The five elders of each of the units had been given their designations by the Geomancer, from Tetrahedron to Isocahedron. They had always met during times of travail to reason together, to apply relentless logic to problems, and when that failed, to enter a trance to try to contact the Geomancer and its Wisdom Beyond.

The invaders had killed Tetrahedron, apparently caring little for her sacred status. Octahedron was missing, having last been seen personally leading his personal guard into a melee. He was a wily one, and survival was not out of the question, but for the time being, he was absent.

Of the remaining three, Cube had gone into a trance, seeking desperately to contact the Geomancer for advice. That left Dodecahedron and Isocahedron, who had always quarreled since the previous Isocahedron had died and been replaced with a younger and more insolent successor. With the sounds of battle ever more audible, they could not even bring themselves to quarrel but rather sat in dull silence, waiting and hoping. Perhaps Cube’s trance would bear fruit, or perhaps they would be cut down when the sanctuary’s doors failed. In either case, or even if the absent Octahedron reappeared to mount a rescue, they were silently weighing the fact that their life, as it had been, was over.

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