When Titans Fall

When Lyca returned home she tussled with the twins, letting them dangle from her arms as she mock-growled and stomped around exaggeratedly, pretending to be an evil Titan they had to fell. The cubs hopped around her excitedly, at times tumbling over their big paws and doing their very best to help their gleefully shrieking humans.

"I love you," Mama said after their forth stomp through the house. "But please get out of the house for an hour or two."

Lyca had to laugh at that and tossed her siblings over her shoulders, while she called for Starfall. Her skybeast was eager to go for a flight and her brothers were all for it when they realized she was taking them along.

"Let's practice pot tossing," she told them and the twins cheered, little legs kicking up and down against her sides and stomach, which made her wince a little. She had probably riled them up a bit too much, now that she thought about it.

Not that she could bring herself to regret it. She loved her siblings and she had come too close to losing both of them and her mother. It happened rarely, but she still sometimes dreamed of the night her brothers were born, storms raging and her mother's skybeast snarling and growling and almost clawing at her father in defense of her bonded.

How there had been so much blood and her mother had no longer made a sound, her father's songs cracking apart around desperation. Lyca had come back late, had almost not come back at all from visiting a friend if not for a niggling in her gut that something felt wrong.

She had stood in the doorway frozen for just a moment before she had rushed in, threading her voice into her father's song and taking over, singing and singing until her mother had regained some strength, until her little brothers had come into the world, screaming and wailing and still she had kept going until her mother was healed, until it was clear her brothers were healthy.

They had collapsed into a weeping heap, blood smeared on all of them and her parents had peppered kisses all over her face again and again.

Her brothers were little miracles to Lyca, who had clawed them and their mother back from death's hold with the sort of single-minded focus she usually only achieved when she was deep in her work. It had been the first time in her life that working with finicky materials and singing for hours without break just to enchant a single gem, had truly paid off in a way that had mattered like never before.

Her brother's cubs couldn't come along, much to their whining dismay, for their wings weren't developed enough yet for longer flights, never mind carrying another person, but Sunstar batted at them, inviting them to a gentle and far quieter and less distracting wrestling match in the big skybeast nest made of blankets and pillows.

"Come back when dinner is ready," Mama called after them as Lyca kicked the door open and all three of them shouted back their understanding.

Starfall paced around Lyca the moment she was out the door and he ducked low to make it easy for her to deposit her brothers on his back. She supported them with her hands beneath their feet as they crawled up Starfall's back, settling down right behind his thick, black mane with excited grins.

Lyca stepped aside to let out a sharp whistle. Their neighbors looked up, some carrying fish into their homes and others brushing down the fur of their skybeasts and others again played with their children.

"Does someone want to join me in pot tossing? My brothers are eager to learn," she asked in a near-yell so she was better heard and five faces lit up.

"Will be right there!" their elderly neighbor Tian shouted, before he looked up towards his skybeast slumbering on the roof of his house, "Skylark, get over here!"

Lyca grinned and went for the little box nailed to the outside of their house, pulling out little clay pots, the top tied to a rope, along with fist sized balls made of leather and filled with wood shavings.

"Here you go," she said, handing a ball to each of her brothers. "Keep a good hold of it, yeah?"

They nodded and she climbed onto Starfall's back behind them, her skybeast rumbling eagerly. With a light press of her knees he took a quick running leap, wings unfurling, to soar up into the sky.

He circled above as others got ready, more pots being brought out and others taking their children along.

Pot tossing was one of the oldest sports among their people, where a skybeast held the rope of a pot in their claws and the others tried to hit the pot and smash it mid-flight. She had been practicing with her brothers in the woods for a while now, though this was the first time they'd try to hit a pot while on the back of a skybeast.

Lyca waited until more people were in the air and they had gotten a bit of distance to the houses to avoid accidentally hitting any windows or their fellow clan members.

Tian volunteered to go first, leaning forward and down to pass a pot onto his skybeast. The pot dangled down far enough that the skybeast wouldn't get hit by a stray ball, but that also made it harder to hit, the pot swaying quite a bit, and the faster someone flew the harder it got, the pot getting tossed about erratically.

"I'll fly slowly for now," their neighbor called out and they all sang back their understanding.

"Don't get hectic," Lyca advised Liam who wanted to go first. "Take your time, watch where Tian is going and aim ahead to where he will be, then toss. We practiced that in the forest, you can do it."

She had climbed up into threes once their aim had been secure enough to gently sway the pots back and forth like pendulums. Pot tossing with skybeasts would still be different, but they were at least somewhat familiar with moving targets.

Liam nodded, little face determined, winding his arm back, his brother ducking to the side to avoid getting an elbow to the face. Lyca ensured Starfall's flight was smooth and steady as Tian circled above them in a slow circle.

"Whenever you're ready," she said and Liam nodded again, before he narrowed his eyes and tossed the ball with all his might.

It missed, falling down to get caught by one of the others circling below.

"Almost," she encouraged, leaning to the side to catch the ball getting tossed back up, steering Starfall a bit away so another kid could take their turn.

Whoever smashed the pot was then the one to carry the next pot. It was a point of pride among the adults to either keep their pots as un-smashed for as long as possible or to hit pots as quickly as possible.

The other kid missed as well and then it was Bram's turn. He didn't toss the ball high enough, and so the next kid got a turn. They took turns for a good while until Liam finally smashed his first pot.

Lyca had carefully helped him aim and toss since he had gotten too frustrated for things to be fun for much longer, and everyone cheered loudly. He grinned wide from ear to ear, downright yowling as he excitedly joined them in their cheers and then he giggled joyfully.

"Now it's our turn," Lyca said, untying one of the pots at her belt and leaning far down to make it possible for Starfall to hook his claws around the rope, gripping it before she let go and he rose higher to circle slow and steady, giving the other kids a chance.

Their pot was smashed after a couple of tries, the other adults helping their kids as well now and pot after pot eventually got smashed, the aim of the younger kids growing better and better bit by bit, until Lyca heard a magically-enhanced whistling call from more than one house.

Looking towards the Titan, she saw her parents waving them over, a few other heads poking out of doors to call family members home for dinner as well. The Titan had gotten a good bit away from them by now, too, but they'd catch up easily enough.

"Thanks for playing with us," she shouted and her neighbors sang a cheerful melody back, waving at them and her brothers waving back eagerly as they banked to the side to return home.

"Did you have fun?" Papa asked as soon as they landed and Bram jumped straight from Starfall's back into his arms, talking so fast he was tripping over his words as he described how he had hit the pot all on his own towards the end.

Liam was quick to wriggle down as well, Starfall carefully holding still to avoid knocking the boy over, and as soon as Liam's feet hit the ground he was running for their mother to chatter at her with a huge grin.

Lyca hopped down to put everything away again, taking stock of how many pots she'd have to make to replace the smashed ones, but that was no hardship.

Usually, her people could sing anything broken whole again, but it was hard to do so when pieces of the item had vanished below the sea, never to be seen again. Their songs had limits, after all, and if pieces were gone or too far removed then no amount of singing could make them come back.

The damaged item still tried to put itself back together, of course, but that just meant the left-over pieces formed some half-made, still broken thing.

Starfall rumbled hungrily once she was done, eagerly following her into the house and she made sure to give him a big heaping of fish, while her parents started to carry the cooked dishes outside.

Tonight's dinner was a large, shared affair with all their neighbors, the kids running around with jam smeared cheeks as they held little berry cakes in their hands, and grown skybeasts pretended not to notice when the cubs stole pieces of their fish, the little ones visibly doing their best to be stealthy while failing entirely.

People were chattering and signing at each other, humming and tapping and singing until their melodies tangled together into something uncoordinated but joyful and just a little feral.

It was a melody only two kinds of people could produce, children before they grew old enough to reign themselves in and adults who got so lost in boundless fun they stopped being self-conscious.

Lyca danced with friends and neighbors, joining and leaving songs as she liked and eating her fill. Starfall was tumbling through the air with the other skybeasts once he was done eating, growling and snapping and nipping and rumbling in play.

At last, when things had quieted as people settled down, she was draped over her skybeast, humming ever so softly with a smile. She closed her eyes in contentment, for her belly was full with good food and she was surrounded by people she loved.

The Titan was singing ever so softly, as well, a steady, rumbling tune that sent babes to sleep within seconds and made everyone else feel gooey soft with relaxation and safety.

In moments like these she always thought that she never wanted things to change. This, right here, could be the rest of her life until the day she died and she would consider herself blessed for it. Warm and loved and well fed and with the knowledge that tomorrow was something to look forward to. That tomorrow was something she could welcome without fear or worry.

That she could be excited about tomorrow, in fact, about what instruments she would make next and what new melodies she would get to hear when she visited the other clans.

And even if there were bad days, when there were painful days, she never had to face them alone. She could cry and get hugs or go on a long flight or hide under Starfall's wing until she felt better again. Until she had rallied herself enough to get up again and give things another try.

It was a sort of skill she had learned – had to learn – growing up and in her journey as an instrument maker. Materials didn't like someone who doubted what they were doing or who felt frustrated at them.

The second she got upset, her work came apart in her hands, so Lyca had to learn to take a step back and have a cry or rage into the winds, to face herself before she could move on. And if that took longer, days or even weeks at times, she had still figured out how to work through it.

She dozed off to murmuring conversations around her, stories being traded while sleeping children were cradled close, wooden planks creaking gently beneath steps.

"How late is it?" she mumbled when Starfall roused her from her doze after a while and she blearily noticed that fires had started to burn out.

Some people were still up and on their feet, dancing slowly together in the fading fire-glow, while others laid around on the landing platforms of their houses much like she did, comfortably leaning against their skybeasts or cuddled up with their friends and family.

The skybeasts that weren't curled around their people slept in a pile of fur and limbs and wings on free landing platforms. The air was warm and the breeze smelled of salt and smoke.

She got up when Starfall, fed-up with nudging her without getting more of a response than some murmuring, started to lick broadly across her face. Wiping away slobber with a half-hearted grumble, she dragged herself to her feet.

"Home," she murmured and Starfall ducked low for her with a fond sigh, letting her clamber-crawl onto his back.

Lyca didn't bother with sitting up, just laid down between his shoulder blades, hands pressing down his mane so she wouldn't end up with a mouthful of fur. He started walking, gait smooth in his consideration to not jostle her around.

Her parents and brothers were already gone, as were all the other neighbors with younger children. She turned her head enough to peek up, the sky above bright with a sea of endless stars.

In just a few months from now there would be dancing ribbons of lights at night, bringing with it the Celebration of the Sky, ten nights where the clans came together for feasting and gifts and dancing and wonderful music.

She very much looked forward to seeing her friends and teachers from the other clans, to sitting together with them and exchanging tips on how to work with certain materials, their heads bent low as they sketched out new designs for instruments.

She yawned, snuggling further into Starfall's mane, briefly feeling like a kid again, when her father's beast Sunstar had carried her around proudly, protective of Lyca and the little black cub that had determinedly followed her everywhere.

Lyca still remembered the moment she had met Starfall clear as day. How her mother had carried her to the countless nests their skybeasts had made in the Titan's hair and to the cubs that were old enough to pick their people clambering around eagerly.

Most hadn't paid her much mind, too busy chasing each other and hunting the flicking tails of their parents. Some cubs had been curious, but they had all soon trotted off.

She had started to feel worried, sadness settling in that she might not be chosen after all, right up until she had heard little squeaks and high-pitched growls of effort. And then a black cub had dragged itself onto and over the rim of the nest she sat in, out of breath but victorious.

Their eyes had met and a moment later the cub and she had been running towards each other as fast as their little legs could carry them. The cub had bowled her over, crawled all over her and wouldn't stop purring, licking at her hair and gnawing on her fingers and sleeves, while she had giggled until she had been breathless.

She smiled at the memory, closing her eyes. She was content to doze off again, knowing that Starfall wouldn't let anything happen to her, when the Titan's song suddenly stopped. Instead of picking up again or changing tune, it turned into an alarmed bellow so loud it nearly made her ears pop.

Jerking up with a startled gasp, the content sleepiness gone in an instant, she clung to Starfall when he stumbled hard as the Titan threw herself forward. People around her shouted as well and she saw some tumble and fall beyond the boundaries of the platforms, their skybeasts diving after them hurriedly.

It took her a moment to realize the Titan was running as fast as she could. The movement still looked incredibly slow, but it was more than powerful enough to shake absolutely everything, all the platforms and buildings groaning, dust and grit raining down.

Windows rattled and she heard the muffled sound of things falling and crashing and getting knocked over inside various homes around her. Crates and barrels outside of houses tumbled and toppled over, many falling as well and being chased by more skybeasts.

"Fly!" she urged and Starfall leapt into the air and the disorienting shaking stopped as he flew. She saw more sky beasts taking flight, carrying people and children and cubs on their backs.

When she saw Sunstar carry her father and brothers safely, followed by her mother on her skybeast Moonbeam, she gave Starfall the signal to fly up. He soon landed near the Titan's neck and Lyca was about to shout to ask what was going on, when she saw that their Titan's usually calm and gentle face was drawn into an expression of a alarmed panic.

Following the Titan's gaze, her eyes widened and her breath caught in her lungs.

One of the great Titans, made of black rock and lava, was lying crumpled in the ocean. They didn't get up and Lyca saw other Titans running towards them as well, two from nearby and others looked as though they were clawing their way past the horizon to get to their downed kin.

Titans never tripped and fell, they walked steadily and they only stopped moving for a small handful of days when they gathered for celebrations. Even then they were never still, talking and signing and singing to each other and their clans, and they certainly never looked deathly still and silent as this Titan was now.

For a moment all Lyca could do was hold onto Starfall and then she opened her mouth and sang as loud as she could. She sang for the Titan she lived on to move faster until she heard other voices rise alongside hers, before the sound of instruments joined in, bolstering and strengthening the song until it became a force of nature. Soon the entire clan was part of the melody, relentlessly doing their best to be of help.

The Titan became faster and faster until she finally reached the fallen one first. They all held on tightly as she bent down to grab them and lift them up. The volcano Titan groaned as she shouldered beneath their fire and rock arm. Lyca and everyone else on the shoulders hurriedly took flight on their skybeasts to get away as she dragged them upright the rest of the way.

Heat and fire rained down on the forest and Lyca watched as others circled close and sang to keep the plants on their Titan's shoulder from catching fire, to safely redirect lava that broke out of cracked skin like a split open wound to ooze down in slow, thick streams so it would avoid the houses.

The Iron Clan of the volcano Titan was in a panic, hurrying about, half of them making sure everyone else was safe after the fall, the other half singing to try and help their Titan.

The volcano Titan stayed limp, however. Their usually bright glow, easily visible even across the distance, like a far-off torch, was dim and remained that way. Their eyes wouldn't open, but a moment later, their chest rose and fell ever so faintly, making their forest Titan inhale with trembling relief.

The other Titans caught up a moment later, more large hands reaching out, the ice and water Titan checking her companion over, hands hissing as she smoothed them over black clothes and armor and dark skin, cracked in places to allow the glow of molten rock to shine through.

Until suddenly all Titans fell silent when her hands, made of glaciers, pressed to the fire Titan's chest and she inhaled sharply before she spoke in the language of Titans. Whatever she said, all the other Titans closed their eyes, looking grim and angry and grieving.

"What happened?" Lyca asked into the silence, but no one answered. The Titans quickly got their friend situated, two who could withstand the heat for a long time holding them up now.

The sun had risen by the time everything had gotten mostly sorted and people had calmed down from their initial panic. The iron clan had managed to stabilize their Titan, all of them creating healing music powerful enough that at last they managed to pry their eyes open again, even if the Titan still hung limp in the grasp of their friends.

The Iron Clan would not be able to keep that up forever, so all the other clans came together, quickly creating a roster to switch people out once they got tired without letting the healing melody stop or grow weaker.

As things calmed further, they turned to their Titans, hopeful for an explanation. For guidance or requests, for anything they could do to help.

The Titans spoke to each other in the language of Titans, a rumble so deep it was impossible to make out words, and a moment later the Titans turned to address the clans.

"Something has happened to the volcano Titan's heart," the Titan of crystals and gems said, voice heavy with grimness. "And if nothing is done, they will die."

"We hoped it would not come to this," their forest Titan said, signing at the same time so everyone understood her. Lyca and everyone of the forest clan leaned forward to look up at her, worried and anxious.

The Titan's green, faintly glowing eyes were filled with sorrow and something hard and a little bitter. "In order to explain it all, I will have to tell you everything, beginning from before we Titans took you in."

The Titan took a deep breath that made everything rumble and groan a little. "I know you have all speculated how you came to live with us and it seems it is time you know the truth. For you must know, or we will all die."

She reached up, worming a hand beneath the armor plating and woven plant tunic that covered her chest and she seemed to reach into herself. Into the spot where a heart should be. She pulled out a stone slate as large as a hill, though between her fingers it looked like a pebble still and Lyca saw that it was covered in writing. The letters were far, far too small to have been made by Titans.

A human hand had written this. Many human hands.

The Titan carefully propped it up against her neck for all to see as she continued and so her hands remained free for their sign language. "We had your ancestors write everything down, just in case. Let me tell you what I know and feel free to read along to make sure I haven't forgotten any details."

The Titans never forgot anything. They even remembered all the names of the people that had lived and died on their backs. Their memory was as endless as their age and as endless as the ocean they waded through tirelessly.

The Titan cleared her throat and began, "At the beginning of time, we were born out of a dying world. We Titans are Shapers and so we built a new world for us to live on. Each one of us laid down a piece of the foundation, light and darkness, air and water, sand and fire. One day, gods fleeing their dying world found us and asked for sanctuary. We invited them to stay and after a time they made you."

"Us?" Tian asked loudly and the Titan nodded.

"You all, all of the clans here, were made by the Goddess of Truth," she said, then paused for a moment, clearly choosing her next words carefully. "The goddess was a dear friend of ours, who visited us often and brought many of your ancestors with her every time."

The Titan's voice grew solemn as stunned silence reigned. "There was peace for a while as the gods filled the lands we had made with life. And then, at one point, some of the gods wanted to have children that were born of their own flesh and blood, while others were tired of being gods."

Lyca nervously sank her hands into Starfall's black mane and he glanced back at her, rumbling reassuringly. It was the first time she had heard about any of that. Why had the Titans kept that a secret for so long? Why hadn't they told everyone the truth from the beginning? And where were the gods now?

"The gods who were tired of their divinity spoke about giving up their godhood, about making themselves mortal, while others of their kind wanted to birth more gods in their image," the Titan continued. "They argued and war broke out. We weren't involved in it so we don't know the details, we were still busy building more of the world since there was so much space still left to fill."

At this, she gestured around, at the empty ocean they had traveled across for generations. Had the Titans meant to fill this space with land as well? With mountains and volcanoes and deserts and sprawling forests, places Lyca had read about in storybooks?

The sort of books her people half considered fairytales, or at the very least remnants of a world that had sunk beneath the waves. And now the Titan said those lands had truly existed. Did they exist somewhere out there still? Or had they gotten destroyed?

"The Goddess of Truth found us after a battle," the Titan continued, her voice growing heavy with old grief. "She had brought her children with her, your ancestors, but she also carried a deep wound that we could not heal. She warned us that something horrible had happened, an ancient evil taking root and she couldn't fight it and protect her children at the same time."

"Did she survive?" a child near Lyca asked and the Titan shook her head once, respectful and sad.

"She knew she would not survive the wound," the Titan said softly. "So she stayed behind to distract whatever was after her and your ancestors. She hadn't told us exactly what it was she was fighting. We think she was hoping it might not find us if we didn't know its name."

There was power in both names and being known. At least, that was what all the stories had said that Lyca had devoured so greedily when she had been younger.

The Titan fell silent for a long moment. "We had promised to protect your ancestors, so we could not seek retribution or justice without endangering them when the Goddess of Truth passed. We never found out what had happened to her or what had hurt her, because the other gods and their demi-god children were furious. Everyone was angry at and scared of your ancestors. Of the goddess that had made them."

At this a confused, baffled murmur rose into the air and Lyca felt taken aback as well. Every clan, her own included, was nothing to be afraid of. Fierce, yes, they could be that. Fierce and passionate and some liked to argue just as much as they liked to laugh, some had sharper tongues than others and some could be very loud, but there was no bad blood.

No matter what, they all carried kindness in their hearts, grown and cultivated by caring clans and the ever present love of the Titans.

Even now Lyca only felt confused, not angry, at the story. Not yet, at least.

"The gods wanted your ancestors gone for good. We knew we could not fight them and their offspring without decimating your ancestors in the process, so we were forced to propose a different solution," the Titan continued, eyes briefly sliding away, gaze distant with remembrance.

When she spoke again, her voice was soft and grim, "We said we would carry your ancestors out to sea until they could no longer see us. To let the gods and their lot sort out their conflict on their own, but they remained fearful still. They said they feared what the Goddess of Truth had made."

At this Lyca felt her face scrunch up. What the goddess had made? There was nothing strange about her or anyone else. Nothing unusual. Everyone she knew was just... just a person. Emotional and ordinary and complicated and funny and at times a little weird and pretty messy.

They all had good and bad days and habits and they all had hopes and dreams. They all hurt and loved and laughed and cried. They were all sometimes stupid and prone to clumsiness or embarrassing, awkward moments.

"We couldn't make sense of what was going," the Titan admitted. "And the gods were unwilling to listen to us. There was so much anger and upset among them, it felt like we were trying to battle some unseen foe, something stronger than we were. They said they didn't trust us to keep our word."

The Titan took a deep breath that made the ground shift faintly anew. "We still blame ourselves for that, for the distance we kept to the other gods, content to focus on our work and only the Goddess of Truth ever bothered to seek us out herself. Maybe, if we had been more present and had built less, we could have helped. Maybe we could have stopped things before they became as bad as they did."

The Titan was silent for a moment, then continued before someone could speak up to reassure her that it hadn't been her fault, "We proposed to the other gods that we could leave the lands we had built, that they could have them all for themselves. We wanted to protect your ancestors more than anything, for not only was it our dear friend's last wish, we also cared for her children, for you, as well."

"And then?" Lyca found herself asking, raising her voice so she could be heard. "What did the gods say?"

"They were willing to let us go, as a last favor to us since we had taken them in so long ago, but only if we would never return. They demanded we split our world in two pieces, to claim the unshaped part of it and leave the lands we had made behind forever."

The Titan curled her hands to fists briefly, knuckles cracking like thunder splitting the sky apart. "We said yes. They demanded we leave our hearts behind so we'd never find our way back, so we'd never be able to build again. We saw no other option but to agree. As we left, they created a veil we could not walk through without getting turned back around every time."

"Why did they take your hearts?" an older woman asked, sounding distraught. "Was that truly necessary?"

The Titan exhaled, a soft, mournful longing for what she had lost in the sound. "They feared we would built for you, that we would make you strong and give you weapons to destroy them all in retaliation. They wouldn't relent on their conditions, so we removed our hearts and hid them somwhere safe."

Lyca inhaled sharply and one of her neighbors stepped forward, voice urgent, "Did they find them, your hearts?"

"They should not have," the Titan said, frowning heavily. "We hid them in the birthplace of the world and put up powerful wards, they were the last things we ever created. But... yes, the hearts must have been found anyway, or at least one of them."

The Titan turned her head to look down at them. "If they found one heart, they might find the others. If they do, we will all fall."

And with the Titans, the clans too would die. Maybe not immediately, maybe not even for a year or two but it would be a slow, creeping, inevitable death as they crawled across a decaying corpse.

Lyca knew that the only reason plants grew on the forest Titan was because she willed it so, that all the Titans were only inhabitable to the clans because they allowed it. If they were gone, so too would be their will, their life.

"What do we do?" Lyca heard someone gasp out, worried and fearful. Another shouted, "But why? We never did anything wrong!"

More and more voices joined and the Titan rumbled a soft, reassuring song at them. The clan slowly calmed back down again and Lyca felt her own growing fear and worry soften to something niggling but no longer near overwhelming.

"We were not fools," the Titan said soothingly as the people fell quiet once more, listening attentively. "We have one way to step through the veil keeping us apart from the rest of the world. To regain our hearts, but it is no easy task."

"Let's do it!" a boisterous voice called out. "Let's go back right now and clear this mess up once and for all!"

"It is not quite that easy, I'm afraid," the Titan said, so serious and apologetic the enthusiasm died down again. People shifted restlessly and she smiled down at the clan, but her expression was worryingly sad.

"Back then, one of your ancestors stayed behind, hidden among our hearts, giving us their own in exchange," the Titan explained and added, softer and with regret wrapped around her words, "They did not live long and upon their death, one half of a bridge, a connection, was created from the magic we bound to their lifeforce. It is a bridge we can connect to and complete just once and we can send only one of you through to the other side of the veil."

After a heavy pause she added, "More of your ancestors had volunteered to stay back then, to let more of you cross over if it ever became necessary, but we could not risk it. That kind of magic is not subtle and we feared we would not be able to hide it if more hearts willingly sacrificed themselves."

Lyca felt her heart beat faster and stronger as the Titan kept speaking, "We wrote a piece of music together with your ancestors and they named it the Call. It was written to be performed by one person only since only one person can be sent, for only one human heart was sacrificed. One soul to save us all, a heavy burden that I had hoped none of you would ever have to carry."

The Titan looked over at her barely conscious friend and companion, still held up by two other Titans before she turned back to the clan. "But you must, not only for our sakes, but your own as well. For if we fall, so will you. One of you will have to use the Call to guide us through the veil and reunite the two halves of the world."

"Who should go?" that same boisterous person from before shouted, audibly rallying themselves to sound determined and unafraid still.

Even Lyca could admit that the thought of leaving all on her own, for lands unknown and dangers unknown, was rather frightening. Doubly so with the burden of knowing that, should this person fail, everyone else was doomed in turn.

"An instrument maker has to go," the Titan answered. "In order for us to hear the Call across the veil, for the music to guide us back to our lands, you will need to build the most powerful of instruments on the other side."

Oh. That was good to know. There were plenty enough instrument makers, surely one of them could do it. One of them could go to the other side to bring the Titans home and save everyone.

"Why didn't you tell us about all of that before now?" Lyca's mother spoke up, voice a little hurt and very worried. "Did you not trust us?"

The Titan shook her head, careful to not dislodge the written upon slate propped against her neck, looking mournful and truly apologetic. "No, child. Never that. When your ancestors had to rebuild their lives on our backs, they decided to leave the coming generations unburdened. They wrote their story onto stone and we carried it instead of our hearts all these years. They asked us to only speak of it again should the need arise."

"Why?" One of Lyca's neighbors asked. "Why did they want to hide the truth?"

The Titan was silent for a long moment. "They were grieving their goddess," she said at last. "They were grieving the home, families and friends they had lost and they were confused and hurt. They had no way of getting any answers as to why they had become hated and hunted so fiercely and fearfully to the point where they faced anihilation."

She looked down at everyone with great compassion on her massive face. "They could not answer the questions their children would have. They wanted the young and yet unborn ones to forge paths without the weight of the past."

Lyca frowned to herself, thinking it over, before she found she could understand that reasoning. The desire to let this particular, terrible pain die with the current generation. She had no idea what she would have done in the shoes of her ancestors, freshly chased from her home and filled to the brim with loss, holding nothing but questions and grief in her hands, her goddess freshly slain.

She wouldn't want to burden others with that, either, especially since her ancestors had been unable to do anything about their situation. It had been for the best to not raise children with resentment that would be able to fester for generations into something dark and ugly. Something that poisoned everything.

"We spoke extensively with each other and your ancestors, but we never managed to find out where things had gone wrong for them," the Titan said softly. "At one point we focused on rebuilding and over time we stopped speaking about it."

The Titan glanced up when one of the other Titans called out. She answered in their tongue, then glanced back at the clan, raising a hand, palm flat.

"All instrument makers who wish to help, please step forward. We will force no one and please know you are loved and valued no matter your decision. This is not about heroism or cowardice. Whoever decides to go will have to set foot into a world they have never seen, with beasts and dangers unknown."

Lyca hesitated, only to glance at her parents and little brothers. They stood huddled together a step away, her parents hugging the anxious twins, while the sky beasts were pressed close to offer comfort and protection.

All the Titans would fall if no one did anything. Everyone would die. Lyca doubted she would be chosen, but she still wanted to show that she was willing to go. That she wanted to save the people and Titans she loved.

She nudged Starfall to walk forward and when her mother cried out in protest, she looked back reassuringly.

"Trust me, Mama," she answered. "Please. Besides, I'm hardly the only instrument maker."

Her mother fell quiet with a troubled face, but then she straightened and her eyes grew determined. "I trust you," her mother said firmly. "And I am proud of you, no matter what."

Lyca couldn't help but smile, her heart feeling lighter. Starfall hop-flapped onto the Titan's palm, as did other skybeasts. The other Titans moved closer with their own instrument makers until they all stood shoulder to shoulder, hands pressing together to create a massive circle in order to present those who had volunteered.

"We will tell you the prerequisites for traveling to the other half of the world," the Titan of dunes and canyons said, his voice gentle and raspy. "Please leave if you find you cannot fulfill them or if you no longer wish to go after all."

"You will be unable to bring your skybeasts," the Titan of glass said, their near vibrating, chime-like voice filled with regret. "You will be unable to bring anything aside from a pack of clothes and your tools. Nothing magical or alive, aside from yourself, can make it across the veil."

"That means you cannot bring enchanted materials either," the Titan of deserts said, dipping their head apologetically and many of the instrument makers shifted nervously and they added, "You will have to enchant everything yourself."

At those words, the instrument makers who usually commissioned enchanted materials to work with stepped back, chagrinned and with troubled faces. The Titans bowed their heads respectfully, letting them return to their clans. Lyca was surprised to realize that less than a third of the previous group of instrument makers remained behind.

"You will be unable to return on your own," the Titan of stone and rock said, voice deep and rumbling. "You will be stuck there for the rest of your life if you fail to succeed."

Lyca shifted uneasily and another ten instrument makers backed away, scared and apologetic. The Titans let them go with soft gratitude for wanting to help.

"It will take some time, a few years perhaps to make the sort of instrument you need," the Titan of ice and water said. At this more instrument makers grimaced. "If you have responsibilities and duties here, please ensure that you can ask someone to take over for you in the meantime."

"We have children," one of the instrument makers said, while others murmured, hands placed on pregnant bellies or glancing back at their pregnant partners, at their children who looked back anxiously, "We're expecting, we can't just... we have to be there for our kids."

More backed away and left quietly, shoulders hunched, hugging their partners and children tightly, their skybeasts nuzzling close to offer comfort.

"You must not let anyone know who you are and that means you have to be careful with your melodies," the Titan of meadows said, thick grass covering him and rippling like green, shimmering waves in the wind.

More instrument makers left, those Lyca had gotten to know as particularly vocal, singing day in and day out or playing instruments for hours. She was startled to realize only ten were left now.

The Titan of crystals and gemstones reached up to pluck a stone from the crown that rested on her glittering brow. It looked like a teeny-tiny pebble between her large, shimmering fingers but it was as big as Lyca herself, the biggest, polished gemstone she had ever seen.

She actually had no idea if she had ever seen such a stone before, it shone like a dark rainbow in the light of the rising sun and as the Titan rolled it in her grip, Lyca saw both sunrises and sunsets and the journey of stars across the sky caught within the stone. It looked like it had come from the essence of the universe itself.

"We took this stone, this sliver from the lands we created," the Titan of crystal and gemstones explained. "It is a piece of one of the founding stones we built this world on. You will have to enchant it and make it part of the instrument in order for us to hear you."

Oh. Lyca suddenly understood just how big the instrument had to be in order to fit a stone like that. And how long it would take to enchant it. It sank in for the other ten volunteers as well, the optimistic or confident ones who had thought they could get the job done faster than others. It would, indeed, take years.

Years away from everything known and loved, separated from families and friends and their bonded skybeasts. Years of... she didn't even know. She couldn't imagine what it was like to live in foreign lands, always careful of her voice and her songs and melodies.

All alone.

Knowing that if she failed she'd doom everyone, their lives crushed and ruined in her hands the way clumsy children thoughtlessly ripped out flowers or broke toys by being too careless with their strength.

More instrument makers stepped back, saying, "We worry about not being able to succeed," they explained. "And with lives at stake, we don't dare being arrogant about it."

"I, uh, changed my mind, as well," another murmured and when she shuffled away, so did yet another one, head bowed in shame.

Before she knew it, only Lyca and a boy who was seventeen at most remained. He swallowed nervously when they glanced at each other. He was too young to have much experience and she caught him nervously pressing his hands flat against his thighs to stop himself from fretting visibly.

He looked like he had only stayed because he had been scared that no one would go if he wouldn't volunteer. That he had people he loved that he wanted to be brave for, even in the face of fear.

"I'll go," she found herself saying and when she saw the boy sag subtly in relief, she knew she had done the right thing. Someone had to do it and even if she was scared, too, she reasoned she'd make it work somehow. She had to.

It would be awful to be gone so long, she worried her brothers might forget all about her as they grew older, their memories of her fading. She worried about her parents and Starfall, who'd have to live without his bonded being close. She would be entirely on her own, too.

Her grip tightened in his mane and she nearly took back her offer at the awful feeling that began to unfurl within her as a lonely, scary future loomed ahead.

She didn't want to leave, to go to hostile, unknown lands where people wanted her lot dead... but she would go anyway. She would go because she wanted to see the Titans and the clans safe, because she wanted to see her parents happy and her brothers grown.

Because she had to, or death awaited everyone for sure and there was no song, no instrument powerful enough to let them escape its inevitable, all-encompassing grip. She could at least give everyone hope and a chance to make it. She refused to give up before trying everything she possibly could.

She'd be quiet and careful, she decided. She would build the most amazing, impressive instrument in solitude and then she would get to see her family and friends again once she was done and they had stepped through the veil.

"Are you certain?" the forest Titan asked and Lyca took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and nodded.

"I am," she answered. "I may be scared, but I want to do this."

"Very well," the Titan offered a grateful bow of her head. "While I am sad to see you go, I thank you. Please, take your time to say goodbye to your family and friends and gather all you need. We will wait."

They could not wait too long however, Lyca thought, glancing at the volcano Titan still limp in the grasp of their two friends, barely keeping their eyes open. The Iron Clan was still singing and making music, they hadn't stopped once in order to help keep the Titan alive.

Their instrument makers hadn't volunteered either, too busy flitting about to repair anything that broke or to oil and tune anything that started to sound off.

"Will you be alright?" she couldn't help but ask, turning back towards the Titans who watched her with solemn, grateful faces. "It will take me years before I'm done with the instrument."

"We will hold out," the Titan she lived on answered reassuringly. "So long as they do not fully pierce through one of our hearts we can cling to life for some time yet."

Lyca nodded in understanding and silently decided to leave as soon as possible. Time could not be wasted when lives hung in the balance. She looked back to where her family was waiting with tense, unhappy faces and teary eyes.

For now she had to face the challenge of convincing her family to let her go.