Tock stayed in the air after Randalp fell.
For three slow pulses, the Ikona kept trying to build a body around what was left. Plates dragged across the stone, slid under a shoulder, hooked against a torn section of uniform, and pulled without enough strength to matter. The motion was not intelligent in the human way, but Elias still felt the refusal in it.
The core dimmed, and the plates folded inward and returned to the shard buried near Randalp's chest. The shard slipped free on its own and rolled through ash, blood, and broken stone until it stopped against Vincent's boot.
Vincent stared down at it, still kneeling with one hand pressed into the floor. His fingers spread against the stone to test its stability. The white fox had vanished back into his second shard, leaving only a pale thread of light under the skin near his ribs.
