She sifted the shards in her hand, blood and hair and pieces of scalp still attached. “Let them go,” she said to Leaf. “Bring in the next five. I’ll need more.”

Two bodies had been laid on a blanket by the bed. A better ratio than was usually had at the Tithing Festival. They could be a little pleased about that at least. Her constructs had steady hands and a good deal of strength. The process had been quick. Why use soldiers? She would have to suggest this method to Shiyen when—

Ah, of course. Sometimes it felt like she was living two different lives, split across two different times.

The shards clinked to the bottom of the clay bowl when she dropped them into the water, blood clouding it like red fog. Nisong turned to the shards she’d already cleaned and, while her constructs marched the villagers out and brought in a fresh batch, began to carve.

She knew the commands; she knew the method to reach inside dead flesh. Bureaucratic constructs could perform minor repairs on other constructs. So she’d realized from a logical standpoint, there was nothing stopping her from creating them.

Three of the five next villagers screamed as the chisel was applied, one grunted, the last one whimpered. Nisong gritted her teeth through the noise, concentrating on her task. These constructs needed to fight for her, and to do so with some proficiency. She’d written out commands on sheets of paper before creating the first of them, trying to find a balance between complexity of commands and using as few shards as possible. And the gaps in her memories frustrated her – there had to be other, better commands but she had no memory of them. She had to be ruthlessly efficient or this wouldn’t work.

Her gaze flicked to the window again as the roar of fighting drifted above the sound of pounding rain. The villagers knelt trembling on the floor, their shuddering breaths like the sound of waves inside a seashell. She held out a hand and Leaf deposited the shards into her palm. “The next ones.”

The shards had cooled by the time she scooped them out of the water and replaced them with the fresh ones. She picked off the skin and hair, dried them on her already bloodied skirt and carved them too.

“So what – you’ll drain us twice as fast?” called out one of the villagers as Leaf and the beasts escorted her from the room. “You monster!”

Nisong didn’t respond. If their first shard was already in use, then she supposed she would be doing that. But how much could she care for the shard-sick when she had her own people to protect?

The gull construct landed on the windowsill. It shook off the rain, sending droplets scattering across the floor to mingle with the blood. “The invaders have taken down the largest barricade and our archers are out of arrows.”