Listen to the Water | FULL SERIES | Wattys 2022 Shortlist | ✔

(41) Sar: To Save A City

I make it back to the gathering place of Ruka's clan in the time it would take an Alliance Kel to. I've scarcely slept. I've hardly eaten. Twice along the way, I saw Alliance Kels in the distance, heading the same way I was. Both times, I pushed myself until I outpaced them. I'll probably collapse the moment this is over, but right now, the adrenaline surging through my body makes me too intent to care.

Spears spin towards me as I shoot up from the lower water into the Glauclin camp. They're followed by gasps and a shout for Ruka. I've been betting that she stayed behind after the infiltration finished—whether it was successful or not—and I'm not disappointed. When she arrives, though, she's not alone. Denizel is ready for me as I launch forward for a hug—he and Ruka are the only people I'll take it from, and I need one right now. I need to feel that he's real. When he releases me, Ruka takes her turn. I expect her to at least demand what I'm doing here, but she doesn't. The situation must be bad.

"You heard," is all she says. She's slipped back into Samisa, the default language of the palace in Rapal.

"Has Andalua arrived?"

"Not yet. The city still stands. What happened?"

"Vibi betrayed us. She sent the message, and allied with the North Faction from the islands to keep Alaga. The Alliance attack collapsed from both sides."

"Where are Innis and El?"

"Escaping."

There's no time to explain everything that happened. That time will come later if we make it through this alive.

"Where am I needed?" I ask.

"How safe should you—"

"Enough to go where I'm needed. I'm taking back control of Rapal."

Our eyes meet. Ruka's search my face, but I'm deathly serious, and I think it shows. I'm not over Arcas's attack, but my city is in crisis, and I'm not going to let it fall. Not if I can contribute to any plan otherwise.

"We need to show your presence," says Ruka. "I'll recall Casin from the nearest evacuation point; she can guard you. We've been gathering refugees fleeting the riots in the city, but Alliance members keep arriving from Alaga. We can't reach the riots themselves, nor the people still sheltering throughout the rest of the city."

"Who's winning?"

"Neither side. The Alliance left a skeleton guard and some of the fighting is internal, but the defenders are holding their line."

"We need to get the non-fighters out first. I'm guessing it's mostly Karu?"

"The non-fighters, yes. The core battle is largely Ashianti."

That's good to know. My people are powerful, but also loyal. They'll defend their city until I tell them to abandon it, but then most should follow. The question is how to reach them.

"We've been stuck on how to extract the rioters without freeing the Alliance Kels to attack the rest of the city," says Ruka, as though reading my mind. "People are only making it out now because the guards are distracted. We don't know how many Arcas-loyal Rapal Kels are on the Alliance side, or how many will defect once they confirm you're alive."

"Then we need to find out."

"If you go down, the city goes down with you, Sar. We'll lose everything."

"If the city goes down before we've managed to evacuate enough remaining Kels, we'll have lost everything anyway. There's no city without its people."

"I am not letting you use yourself as a diversion."