Monsters of Men

Wait, the Source calls, and I realize I am leaving him behind, the soldiers, too. Wait! he shows again. I hear something up ahead–

I do not slow but I open my voice in front of me–

And there it is, heard before we see it, a Clearing man’s voice–

Bradley, I hear the Source call, and then we are on him, coming through a section of trees to find him backing quickly away as we pull the battlemores to a stop.

“Ben?” the man called Bradley says, looking at me in alarm.

It’s all right, the Source says. The war’s over.

For now, I show. Where is the Knife’s one in particular?

The man called Bradley looks puzzled until the Source shows Viola to him.

And then we see the body of the animal, covered in leaves and brush, now with a light dusting of snow on him.

“Her horse,” the man says. “I covered him and I’ve been trying to start a fire–”

And Viola? the Source shows.

“Gone to the ocean,” Bradley says. “To help Todd.”

There is a rush of feeling in the voice of the Source, a rush that fills my own voice, a rush of love and fear for the Knife–

But I am already off, pushing my battlemore to faster and faster speeds, outrunning the Source behind me and the soldiers behind him–

Wait, I hear the Source call again–

But I will reach the ocean first–

I will reach the ocean myself–

And if the Knife is there–

Well, I shall see what I see–

[TODD]

I catch the Mayor with the first VIOLA I hurl at him, see him stumble to one side, not quite quick enough to dodge it–

But he’s already turning and firing his Noise back at me and tho I duck again I feel like the top of my head’s being ripped open and I jump off the little flat of sand and concrete, down the slope towards the waves, rolling in the sand and snow but getting outta the Mayor’s eyeline for a brief second–

“Oh, but I don’t need to see you, Todd,” I hear–

And bam another blast of white Noise, screaming YER NOTHING YER NOTHING YER NOTHING YER NOTHING–

And I roll back up, gripping the side of my head and I force my eyes open–

And I see the river up the beach in front of me, dumping itself into the ocean and I look out to the water beyond it and see wreckage floating there, getting tossed in the waves, wreckage of trees and houses and no doubt people–

People I know–

Maybe even Viola–

And I feel a rage rise in my Noise–

And I get to my feet–

VIOLA!

I think it at him and I realize I’m doing it without having to find him, that I just feel where he is instinctively, and I send it to him and turn to look and he’s falling back hard onto the concrete square, catching himself with his wrist–

Which I hear break with satisfying snap.

He grunts. “Very impressive,” he says, his voice husky with pain. “Very impressive indeed, Todd. Your control is better and stronger.” He starts pulling himself to his feet with his unbroken arm. “But control comes at a price. Can you hear the voice of the world gathering behind you, Todd?”

VIOLA! I think again at him–

And again he staggers back–

But he don’t fall this time–

“Because I can hear it,” he says. “I can hear it all.”

And his eyes flash and I freeze–

And he’s inside my head, along with the hum, connecting to me–

“Can you hear it?” he says again–

And–

And I can–

I can hear it–

There, like a roar behind the roar of the waves, the roar of the river–

A roar of everything on this planet that lives–

Speaking in an impossibly loud single voice–

And for a second I’m overwhelmed by it–

Which is all he needs–

There’s a flash of pain in my head so bright that I black out–

Falling to my knees–

But only for an instant–

Cuz in that roar of voices–

Even tho it ain’t possible–

Even tho she ain’t got Noise–

I swear I heard her–

I swear I heard her coming–

And so without even opening my eyes–

VIOLA!

And I hear another grunt of pain–

And I get back up to my feet–

{VIOLA}

The ground starts to slope steeply down and we’re seeing the ocean constantly now–

“Almost there,” I gasp. “Almost there.”

Boy colt, Angharrad says–

And with a jump, we clear the last line of trees out onto the beach, Angharrad’s hooves kicking up snow and sand as she scrambles to turn left, towards the abandoned town, towards the river–

Towards Todd and the Mayor–

“There they are!” I shout and Angharrad sees them, too, surging forward across the sand–

BOY COLT! she shouts–

“TODD!” I yell–

But the waves are crashing too loud and huge–

And I swear I hear something, Noise coming from the ocean, and I get a glimpse through the crashing water of dark shapes moving beneath–

But I keep my eyes ahead, shouting, “TODD!” over and over again–

And I see–

He’s battling the Mayor, across some kind of sand-covered square in front of what looks like a chapel–

And I get a sinking feeling of how many terrible things have happened to me and Todd in churches–

“TODD!” I call again–

And I see one of them staggering back from what must be a Noise hit–

And then the other jumping away but grabbing his head–

But I can’t tell which is which from this distance–

They’re wearing those stupid uniforms–

And I’m seeing again how tall Todd’s grown–

So tall it’s hard to tell him and the Mayor apart–

And worry clenches my chest even harder–

Angharrad feels it, too–

Boy colt! she calls–

And we race even faster–

[TODD]

Get back, I think at the Mayor and I see him take a step back but just the one and another flash of Noise comes back at me and I grunt with pain and I stumble to one side and I see a broken hunk of concrete in the sand and I grab it and spin round to throw it at him–

“Drop it,” he buzzes.

And I drop it–

“No weapons, Todd,” he says. “You don’t see me armed, do you?”

And I realize I don’t, he ain’t carrying a gun and the scout ship’s too far away to be of use. He wants us to just fight with our Noises–

“Exactly,” he says, “and may the stronger man win.”

And he hits me again–

I grunt and hit him back with a VIOLA and take off running cross the little square, slipping on the snow and heading for one of the wrecked wooden houses–

“I don’t think so,” the Mayor buzzes–

And my feet stop running–

But then I pick up one–

And then the other–

And I’m running for it again–

I hear the Mayor laugh behind me. “Well done,” he says.

I scramble behind a pile of old wood, laying down low so he can’t see me, tho I know that don’t have no effect, but I need a second to think–

“We’re well-matched,” says the Mayor. I can hear him clearly despite the surf, despite the river, despite everything that should be blocking him out. He’s talking right inside my head.

Like he always has.

“You were always my best disciple, Todd,” he says.

“You SHUT UP with that talk,” I shout back, looking round the wood pile, seeing if there’s anything, anything at all that’ll help–

“You control your Noise better than any man but me,” he keeps saying, getting closer. “You control other men with it. You use it as a weapon. I’ve said from the very beginning that your power would outstrip mine.”