It was the dawn of the third day, and Siqxhe woke from his spot on Railoxhe’s bedside. He’d brought up most of the medicine and surgical equipment to the bed where they’d put him, carefully monitoring and making sure he was doing well. It was only at Laeo’s instance that he’d left, walking with him to the front of Laytaihishu.
Watching with him and Ididirchi as his soldiers swept down toward the village.
It was an impressive procession, the marching of feet kicking up dust, the sound of silence and the thud of steps, in tandem, one after another. The sounds of an army as it descended from the heights, the sound of violence distilled into a near-perfect form.
The sound of Ididirhci’s armies marching to war.
“They’ll find him. They’ll bring him back to me and I will kill him…” Ididirhchi’s voice was soft, angry, but it wasn’t Ididirchi Siqxhe was watching. His gaze was reserved for one person- the true killer. Voice thundered in his ears- this was the moment. Kill Laeo, and have the invasion be forestalled. Kill Laeo, and save a thousand lives. He couldn’t though… not with talking to him first. Not without knowing. “I want you to follow behind, Siqxhe. My army needs you.”
The shadow needed him. The Ilyaochi needed him. Everyone who marched to their deaths today needed him to say something now- but he didn’t, and it tore at him. Before them, the army marched on, rows of cannons rolling out on their carriages. Weapons of war, forged to kill- the blood of their enemies would run today. The Ilyaochi would die- they’d fall beneath the pikes of Ididirchi’s infantry, and die against the fire of his cannons.
He could have stopped it. He could have stopped it, but he didn’t. Instead he just followed behind, watching the front of the line as it drew ever closer to the village. Laeo walked behind him, eyes dark. He didn’t know if he was imagining things, but Siqxhe thought he saw pain in those eyes. The sort of deep regret born from death.
The sort of deep regret born from a good man doing something so evil… He drew a breath, looking up and praying a short prayer to the many faces of god. Hopefully it heard him, and helped him, fickle though it was… he wasn’t a particularly religious man, but here, in this moment, he remembered the words of his youth and prayed. Blinked- “Laeo?”
“Yes?” It was delivered with the same easy confidence that he’d always spoken with, the knowledge of what to do and why to do it. The confidence that’d brought him out of so many struggles and had probably saved his life more than once, both without and within the shadow of God. Siqxhe found himself doubting-
No… no he couldn’t back down. He’d chosen his path and he’d walk it… still, there was that worry in his mind. The part of him that told him he was a coward- “Railoxhe will survive.” He positively blurted it out, causing Laeo to look it him strangely, then frown-
That simple gesture, that twist of the mouth that could have meant so many other things. That sealed it in for Siqxhe. He understood, and he hated himself for it. There was no reason for him to be sad about Railoxhe’s recovery. No reason except… “You did it.” It was barely more than a whisper, but it was calm, collected.
Laeo froze atop a hill- a few hundred feet away from the army, a place that in the past might have been a beautiful glade. The sounds of Ididirchi’s will, the beast of soldiers and cannons and death reached them here, Laeo’s work. Slowly, he turned to face him. “I did what?”
“You killed them.” He gasped- it almost hurt him to say it, but say it he did. “You killed them! You killed them and you drove Ididirchi to war. I’m going to go and tell him, and everything will be right once again.”
“No…” At first Siqxhe thought he was denying it. Then- slowly, a tear ran down his cheek. “No no no- you can’t! I like you! He’ll kill you! He’ll rip you limb from limb and throw you into the forest to rot.”
“I don’t care.” Siqxhe surprised himself with the ferocity of his words. Surprised himself with the fact that he really didn’t care. For the first time in his life, he was willing to die for something. “I don’t care!”
“I’ll kill you.” It’s a whisper, but in that whisper was one of the deepest sadnesses that Siqxhe had ever seen. “You’ll die… please. Recant- just say you won’t tell him. We can work this out. You can believe-”
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Siqxhe shook his head, smiling a heady smile. “No. No… you won’t get away-'' His voice cut off suddenly as Laeo drove a knee into his gut and punched him in the arm before neatly slipping behind him, holding a knife to his neck.
He felt the cold point. Saw the metal, the threat of death that was now all too real and imminent. “Recant! Please, god, just don’t make me do this.” It was a horse scream, breaking through Laeo’s subs. “I will not betray the mission, but we could work this out.”
Faced with the knife at his throat and the promise of death and the voice in his threat that thundered coward, coward, Siqxhe gulped, careful not to annunciate his agreement. “I… ok, ok. I won’t tell anyone, I swear.”
A silence, atop the hill, and faced with a sudden death, Siqxhe watched the army roll down toward the village. Watched the sky above, so bright, orange patterns fading off into forever. When Laeo spoke, his voice wavered, so hoarse… “Liar. You’re lying-”
Then a bundle of steel and brightness and hope crashed into Laeo, jerking him away from Siqxhe. The knife scoured a thin line in his skin, just deep enough to bring out the faintest blood but just shallow enough not to kill him.
He fell to the ground, gasping for breath, and watched Iri ravage Laeo… no- he couldn’t… She was oblivious to his presence as she ripped into him with an almost animalistic ferocity, beating down on him with a strength that defied bounds. First, ribs crunched. He could hear it, the cracking that sickened him. Then the skin tore, blood from already bruised flesh spilling out onto the dead ground, falling deep and joining with the waters so far below-
“Stop…” It was a hoarse whisper, forced through the pain in his throat. His touch on Iri was gentle, but she froze immediately, standing up to the fullness of her height.
While in the fortress she’d looked lanky being so tall, here, blood on her hands and the orange gaze of god overhead, she looked almost demonic. “Why?” It was quiet, and Siqxhe realized that Iri had been fighting in near complete silence. “He was going to kill you.”
“I…” He coughed, clawing himself to his feet to stand beside her. “That doesn't need we need to kill him. Besides, we need to get to Ididirchi. We need to tell him the truth…” He stepped forward toward the army and the dust raised by its marching, but something grasped onto his arm, preventing him. “Let me go! Let-”
“No.” Iri’s voice was quiet, almost mournful. “I know how this ends. You know how this ends… If you go, then you’ll die. You promised me. You swore me an oath that you’d help me, and we need to get away from the Eternity Falling.” A pause as Siqxhe exhausted himself pulling away from Iri. “We need to find Polarity Light. More lives hang in the balance of their decision….”
Siqxhe paused, pulling himself upright, and- blessedly- Iri released his arm. He had promised… that part of him that screamed coward told him to run, run and scream and stop this senseless brutality. To sacrifice himself for the lives of those beneath the shadow of God. But that part of him that was Siqxhe hesitated- because… she was right. “What… what’s the Eternity Falling?”
Iri tilted her head in confusion. “Have you… humanity has forgotten much. You stand beneath the shadow of that great spaceship, the incarnation of Endless, the Eternity Falling.” Just as the pieces started to fit together in his head to form a picture that was impossible, Iri continued. “The game is to find Polarity Light, and the stakes are humanity itself…”
The Eternity Falling was God. Iri knew God themselves- those orange eyes, everything he could see in the sky above him forever and ever and ever… “You weren’t mad. You were speaking with…”
“The Eternity Falling. Yes… Their power is immense, and I’ve forgotten so much. Please... “ and Siqxhe allowed himself to hear her please. Allowed himself to live with that faint excuse that he wasn’t just condemning the Ilyaochi to their deaths.
“They-”
“They will be… hurt, killed. But, ultimately, in the depths of their warrens there will be those who survive- but that’s not important.” A whisper- “They have their tunnels… but the wrath of the Eternity Falling knows no bounds. They shattered your moon. They could shatter everything… Polarity Light needs to be found.” Iri paused, bright eyes staring deep into Siqxhe’s soul. “I need… please Siqxhe, I need your help.”
Siqxhe allowed himself to be dragged away, watching with cold eyes the fires of war. Hearing the cannons, their bark and the retort of their firing echoing off the peaks forever and ever… He let himself forsake a war he’d started just by coming, forsaking the Ilyaochi for a promise of greater need. Following- beneath the ancient gaze of the Eternity Falling- a being in silver, so great as to have spoken with God-