The warriors, continuing their march through a tunnel on the way to Gaya’s brain, came to a point that was level with her nose and ears. They heard a whispering female voice.
“Welcome,” the voice said.
“One of the gods from above?” Lia asked Tesel.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “It’s much too close to us.”
“Gaya’s voice again?” Fil asked.
“Probably,” Tesel said. “Let’s listen for more.”
“Your marching is so noisy,” the voice said. “It’s disturbing my sleep. Try to move more quietly.”
“Forgive us, Gaya,” Lia said gently. She motioned to the troops behind her to march softer.
“You all smell…of blood…and mud,” the voice said.
“Oh, that’s definitely Gaya’s voice,” Fil said. “Only she would be close enough to smell our stench.”
Soon, all the warriors came up to be level with Gaya’s eyes. Though closed to the world outside, they were open to see Tesel’s army.
“You all look so tired, so dirty, and so beaten from all of your struggles,” the voice whispered.
“We struggle, tire, and hurt for you, Gaya,” Lia said. “We do this all out of love for you.”
“Now, tell us how to defeat Aisa’s army,” Tesel said, “and tell us what to do about Kappitta, if the giant worm is not to be slain.”
“Help us to be victorious,” Fil said, “if our suffering and deaths are not to be in vain.”
“Continue up to my brain,” the voice said, “If you are to receive the answers to your questions.”
The fighters continued their march up to the brain.
As they approached it, they sensed a soothing warmth emanating from it. That feeling made them all want to get over there faster, but Tesel warned them not to do anything to disturb Gaya’s needed rest.
Finally, the tunnel they were marching through rounded a bend, and they all could see the brain from a distance. It glowed an almost blinding white light. They all had to cover their eyes with their hands as they came closer.
That warmth, like a massage vibrating throughout the body of each and every soldier, buzzing from head to toe, was making them all want to run up to the brain. But again, Tesel ordered them not to march any faster.
The light, however blinding to the fighters’ vision, was paradoxically illuminating to their minds. It spoke to them in ways that words couldn’t. The closer they got to the brain, the more that light ‘spoke’ to them.
The warriors, all in a mesmerized state, said out loud all the wisdom and insight that the light of the brain was shining on them.
“How this war ends,” Tesel said in the monotone voice of one in a trance, “will depend greatly on where and when we confront Aisa’s army.”
“Before we face Kappitta,” Fil said in the same, hypnotized monotone, “or after.”
“If we face Aisa first,” Lia said, “we must resist all attempts made by his men to entice us with sex and the female body.”
“His magician, Gujon, will hit us with images of dancing naked women far more seductive and distracting than before,” Tesel said.
“We must be strong,” Fil said, “and resist the urge to have these mirages of women, lest we die.”
“We can resist lust with love,” Lia said. “We must recall what the heart taught us.”
“The heart taught us to love Gaya,” Tesel said.
“It taught us to love her mind and her heart,” Lia said, “not to lust after her body, but to seek to save it.”
“Compassion,” Fil said. “Not carnal passion.”
“We already know we must resist the dancing girls, though,” Tesel said, coming out of his trance. “We were tempted by them before. Our encounter with Gaya’s heart, moreover, should strengthen us if we meet Aisa before the worm; but what is the secret to defeating them all?”
There was a moment of silence.
They heard Gaya’s whispering voice again: “Kill worm…kill will…”
“Does that mean, if we kill Kappitta, that we’ll kill our own willpower, and we won’t be able to defeat Aisa’s army?” Tesel asked. “Must we refrain from killing the worm?”
Then they heard the voice of hypnotized Lia telling them the brain’s counsel: “Kill the worm, and kill the will…of Aisa’s men.”
“If Kappitta is dead,” Fil droned in the same mesmeric state, “Aisa’s men will fight with no direction, no purpose, no aim. They’ll be mere automatons, chaotically fighting as if without brains, for the worm is their brain.”
“That’s it!” Tesel said. “I knew it! We must kill the worm. In fact, killing the worm is key to winning the war!”
The others came out of their trance.
“But killing the worm will be almost impossible,” Fil said. “Even with our improved skills as fighters, even with our strong, loving, determined hearts. The last time we faced Kappitta, we barely fended it off, barely escaped with our lives. A number of us died. If we were to try to fight Kappitta to the end, there’s a slim chance, at best, of winning. If it isn’t all of us who die, surely the great majority of us will.”
“And that small number of our survivors will still have to face a huge army,” Tesel admitted. “An army of randomly slashing fighters, but still a huge number of men. Surely their wild, aimless strokes of the sword will be lucky enough to kill our few surviving fighters. Then they’ll continue to slash at Gaya until she’s dead.”
There was another moment of silence, a despairing one.
Then they heard voices from up above:
Anyprogresssincelasttime,Lila?
No,Cecil.Shehasn’tevengrabbedmyfinger,evenafterItellhertograbit.
Trynottoworry.I’msureshe’llpullthrough.
Iwannabelievethat,Phil,Ireallydo,butit’ssohard.
Don’tcry,Lila.Givehertime.
“I wish I could understand what the gods are saying,” Lia said. “Are they encouraging us? Are they telling us a secret to killing the worm? All I can sense is their sadness and despair, like ours.”
“I know,” Tesel said. “What we must do is hard, but we can’t not do it.”
“How are we going to kill Kappitta, and still have enough fighters left to take on Aisa’s army, as disorganized as they’ll become without the worm’s guidance?” Fil asked.
“I don’t know,” Tesel said, “but we must try.”
“We might confront Aisa’s army before we get to the worm,” Fil said. “That’ll mean fighting them when they’re still sharp and focused. They could have moved up to Gaya’s chest area by now, while Kappitta’s still eating in her guts. What can we do?”
“We’ll do what we’ve always done, Fil!” Lia said. “We’ll fight! We’ll fight because we love Gaya, and we want her to live, even if we don’t survive. Have you forgotten the lessons we learned from her heart? Have you, Fil?”
He looked down at his feet in shame at his defeatism. “No,” he said.
“Then let’s get moving!” Tesel said. “Whichever we confront first, we must fight them all, if Gaya is to live!”
They started their march back down her body.
Infinite Ocean 