The Prophecy of Water | ✔️ 🎖 [2018 Wattys Shortlister]

CHAPTER 32-The Army on The Move

Sometimes, deep down, I am scared I was wrong.

Then, I get back out of bed and continue my work.

LoG, 182

Two thousand Vigil soldiers swayed slowly forward like a turtle that was not hurrying anywhere. The Lagad military moved towards Begi with leisure and inevitability, often stopping for rest and tactical viewing of the landscape.

Squinty wondered whether this rhythm made it easier or more difficult for her. In front of the army, there was a mass of half-naked, sweaty people.

The Wellers.

She wasn't sure how many Wellers went with the central part of the division, and how many remained in their homes to wait for the second wave. Squinty observed them with childish curiosity she could not suppress.

The Orphanage cut us off from the outside world. I only saw Wellers in the book drawings. Still, neither the picture nor the word can replace the phenomenon, Squinty concluded, staring at the infantry of the army of Lagad.

Why were they mobilised? Why did they respond? I thought they were free and unburdened. Living somewhere underground, following their own rules. And yet, they are unmistakably here, ready to lie down their lives at the smallest sign of the new Leader.

Men and women of the most diverse ages and sexes breathed as one as they slithered forward. They donned a symbolic brown apron, which replaced their typical black-coloured ones. The Wellers also brandished various weapons. They determined the rhythm of the march like the uniform wave of the human organism. It was a cavalry vanguard.

They are so fearless and determined to perform first in battle while refusing any protective armour.

"What is it? You are awful silent, just staring at those Mole Men," Odon's voice reached her and Squinty overturned her eyes. Afterwards, she merely glanced at him, deciding not to dignify him with a comment.

Him again.

She hated how the cavalry was split into the lancers, the front rowers and the shooters. This meant the march had to mimic their positioning strictly. Odon and her were both short distance fighters, seeing how he used an axe, and she used the daggers. Therefore, Squinty had to endure Odon during the entire Light and sleep near him in the holes they'd previously dug when The Dark appeared.

She now saw Orla only during the breaks for rest and dining. Squinty missed Orla quite a lot even though she would never admit it. Any conversation was more interesting than Odon's constant mocking and bragging.

I am so great with an axe, look at me! Oh, they finally allowed me to bring my armour with me! It looks so magnificent on me!

Squinty remembered the day they left Lagad. The long, forlorn procession stretched across the winding streets followed by the murmurs of the locals and the occasional female yowl. The parents of the youngest Vigils were there as well, saying goodbye to them. Only she felt strangely alone. Displaced from the human racket.

Squinty didn't belong to anyone. She had no parents. As if through the fog, she recalled the anxious look on the short, skinny woman who must have been Odon's mother.

Odon himself seemed sad, but he tried to conceal it, Squinty thought as she squeezed Grizzly's body with her thighs. She felt safe with her dog.

"Aww, Squinty. You seem to have the crush on one of The Wellers. I can't blame you, they don't look half as bad without shirts," Odon insisted with a smirk, pulling her out of her inner thoughts.