Quesada's Swan

Part 1 | Part 2

I really don't like the title of this chapter at all...

Oh my god, the village is on fire!!!

The music makes it even worse!

"Bonaire has taken the ultimate bad trip..."

"Myra lies quietly in death as the smoke bellows from her beloved abode..."

Every house is either in cinders or is locked, except for Jess's...

Bergus's house looks half decimated, oh my god!

Bergus is looking at the flames of his house. I hear some monkey noises...the Murgg!

My god, what happened?

After taking care of the Murgg, I go where Bergus is. He's gone as well!

Bergus and Mayor Beaumont are now in front of the mayor's estate.

Things are looking pretty bleak indeed, Bergus...

Mayor: "You saved Bergus and defeated the Murgg. All I can do is thank you again...for your heroism. You are all that most of us have faith in anymore. The survivors of the attack have gathered here. You should speak with them to raise their spirits a bit."

Rumi is alive!

Septimus, Kisha, Yustel, Yuri, Meia, Gustav, Lutas, Naomi, and Fein are inside, the only ones left...

The fires are still blazing outside...

I go upstairs where the twins, Rumi, Thyea, and Talis, are also okay...

Nestus is crying, Bergus tells him he's not a boy anymore to stop him from mourning...

Rumi mentions that Meade and Grandpa Wendell were fighting the Murgg last time when she saw them...

The Mayor wants to declare a meeting. I hold it off until I'm done talking with everyone at the table.

Septimus calls the Murgg "smart" and says they were on the second floor of the twins's house, in that they crossed from Bergus's mind into Nestus's! He says that they couldn't have the power to dreamwalk alone...yep it's either Melzas or Zorgia who's helping them!

Kisha swears to challenge the gods themselves for peace!

Yustel says the Murgg are not done with their work yet...

Gustav says that Elene's gone...and swears revenge on the Murgg!

Lutas asks where Ronan went...I really now want to know that too!

Fein fears the worst...

Naomi hasn't seen Sierra, asking us if we saw her. The last time she saw Sierra was when she was devoured by the Murgg!!! Oh my god...

Yuri tells of Meade and Wendell as good men slaughtered by the Murgg.

Meia apologizes to us for not being able to stop the Murgg. It's okay, Meia. You did the best you could.

I save at Jess's, then ask the mayor to start the meeting.

---

Mayor: "Everyone...please listen! We have to decide on our next course of action and quickly!"

Gustav wants to burn the Murgg Woods down as revenge. Yustel says there's not enough people to form the army, and has seen enough people get slaughtered.

Septimus prefers to combine the remaining villagers' thoughts into a single whole...

The Mayor agrees with Septimus's decision!

Ronan arrives, however, and threatens the mayor with blasphemy.

Mayor: "The reason for all the nightmares and the reason for the Murgg attacks..."

Oh my god, my heart is beating so fast!

The belief in the gods in the village has gone down to nothing.

Mayor: "The gods we knew do not watch over us any longer..."

Kisha concurs. So does Lutas. Yuri thirds it.

Ronan: "You're all fools! Why do you always expect more from the gods? Why are you not satisfied with prayer and simple faith in the powers above and their infinite wisdom? With the knowledge that the gods are watching over us and guiding us? Why should the gods have to prove themselves to you time and again? Or to anyone for that matter?"

The mayor gives him the truth: "We have been praying to a demon in the guise of a god of light. And that demon Melzas seeks to destroy us."

Septimus: "When we burned our idols and worship, Melzas took away our ability to create."

Ronan could not believe it. He says that the gods gave the people the power to control their dreams.

Meia: "You are all wrong. You fail to understand what is truly happening...I did not understand it fully myself until a few moments ago...you think that Melzas became angry with us when we stopped praying to him. He punished us by taking away our power to create. But that is not what really happened. When we prayed to our statues and idols, Melzas was strong. And, when the statues were burned, the people stopped...Melzas could feel his strength beginning to ebb...he had to realize what was causing it to happen. Perhaps he wondered what would happen if we started praying again...but instead of Melzas, we prayed to a new god? Melzas was...afraid."

So out of fear and jealousy, Melzas decided to become cloaked as a god and to force people to pray to him alone.

Septimus is realizing the truth as well.

Ronan, obviously, denies it.

Meia: "Melzas never stole our power to create, because he never could. Instead, he went into our hearts and made us believe we had lost them. Melzas is nothing more than a vulture picking at the exposed remains of our vulnerable spirits! When we thought our power to create had vanished, our bodies and minds reacted. We gained the ability to control our own dreams. That made Melzas even more fearful of us! We were becoming more powerful than even Melzas. And that is when he decided he had to kill the most powerful of us."

Ronan is silent.

The villagers now have a choice before them: Continue to worship Melzas as a god or challenge him with everyone's powers at the risk of everyone!

Mayor: "Tomorrow at noon, we shall take a vote and decide our everlasting destiny."

Everyone leaves the meeting.

Ronan curses Alundra and leaves.

Oh, Septimus, you boast too much.

Meia sees the irony in fighting a god that humans created and gave power to because of their prayers. Very much like a creation that one has to destroy...

"Today is the day when the people of Inoa choose their destiny."