but he is a dead weight in my hands- and- and- and then i hear him- and i freeze- i can not move at all- the sky 's body is in my hands- but his voice- removed from his body- hanging in the air as he leaves his body behind- but pointed at me- showing- the sky- he shows to me , the sky- and then he is gone- and in the next instant , i hear them- i hear the voices of all the land- every one of them frozen- frozen though some of us burn- frozen though some of us die- frozen like i am , holding the body of the sky- except it is no longer the body of the sky- the sky , i hear- and it is the land speaking now- the land 's voice , twining together as one- the sky is the voice of the land and for a moment it was cut off , freed from itself , lost and out in the world , without a mouth to speak it- but only for a moment- the sky , i hear- and it is the land- speaking to me- their voice entering me- their knowledge entering me , the knowledge of all the land , of all the skies that have ever been- their language entering me in a rush , too , in a way i see now that i have always resisted , always wanting to keep myself apart , but in an instant i know it all- i know them all- i know us all- and i know it was him- he passed it on to me- the sky is chosen by the land- but in times of war , there must be no delay- the sky , he told the land as he died- and the sky , the land says into me- and i answer back- i answer back , the land- and i rise , leaving the old sky behind , leaving my grief to wait- because the burden falls to me immediately- the land is in peril- and the good of the land must be the thing that comes first- and so there is only one thing to do- i turn back to the land , back to the source , who is calling me the sky , too , back to the man from the clearing and the knife 's one in particular , all eyes on me , all voices on me- and i am the sky- and i speak the language of the land- ( but my own voice is there , too- ) ( my own voice , full of rage- ) and i tell the land to release the river- all of it at once- { viola } `` it 'll destroy the town ! ''