planted since the last time we were here, and I tried to keep up with her the best I could. Once we reached their hut, she dropped Aase’s hand and rushed through the door and Nolar turned as we stepped inside, surprised.

“Oh, I heard you had come.”

She gestured for us to sit, and Aruna crawled up in Aase’s lap and began to show her something she’d made.

“What brings you here?” Nolar asked as she put two steaming cups of tea on the floor and sat down next to us.

I glanced at Aruna, and Aase took her hand.

“Do you want to show me what you’ve planted?”

Aruna pricked her ears, but Nolar shook her head.

“She can stay. The world has changed. I cannot spend decades teaching her what I know, as we used to.”

Aruna looked between us, and I hesitantly said,

“We just wanted to visit you. Fain has agreed to help us bring down Tanur.”

Nolar frowned.

“We’ve already brought down the Council in Tovira,” Aase added.

I glanced at her. I didn’t say it was the Worms who had helped us. For some reason, I didn’t feel ready to tell her what they had told me.

Nolar nodded.

“I’m glad to hear about Tovira. The people will be happy to once again live in freedom.”

She fell silent for a moment before saying,

“But Tanur… Is that a wise choice?”

“Fain will help us,” Aase said.

Nolar turned to stare out the window.

“It will not be easy. He’s powerful.”

I hesitated, remembering what Fain had told us.

“Do… do you think he’s working with the Worms?”

She turned back to me.

“He… he can touch the Flow,” I added. “And… he seems full of fear.”

She nodded.

“It may well be. They will find a way to convince people to follow them.”

She held my gaze, and I looked away. Did she know what I had done? But before I had time to ponder it, she said,

“They want fear to thrive. They have many ways to reach their aim."

“But…”

I hesitated.

“The Worms didn’t try to make me afraid...”

Aase frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“I… The Worms… The first times I met them, they tried to make me afraid, but then…”

I glanced at them, suddenly unsure.

“Then, they started to help me…”

Nolar nodded, seemingly unsurprised by my revelation.

“They will do whatever they can to convince you.”

I frowned.

“But… What do they want?”

“Survive… Thrive… Keep living for as long as they can.”

Aase frowned.

“Didn’t you… Those first times, you killed them when they appeared, didn’t you?”

I nodded, not sure where she wanted to go with it all.

“What… What if they realised you were a danger to them?”

I frowned.

“You mean…? They didn’t want to help us? They just didn’t want to get killed?”

“They want fear to thrive,” Nolar said. “You learnt how to kill them. They had to try to find a different path.”

I stared at her. How could I have not seen it? I’d never noticed that they stopped taking physical shape and only whispered to me.

“They only understand fear,” Nolar continued. “But they are terrified that we will see how weak they are. In a way, you succeeded.”

“They lied,” I said.

She shook her head.

“They don’t lie, but they will not tell the whole truth. They show us a dark future and promise us to avert the worst. But the future is not set in stone, Silje, you must know it."

I sighed.

“I wish they’d never come…”

“There is no use in thinking what could have happened. They are here, and we need to find a way with them.”

Aase frowned.

“But how did they manage to come in the first place? We had the protection barrier.”

“Every protection is based on fear, and they are masters of it," Nolar said.

I frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t build a fence if you don’t fear what may come from the jungle."

“But the Ancients made them," I said, remembering the legends Auntie had told me.

“They did, but we don’t know much about them. Who were they? Against what did they build such protection? Even if they knew more than us, it doesn’t mean their hearts were different from ours."

We heard Mitrandes call for us, and I got up.

“We have to go… I’m sorry…”

We hurried out, but her words rang in my mind. “You don’t build a fence if you don’t fear what may come from the jungle."