Played for One Last Time

(1:2:5)

Seih gazed over a smoking waste, still bodies lying among remnants of tents and scorched wood. It felt like a dream.

It wasn’t.

|In the evening, the forces of Darkness made a surprise attack, and while the Unity were occupied, the Arachnids struck within their own ranks. Casualties were severe.|

Seih closed his eyes, pulling out of the projection. “They don’t stand a chance.”

“No, they don’t.”

“They’re saying it’s our fault for supplying them with constructs.” He opened his eyes and met Winds’ steady gold, shunting aside the shiver of memory in the back of his head. Dark shadows and glowing yellow eyes in his dreams....

“Hafest pushes it as part of the reason the LU were routed. In reality, both Petrahn-aligned and Arathnean forces possessed constructs. The major factors in their defeat were the innate abilities of the Arachnids and the surprise betrayal itself. With or without constructs, the results would have been tragic.”

Hissing out a sigh, he sat heavily on the edge of his bed, dragging his hands through his hair. The first thing that Hafest had done was decry him and Firalk for supplying the LU with constructs. All because of a few reports of Arachnids utilising weapons-grade constructs, supposedly made by Ged's people.

Accusations of continued construction of weaponry, outcry for work on constructs to be halted, fear and desperation threatening to boil over....

He let his eyelids slide shut. “Do you think they would've been better?”

“...Details are still coming to light.” Winds cocked his head. “Perhaps they would have been, but it doesn’t matter.”

Pushing himself up again, Seih moved for the door. If he was going to be up with only his thoughts and a Divination who thought slipping in through the window like an assassin was a good way to catch up, he was going to do it away from the shadows of the nightmares he’d been unceremoniously dumped out of with a warm cup of cefflin in his hands. “Doesn’t matter how?”

“Then end is inevitable. It will come anyway.”

“I’d still rather not have the knowledge that it was partially my fault sitting on my shoulders before I die.” He strode into the dining room to find it already softly-lit with stones instead of Winds’ eery light. “And that’s an incredibly fatalistic point of view— ah, thank you, Voice.” He took the mug the silent Divination handed him with a brief smile in thanks.

“You were bound to be a part of it by putting yourself in its path,” Winds said simply. “Any force trying to hold back the river will only multiply the destruction when it inevitably crumbles.”

Seih turned to face him, searching that expressionless face. “You really don’t believe there’s anything anyone can do. Not even to save just a handful of people?”

For a moment the Divination stayed silent, his gaze drifting thoughtfully. When it came back to meet his, it was piercing enough to knife through his soul. “You and those who follow you believe it. Perhaps that’s enough.”

(1:1:4)

“The Arachnids stored many of the weapons these Constructors supplied! Without their assistance, this 'Unity' would not be nearly so devastated—”

Seih gritted his teeth, calling out above Hafest’s ringing voice, “And yet constructs we sent also saved the lives of many in the Unity! If we hadn’t sent them Light-Wind shields and Earth-movers among other constructs—”

“Of course you would try to defend your actions.” The man’s hand stabbed towards him, the perfect mix of disgust and righteous anger on his face. “You who are only now beginning to realise how your reckless actions have caused the downfall of our civilisation! Do you see now, boy, how your meddling has only made everything worse? One would almost think you were trying to bring about the end!”

It was a losing battle. Hafest had the momentum, but he couldn’t let those comments slide. “The Arachnids would still have devastated the Unity. The constructs weren’t the sole reason—”

“Deflecting your responsibility?” Hafest scoffed loudly. “I thought you built yourself as a better Domini than that, Seih Hestas. But it seems even your co-conspirators aren’t willing to stand with you, here. I don’t hear any attempts from Domini Firalk to support your weak claims, nor from anyone else. Perhaps they know the truth when they hear it!”

He set his jaw, glancing at Firalk. The man steadfastly refused to look at him, his gaze boring resolutely into the distance. “I admit that the Arachnids utilising these constructs had a detrimental effect. But they were not the only factor present in the rout, and they are not the sole reason the Dark-kind are threatening our borders. I take responsibility for the creation of constructs sent to the LU, though I deny the claims that any weapons-grade constructs were made after our agreement with the Constructors.”

He took a deep breath, feeling the steady beat of his heart in his chest. “Yet, whether or not they were a pivotal factor in the Unity’s losing battle, the fact remains that we are threatened. We are running out of options, and out of time. If we are to avoid a bitter fate, we must resolve to a course of action.”

“And of course, you try to push for war, yet again,” Hafest led the outcry, mocking and anger washing against him. “You push for us to charge into bloody battle and fall instead of trusting in our defences!”

“Defences Seih himself fought to have reinforced months ago,” Firalk finally spoke up, his voice rumbling over the low simmer of noise. “Or are you avoiding your own hypocrisy, Hafest?”

“It certainly seems as though Seih himself has lost faith in his own machinations. Perhaps he never expected them to do much, and only put forward the proposal to skim extra kernels for himself.”

“Enough!” Elka’s voice rang out sharply, cutting them off before he could open his mouth to defend himself, hands clenching into fists. So Seih was the one skimming kernels with useless projects, now? “Accusations of corruption must be reinforced with evidence, and not baseless speculation.”

“We of the Hand must call recess for a time,” Kuryllan added. “We have received an urgent request for a meeting with the Unity, and must withdraw to confer.”

That caught his attention like a vice. The Unity? Honestly, he was surprised they hadn’t already tried to catch the Hand’s ear. From reports, though, they’d been fighting for their lives ever since the Arachnids’ betrayal. They must have finally found an opportunity to settle for a moment.

As they streamed towards the doors, Voice closer to his side than usual, Hafest drifted up beside him. “You still refuse to stop digging yourself in deeper, don’t you?”

He glanced from him to Winds, letting his lips thin. “I have nothing to say to you.”

The Divination’s gaze flickered subtly, his head tilting ever-so-slightly. An invitation.

He turned deliberately, putting his back to the two of them and marching for a quiet alcove. “If you’ll excuse me, I intend to take this opportunity to rest.”

He left the other sneering at his back, ignoring him for far more  important things. As soon as he settled, closing his eyes and falling into Soulspace, a familiar feeling yanked him out of the usual stream, pulling him into a foggy infinity.

He smiled tightly, glancing up towards the sky. |Are you sure you should be doing this?|

|Yes. I am capable of giving you an audience and being present in reality.| Not without some strain, it seemed, from the clipped and slightly distant echo of his voice. |Give me a moment.|

Barely a slow heart’s beat later, shadows materialised in the mist, sharpening into familiar figures arrayed around a plain table, the uncomfortable feeling of being outside himself taking hold of his soul.

|...Well, speak your piece.| That was Kuryllan, his face expressionless.

|We’ll be frank,| Rule Feyrim spoke, |if you don’t rise from your beds, you’ll find yourself lying in a grave. Hashezhe’s betrayal was... unexpected. And we’re more than sure that she and Darkness plan to invade Firemount. We’re the only force standing between you, and oblivion.|

|You wish for us to join you. To fight and die needlessly. To send our children to be slaughtered or corrupted.|

He mentally hissed out a breath. It was just a repeat of last time, so many months ago. They'd already made up their minds.

|Your children will be slaughtered and corrupted if they make it past us—|

|You have so little faith in the Light,| Elka commented. |Our shield repels Dark-kind and all with Darkness in their hearts. No Darkness can touch the Pillars, and none can step beyond them.|

Feyrim barked a laugh. |You trust too much in your little crystals. They might be useful, but they’ll fail.|

|We possess the Light. We will not fall to Darkness.|

Seih wished he had teeth to grind, his soul vibrating with the frustration of being trapped here without a voice, without any ability to cry at the Hand for the fools they were being.

|We’re being pushed back day by day. If they get any closer, you’ll be a thread away from finding yourselves overrun.|

This is probably our last chance. If we don’t side with them now—if we don’t make preparations now—

The Hand were oblivious to his silent agony. |We trust in the Light. It’s clear you do not, and we will not force our people into being cruelly slaughtered in the lines of your battles.|

But we have other resources! We can create weapons, we can use Divinations impressed with combat experience—

|Bah, you Firemountians— you’re like toads sitting in cart-wheel tracks, thinking they’re strong enough not to get crushed. The only ones you’re trusting in are yourselves, and your laziness.| The man spat, shoving himself away from the table, the ragged handful of leaders with him sitting silently, dully.

Seih gathered himself, subtly straining against Winds' distracted hold, fighting to free numb arms from the strands of a spider’s web, beating against a glass wall to break in through a weak point—any hole in this place. I won't let it be the same—

|This conversation is at an end. We have nothing more to say to you.|

If only he could—

Feyrim curled his lip, bringing his finger down on the table’s surface, just as something gave, ever so slightly. |You—|

The wall cracked, and he broke free, glittering shards scattering around him as he crashed in, a shout echoing across the room.

|NO!|