He Who Remains
Lalli Hotakainen stood still and stayed silent as he leaned over the Well of Watching, well, watching. This, of course, was simply his way, as it had been since he was a child. The dim spectral image of his cousin Onni Hotakainen stood equally sphinx-like beside Lalli to his left; a confused but equally spectral Reynir to his right; and across from the three of them, propped on the edge of the Well by his forepaws... Puppy-Fox. Somehow, Lalli knew that they would all understand anything that was spoken while in this room, as far as languages went.
“I keep telling you that I’m not the villain here!” Puppy-Fox, that infamous trickster, exclaimed. “Come on! Who do you think placed the Aarnivalkea here for you to find, and who gave you the means to find it? I practically led you here by the hand! You make one stupid mistake when you’re younger and it brands you for life...”
“Be still, O Messenger,” a deep and resonant voice boomed from behind Puppy-Fox, who immediately looked abashed. A very, very, very old man slowly hobbled out of the swirling mists up to the Well. Oh, my. This was the Old Man Himself! “Be still. You have done your part, and done it well. Now, depart.”
“Without seeing the rest of the story?” Puppy-Fox whined. His ears had perked at the Old Man’s praise, but now his crest was well and truly fallen.
“I shall show it to you later,” the Old Man promised. As Puppy-Fox reluctantly slinked off, his departure unmourned by any of the mortals present, the Old Man looked at the boy and the two spirits flanking him. “So, Kin of Hotakainen from the Lake of Many Islands and Man of the Land of Burning Glaciers, you have finally come. The Bear was certain you would, but the Swan had his doubts. Now, it is time for you, and your distant friends, to take up the challenge We have set before you, for your own sake, and for the sake of two worlds: this one, and the one into which your friends have been dispatched. Fail, and this world will fall, and you shall never see your friends again. Succeed, and the Cleansing of the Silent Lands can begin in earnest.”
Lalli and Onni continued to regard the Old Man impassively, while Reynir gaped soundlessly. The Old Man gestured, and the Bear, the Great Spirit to whom this place had been dedicated and with whose motifs both room and Well were bedecked, stepped forward from the mists to continue the geas-giving. All the manifold carvings and images seemed to shimmer at the Bear’s approach, reflecting the presence of that of which they were mere shadows.
Power gathered round and thickened the air as the Bear spoke, his voice solemn as the grave, and with every word he spoke, the three could feel the binding grow upon them, for the Bear spoke thus:
“Hotakainen Mage called Lalli
Unto you I make this promise
“Conquer now this Godly Challenge
Save your sister world from grosslings
And your own world will start healing
Sloughing off the plague of Rash-kind
“Failure though must bring disaster
Rash will spread through ev’ry plenum
Darken all the worlds forever
Bringing all to final ruin
“So I charge and I command thee
Seven sent to slay the Silence.”
The Bear stepped back into the shadows, vanishing into the mists that had borne him there, but his runo-geas hovered in the silence of the room, lingering like the echoes of a deep and sonorous bell tolling out doom.
Finally, Lalli spoke. “What must we do, and how are we to do it?”
The Old Man replied, “How is up to you. I shall only tell the what, and that will take long enough. Your cohorts have been sent to another world, a close sister to this one, but a bit younger, and without the taint of Rash. They must stop the Rash from claiming that world as it has this one, and you must guide them as they do, Lalli. All else that you must know can be seen in the Well. Reynir, Walker through Dreams, your steps span two worlds now: it is you who must bring Lalli’s instructions to the others through the talk-box your body holds in the other world. Onni, strong and stalwart Defender of Keuruu, your charge is now to defend this place, for the Rash will soon know that your allies are working to its destruction, and its counter-stroke will fall like a great avalanche upon this place. Watch and ward, that your cousin may succeed.”
With that, the Old Man stepped back, slowly vanishing, and the three mortals knew there would be no more such speech until their victory or their failure. It seemed their talk had lasted ages; but then it seemed that they had not heard nearly enough. Lalli swallowed hard and looked deep into the Well, which obligingly cleared to show him...
