IRON GOD | 2: Empyrean

[9] Xigon: Intrusion

Xigon saw Qila's heat through the crack under the door. She'd been knocking periodically even though he never answered now. He'd locked his door and blockaded it with his desk. If she came in now, if she figured anything out, Xigon feared how she'd react.

    He'd entrusted Respite – their weapon for euthanasia and executions, the blade that had killed Haode – to Channei. Just in case Qila got any ideas about picking it up. Channei trusted him the most and asked the fewest questions out of everyone. Typically.

    Qila's heat disappeared as she walked away. Xigon blinked. He thought about reaching for his goggles, but his arm felt too heavy. Everything felt too heavy. He lay on the floor, right where he'd fallen while trying to walk. That had been hours ago. He thought it was hours, at least. Maybe it had only been a few minutes.

    Half his sight was blurry and distorted, as if he were underwater. The other half was all ablaze with bright auras. He wondered now what those auras were. Was it the heat of the soul he'd taken?

Right. He'd taken a soul.

Xigon scrambled in sudden panic and fell onto his back. His head hit the cold floor, further distorting his vision. His breath came in short frantic gasps. The abject horror of his deed shattered him. How could he have...?

What was he becoming?

The now-familiar pain in his chest flared.

Xigon, that's the name I'll give you. He almost heard Qila's voice and felt her bony fingers on his cheek. The emperor serpent. Snakes take the world's curses into themselves, it's said. They swallow our pain, thankless, and grow cold. And you, child, are the most beautiful of all.

Was that what was happening? The pain was tear-inducing now. He could hardly breathe with how intense it was. His vision was so blurry and his hearing so muted he felt as if his head were under ice water. Cold. Cold. COLD!

Xigon seethed. Every breath felt like a blade digging into his lung. He reached a shaky, weak hand up toward the ceiling. In the red light cast by his eyes, it produced a dramatic shadow. He half-expected the massive shadow hand to reach down from the ceiling and snatch him. He played with the shadow until his arm grew too heavy to lift. Then his arm thudded back down to the cold floor.

    COLD

    He closed his eyes and tried to remember the last time he'd been warm. Even imagined warmth let him sleep a few minutes.

Xigon woke to the sound of his window shutters creaking. He couldn't lift his head. His eyes wouldn't open more than a sliver. More creaking, then banging. His first thought was that it was Yayaba, but she would have broken the window open with little effort. Was Qila so desperate to see him that she'd climb in through his window? He had a sudden urge to laugh, but made no more noise than a small groan.

He heard human footsteps, but more than one pair. Channei barked at whoever else was there. "I'll say it again. Hurt my master and you're dead. Dead, you hear me?" Her apparent anger startled him.

"Duly noted." The other voice made his stomach churn with revulsion. "Xigon, if you can hear me, it's Ami. I don't have Magpie with me, and Channei's right next to me, ready to stab me if anything happens. I'm here to see what's ailing you."

Alarm snapped him back to full clarity. He sat up, but kept his head down and his eyes closed. "Channei, return to your assignment."

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Channei didn't sound thrilled at the prospect of leaving him alone with Ami.

    Xigon bit his lip. "Trust me and do as I say."

There was a shuffle near the window.

    "And now Channei's jumped out the window. Very bold of you," said Ami. "Do you trust me that much?"