‘So much violence. So much bloodshed,’ William murmured, the words drifting about the room in stuttering flight paths like dying moths.
Zakaria draped his arm over William’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze.
‘In these days of hopelessness and despair, we must use every tool at our disposal to combat the darkness. We must burn brightly, William, ever so brightly. We must be torches, aflame in the crushing blackness of this eternal night, for at this moment we are the only ones who can stand up to this evil.’
William’s shoulders crumpled into a slump of resignation.
‘I know, old friend, I know. I just wish that there was some other way.’
Zakaria’s visage assumed a look of almost feverish intensity.
‘I pray and meditate every day, as I have for almost a thousand years, and the answer is always the same. Always. Despite what the Council Masters believed, there is no other way but war.’
A strange light gleamed in William’s eyes.
‘There is another way.’
Zakaria shook his head.
‘What the Eastern Council knew, and what they planned to awaken … the world is not ready for it. Not at all. You know this as well as I do. That knowledge you possess, as the last survivor of the Council, it will change everything … but only when the time is right, not before. Remember what happened last time the Ancient Powers were used?’
Njinga answered that question.
‘The Tunguska event in Siberia, 1908. The biggest explosion in recorded history. More force than a thousand atomic bombs.’
‘Zakaria and Njinga are right,’ Lightning Bird added, finally stepping back into the conversation after having observed the whole thing in contemplative, attentive silence. ‘Think of what happened at Tunguska, William. The power of the Mothers cannot be safely handled, not yet.’
‘You’re right, I know,’ William said with a sigh. ‘I understand that we don’t really have any option but to strike back … if we must fight though, we have to hit them hard.’
‘Hell yeah!’ Njinga cried, her whole being shining blindingly with intensity. ‘We can do this! The iron is hot! If we succeed, we’ll be winning a great victory, one that could turn the tide of this war. Extinction is not our fate, not by a long shot. The Rebels are risin’ again … they risin’, oh yes they are.’
William balled his hands into fists, and the flames of reckless courage whooshed to life in his eyes.
‘No, we will not. You’re absolutely right, Njinga. Extinction will not be our fate, my old friends. We won’t stagger quietly to death’s door and crawl through it on our hands and knees! We will fight with tooth, claw and steel against the forces of evil, and we will not stop fighting until each of our hearts beats its very final beat! We will fight back, and we will destroy the Ice Bear and his Huntsmen friends and wipe the stain of their evil from this earth.’
William delivered this impromptu speech with such rousing passion and burning conviction that he almost believed it himself. If anything, it seemed that the others did; all three were on their feet, their faces shining with new determination like freshly forged blades.
‘I knew I could count on you, William,’ Zakaria rasped, his voice cracking with emotion. ‘You are with us again, with us with the last powers of the Council burning like wildfire in your soul!’
William’s entire being was a raging inferno of focused purpose.
‘That I am, my friend, that I am. Before we talk about battle plans, though, there is something very important that we need to take care of. You said that Parvati has been moved out of harm’s way, yeah?’
‘Do not worry, William. She has been moved to a place of safety,’ Lightning Bird said, standing up as he spoke, the tone of his voice deep and stern, the motion of his body slow and deliberate, his every movement quietly alive with the stirring confidence and proud courage of a whale drifting serenely through the ocean depths. ‘And I will soon leave you three to accompany her to a place of greater safety. Even though she is mostly broken, sometimes flickers of her former powers return. In her shattered shell of a body, there are moments in which her mind is still as sharp as it was before the Huntsmen destroyed her. I wish I too could fight against Sigurd and the Huntsmen, but someone must protect Parvati.’
‘I can’t think of a better protector than you, my brother,’ William said.
Lightning Bird dipped his head slightly, a phantom of a smile flickering across his broad mouth, and this hint of lightning on the horizon was mirrored in his eyes.
‘Come, my fellow satyaduta,’ Zakaria said. ‘Let us now discuss the specifics of our battle plan.’
***
Inside her room in the cabin, Paola was sitting alone and weeping. Daekwon had just finished a spirited sparring session with Zakaria and was walking past her door on his way to the shower when he heard her sobbing. He paused outside her door, engaging in a quick internal debate over whether he should knock, or whether it would be better to tiptoe past and pretend he hadn’t heard
