Snihurońka and Klasina on the great polar bear
Charged through the front bank doors where
Nicholas arrived a while before.
They have come to see what his recklessness was for.
Klasina believes she understands
But wanted to hear from him first hand.
Nicholas opened his eyes as four friends entered the room.
The pain was so great he could hardly move.
The arrow is gone and he is all bandaged up,
His breathing is still labored--inconsistently abrupt.
Snihurońka was red faced
With emotions difficult to contain.
Klasina was impassive. She calmly sat down.
She planned to listen and observe for now.
Tomten sat patiently,
Eyes closed, waiting.
Nic knew Nicholas already knew what they want to know
Seeing as how Nic and Nicholas previously, though briefly, spoke.
“Klaas is dead . . .”
Nicholas sputtered.
“He was my closest friend.
We were like brothers.”
“We’re so sorry . . .
Replied old Tomten.
Nicholas’ eyes were teary, almost stary.
Befana walked in just then.
Nic silently welcomed her in.
She did not know what all had happened,
But Nic felt, as the crux of communication,
Befana should know about Nicholas’ retaliation.
Throughout the room silence permeated the soul.
Snihurońka opened her mouth
Clearly about to shout
But, it was Nic whose voice the silence broke.
“We are all glad you’re alive Nicholas.
Please put up your best fight to stay with us.
“We love you and know your heart is filled with grief.
I’m sure the pain can be overwhelming.”
Nic paused
Collecting thoughts.
A tear rolled down Nicholas’ cheek.
He opened his mouth to speak.
Out came a small sound,
“I understand now.”
Tomten sighed.
Befana cocked an eye.
“What do you understand?”
She asked, holding his hand.
Snihurońka answered
Her tone dripping with hurt and anger,
“He understands why he should have stuck to what we agreed.
He understands that he should have trusted Nic and me.
He understands why he wasn’t the one we needed to take the lead.
He understands that violence cannot be the tool to make us free!"
Nic jumped in as Snihurońka began to yell.
“Love, the aggressive violence
was not righteous,
But that’s not all there is to tell.
“I wish we could wait for you to heal Nicholas,
But urgency demands we move to address this.
“I am sorry my friend.
Grief makes it feel as though the world’s at an end . . .
“I wish time would stop to honor our pain . . .”
Nic took a deep breath and continued to say,
“But time has given relentless suffering since the goblins came.
“At this moment what we give is our grief
To the dispassionate, unrelenting thief.
'For good or for ill?
It is a matter of will.'
“Our grief has become our greatest power somehow.
We must let our grief drive us now.”
Befana looked around, still confused.
She remained silent, unsure what to do.
Tomten spoke to Nic,
“It wasn’t your fault.
You didn’t cause this.”
“I didn’t lead the assault,”
Nic interjected.
“But I am not without fault.
I didn’t tell Nicholas all that he needed.”
“You stuck to the plan,”
Snihurońka defended.
“It didn’t go as we intended,”
Nic calmly began.
“Snihurońka and I made the decision
To keep a part of the plan secret--hidden.
“It was known only to us and my eight elf team.
We didn’t want to risk goblins finding out a thing.
“We tunneled out from the bank connecting it to the bubbles.
This was our plan to discreetly transport resources.
We made networks from several vaults to the tunnels.
It was a fallback, a means of emergency recourse.
“What’s more, it enabled us to quickly hide gold,
The collateral about which you were all told.
“But we couldn’t risk any goblins knowing
Or they’d hunt the collateral without mercy.
“When the goblins melted the entrance to the tunnels
We were immediately able to put together a plan to funnel
“Necessary food and resources to those in need
While keeping our secret with a minimally expanded team.
“I couldn’t think of a way
To keep everyone from worrying
Without announcing the secret passageways,
Making it much more difficult to keep everyone safe.
The goblins could have escalated their assault burying
Everyone in the tunnels by collapsing them all over the place.
As it was, they thought they had our families trapped. This way,
They thought, we must surely break in order to save
Our loved ones. I thought, the secret would cause them dismay
As they came to believe we would sacrifice our families to get our way. . .
“And, we’d keep the collateral hidden longer.
My delusions of safety could not have been more wrong, or
“At least I should have let you all in to make the plan better.
We could have strategized our way through it together. . .”
“Nic! Nic, it’s alright.
You did what you did.”
Klasina coolly interrupted.
“Was no one going to stop Nic from prattling all night?”
Klasina looked at each member of the group.
“Emotions are running thick in this room.
Nic, you’ve made some hard decisions
Snihurońka, you have too.
Nicholas, you did what you felt you had to do.
We cannot go back and make revisions.
We have a negotiation to get through.
Then, an entire society to make new.
“Remember the goblins.
The goblins have caused all of these problems.
“Snihurońka, you hold the vision.
Channel your anger toward the goblin system.
“The stars in the dark sky
Reveal the dark night.
“Nic, your expansive imagination
Paves the way for new creation.
“In the dark, stars bring
Light to the unseen.”
Nicholas spoke unexpectedly,
His voice hoarse and weak.
“Klasina, you have a gift for judging next steps . . .
What do we do with this mess?”
Befana looked deep into Nicholas’ eyes,
“We? I think you are done with this ride.
Your job is to rest, heal, and mourn those who’ve died.”
A tear rolled down Nicholas’ cheek.
He closed his eyes and did not speak.
“He may still have a part to play before all is done,”
Tomten proclaimed.
“After all, we have not yet won.”
Klasina nodded and answered Nic’s question,
“First, we get everyone out of the tunnels.
We flood the banks and the Capitol
With elves, herders, yetis, sympathizers and animals.
We let the goblins know this place is our possession.”
Snihurońka broke her silence,
“We’ll announce that we hold
All of their precious promise notes and gold.
They won’t risk destroying their wealth.
They’ll think it's all in the bank with the elves.
That should forestall more violence.”
Snihurońka
Nic knew this was the original plan.
“They’ll have to negotiate. We’ll have the upper hand.
“But how will it be different this time?
Last time we all got brutalized.”
Tomten and Nicholas looked at each other.
Their minds linked like magic.
They shared a plan as they hatched it.
Thoughts flowed from elf, from herder without a stutter.
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