"Ammet is controlling the generals. It's the only possible explanation." Elswyth glanced up at Tig from her place by a pile of wood.

"It's not the only one," she replied as she struck flint to steel several times. "Just the most likely one.  Hey, does Lady Miyu have any spare energy? These branches really doesn't want to catch on fire." 

Tig shook his head. "She's been calling the South Wind to move the ship all day. She needs sleep. Cyprus hasn't moved from that rock in hours- I think a ship ride while he was drained was a bit too much to handle."

"I'm glad they're resting. Unfortunately, sleep isn't going to get this fire lit." The sun sank gently towards the horizon, and Elswyth examined the stubbornly inflammable branches with annoyance. Tigaern raised one finger, pointing it at the pile.

"Step back, Ellie. Sruthán." Bright green flames flared up from the wood, and he leaned back, pleased with himself. "That curse is normally used to slowly incinerate the extremities. I figured it could apply here. You might not want to hold your hands too close to the fire for another hour or so."

They sat in silence as the tributes collected around the fire, uneasy and whispering. Only six remained- a quick headcount hours earlier revealed that Mei al Thea, Althia, daughter of Galena, Elysia Brisa, and Lucia of Argi had perished in the fury of the collapsing island. Tig silently distributed rations from the ship's stores, and the group dispersed. Elswyth sighed and leaned against a tree. 

"We're at war." Her voice had lost its customary exuberance, and she sounded far older than her 33 years.

"We're at war," Tig agreed. "I never thought it would happen in my lifetime."

"Based on the paths of the armies, the first battle should take place in northern Craorag. If we have the slightest hope of ending this war, we'll need to be there. Maybe we can talk some sense into the generals. Their leaders couldn't have sanctioned their actions."

"They've been brainwashed, Ellie. They don't have any control over their actions. As for the leaders... the penalty for breaking the Treaty will have caught up to them, even if the army moved without their permission. If they haven't died in agony yet, they're in the process of doing so. Fear of that old curse is what kept the nations from ignoring the terms of the Treaty for this long."

They sat in silence. Tigaern rubbed his forehead. 

"We need to find that monster," he said eventually. "Even if we stop the battle, we'll just end up chasing our own tails trying to stop the next one from starting."

Elswyth sat up, eyes widening. "Or we could do both."

"Beg pardon? It's not like Ammet's going to do a tap dance for us. The amount of manpower it will take to find and stop it won't leave any magi to stop the battle."

"Because Ammet doesn't care about the battle?"

"Why would it?"

"Tig, I think we've been approaching this all wrong. Why would Ammet start the battle at all? It's clearly intelligent enough to avoid capture and target high-ranking officials. It could probably hide indefinitely until we forgot all about it. Why militarize entire nations, get patrols to sweep the countryside? It must have something to gain from war."

Tig raised an eyebrow. "I assume you have an idea?" 

Elswyth's next smile had teeth.

"Purpose. Ammet is a weapon with a heartbeat, designed for battle. Without war, it has no purpose, no direction. Everything about it becomes irrelevant in times of peace. It's had tactics burned into its mind, and it's hungry for the chaos and strife that can only come with war. We won't have to look far- Ammet's going to be at the battle because that's why it started this war. One specialized team will be enough to catch it. The rest will stop the battle." Tig watched her carefully.

"Do you really think it'll be that simple?"

"Obviously not. But I think my hunch is right, Tig. And if it is... we might have a chance of stopping this thing. We'll need the kids if we even have a prayer of pulling it off, though. I'll go tell them-"

"Ellie. No." She froze at the calm authority in his tone. "We've just inflicted a horrible ordeal on them. Let them have one night before springing this on them."

She sat back down slowly. "I wonder what they're thinking about. Do they hate us? Will they help us stop this war?"

He smiled humorlessly. "Oh, I'm sure they hate us. But I'm equally sure they'll help. Ironically, we're their best chance at survival."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Requirements

-It is the night before the armies of Halyin meet on a battlefield in Craorag. Your tribute is camped out with the surviving tributes and the Guardians on a beach in southern Craorag by the ship. 

- You must link your entry to one  of the songs listed below. There are seven possible songs, and six tributes. No song may be shared with another tribute, so they will be given to tributes on a first-come-first-serve basis. Choose wisely- and quickly.

The Songs

1. Miserere by The Cat Empire- Clove_Thenardier

2. Monster by Imagine Dragons- josie-tee

3. Whistle For The Choir by The Fratellis- Clara-impossible

4. The Weight of Living Part 1 by Bastille- ariel-lannister

5. Emperor's New Clothes by Panic! At The Disco- WhovianHorseLover

6. Anything by Hedley

7. War Pigs as covered by CAKE- MagmaKepner

Kills- One ballot death. Two tributes will be going up for votes this task. One will be eliminated. This is the last task where rankings will matter.

Due Date: Friday, January 15 at 10 PM EST