Envoy to Eidolon

She reached toward me and I felt that I shouldn’t move. The black antennae touched my forehead and cheek. The dark multifaceted eyes on either side of her head were mirrors reflecting my face in the overhead light. They were blank and unreadable, giving the impression the giant worm was blind. Though her antennae had only brushed my face, I felt naked before her.
“You present yourself as human,” she said. “That is appropriate, considering. We are content.”
“You know humans?” I asked.
I looked back at Daniel. He nodded for me to continue.
“All life exhibits,” she said. “You are also aware. The Heart of Eidolon beckoned you here. You bring the change it desires.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “Everywhere we go we find newness. Everything about this world is strange to us, including you.”
She receded from me, returning to her comfortable matt of moss.
“If you forbid acceptance, our assistance is inadequate,” she said. “Ignorance is your discretion, not ours. The heart you possess is not an adornment, but an instrument. If you deny its significance, our arguments are meaningless.”
“I am not ignorant,” I said. “I seek knowledge. You said you have seen me before. When was that?”
“Then the true course is known to you,” she said. Her voice took on an air of boredom. “What you seek cannot be expressed by us. You may go. We release you from our presence.”
“Too many syllables hurt my brain,” Daniel said. “When were we last here, old worm?”
She continued as if she hadn’t heard him, “We perceive the heart was not gifted to you by purposeful intent. Our trepidation is that it was intended for another, that you received it merely for the design of influencing chance. Eight hundred cycles have passed since the heart was taken from Eidolon. It has now returned. You are not fit to the task.”
I was stunned into silence, hearing in the worm’s voice the echo from my supervisor when she told me that I’d been passed over. Even here I was useless.
“On our world, which is far from Eidolon,” Daniel said, “our lives are short, less than a hundred Sard cycles in your time. It is a custom among our species to inquire of our elders for knowledge we in our youth have not yet obtained.”
I raised an eyebrow at him and he shrugged again.
“Brevity is not an excuse for loss,” the worm said. “Lifetimes of humans pass and the lesson goes unlearned. This is not unique to your species. Our meditations exceed. Soon we will repose in anticipation of rebirth and ascension. We will evolve and with great wings explore the forests of this paradise. From the boughs of life our cyclical journey will supplant anew. Transformation, ascension, and the peaceful repose at journey’s end. Life is a connection, human, an unbroken chain of purpose. This you have forgotten. You have become broken.”
Gathering courage from the ruby on Daniel’s sword, I decided to fight for myself, and not rollover like I had always done. Not this time. Not here.
“Back up a second,” I said. “First, my heart is pure, old worm. I hold no illusions of self-importance, unlike some insects. I expect no assistance from others, not even you. I came to you with an open mind, and yes, an open heart, in the hope that you could share with me, with us, a clue as to why we’re here. What does Eidolon want from us?”
“Assistance is not our provenance. Age and mass forbid.”
“We are not broken,” Daniel said. “When we die, we are not reborn.”
“Expository,” she said, her voice rising. “You have lost awareness of purpose. Life is cyclical. That which you have learned should always be known during the ascendant life unless you willingly ignore. Your home world is as alive as Eidolon. If you have chosen to ignore it, then this world holds no redemption for you.”
“To ignore,” I said. “You’re suggesting what we need to know we already know but have chosen to ignore. Thus, ignorance.”
She lifted her head once more and pushed her face toward me again. This time I took a step forward to meet her.
“You understand,” she said. One antennae tip touched my chainmail directly over grandmother’s stone and quickly recoiled. “You must fix the heart which has been ignored. You must accept its power, and then you will know. You must destroy that which has usurped the stone of illusion.”
“I can’t fix my life,” I said. “What I have is broken. I understand that. But I am here, now, on Eidolon. This…this is all I have, and I intend to do the best I can with it. Just help me understand what I should do. If you can’t help, at least point me in the right direction.”
Daniel lightly touched my shoulder and I took strength from that.
“Understanding is essential to all,” she said. “When you know the heart within, Eidolon will guide.”
I felt I wasn’t speaking her language, so I took a deep breath.
“Can you teach me?” I asked. “Can you teach me, teach us, to be connected, to relearn what we have forgotten, to find our path through this paradise?”
“Not us, human. You must continue your journey to the one who knows.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Great,” Daniel said. “Another month on the road.”
“Who?” I demanded.
“You must find Nashal,” she said.