It was a strange dish, but not thoroughly distasteful. A well constructed combination of mushrooms and root vegetables doused in a watery sauce he couldn’t fully place. It was a neat little thing Railoxhe had delivered for them, and Siqxhe tucked into it quickly despite Laeo’s hesitation. It was pretty good…

The only thing that tempered the meal’s mood was the eidolon’s body, cold and still on a slate of stone.

He’d managed to drag a table into the small room despite the narrow door, and he’d had the food brought down here. It was a quiet place- a place for the memories of darkness, but otherwise- peaceful. That was something he couldn’t get much of in other places of the palace.

The eidolon reminded him of purpose- “...what part do you think Soshyetay plays in all of this?”

“No part- I think he’s been put off by Ididirchi. It would certainly explain the outburst…” Laeo glanced weakly at some of the mushrooms before scooping them up and biting into them. Perhaps in a real hospital he would have been worried about sickness or- but here, in this cold room, there were no worries.

None from within, at least… “And Railoxhe? What about him?”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s the master negotiator the Ilyaochi sent to bring Ididrchi… to further their own goals to the best of their abilities.” He frowned for a second, quiet. “I’m wary, Siqxhe. These… things-” he didn’t even need to say them. The very memory was enough… blood on the ground, glittering, metal- oppressive darkness beneath that much stone cold-

“Why?” A thought came to him unbidden, and he shivered, the meal no longer feeling quite so warm. “Do you think that we’re in… danger?”

“From Ididirchi. His ambition, and the ease with which he blames the Ilyaochi for every bit of misfortune, it… worries me. “

“I doubt it. He seems to be particularly anti-Ilyaochi, despite his propose alliances.” Siqxhe tried to laugh, but memories of dark places prevented him, scars on the ground… “I don’t think that we’ll fall under his rage.”

Laeo pursed his lips shut, staring beyond him, at the wall. “I’m just being… cautious.” A quiet glance of his fell on the eidolon, that thing of steel and lines… he’d been stealing glances the whole time, working on another mystery…

Siqxhe barely restrained a sigh- he wouldn’t be surprised if Laeo woke the eidolon before him. He shoved a few more vegetables into his mouth, careful to wipe his hands on the cloth… maybe this hadn’t been the best idea. He’d assumed that there was nothing harmful in the room, but assumptions were never fact, and he knew so little…

………

Siqxhe felt warmth. He felt metal and the facets, sharp but not quite enough to cut… beautiful things that fell together like water, confluences of things that ran so smoothly, as one… He could feel so little, see so little. Nothing beside metal and hopes and the eyes-

Blinking, he stepped back into the dimness of a room that had run far beyond what it was supposed to. The hearth burnt low, and the lanterns had long since fallen into that final darkness. A warm, almost suffusive heat filled the room, a weary heat. The heat of a dying flame… he wondered if he should take a hammer to the creature, as So’kashi had suggested… The thought of irreparable harm, however, held him back

The problem then arose in what he would do… he tried to think beyond the simple actions of collecting notes, waiting- but there was little there. He couldn’t see what he could do to possibly go beyond just… thinking. Perhaps he’d be waiting in that cold room, silent- reading a book or penning letters as he hoped for it to speak. Even if he found out how-

A thought came to him, an interesting little idea that made him pause in the center of the room. The scrap they pulled from the mines was twisted and broken, shattered… there must be a way to marr the stuff. But what… then he frowned, thinking of the natural conclusion to that line of thought- the ground did it. Rocks, grinding against the metal deep beneath the surface of the world, slowly chafing away.

It was a disheartening realization of the types of force he’d need to pull off the surface and reach that beneath. The weight of so much stone… so much pressure… then he frowned softly. If they’d found the eidolon beneath the ground, then why wasn’t it destroyed?

He almost wished he had Laeo here- he would have figured it out so quickly. Sadly he’d left to sleep. What was beneath the ground that would damage the scrap more but the eidolon less? Time, maybe, but then he’d need to explain how the eidolon managed to slip into the ground after the rest of the scrap… Some sort of magic? It was as close as anything else he could think of.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Siqxhe gently pulled the little shard of metal Laeo had given him from his pocket, holding it up to the dying firelight and the illuminant glow of eyes, watching as it shone… what could damage it? He’d scratched at it with every sort of metal he could come across, but it was harder than that. Nothing would so much as nick it…

Except, perhaps-

He almost put the thought out of his head for its simplicity, but stayed himself at the last possible moment. Perhaps the metal could scratch itself… he hadn’t asked for any more scrap, so that had been the one thing he hadn’t tested. The tools! Highest quality, shipped from Ilaial and even Nolabo, they were incredible… but they weren’t made of that glassy steel, that metal that defied explanation.

Siqxhe felt the light metal in his hand, feeling its sharp surface and its many nicks and grooves, hoping beyond hope as he stepped toward the eidolon. Eyes met- brightness unseeing reflecting off his own, silence absolute as the fire died and he put the shard atop the eidolon’s facets and drew it downwards-

Metal squeaked-

A cold hand reached up and grabbed his own, grip almost immovably strong. A sound- a thrum as low as wind and as powerful as the earth from which the eidolon had come, incredulity and pain…. Siqxhe tried to fall back, but the grip held him still- “-will not have Polarity Light!” It half screamed, half whimpered, slowly releasing Siqxhe, who promptly hid in the corner.

After a second of silence he took a step forward… it was probably a good thing he hadn’t tried to hit it with a hammer… silent- then he froze as the eidolon slowly, ever so painfully slowly, pushed itself into a sitting position.

“Where am I?” Its voice was soft, uncertain. “I don’t recognise this room… Arctic? Is this of your doing.” Piercing eyes swept across the room, brilliantly bright in the darkness. Singularly bright, blazing stars plucked from the heavens and dropped into the eidolon’s head… a moment, and that piercing gaze was focused fully on him-

“I’m Siqxhe… you’re in Laytaihishu. You’re safe…” He tried to keep the fear out of his voice, but couldn’t… those eyes. They evoked something primal in him, some fear of the unknown that birthed itself from darkness and wormed itself deep into his subconsciousness, enforced only through the creature’s silence. “I’m… I- who are you?”

“I am she who has found… my name. Don’t you?” The light in its eyes dimed for a second as it tilted its head, looking for all the world confused… “Polarity Iridescence, Sibilant. They used to call me… Iri. Call me Iri.” Shakily the eidolon- the Sibilant tried to stand, but it fell backwards onto the pallet it’d been laying on for so long… “I need.... The Eternity Falling watches… I slip.”

The sibilant shuddered, and Siqxhe rushed forward to help. Those piercing eyes scared him, but not so much as to banish his humanity. There was something about that imposing strength lying on the bed, shivering that made him… feel. More than fear, more than inquisitiveness. There was nothing to giver her but comfort, so he stood there, watching-

“Please!” It was loud, loud enough to cause Siqxhe to wince. “Please- leave me alone. I can’t- I’ve forgotten. You won’t have it!” Iri writhed, an almost panicked cadence to her words. “There’s a hole. Darkness-” Siqxhe stumbled back as the eidolon rambled on about falling into a sphere of darkness from a void, stunned. Remembering- the deepness beneath the earth, beneath God…

Breathing deeply, he rushed forward and grasped her hand. “Can you hear me? Talk- focus on the wall. Tell me what you see.”

She hissed, then relaxed slightly. “I see… white. I see a wall of white stone, deeply marred by the work of tools and men. I see… no- I see.” Iri clenched his hand with a grip tight enough to hurt. “I see the bricks I see their composition I see their provenance I see the work of men I see light I see myself reflected back a million times over shattered and in the darkness I see you! Please-” a single powerful moment, a push, and then the eidolon lay still for a long enough time to scare Siqxhe. “I see- I…”

“Focus on the stone.” He’d never done this before- would it help? He had to hope it did. There was nothing to do but act immediately, trying. To put himself forward as a helper, as a healer when it was needed. Despite the darkness, this he could do-

“The stone…” He could almost feel the question in those words. She was… not here, metally at least. Piercing eyes looked nowhere- “The stone. It’s… white. I can see it… I can see you. I… the stone. I will remain. I will always remain…” Iri fell quiet, muttering about stone and bright places and light, Polarity Light-

Siqxhe stepped back, exhausted. This…

He turned around and strode rapidly out of the room. Ididirchi needed to hear of this immediately.