Battle of Kilahito
| Battle of Kilahito | |
|---|---|
 by Aliya Chen
| |
| Participants | Painters, Nightmares |
| City | Kilahito |
| Nation | Nagadan |
| World | Komashi |
| Universe | Cosmere |
The Battle of Kilahito refers to the battle that takes place in Kilahito between the city's painters and an army of one hundred stable nightmares sent by the father machine shortly before it was destroyed by Yumi.
Background[edit]
After Nikaro was separated from Yumi, Liyun was sent to kill him. He was able to stir up her humanity and Liyun stopped herself from attacking, but before leaving she explained that the father machine would not give up so easily. Liyun claimed that an army of one hundred stable nightmares would be sent--an army even larger than the one sent to destroy Futinoro decades earlier.[1] Following this encounter, Painter immediately seeks out the Dreamwatch at their temporary headquarters. He reported the news to Tesuaka Tatomi and her team, but they ignored his warnings and took no further action.[2] Nikaro initially planned to face the army of stable nightmares alone, but decided to seek help from his friends. After explaining the situation, Tojin was the first to give Nikaro a measure of trust. Masaka agreed next, and then Akane and Izzy joined as well. They recruited several other painters and organized at the expected point of assault on the western edge of Kilahito.[3] The collection of painters waited for an hour with no sightings and began to grumble, until the shroud began to shift and the army of nightmares arrived.[4]
The Battle[edit]
The painters formed into a rough circular shape as the battle began, standing shoulder to shoulder as best they could to avoid letting the nightmares through their lines. Nikaro himself took different positions around the circle, attempting to shore up the defenses where other painters faltered. They were able to hold for quite some time as the machine was distracted by Yumi, and without the machine's direction the nightmares were less focused. The painters quickly realized however that these stable nightmares would not maintain form after being painted. Though the attack was not aggressive, the painters found themselves unable to permanently defeat any of their enemies, and soon the nightmares were drawing close enough to attack. Wounded painters were pulled back behind the line, into the center of the circle. With six of their number suffering from injuries, the painters' fear began to take hold. Their only consolation was that the nightmares had become intent on attacking them first instead of rampaging freely into the city. Nikaro urged them to continue painting, reminding his coworkers that the entire city depended upon them. Together, they took up the battle cry "We are the Dreamwatch now."[4]
At this point, Nikaro recognized Liyun among the stable nightmares. After considering how their normal paintings had failed to stop the creatures, Painter focused on Liyun and painted her as he had known her to be in Torio--in her human form. The nightmare transformed into her human appearance as painted, and did not revert back. With this revelation, Nikaro looked for more residents of Gongsha Town to paint, and moved on to the Gongsha mayor. Other painters began to realize he was having success, and continued to hold the nightmares off while Nikaro worked. Though Nikaro did not have a perfect memory of all the residents, he was able to paint iteratively, using the slowly transforming figures to discern and recall more details. He finished painting Hwanji, and the battle was over.[4]
Aftermath[edit]
After the battle drew to a close Nikaro was focused on Yumi's fight against the machine as the cold Torish townspeople were left confused and scattered across the former battlefield.[4] Various emergency services personnel and reporters approached the battlefield and began to investigate the scene at this time, offering help to the wounded and blankets to the strange foreigners. After Yumi destroyed the father machine, the painted nightmares began to fade away along with the shroud.[5]
At Nikaro's insistence on anonymity, his friends reported that the painter Usasha--the only one among them who had died during the attack--was responsible for alerting the painters, and Usasha was given credit for saving the city. As the battle coincided with the destruction of the father machine, this was the final encounter between painters and nightmares on Komashi. The Nightmare Division and Dreamwatch were subsequently disbanded.[6]