Speak

(9:2:7)

He couldn’t really say he’d slept.

Seih looked at the reports drawn up from the scalelet growers, listing current production rate and the estimated level they hoped to achieve within the next two months with the construction of more scale-beds within the mines. They were making good progress carving out another incubatory. His attention was only half on the words, though, gazing unseeing through the sheets as the gondolier trundled its way across the sky, pulled steadily by its cable.

An emergency meeting to discuss current events. He could only hope they planned to do more than just discuss.

From the Hand’s stance on things, though, that was a frail hope.

He closed his eyes, massaging the dull ache in his forehead gently. Oh yes, another round of talk on Builder’s Flaws and philosophy designed to excuse their sheer collective laziness. They didn’t have a mist’s shadow of what was going on in Loh, and they didn’t care.

He tightened his jaw to keep his lip from curling, thinking dimly that it would have been better if he didn’t have the echoes of someone else’s soul swirling in the back of his head. It seemed Turl had been a bitter type.

Before he became a Shadow, at least.

But if he had to admit it, the bitterness wasn’t all Turl’s. The Hand may have agreed to increase Light scalelet production, but increasing the amount of it sent to where it was needed.... That was a whole other battle, not helped by Petrah’s greed or Arathnea’s careful distancing.

I wonder if their stance has changed, thanks to Aphox’s claim.

If they just had a direct alliance with Aphox and a way to get to them without running through Petrahn territory or Coletti....

His thumb rubbed idly at the line of his jaw, elbow braced on the window’s ledge as he half-focused on the approaching architecture of Firemount’s heart, the Ripple, library, and historical/cultural complex intertwined with each other, sculptures and statues gracing the courtyards, the Firial Palace standing out above them all further up the mountain.

If Petrah and Arathnea started moving, then perhaps they could do more than sit around. He hoped.

Something had to give, eventually.

&&&

“We would be fools to leap in blindly because of some... unproven statement. I’m sure we’re all aware by now that Petrah and all its allies love to overstate the direness of things.”

The moment he walked in, it felt like a slap to the face; a spit in the ear. He was only a few minutes late, others like Tambo still missing from the Ripple, and yet here they were, already dismissing it out of hand.

“I agree with Jondice. What real proof do they have that the devil himself has climbed back out of his hole just to crawl across this world again? Even Arathnea isn’t convinced it’s anything more than the Drillers gaining some control of their own over scalelet technology, and they should know. Those spiders have the closest connection besides the Drillers themselves to the machinations of Darkness.”

He sat, fighting not to twitch, his fingers clenching into fists of their own volition before he prised them open again. No proof?

“Those inclined towards certain superstitions have been convinced it’s the beginning of the end of the world for weeks. If I may be so bold, I would say it’s simply the results of growing hysteria convincing them to see shadow tales where there are none. It’s a common phenomenon, this hysteria creep. The kind that has led to many populations going mad and destroying themselves, like an animal gnawing itself to death simply to get rid of a few leeches.”

His gaze settled on Hafest as the man spouted his empty words lengths away from a land distant enough for everyone here to have forgotten it was populated with people like them. People who were dying. People who were sitting in smoking ruins overrun by monstrous shadows, cowering as they succumbed to sickness and a corrupting shadow.

Maybe he should dig out Turl’s last experience and shove it down the man’s throat.

No. He shoved away the acid rising in the back of his own, choosing to open his mouth, instead, the memory of being consumed by fever and black veins flashing vividly behind his eyes.

“What of the corruption? What of the Darkness infecting civilians and soldiers wounded by it? They are being overrun not just by Drillers, but their own people, turned into monsters.”

Eyes turned as his voice rang out, Hafest’s narrowing up at him, a thin smile curving at his lips. “And how do we know it isn’t simply the Drillers’ worms at work? Their foul parasites have always been able to create more of their kind from innocent souls. This panic could warp even that, as admittedly horrific as it is, into something worse.”

Their worms. For a moment his voice died in his throat, unable to escape his tongue. Perhaps in other circumstances it would have been a valid argument, but these were not worms they were being consumed by, going mad as their physiology changed from the inside out and their skin sloughed away. “Do you really think the people of Loh aren’t familiar with that? Do you think they don’t know the difference between a Driller and something else? This is not word of mouth we’re dealing with, here, these are verifiable incidents that have been recorded and reported.”

Jondice waved a hand dismissively, the movement snapping his gaze over as the man spoke. “It has been a long time since the Drillers dared touch civilised lands. Most of the population have not seen any for themselves before now.”

“They call it the rot.” He struggled to keep his tone in check, unable to iron the bite out completely. “It isn’t caused by swallowing a worm, but by merely touching one of these new, twisted creatures. It’s a blight that spreads from the wound, crawling over their skin with black veins until it consumes them and turns them into a Shadow.”

All eyes snapped to him, Alteh of the Hand cutting in sharply. “And how would you know if these were Shadows, Domini Seih? What evidence do you have?”

“I would have plenty if the guiding hands of our people had not banned its distribution,” he retorted. “I have sources who will not dare to offer what they have for fear of reprisal.”

Hafest scoffed, a sneer curling his lip. “Experience peddlers? The information contained within those little baubles is foggy at best.”

“You put no stock in first-hand accounts, Domini Hafest?” He said pointedly. “Not even if there are a dozen that all agree?”

“Everyone should know that experiences are heavily tainted by personal bias—”

A sharp tap interrupted the other Domini, Elka of the Hand cutting in. “I do not appreciate the lack of respect displayed towards the Hand. We are doing what we must to prevent hysteria from cracking our walls—”

“Then you would allow me to collect my evidence and allow my sources to remain anonymous?” He held her gaze.

“You will show respect to your betters,” Kuryllan spoke up from the centre, this time, his eyes narrowed.

“Should I show respect to an assembly clearly intent on making up its own mind to continue doing nothing?”

A rush hissed through the room at his words, a fire simmering beneath his skin. It took a moment for one voice to rise through the shocked mutters. “Unfortunately, you seem to advocate for doing all the wrong things, boy. You don’t seem to realise that there must be a right course of action for one to move.”

Hafest. Seih narrowed his eyes slightly, keeping his expression schooled. “The Builder’s Flaw, is it?”

“It is simple common sense that impulsive action without thought leads to destruction.”

“Then we should think about what we must do!” He rose before his mind could register that he’d moved, gesturing sharply to encompass the entire Ripple. “Instead of debating the merits of moving at all, we should decide on what course of action we are to take, and work with those around us to achieve it! Since the Light Scale spoke, we have done nothing, putting it aside in limbo to gather dust, all while the threat gathers over our heads!”

“So what would you advocate for?” Hafest cut in sharply over the rush of disapproval and the call for him to retake his seat. “War, I suppose?”

“Perhaps war is our only choice, if we wish to keep from being swallowed by the Darkness,” he countered. “Or perhaps, since you’re so damned determined to sit still while our world ends, every sensible member of Firemount would be better off elsewhere, with nations who take this seriously!”

“You sound influenced, Domini Seih,” the man called over the rising outcry, his gaze unwavering. “Perhaps you should resign from the Ripple’s walls until you are clearly not half-possessed by your imagined horrors.”

“Domini Seih, you will come to order—!”

He resisted the urge to bark a laugh, ignoring the increasing shouts rising, echoing through the building. “I am one voice among many. You label anyone who dares to consider the possibility that Darkness is truly out there doomsayers. You call them hysterical. And yet, it seems they were right!”

“On whose authority—”

“Seih Hestas, you will be silent and remove yourself from the Ripple!”

He stood firm, sweeping his gaze over the Ripple’s members, over twisted faces and wide eyes, closed expressions and shouting councillors, and let his voice ring out clearly. “If you continue to ignore the warnings you’ve been given and lead your own people into doom with you, then I hope you find peace in your Darkness. I hope you find your answers in the shadow’s embrace.

“Because one year from now, if you do nothing—

“You and all your pride will come to its rightful end.”