INTERVAL

CAPITAL ISLAND:

“We cannot continue on like this! Enough is enough!” Counselor Rylinkt clasps his hands tight together on the dark wood table, they turn white from the tension. He is letting his emotions get the better of him. The first thing we are taught not to do in training.

“It has been one thousand years; we can withstand many more. What would you suggest that we do?” Counselor Aulon, with her bright white hair tied up in a vertical bun, stays calm and patient.

Rylinkt straightens his posture and rubs his balding head with his left hand. “Something. We must do something! Safehaven has all but run out of room. The subterranean villages are full. The towers cannot go any higher. There is no more space for anyone. Thraz has become a slum, of which they are bursting from their walls as well. The only province that has any space is Gardenya and we need that for food.”

A deep melodic voice enters the conversation. “If we are at maximum capacity then perhaps, we can colonize a new province.” Counselor Torven speaks with a deep soothing voice.

Rylinkt stands with purpose and determination radiating from him. He grabs a map from a nearby shelf and slams it down on the table. “Where?!” He points along the red highlighted area to the south east of Safehaven. “This is Razorbone territory. There is no chance a colony caravan could survive to another location. Even if they did, where would we go? It takes time to build walls. The nightstalkers would slaughter good men and women. It would be the rising of Terra Guard all over again!”

Counselor Girn’lorek taps his fingertips together humming in deep thought, he always has unsettled me. “All the valuable resources are within nightstalker territory. We would need an aggressive plan and expect many casualties.” He pauses and looks around with caution as if checking for spies. “Though that may solve our overpopulation problem.”

Rylinkt shouts and pounds two fists on the table. “We need to take action!” He needs to be careful; he needs to watch himself or he will lose himself.

Aulon rolls her golden eyes. “You aren’t suggesting war again are you Rylinkt?”

He glares at her with sharp venom in his dark purple eyes, she always gets under his skin when she trivializes his ideas. “It is the only answer. We must wipe out the nightstalkers once and for all.”

Aulon meets his intimidating gaze, she’s a powerful woman able to intimidate the fiercest warriors with only a word. “To war with the nightstalkers would be to mark our own extinction. Even if all the armies coordinated with The Sky Legion, we would only have the numbers to destroy one clan. What happens when we are victorious yet weakened? The other two clans will attack us en masse and we will be finished.”

Rylinkt shakes his head. “No. Not if we come at this with a different tactic. We attack the Srexi.”

The serene voice of Torven rolls over the table. “The Srexi? We know nothing about them.”

The old glaring counselor is livid. “They have been unseen for two hundred years. If they even are there still, they are weak and easily disposed of.”

Torven’s face remains at peace despite the provocation. “They are an enemy we know nothing about. All who trod the borders of their territory disappear. They are indeed still there Rylinkt. If anything, they are more dangerous than the others.”

Rylinkt scowls with nostrils flaring. “Disappearances mean nothing. Even if they do, those are trade caravans and nothings traveling from Thraz. They couldn’t put up a fight! We can!”

Girn’lorek taps his fingertips together. “There is a considerable amount of resources to be found elsewhere. The northern forest of Srexi territory has potential. We could provide incentives for extra military enrollment. Pull the pressure off the population and send in a force to capture a piece of the territory. Then we secure it and move in a little farther. Piece by piece. No need for a dramatic display.”

Rylinkt grits his teeth. “That is not good enough.”

A moment of quiet drapes over the council. Their piercing skeptical eyes rest on him; this raving mad man. Aulon drums her long fingernails on the polished wooden table. Click click click. Click click click. Torven mutters to himself with his deep throaty voice trying to mull over the words. Girn’lorik sits in silence with his fingertips pressed together and elbows resting on the table. He does nothing but stare.

Rylinkt slams his fists down on the table again shattering the silence. “They are monsters! Monsters that must be destroyed!”

Aulon has lost her patience, I can see it in her face. “That is enough from you Rylinkt! Take your leave!”

He pauses and takes a deep breath with his eyes flickering, trying to find some emotional stable ground. “I am a High Counselor of the Capital Court. I will not leave until I hear from everyone. We’ve yet to hear from our new High Counselor Faleen.”

All eyes turned towards me. I draw in a deep breath and still my inner storm. Calmness is needed not passion. “There are merits to both sides.” Calmness. I rise up the ladder to become a counselor in hopes of changing the world. Though it seems all we do is bicker instead of finding solutions. It is beyond aggravating. “I agree we cannot subsist with the current status quo. But I am not willing to agree to a solution that imperils our own citizens.”

Rylinkt rolls his eyes and opens his mouth to object. I shoot him an intense glower. Calmness, I remind myself. It will do no good to become enraged like he is. Remember what Elin told you. Fire is fought with water, not more fire. It takes him by surprise, I doubt he expected me to speak at all. He thinks I am weak, they all do. But simply because I choose to observe does not mean I have nothing to say.

I stand up slow and with quiet dignity and place my palms flat on the table. Our fighters are citizens. Their lives matter too. I propose instead we attempt colonization.”

Rylinkt scoffs and rolls his eyes again. “We can’t colo-“

“Hush Rylinkt!” I cut him off. The room falls silent. “I propose we colonize territory that is already ours. Gerafar.” Finally, my opportunity.

Torven clasps his hands together, those meaty hands dark as tree bark. “You will need to clarify.” That throaty deep voice, try as I might to fight it, it makes me blush.

I feel my resolve firming. “Gerafar is our most valuable city.”

Rylinkt scoffs. “Bah! It is a nothing town!”

I pound a fist to the table. “Rylinkt you will be silent or I will have you removed!” Calmness. Water. I unclasp my fist and point to Gerafar on the map. “Gerafar supplies our hardstone. It is the only source not within nightstalker territory. Hardstone is used for the subterranean villages, for walls, for all our buildings. We need it. Yet we treat Gerafar’s inhabitants as second-rate citizens. The death rate down there is second only to the outlands. This should not be true. It is appalling.”

Aulon hooks her hands together and straightens her back. “What is your point Counselor?”

I regain my composure and point to Terra Guard. “I say we expand upon the existing wall of Terra Guard. We bring it across the plains to meet Gerafar’s entrance. From there we continue the wall to the coast. Due to the inlet nearby the second wall will require less materials and can rise faster due to proximity to the hardstone source.” I let out a slow breath as my fingers trace along the map. “This would protect the plains from the Blood Bane forest. The Srexi are secured behind the barrier of The Valley of Sands and ergo are no threat. All of that space can be cultivated by excess population and put to good use in raising crops. We would gain alternate sources of food and secure trade lines. The entire region would blossom. Everyone wins.”

Girin’lorek hums into his fingers. A lock of gray green hair falls into his eyes. “Possibly. But this sounds like a rather expensive plan with little gain. We already receive hardstone shipments fairly regularly. Our army accompanies the trade caravans to ensure the goods make it.”

I push down my frustration. “Yet we do not leave any army stationed in Gerafar. The only time security is provided to our citizens is when we need something from them.”

Girn’lorek sits back in his chair. “An army requires food, housing, supplies. They create expense; an expense Gerafar is not capable of sustaining. They have enough trouble feeding their own citizens.”

I clench my hands into fists at my sides. “Whose fault is that? We secure hardstone shipments but not food. Their farms are located outside the walls susceptible to raids. Nightstalkers easily form barricades at the sole entrance when caravans are coming.”

I look over at the skeptical silent faces. “This plan will work. Everyone wins. We do not need to kill more nightstalkers, bringing death to our own people also. We simply need to work around their territories.”

I take a deep breath with closed eyes stretching my neck side to side, my aqua hair shakes around my shoulders. Silence. I speak one last time. “Yes, there would be an expense. We would need to occupy Terra Guard and Gerafar for quite some time with work crews building the walls. But think of the gain. Citizens would pour from Thraz and Safehaven to better lives in the plains. They could live out in the open air. We could fortify Gerafar and stop the casualties. Trade would increase which would bolster our economy. This will work.”

Torven nods with consideration. “With an outlet it would ease the pressure on Thraz. As it is, the people are so frustrated and desperate they keep fleeing from the city never to be seen again. They either die or they become pirates, who get ravaged by storm or assault our trade vessels.” He looks up at me with a smile. “This is a well thought out plan counselor. Impressive.”

Aulon leans forward. “The plan has merit. I will give you that. But there are things to consider. Many things. We would need to negotiate with Terra Guard. We all know how much they despise our authority. We need to re-contract easement rights with Evos over Security Lake that will allow us to ferry equipment and workers. Not to mention we will need to coordinate an army to provide security during the building process. As well as negotiating an increase in food shipments from Gardenya to feed everyone. This is the most daunting of tasks, which is why it has not been proposed before.”

My chest falls and I suppress the urge to whine. “That does not mean we should not try.”

Torven nods. “It is challenging, but not insurmountable. This plan would increase the sustainability of the collective, I am in favor of it.”

Girin’lorek nods while clicking his tongue in thought. “There is a lot to be done. I propose we reconvene at the end of the season and revisit Counselor Faleen’s idea. Maybe by then we will have padded our economy enough to afford it.”

Rylinkt fumes in silence and Aulon pats the table. “Then it is decided. We will discuss this topic again at the end of the cold season. For now, we will increase military enrollment incentives. High Counselor Torven will organize his associate counselors to oversee the fighters and prepare them. In eight months, if we approve Faleen’s plan we will need them. If not, we will find another use for them. Meeting adjourned.”

My heart sinks. A puff of air leaves my chest as if I have just been punched in the stomach. The end of the season, eight months away. Eight months before they are even willing to talk about it again. Like always, we have accomplished nothing. We always do nothing.

I want to change the world and secure the future of my people. Instead I’ve become an enabler of non-action. I leave the table with a discouraged heart and approach the balcony of the council chamber. My hands grab the solid wood railing and a soft sea breeze wisps through my hair. I look out onto the big blue water spread out like an endless blanket in the distance.

Remember what Elin said. To win with blood is simple. To win with words, that is the

True battle. I will keep trying, I will win with words.