Chapter 87: Forged Fire
The Doctor exhaled through his nose, rolling his shoulders slightly as he finally spoke.
"A fine question, I suppose." His voice carried a note of amusement, but something else lingered beneath it. "Though, I would have thought you’d ask something... different."
He shrugged, shifting in his chair before resettling into place, his hands folding over his knee. "You may think that your shard being inside your lower rib cage makes you something special."
Elias’s fingers twitched at his side, waiting for the catch.
"I would say you’re one in a million... but the truth is, the shard took pity on you."
Elias’s breath stalled.
"In your time of dying, it made a choice—to save your life, it performed a complete bond with the Ikona for a short time."
A slow chill crawled over Elias’s skin. He opened his mouth, but the words stuck.
Dying?
The Doctor leaned forward slightly, elbows on his knees, studying him like a curious experiment. "I bet you have more questions now. Like—how does the shard even make decisions if it’s just a shard?" His lips twitched at the corner. "Well, maybe another time you’ll figure that one out."
Elias’s heartbeat thudded in his ears, thoughts spiraling through every moment he had ever interacted with his shard. The way it had never fully materialized like the others. The way Dot’s felt... different.