"The bravery in you too has kneeled towards me, just as I have, at times, kneeled towards you," Claudia said.
"Are these your true forms then?" Beam asked.
"As best you can imagine them to be," Claudia said. "And your own form is as best you can imagine it to be. One can always go deeper, one can always be more impressive. You did well to give up a crown so quickly after having been given it."
"I have fought a man that was willing to give up everything in order to defeat me," Beam said, remembering Jok. Finally, slowly, his memories were reaching him, they were slowly catching up to the present. "When I cannot seize victory, I have no qualms doing the same."
"There lies your strength," Claudia said, a hint of praise in her voice. "You are not so simple, sweet one. A boy with kingly potential, a lone lion fighting with a brave heart, a thoughtful man, willing to go deeper – you are all those things. You also know of balance, of the laws that exceed even the Gods. You imitate fluidity, at times, and that too has shown you strength."
"Yes, yes," Ingolsol said impatiently, cutting off her speech. "You are far too long winded. What she means to say, boy, is that you're complicated. You were a fool for even attempting to grasp all that you were in a single sitting – but you were also a fool not to. The chaotic path, a path of contradiction, I like that. I like the knife that surprises a woman in the night."
"And I like the sword that surprises the abandoned, by leaping in their defence," Claudia said. "You hear us, because you begin to know us. We have kneeled in your service, at times. Learn to use us, and we will support you."
"Or we will break you," Ingolsol said.
"But in the end, to rival Gods, you must be that which you are – you must be ever-changing. Yours is the style of water," Claudia said.
Again, one of the giants moved, and again a foot left an indentation in the marble. Once more Beam found himself clutching at his chest from the pain. He felt sweat gather in a sheen on his forehead. The more pain there was, the more lucid he became.
"I'm fine," he said, through gritted teeth, as he dodged Claudia's look of concern, and Ingolsol's equal look of contempt.
But even as he said that, the ground quaked once more, as the giants once again shifted. They seemed to move aimlessly, or at least, aimlessly enough. They were like great lumbering mammoths in search of grass – yet they could see none for miles around, so they merely shifted their feet uneasily.
This time that mere shift brought Beam to his knees.
"I TOLD YOU!" Ingolsol hissed. "Damn it, I told you – they're too much for us. I should have pried the heart out of your ribcage before. You can't even withstand their movement. How foolish are you, to allow them their true form?"
"You know that to do otherwise would merely be to delay the inevitable," Claudia said.
"Perhaps – but at least those few moments could have been spent under my command," Ingolsol hissed. "I am power, boy. Just a minute ago, you spoke to me with the affliction of a king. Your tone promised victory, your heart brooked no chance for defeat."
"There will be victory," Beam said, rising to his feet again. Blood ran from his nose.
"YOU CAN NOT EVEN STAND THEIR WALKING! YOU'VE MADE A GOD'S FRAGMENT LOOK FOOLISH, BOY! WHO ARE YOU, TO TRICK ME, WITH YOUR PRETTY WORDS? YOU CANNOT EVEN FOOL YOURSELF!" Ingolsol bellowed, shame in his voice.
He'd been ready. That shadow of trickery and darkness, he'd been ready for battle. He hadn't minded the thought so badly. His chance had slipped through his fingers like sand. He bemoaned the fact – that golden throne that they had forged together, it would have been comfy.