Neytopia › Part 2: Noon › Chapter 47

The day the sea spoke

The military council tried tirelessly to convince the giant he was wrong. Among other things they used reports by southern migrants who reached the coasts of the northern continent fleeing the new barbarian kingdom. Some even claimed to have helped the barbarian king build ships, only to end up persecuted and their property stolen from them.

But the giant refused to listen and insisted on rallying the troops around the strait. After barely two weeks of preparation came the news: two hundred and fifty-six ships were sailing toward a trading post near the center of the continent. The giant remained in denial for a while and stormed out of a military council emergency meeting. The giant could never win without the element of surprise, and that ship had sailed.

The raven summoned the little girl. She had guided him out of danger before; she had even given him the key for the strategy that won the war in the northern continent. The little girl materialized in front of him and said,

If you want to help your friend, he needs to remember. Take me to him.

The giant was looking at the horizon, trying to think of something he had overlooked, some trick to save his people. But he had already sent all his troops to the trading post, where they would make their final stand. The giant was about to head there when the raven and the little girl came to see him. She said,

The key to win this war is already in your head, but you have forgotten. We need to dig up that memory.

The giant looked at her and nodded,

Yes. Whatever it takes.

You have beaten worse odds before. If you want to remember, drink this.

She handed him a cup filled with a liquid that looked exactly like water. The giant thought it could do no harm, so he took the cup and chugged it down.

When he tried to remember, when he really, really wanted to remember, it all came back. The humiliation in his native kingdom; the evil lady and her cult of the rising sun, who had carved up his brain; the millennia spent in his dreadful island; even the northern king, who found him as the evil lady was eating away his brain. Now he remembered why he hated so much the northern kingdom and its religion. It was because of the woman, she had made it all up, she had banished him there and created the northern king.

The giant fell to the ground, twisting, screaming and tearing his own hair.

No, no, no, no. Take it back. Take it back!

The raven watched his friend in horror, finding solace in the hope that it would bring them victory. The giant said,

I have never faced anything like this.

Both raven and giant looked at the her. The raven was furious,

What!?

I know. But now you wish to end the pain, don’t you?

Yes, yes, more than anything!

The raven had never seen the giant cry. It was an awful sight, a huge man crying like a little boy. But the worst thing was that he couldn’t do anything to ease the giant’s pain. Slowly the raven realized what she was doing. He opened his mouth,

Oh, no. Please tell me this is not what I think it is.

She nodded. The raven walked in circles with his hands on his head, trying to accept what she wanted to do, but it was too much. The giant was more important to him than revenge or power. He was his friend. She wanted to perform an esoteric ritual the ancients only dared to whisper about in forbidden tongues. The raven sat down, dizzied, and spoke to his friend,

I once came across a strange rite in one of the dusty forgotten volumes from the city under the mountain. Long ago, when there was a single continent, a strange creature was born, a mistake that did not belong to this world. The protohumans sacrificed it, thinking it would bless them. Instead, the creature’s deathrattle traveled the whole world. The land quaked until it separated the the Earth into continents, almost annihilating the human race. And you, giant, you are not from this world either. She wants to immolate you to stop them.

The little girl nodded. The giant looked again at the sea that separated the continents. The little girl said,

Well, it will probably do much more than that, but we shouldn’t worry about the details. If you are ready to do this, you must sail south and say the words when you’re close enough to them. It should wipe them all. Or…

The giant turned to her,

Or? Is there really an alternative?

There is always an alternative. You can come with us, live in the north for some years. When we are bored and tired, we can die in peace.

The giant had made up his mind already.

You know I can’t do that, not after what you showed me. Teach me the words so I can—

The raven flew away, interrupting the giant. The little girl said to the giant,

Don’t worry about him. He will hurt for some time, but he will survive. He knows this is the only way. Running away would kill him in the long term, believe me. Now take this.

The little girl handed the giant a piece of paper and a huge knife.

Do not read it until you’re close to them. Once you have said the words in that paper, plunge this knife into your heart.

The raven landed on a shore nearby, sat down and watched the waves come and go. Some minutes later, the giant approached him and sat by his side. The raven had tears in his eyes. He said, without looking at the giant,

I’m sorry old friend.

This isn’t your fault. If you want to blame, blame the woman who did all those things to me.

I should have followed the little girl’s advice, never gone to war. My wife and child were killed. Hundreds of thousands suffered famine, sickness and death. The people from the city under the mountain… Their ancient bloodline is lost. I left everyone in the North exposed to the barbarians. But worst of all, something for which I won’t be able to forgive myself: I’m letting you make the ultimate sacrifice. I was a fool. Stupid, stupid, stupid!—The raven hit his own head—If I could go back, I’d tell the leader of the city under the mountain to go fuck himself.

We will never know what our lives would have been if you had done that. We might have lived in peace. But maybe not. War would have come anyway. Regret could have consumed us for all we know. Look, I don’t blame you for choosing to go to war and neither should you. Look how far we’ve come.

The giant pushed the raven gently. The raven looked at the giant, smiling because he was his friend once again. The raven was about to open his mouth when the little girl came up to them and said,

Hurry up, their ships are fast.

In silence they traveled along the coast to the port where the barbarians were headed. There, the giant had a small ship prepared and raised a white flag. They wanted to make it seem like they surrendered and wished to discuss the terms. Before the giant parted, he addressed his soldiers and friends:

I must now return to the place where I belong. I will always watch over you, and I will speak to you through this man—The giant looked at the raven, who was by his side, wearing a robe that concealed him. The raven uncovered his face Soon, everyone looked at the raven. The northern citizens recognized him and gasped—Many of you still hate the heathens, and I don’t blame you. But this man is the ruler we need in time of war. Raven, kneel down.

The raven obliged.

By all that is sacred, I make you king over all land for as long as you live. May you be an honorable king and rule with justice, always. Farewell, friends.

Thousands of people stood in silence at the port, sad to see the giant leave. Before the giant boarded the ship, he talked to the raven. The giant’s tears had disappeared and his smiled radiated peace. The raven said,

We can still leave. Just say the word… Please, say the word.

Raven, I hope one day you find what you’re looking for.

With that, the giant boarded the ship and sailed south. The raven felt a crushing pain on his chest. It was a mistake, the giant should turn back. None of it made sense. What if the ritual was bullshit? He opened his mouth, but it was dry and hurt him more than it ever had. His whole body trembled. What would he do now? He couldn’t picture the rest of his life without the giant, it just didn’t make sense.

The northern kingdom watched the giant sail forward into the barbarian army. Those who had a telescope watched the waters. One of the people watching closely was across the Middle Sea. The old woman stood on the crow’s nest of the largest ship in her army, already at the meridian. She was the master puppeteer behind the barbarian king. She whispered in the king’s ear, subtly manipulating him to do what she wanted while making him think it was all his idea.

When she spotted the single ship with the white flag, she knew something was wrong. But she couldn’t grasp what it was. Whoever had taken the North by force wouldn’t just surrender it now, it just didn’t make sense. The North had to know she was not going to compromise or let them keep anything.

Then she had a better look at the figure governing the ship. Her heart skipped a beat. She screamed as loud as she could,

F-fall back, fall back! Return to shore, it’s a trap!

But the men laughed at her. They were unstoppable, and she had promised them the north was ripe with gold and women to plunder. A small defenseless cargo ship with one soldier was no match for them. But she also knew about the ancient sacrifice that split the land into many continents. After desperately pleading with her men, she jumped on a boat and rowed as fast as she could back to the South.

The giant approached the meridian, where hundreds of ships waited for him. The wind carried the barbarians’ howling laughter to him. He took out the wrinkly piece of paper that the little girl had given him. He read it out loud:

There was never any magic.

He turned it around to see if there was something else written on it. He started to laugh, feeling finally free. He shouted the words to the four winds:

There was never any magic!

Then he took the knife and plunged it into his own heart.

Everyone who witnessed what came next swore they heard the sea speak.

A vortex, dark as the endless space, spawned beneath the giant. It consumed the sea, pulling every single ship to its center. In minutes, most of the sea had disappeared, giving birth to what would later be known as the abyss. From the middle of the vortex, a titanic serpent-like ghost flew toward the sky. No human being would ever understand what happened that day.

But the raven, who wasn’t human anymore, understood. There was a world beyond. Once the barbarians had been wiped out, the counter-offensive began. The raven knew there would barely be any resistance in the southern continent. He drove his small army to the eastern strait, one of the few places where the waters were unaffected by the vortex, and sailed south.

The raven knew the old woman could not be far. While his ships rushed over the waters, the little girl appeared to him and said,

There are some things you need to know. The old woman you are chasing has many shapes: she is sometimes hope, sometimes pity, but always cruelty. She has spent thousands of years corrupting the hearts of men. She can’t die, not yet at least. We have to trap her somewhere she can’t easily escape. And for that, we need the help of some people you really won’t like…

By the way she looked up to the sky, he understood,

Don’t tell me it’s…

She nodded,

No, the people who killed me? No, no fucking way!

Listen to me now, and listen closely. We have an opportunity here, one that nobody will ever have again. If you want to take it, if you really want to change the world, you have to leave your pride and hatred aside and make a pact with them. Also, just so you know, it was her. She sent the watchers to the forbidden city. She tricked them just to see the city burn. If you take her out I will take her place and we will rule together.

But if we make a deal with the watchers, It will hate me.

We will deal with The traveler another time, don’t worry about it.

Then I will do as you command.

When they reached the shore, he took two regiments to chase down Cruelty. The rest of the army marched, led by generals whom the raven trusted, occupying the cities and towns near the shore with little opposition. His men took over everywhere and spread the word: if anybody harbored Cruelty, they would be hung in the street.

Meanwhile the raven arranged a meeting with the watchers, who were eager to meet him. After he and the little girl told the watchers about Cruelty’s treachery, the watchers couldn’t understand how they hadn’t seen it before. The raven said,

You thought people had to be like that. I’m going to prove they don’t. I will capture Cruelty for you, but in exchange you will let me rule as I wish.

The watchers agreed, and added,

Congratulations, we’re eager to see what you can do.

During the coming months, the raven spent all his time hunting down Cruelty. His men didn’t understand his zeal and mistook it for madness. The manhunt was hard. The raven and his soldiers had to deal with violent natives who protected her. Cruelty commanded her human followers to hide underground or inside mountains while they waited for her return. But the raven’s army pushed southward, slowly bringing the whole continent to heel. Cruelty’s forces diminished by the day.

After the raven’s exemplary punishment of the villages that had helped her, nobody gave her or her followers food nor water. First her army’s horses died, and her soldiers ate them. Then her soldiers died, and her other soldiers ate them. One day, the last of Cruelty’s men went mad. They killed each other and her while she slept. They hung her body on a tree. She was reborn the next morning, alone in the middle of a forest, and still continued running.

She was fast and moved at night, but she soon ran out of places to run to. In a few weeks she reached the southern edge of the continent, hiding in caves and living off wild fruit and vegetables. She spent the day running and hiding but she was old and tired, so the raven’s troops closed in on her each day.

Finally the found her, sprawled on the ground on top of some leaves trying to rest. She was so tired she hadn’t had the time to even hide out of sight. One of the soldiers who spotted her informed the raven. He flew to her. When the raven’s army surrounded her, she just sat on a stone. The raven walked triumphantly to her, his army behind him. She smiled and said,

So here we are, after all this time.

He spread his pitch black wings for her to see.

You left me for dead. You should have finished what you started.

She started laughing out loud like a mad woman.

Prophet! Thing of evil. Prophet still, if bird or devil! Oh, what a fool you are. You could have been my hero and instead you chose… well, whatever this is.

He smiled and said,

You made me both prophet and devil. I have tricked, murdered and deceived. I have a throne, and soon an empire, that were not meant for me—He leaned closer to whisper into her ear—I’m not a hero. Thanks to that I have freedom to do things that heroes can’t.

What good is your freedom, when you will squander it? I knew what you were since I saw you feeding the animals. You despise murder. You will go out of your way to avoid it. You’ll die because you don’t have the balls to do what’s necessary. You need me for that, ME! Together, oh together we could be—

It stings you, doesn’t it? That I rejected you, that I am the only one who has ever truly rejected you. I can see past your pale skin and through your flesh. You are a decrepit, disgusting scorpion.

If you really think that, why don’t you go ahead and kill me.

He smiled, then started to laugh.

You, you don’t understand the mistake you made letting me live. Don’t worry, you’ll have enough time to reflect on it.

The hissing sound saturated the air. The watchers descended from a hole in the sky. Her face turned pale.

FOOL! What have you done!?

You thought I didn’t have the balls, huh?—The raven smiled diabolically—Oh boy were you wrong. I will hunt down your followers and kill them. I will erase all memory of you from history. When I’m done with you, nobody will even know you existed. Take one last look at this world, you are never coming back.

The watchers landed and placed chains around her body. She screamed,

No! Put me down! I’ll kill you, you hear me!? Stupid, moronic, idiot! Cretin, tyrant. Tyrant! YOU FUCKING TYRANT!

She struggled to break the chains, without success.

Aaaah no, put me down, motherfuckers! Fucking cowaaaards. Put me down! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

Her screams ceased after she crossed the hole in the sky.