The creature turned fully toward her. Where before it had been shifting and restless, like the flicker of a flame struggling to keep its shape, now it was still. Its form seemed to harden, becoming solid.
A dark weight pressed down upon Sonder. It was not like being threatened, but something worse, as if a presence was trying to push its way into her skin.
And with it came an overwhelming urge.
It struck her without warning, as sharp and clear as the cut of a blade. A word burned itself into her thoughts, sudden and undeniable, and though she had never heard it spoken before, she knew it as though it had always been waiting within her.
The syllable was hot as iron. Its meaning filled her completely.
Destruction.
Her hands began to tremble. Not with fear, but with the terrible pull of that word. The temptation was immediate and overwhelming.
She felt that she could end the creature before her in a single instant.
She could unmake it, tear apart its twisted form until nothing remained.
The word pleaded to be spoken, to be released. It seemed to reverberate in her bones, urging her tongue to shape its power.
It felt as though the entire chamber, even the earth above her, longed for her to give in and let it collapse into ruin.
For a slow heartbeat, she nearly did.
But she stopped herself. Her eyes closed, her lips pressed together, her entire body straining with the effort of holding it back.
Vell's face showed up inside her mind. And she knew what the word was.
The power was hers, yet she could not understand why.
Why had fate given her this word of all words? Was it simply chance? A sort of lottery in the Dico lexicon?
Or was there some meaning behind it, something she could not yet see?
She despised destruction, and still it had come to her.
Slowly, carefully, she pushed it down. She swallowed the burning syllable and locked it inside herself, where it would remain.
The power belonged to her, but not for this moment. Not for this place.
She steadied herself and reached for some peace.
And then another idea came.
If she could summon light for herself, if she could conjure a flame to see in the darkness and to keep herself safe, then… maybe she could do the opposite as well? Maybe she could give a creature of darkness a bit of darkness.
So she reached for it.
It came easily, like opening her hand. A weight gathered in her palm, heavier than fire or light, and though it was shadow and gloom, it was not mean.
The creature looked at the darkness in Soner's hand.
Slowly, it began to come apart again, shifting, as if uncertain.
The pressure that had pressed on her began to ease. The suffocating presence thinned and faded.
Sonder straightened to her full height. She was no longer hiding behind the fallen pillar or crouching against the wall. Her voice was clear when she spoke, though gentle as well.
"I am not here to fight," she said. "I am searching for something. The tears of the goddess. If you know of them, if you have seen them, I ask that you help me find them."
The creature tilted itself in a strange, uneven way. Its form wavered faintly, then grew still again, though it showed no hostility.