[BABA VOSS] Alkenny. This is our home.
We are one and we fight as one.
Clear the wall!
[SCREAMING]
At the end of winter, a woman wandered into our village.
She was three months pregnant.
She never said who the father was.
Jerlamarel.
The heretic that you've been seeking.
The Witchfinders are coming.
- [BELU] We're trapped. - [PARIS] We are not.
There is another way off this mountain.
[DRUMMING]
Jerlamarel not only lives. He has passed on his life.
Find his children, and bring them to me.
[BIRDS TWEETING]
[BIRD SQUAWKS]
[SOFT METALLIC CHIMING]
[BIRDS TWEETING]
[RIVER RIPPLES]
[BIRDS SCREECHING]
[BABY BURBLING]
[RIVER RIPPLES]
- [ROPE BRIDGE CREAKS] - [MAN] Chet-chet!
[BIRDS SQUAWKING]
- [WINGS FLUTTER] - [HORSE NICKERS]
[MAN CHANTS IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE]
[CROWD] Chet-chet-chet!
[RHYTHMIC CHANTING]
[SNARLS]
[SILENCE]
[BIRDS CALLING]
[BABIES COOING]
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
[RUSTLING]
[ROARS]
[GROANS]
[BEAR GROWLS]
[PANTS]
Please cry. Please be alive.
[BEAR SNIFFING, GROWLS]
[ROARING]
[BABY CRIES]
Hey! No!
- [CRYING] - Hey! Hey, face me!
Hey! Look at me!
[ROARS]
Look at m...
Hey, face me!
Face me!
[BOTH ROARING]
- [GRUNTING] - [BEAR GROWLS]
- [YELLS] - [BEAR GROWLS]
- [BABIES CRYING] - [BEAR GROANS]
[CRYING CONTINUES]
[SHUSHING]
[RUSTLING]
Who's there? Answer me. Who's there?
[MAN] I see my children are in good hands.
Jerlamarel...
is that you?
Yes.
Did you come to take them away?
No. I'm a fugitive.
And I have work to do elsewhere.
They are safer with you as they grow.
I stayed close to make sure that you would find the sanctuary.
And to kill the bears in the valley.
I believe this is the last bear.
[CHUCKLES]
These children are a gift.
Take great care of them as they grow.
May I have your hand?
What is... what is this?
At the sanctuary, beside the waterfall, there is a small cave.
Climb in it. There you will find a box.
I've given you the key to open that box.
Speak to Paris.
Tell her that the contents of the box are for my children.
Open the box when they are 12 summers old.
Old enough to understand what is inside.
What is inside?
Knowledge.
Knowledge that will begin a new world.
Better even than the world of our ancestors.
Someday, we will be together.
[KISSES]
Name them Haniwa and Kofun.
That way I'll know them when they come to me.
And when will they come to you?
The answers are all in the box.
Wait. Jerlamarel.
Jerlamarel!
[BABA VOSS, DISTANT] Jerlamarel.
Jerlamarel!
I just heard Baba Voss calling the witch's name.
- [HAND SLAPS WATER] - Does this not bother you?
- Is there no law in this place? - We are far away from the law here.
Baba Voss is in charge now. We dare not offend him.
Baba Voss is not the law.
God is the law.
Perhaps we are far away from God here too.
It was Baba Voss and it was Paris who condemned my mother...
your own sister, to the bonfire.
For what?
Because she questioned the wisdom of letting a man like him,
a stranger, who would not speak of his past,
to be in charge of the village?
They burned her because they feared she spoke the truth.
God doesn't lose sight of those things.
And even if he did...
- I never will. - [SOBS]
[MAGHRA] Where have you been?
[SIGHS]
Baba Voss?
- What happened? - [BABY COOS]
Only the truth.
Sit down, my love.
Why?
Because Jerlamarel... happened.
[FOOTSTEPS]
It says we'll find her at the end of the fallen trunk.
I've only ever heard stories.
I didn't even know that we had a Shadow living among us in the village.
Oh, that's why Shadows are Shadows. No one knows who they are.
But the Alkenny have always had a Shadow.
I left a note on the altar for her, and when I came back, it was gone.
She will be here.
And how will you know when it arrives?
I don't know. I've never done this before.
I presume she will make herself known to us.
[GETHER] Why do you keep saying "she"?
[WOMAN] Because Shadows are always women. Men are too clumsy.
[GETHER] So who do you think it is, then?
[WOMAN] Somebody we probably talk to every day.
Somebody with the power to hide her body.
[GETHER] No one can both be and then not be all at once.
[WOMAN] She moves only when others move.
Even Ayuras can't hear her.
She purges herself of thought. Even presages can't sense her.
She's in another place, undetectable.
Even dogs think they're stone.
- [CLICKS TONGUE] - [GASPS]
[EXHALES]
She is here.
Shadow...
I greet you.
- [ROCK HITS BRANCH] - [GASPS]
[WOMAN] Shadow, I need you to shadow someone, someone in the village,
and report everything you hear.
She will not respond unless you submit.
Stand still!
[GASPS]
Shadow, will you do as I ask?
[CLICKS TONGUE TWICE]
Is that a yes?
Two for "yes", one for "no"? Yes?
[CLICKS TONGUE TWICE]
[WOMAN] Shadow, the person is Paris.
We believe she is a witch. We need proof.
Can you shadow a witch?
Shadow, can you shadow a witch?
[CLICKS TONGUE]
And how shall we pay you?
Shadow?
[CHAIN RATTLES]
"A new world", he said?
Perhaps in making a new world, the old will be destroyed.
It's just a box, my love.
What is it?
[BABA VOSS] It's for the children. Perhaps it is a toy.
No. It will have a meaning.
Everything he does has a meaning.
Meaning of which I can never understand.
I'm good for caring, not good for understanding.
Baba Voss, I would always choose a man who can care of me
over a man who understands me.
[CURTAIN RUSTLES]
Paris?
Yes.
Your husband invited me.
Jerlamarel himself said we must consult with her.
[BABA VOSS] Come, come.
What else is in the box?
This message says we must keep what is on top on top,
and what is at the bottom on the bottom.
[SNIFFS]
How do we make a new world of tree bark?
The breeze brings no visions either.
[BABA VOSS] And many more of the same.
Paris.
[GASPS]
What? Do you know what they are?
Yes.
They... they are books.
What are books?
My grandmother told me stories
her grandmother's grandmother told her.
I dreamt them with her.
Books are in the holy shape.
They are silent, and yet they speak directly into the imagination.
You can burn them, but they are more powerful than fire.
All the knowledge of the ancient ones are put into them.
Secrets of the age of vision.
My grandmother's grandmother had books of her own.
But the Witchfinder burnt them all.
I thought... [SIGHS] all the books had been burnt.
Jerlamarel said that we must wait 12 summers
before we give them to the children.
He must believe that they have inherited his ability to hear silence.
He can believe, but that does not make it true.
- My babies may not be cursed. - Cursed?
We're here, living alone forever, in a village filled with superstition.
Maybe your children won't stay forever.
Meaning what?
Meaning what, Paris?
Until we know for certain that they have the ability,
there must be no dispute between us.
We must bury them like precious seeds.
- Because they are a gift from Jerlamarel. - [MAGHRA SCOFFS]
And Jerlamarel's gifts are always good.
You know different, Maghra?
Baba Voss...
bury the books by the hyacinth tree.
And for 12 summers, we will not speak a word of this.
[BABY CRIES]
[GETHER] Shadow?
[THUNDER RUMBLES]
Shadow.
I got your message.
I'm here.
[EXHALES]
Are you there?
Shadow?
[GETHER] She wouldn't speak.
She tied what she heard.
There were three present. Baba Voss, Paris, and Maghra.
They spoke about the babies.
What of the witch?
The babies.
They're wailing, they're feeding, they're cooing, nothing else.
This is what she said.
The Shadow is lying!
You may be right.
She may not answer my questions.
But I'm gonna send news of a witch.
And then the Witchfinders can ask them...
News? How are you going to send news?
A message.
It will flow downstream through a dozen different valleys.
Who knows who will find it?
A beaver will find it.
But I will do it twice a day.
Three times a day.
And one day, our prayers will be answered.
There are so many valleys and rivers. It will take years.
Perhaps.
But we will have hope.
[HEAVY BREATHING, MOANING]
[MAN] Hold!
[BABA VOSS] My friend.
Knew I'd find you out here all by yourself.
[CRUMPLING]
How are things with you?
All is well.
[BABA VOSS] Good.
And you?
Is all well with you too?
Do you really wanna know?
Of course.
[GROANS] Things are, are not so good.
I have trouble sleeping.
I'm sorry to hear that.
You see, I hear things during the day that keep me awake.
What sort of things?
[BABA VOSS] I feel a great mistrust around me.
I fear someone may have even gone to great lengths
to spy upon me and those closest to me, inside my own home.
It is highly unlikely.
It is no secret that
you and your aunt bear ill will towards me and my family.
I thought if there was someone out there
with poor judgment to want to provoke me,
you, of all people, might know them.
But you don't, do you?
No, I do not.
Good. That's good.
I want you to remember, I am the law here.
Anyone and everyone can come to me and speak their mind,
and if they face me when they speak,
they will meet a fair man, a just man.
The man that I am right now.
But if I hear whispers in the wind,
and I must discover the speaker myself,
then he or she may face the man that I once was.
A man with the taste for blood and terror.
If someone has something to say, please, Gether Bax,
tell them to find me and say it...
before I find them first.
[GROANS]
Hear me!
You have failed to give me the information I asked for.
And you've lost your homes.
Speak now so you may not lose your lives as well.
Tell me what you know about the heretic and devil called Jerlamarel.
Tell me what you know about his children.
We... we hear nothing.
Please, I beg you, let us be.
If you've heard nothing, then your ears are no use to me.
[SCREAMS]
[MOANING, CRYING]
[SCREAMS]
[CRYING]
Messenger!
A report for the queen.
[MAN] "We have been searching in the mountains
of the Sun Grave land for months now.
We pray to God always for guidance,
but we get no word, no scent, no markers, no hope.
But the villages of the Sun Grave world are scattered.
There are many mountains and lost plateaux.
The people fear bears and lions and remain inside their defenses.
And, so, it is with heavy heart that I now seek your instruction.
Is my mission ended?
I believe it is now hopeless.
I humbly request that we be allowed to return to Payan.
I remain your devoted servant, Tamacti Jun".
May I read the message for myself?
- I have read it to you in its entirety. - [QUEEN KANE] Give it to me.
I have very sensitive fingers. You may have missed something.
[METALLIC RATTLING]
The first arm's length is indeed from Tamacti Jun.
The second arm's length is not.
Tamacti Jun is never humble, he's not a servant,
and by secret agreement between Tamacti and I,
he always ties a heart every tenth to avoid forgery,
and this, my Holy Lord Sak, is a forgery.
Others wrote it. You were sent. Kneel.
- Your Majesty... - I said kneel!
Tamacti Jun is the royal tax collector and the royal Witchfinder.
He's commissioned to serve 20 summers, and 20 summers he will serve.
And every single day of his service, he will hunt for Jerlamarel.
For hatred and vengeance
are the two wild horses pulling his carriage.
Who sent you to lie to me?
Others with concerns.
Which others?
Others who wish to make you see reason, Your Majesty.
Your Majesty, the heretic Jerlamarel is lost.
We have troubles here.
The holy power is fading.
Water is coming through cracks in the eternal wall,
and the level is rising.
The gods now only sing with two voices.
People are questioning your power.
You need your army here, Your Majesty.
Who tied the false knots?
Lord Carne.
Lady Zee.
And more?
None.
Choke on your own lies.
- [DOOR OPENS] - I wish to pray.
[GASPS]
Jerlamarel... [MOANS] my one true love.
Once, I prayed with you like this.
Once, we spoke to each other without words...
[EXHALES] but you no longer speak to me.
So I'll speak to you in a prayer.
[MOANS, GRUNTS]
Jerlamarel... come home in peace...
and beat your pursuers to my body.
I will forgive your sins.
Come back and give me children with the power, your power.
I will proclaim the Vision heresy.
[MOANS]
I will renounce the gods.
For our children will be the gods.
And I will be the god you once denied.
[MOANING]
Forever and ever.
[EXHALES]
[QUEEN KANE] Behold...
Lord Carne and Lady Zee...
whom I thought to be faithful to me.
Please, Your Majesty!
I found them guilty of treason and forgery.
We only spoke the truth.
The truth you all know.
She only thinks of Jerlamarel when here, at home,
the engines are breaking, the water is rising.
She is not a go...
[MUFFLED SOBS]
[METALLIC RATTLING]
It is true.
The battle I fight to save your lives...
and to save your holy Payan city is a hard one.
But I fight it because that is the lot of my lineage.
As God instructs me, I am a god as much as he allows.
So, as his hands on earth, I hold back destruction,
warm the winter, cool the summer, put magic in our fences
against lions and bears who would otherwise destroy your children...
even on full bellies.
But the greater battle I fight is against light...
a power that puts man above God...
a power that would, once again,
put leather reins and chains on a world restored.
Our armies are out in the field, fighting these devils of light.
We should honor them.
Not whisper treason behind their backs.
[MUFFLED CRYING]
To speak against me...
is to speed a return of light and destruction.
It cannot be forgiven.
[LORD CARNE CRYING]
With regret, old friends...
go.
- [ELECTRICITY CRACKLING] - [SCREAMING]
[TURBINES SLOWING]
♪ We are Payan ♪
♪ We are holy ♪
♪ We are chosen ♪
- ♪ We are, we are, we are ♪ - [CROWD] ♪ We are, we are, we are ♪
[QUEEN KANE] ♪ We are Payan ♪
♪ We are holy ♪
♪ We are chosen ♪
- ♪ We are ♪ - [CROWD] ♪ We are ♪
I brought some rose fruit for the babies.
Maghra...
- the air I feel... - Yes.
Yes, you do.
You feel sorrow and joy somewhere, perhaps, but mostly sorrow.
Here.
Their favorite toy.
Place it anywhere, anywhere you like, just quietly.
Haniwa, Kofun, where's your toy?
Go find your toy.
Do you have it?
Good girl.
Now give it to Aunty Paris.
Go play.
And if I cover their eyes, they can't do it anymore.
[GASPS]
I've known for a long time. And I ju... [SNIFFLES]
I just pretended that I didn't know.
And now it is certain.
To who?
[HANIWA] Baba!
[BABA VOSS] Come here, my loves. Come.
You may go outside and play.
I'll be right out.
I have known since Haniwa grabbed at my hand
and told me the sun had a sister that came out at night to play.
I know.
So, what Jerlamarel told you was true, Baba Voss.
These twins are the beginning of a new world.
I say we declare the truth.
They are my babies.
Already Souter Bax and Gether Bax speak of us as witches.
They have friends, more and more.
I say we hide, we hide the truth.
Jerlamarel said 12 summers.
We say nothing until then.
And until then, they will live with their eyes closed.
[MAGHRA] Once upon a time,
there were four brothers and sisters
living happily together in a village,
just like ours.
They all worked together every day.
One made the most fragrant perfume.
Another baked the sweetest cakes.
Another played the most exquisite music.
And the fourth wove silk for sheets and dresses
that felt like warm snow.
And they all worked happily together every day,
and they never quarreled.
But then one day,
a boy came along who said he was their long-lost older brother.
But when the sisters and brothers asked him what he did...
he said he told people the truth.
"What truth?" they asked him.
"Well", he replied...
"I could tell you that one of you is very handsome...
one is quite pretty, one is plain...
and one of you is very ugly".
The family were very puzzled by his words...
because, if you hadn't guessed already,
the names of these brothers and sisters
were Scent, Taste,
Sound and Touch.
And there was no "ugly" and there was no "pretty" in their world.
"But which one of us is which?" they asked him, their brother.
"Well, since you can't know, you shouldn't care", he replied.
And, with that, he went to walk off.
"Wait! What's your name?" they called to him.
"My name is Vision", he replied.
And with that, he rode away and left them all alone to wonder.
Soon, the family started quarreling
about which one of them was beautiful
and which one was ugly.
Each one of them spent so much time
wondering about what Vision had said...
that the perfume lost its scent...
the cakes lost their taste,
the music lost all harmony,
and the silk became threadbare and torn.
Until, at last, one day they came together again...
and they decided to forget what Vision had told them.
Because before he came, they'd all been perfectly content.
And soon, they were content again.
Because they decided that just four was just enough.
And they all lived happily ever after.
[PARIS] Hi-ho.
Whoo-hoo. Hi.
I have brought a gift for the twins to share...
for their birthday tomorrow.
Since the river thawed, you haven't spoken of it.
Of what?
[PARIS] We've been waiting for this day to come.
Twelve years, Maghra.
Of course, you are free to do as you choose.
Well, that is good of you, Paris.
If you think they are still too young, how long will you wait?
Baba Voss and I have made a decision.
What is buried stays buried... forever.
That is your choice?
It's our choice.
Nothing comes between us, Paris, not even you.
So they just walk around with their eyes closed and grow,
live, die here.
- And only here... - To live!
That is the thing. No, Paris?
That is what I want for them, that they live.
If their secret should slip,
if something from that box should give them away,
if something, anything were to happen, and a thousand other "ifs",
they would burn.
Or if the books in the box should tell them to leave the village
and they become food for lions and bears,
then they will die.
And if you're dead, your eyes are closed forever.
One day, someone will find us, will find them.
Maghra, they need to be prepared.
- Enough! - No, not enough!
This life is not enough.
Your excuse is not enough.
I don't need to give you any excuses.
What about Jerlamarel?
Jerlamarel? Jerlamarel did not raise these children.
He did not break their fevers.
He did not love them to sleep because he was gone, just wandering.
[PARIS] Your voice.
You hate him.
Why?
Maghra?
And why are you taking your hate out on them?
[HANIWA] Mama!
Go away, Paris.
I want to be with my children.
[EXHALES]
Paris.
Hey, come in. Come sit.
Oh, my babies.
Oh, my big ones, happy birthday.
Oh.
You are 12 years old today.
My.
For 12 years, you have kept a secret.
And you have kept it very well.
I wonder, could you keep another?
What is it?
It is for you and for you only.
It is the greatest birthday gift of all time.
What are they?
They are books.
We think they are books.
Here. Here are the instructions
that will help you hear what the books are saying.
Instructions from who?
From your father.
What does Dad know about this?
[PARIS] No.
From your true father.
What?
I only know what your mother told me.
I was hoping that she would tell you herself.
We already have a father.
I know, who loves you so very much, Kofun.
Haniwa...
there is also a man...
who rescued your mother in a blizzard.
That's the story she told.
She was lost, and he saved her.
And he stayed with her.
And when she came to our village,
you two, twins, were already inside her.
- His name is Jerlamarel. - No, no.
- Wait, Haniwa. - Kofun.
Haniwa. He mustn't tell anyone.
Here. Take the message and read it.
[SIGHS] You are brave. Go.
Maybe we're witches.
Maybe the stories about vision are true.
No.
I have the truth in my hands.
Soon I will know and you will not.
Go ahead.
"Once upon a time,
almost all humans had the power that you have.
Human beings used this power, and the power of their minds,
to conquer the world.
They built machines that could fly,
machines that could speak across thousands of miles.
They even left the earth in giant ships.
Such was their power, they began to outgrow the earth and destroy it.
Some say sight was taken from them by God
to save the planet from destruction.
But after so many years, the gift of light is being restored,
given only to chosen people
with an instruction to build the world again.
I am your father.
And I have passed this gift on to you.
It is your duty to make use of it.
Learn from the books I have left.
I have chosen the books with care.
I have also left instructions where you should go
when you feel you are strong enough to leave your village.
When you come, I will be waiting.
Together, we will begin the world anew.
With all my love, your loving father...
Jerlamarel".
What should we do?
You opened the box.
I did, Baba Voss.
Without permission.
Jerlamarel saved their lives from a bear, and yours.
He built a bridge.
And guided our tribe to safety.
And he made one request of you:
"Let them learn".
Let them discover the truth.
Then let them choose.
Maghra will burn the books.
- So do not tell her. - You would have me lie?
For years, you told the twins you were their father, out of kindness.
Now, you must be kind to Maghra.
Silence is not a lie.
I heard them talking about leaving.
You know they must someday.
- And when they leave... - No.
When they leave, the books will give them knowledge.
Baba Voss, you are a good man.
- But you have not always been. - That is enough.
Just because we are hiding here doesn't mean the world has changed.
But the twins, Baba, the twins might be the change.
They are hope, Baba.
Think of the things you have witnessed.
Think of the deeds you have done.
Pay the world back, Baba.
Silence is not a lie.
[CURTAIN RUSTLES]
[BLADE SET DOWN]
Baba?
Don't waste a log. I'll keep you warm.
Are you all right?
Yes. Everything is all right.
[MOANS]
Come to bed.
[LAUGHING]
What do you got?
You?
[SOFT THUMPS]
[SOFT CHIMING]