Post by Lilifred on Sept 21, 2010 7:47:38 GMT -5
The skies of Winterspring were obscured with a heavy blanket of clouds, laid thick and dark. The frozen ground and icy sky were pressing against the chilled air, leaving nothing but tightness. A soft, gentle snow kissed the ground, adding to the previous night's pile. Each soundless flake was the cool connection between the earth and the heavens. The air was still and crisp, not a single breeze jostling the constant flow of precipitation. A lone figure leaned against a tall evergreen. The interlacing needles of the pine gathered the powder into a gently sloping pile, giving the tree a heavier shadow against the stark-white snow. The woman stood underneath the darkest shadow, obscured in the gray day's melancholy. Smoke curled from a burning hot cherry as she smoked, trailing up through spaces in the branches above her. Aleyna waited. She waited for as long as it would take Lilifred to arrive. There were no places to hide snipers, nor any way to approach Aleyna without alerting her. The field was even and she was ready.
Lilifred wasn't stupid. She got what was going on here. The letter Ley had sent was vaguely conciliatory in nature, however it lacked the fear and desperation that had been apparent in the elf's demeanor last time they had spoken. Despite having spent some time awkwardly comforting Lazaar with assurances of Aleyna's inevitable surrender, she was less certain of it now than ever. There was nothing left in the Kamil for Aleyna except a vicious bargain for her freedom and there probably wasn't any way to convince her of what was really at stake here. Lilifred expected that the outcome of this meeting would be grim, but she had come anyway because-
Luri- eyes aflame and lip curled to reveal her dainty fangs- reeled back and drove the crystal into Lazaar's chest again and again and agai-
"YOU WILL HEAR AND YOU WILL SERVE!" Lazaar fell back, dripping ichor from his wounds and staring at the other draenei in half disgust and revelation.
Lilifred shook the memory off with a heavyset frown. If only Aleyna could see what she and Lazaar had seen. Then she would understand why it was better for them to all be together right now. Flickering out of her reverie, Lilifred checked herself over- gun, swords, cigars, the only things a girl ever really needs. She pulled her goggles fast over her eyes and swung off her mechanostrider-
- right into a snow bank. Cursing, she slipped on the icy undersurface and had to grab at one of the service ports on her stride to prevent a complete over-head topple into the freshly fallen snow. "F-fuck this," she collected herself and carefully edged towards where the snow was shallow, "Aleyna, you Light-damned, whore-mouthed cheater."
The day was a dreary overcast mess of two monochrome horizons racing to reach each other. Aleyna's bright skin was a shock of colour against the grey shapes of Winterspring. Lilifred brushed herself off and head towards her former comrade.
As Lilifred approached, Aleyna stubbed out her cigarette, leaving a black smear of ash along the trunk of the tree. She straightened her shoulders, standing proud and ready for the eventual clash of personalities. The elf wore neutral-toned armor crafted for functionality. There was no gilding or flair that she usually wore, as the occasion was as grim as it gets. When the gnome was close enough to be in hearing distance, Aleyna cracked a small smile. "Hey, Fred. Been a while. Glad to see you showed up." The greeting came out with an unexpected strain.
Lilifred looked up at Aleyna through the green tint of her goggles. Notably- she did not smile. She adjusted her scarf a little, dug her heels into the snow to strengthen her stance and crossed her arms over her chest, cocking her hips to the side confidently, "How long would you have waited in this light forsaken place?" her tone was flat, but not absent of its characteristic gnomish curiosity.
"For as long as I needed to," She replied vaguely. "Shall we talk business?" Aleyna cut to the chase quickly, which in itself is a little surprising. Her characteristic bullshitting seemed to have been left behind.
Fidgety and frigid, Lilifred uncrossed her arms testily. She re-crossed, uncrossed them once more before Ley was finished talking and then fished out a cigar. She was wearing thicker gloves than usual and struggled with her lighter, "Go on then." she waved the unlit cigar at the elf impatiently, "You apparently got a lot more to say to me than I have to say to you."
Aleyna moved quickly, throwing a knife into the snow in front of the gnome. It landed with a heavy thud with the after-sounds of metal scraped against a sheath. The water glistened on the sharp edge, glittering in the day.
"I've killed Ester," She commented easily.
Lilifred very nearly choked on her cigar.
"So, will you join me yet?" She asked simply.
The smoke curled down her throat and she reeled back, making a rather undignified, wet hacking sound into the back of her hand. Swallowing thickly, she steadied herself and stared up at Aleyna in naked shock, "I'm sorry. Say that again? You killed Ester?" The prospect seemed unlikely. Ester wasn't even really a living thing, was she? She was just a terrifying efficiency machine in the shape of a dwarf.
"Ester is dead, yes. That's her dagger, if you wish to inspect it as proof," Aleyna couldn't help but feel a little smug. Lilifred's surprise was a sweet taste spreading across her tongue, spiced with victory.
Lilifred frowned and leant down to pick up the blade. She examined it absently; there was little doubt that the elf was telling the truth about that at the very least. There was a pit of dread rising in her stomach, churning like a heavy cauldron of soup balanced on a ball bering. Aleyna's tone was steeled with smug determination- if Ester was dead, that was a problem. If Aleyna was here to play keeps, that was also a problem. Lilifred wasn't certain that she could kill Aleyna. She hadn't figured out yet if Aleyna was planning to kill her. It was disconcerting when people behaved true to their highest virtues- Lilifred didn't know if she could keep up.
Aleyna watched Lilifred with sharp, keen eyes, greedily sucking in and watching her every move. She had the advantage and she knew it. "So," She started, "What's your answer? Are you ready to join the revolution?"
The gnome clenched her hands tight around Ester's knife. She stared at it intently, her left eye beginning to twitch, "Aleyna." she asked lowly, "What do you know about the history of the Kamil te Kar?"
"I know enough to forge a future," She spoke as she crossed her arms loosely over her stomach.
Lilifred bit her lip and just held the knife tighter. The blade sliced through the leather smoothly and rest against the skin of her hand, "If you want my help, you're gonna have to answer a few questions, okay? Ready for the pop quiz, fearless leader?" there was no hint of humour in Lilifred's tone. She was still staring at the knife.
Aleyna shrugged nonchalantly, "If it pleases you."
"First," and the ash at the end of Lilifred cigar- still pinched between two fingers around the hilt of Ester's dagger- fell and disappeared in the snow, "How is it that the Kamil thrived on Draenor? With draenic values in draenic society, how does organized crime survive?"
Aleyna shrugged again, infuriatingly nonplussed by Lilifred's trivial questions. "The Draenei are not as pure as they make themselves out to be. Bribes, fear, and reputation go a long way."
Lilifred's lip twitched up despite herself. The knife drew blood, "I see. And where does the idea come from? A people outcast by internal corruption, a people ever vigilant against such things... where does Sobaru get this idea, to seed corruption within the few eredar remaining pure?"
"Tainted, I bet. Probably a lost one by this point. None the less, he set up the building blocks for a good business."
"And what does the oath mean, Aleyna? Why is this the best life we can achieve?"
Aleyna rolled her eyes, "I'm getting tired of twenty questions, Fred."
Lilifred grit her teeth, "This is the most important question, Aleyna. Why. Is it. The best life we can achieve?"
"Fred, be honest. Are you going to join me or not?" She prodded sharply.
Lilifred shook her head, "You don't know. How can I join you when you don't even know what you're fighting." the gnome's eyes snapped up and she dropped the dagger and her cigar, balling her hands into shaky fists, "You always do this! You're going to get everyone killed like this!"
"I'll take that as a no," She sighed heavily. She let a moment pass, just enough for a single heartbeat, before bringing her knee up to catch Lilifred in the face.
Aleyna was fast, but so was Lilifred. The gnome's eyes widened and she less dove out of the way than fell, but it's enough to escape the blow. She yanked her swords from their sheaths- one, then the other- and crossed them in front of her to block the inevitable next blow.
Aleyna grinned widely, crookedly tilting her head as she flipped out her daggers. They were smaller than Lilifred's swords, but the way they shined a sickly green, there was no doubt they were poisoned. A quick dash forward, kicking up snow as she darted, was her first move. The second was a dart to the side and a sharply descending dagger aimed for her head. It was easy to dodge, intended to show the gnome that it was a battle for everything. Winner takes all, a duel to the death or worse.
Lilifred rolled the easy dodge, digging the tip of one sword into the tightly packed snow to spring her back to her feet. There was a dangerous snarl on the elf's face, "What the hell!?" she exclaimed, striking a defensive stance, "Are you just going to kill all of us?"
"I will destroy anyone who stands in my way," Aleyna spoke with determination. There was no 'probably', 'maybe', 'hopefully', or doubt in her tone. She would make it a promise. Her feet in the icy ground, ready for another strike. "This includes you." She came at Lilifred again, swinging low to attempt to catch her abdomen. Aleyna moved with the ease that her body allowed her, legs stretched long and thin torso bent. Her pride in her ability to stretch and contort as she pleased was definitely not a cheap party trick. The night elves were famous for their speed and dexterity.
Gnomes were not prided as stealth fighters because their bodies leant easily to speed or flexibility. Gnomes were prided as stealth fighters for the pure and simple fact that they were small and sprightly. Lilifred had always shied away from dagger combat because she was too awkward to handle the delicate weapons; taller than most gnomes and ever inefficient at handling her long limbs. She fared only slightly better with short swords- Lilifred was best as a sharpshooter. Against an opponent as wiry and practiced as Aleyna, her chances were thin.
She scanned the surroundings desperately, looking for any hint of useful territory. When the elf started running, she pivoted on her heel, the dagger just grazing beneath her rib. It cut through her thick tunic, but she couldn't tell if the burst of cold against her skin was the cut of the blade or the cut of the wind. With an almost comically elegant twirl, she swept a curved blade in a wide arc, hoping to catch Aleyna's thigh as the elf sped by. At the end of her spin, she retracted the blade quickly and started to run full tilt in the opposite direction.
Aleyna hopped over her sweeping blade with a grin, turning the attack into a bizarre game of jump rope. The elf landed and rolled forward, crouched low with a dusting of white on her dark armor. She had been expecting another attack from Lilifred. She had been hoping for another attack, rather enjoying the fight against her long-time ally. Instead, she blinked at Lilifred's retreating back. Amusement twisted into anger, screwing her face into a hateful snarl. "Coward," She spit, groping behind her back for her pistol. The gun wasn't impressive, but it would have to do. Aleyna aimed for the fleeing gnome, the gunshot echoing through the snow and mountains before the puff of smoke rose from the barrel.
She might not have been an expert in blade fighting, but Lilifred knew guns. The sound of a pistol's safety being cocked was as familiar to her as her own voice. She didn't even need to glance behind her to know the alteration she'd have to make to her trajectory to avoid getting hit. The angle of the wind, the distance of the shot, the pistol's margin of error- these were all things that gnomish brains were adept at calculating. Lilifred swerved hard left and dove behind a snow bank, frantically pulling a few things from her pockets- two bullets, the foil wrapper from her cigar box and her hip flask. She bit the bullets open with little concern for the ache it caused her chattering teeth and poured the power onto the foil. A dab of liquor came next- not for the alcohol content, but for the sugar. The next step was a short length of yarn from her scarf, wet in the drink and wrapped up along with the gunpowder, providing a makeshift wick. The entire process took her less than a minute and it was a skill Lilifred was glad that she'd picked up while doing merc work in Northrend. Borean Tundra was the last place she'd have ever suspected would lend her a good life lesson. She lit the fuse and threw the clumsy smoke bomb behind her. It wouldn’t last as long as the real deal, but it would blind Aleyna long enough to give her a chance to hide...
Once Lilifred dodged, Aleyna threw her pistol to the side and went back to her daggers. She was never that great of a shot anyhow. Knives held to the side, she dashed after the gnome, leaning forward and moving quickly through the snow. Each step left a mark of her passing, following the trail that Lilifred left. As she advanced on her position, the smoke bomb went off, catching the elf by surprise. She choked and stumbled, temporarily stunned. Her eyes watered as she moved to advance again, bursting through the screen of smoke. Wisps and clouds followed her airflow. Aleyna blinked rapidly, looking about for Lilifred through stinging eyes.
Lilifred had disappeared. Her higher ground was not exactly the ideal sniper's position- Winterspring was a hilly place, full of sharp banks and narrow valleys, however Aleyna had chosen her position carefully. The low rise Lilifred knelt behind likely only offered her shelter because she was a gnome- anyone else would be embarrassingly visible. There was no time to contemplate the fragility of her current situation. Lilifred took a deep breath and leveled her rifle carefully, flipping up the sniper's sight. She had a clear shot to Aleyna, who was still recovering from the smoke-bomb's effect. One good shot. She could probably kill her at this angle, but the thought of that sent a chill down Lilifred's spine. Instead, she searched for an incapacitated blow that wouldn't leave the elf permanently crippled. This was a difficult feat with a rifle; the shots were less scattered than a shotgun, but even her sleek, saronite bullets were made to burrow and gore. A good hit to the knee and Ley might never run straight again. Lazaar neatly survived a shot to the shoulder only because he was gigantic and also dead. Aleyna's narrow frame was mostly muscle, but it's lack of mass still made it easy to break.
Lilifred made her decision: it had to be the daggers. The reverberation from the bullet hitting a dagger out of her hand would put Aleyna's effective dexterity on the fritz for a week or so. Might even snap a finger bone or two, but it was nothing that couldn't be fixed easily by a skilled cleric. If she got the first shot right, the shock of it would easily give her a chance for a second good shot. Probably. Maybe. As Aleyna turned aimlessly, searching for Lilifred through half-clouded eyes, the gnome lined up her shot. She inhaled calmly, relaxed her muscles and-
- pulled the trigger.
The bullet rang off her dagger, snatching the knife out of her hand. Aleyna recoiled, dropping the weapon and spinning towards the shot. Her hand throbbed in pain, electric shocks running up her arm. She didn't have time to worry about pain. The adrenaline made it bearable, and being able to bear it pushed her feet into movement. Aleyna had time to reach Lilifred before the next shot. It was a small window, but she had to take it. Her soft soles of her boots pounded through the snow, forcing her body to move as quickly as she could. She couldn't fail. She couldn't be taken out this early in the game.
Despite realizing that it was a very real possibility, Lilifred hadn't thought that Aleyna actually WOULD react in the exact opposite way a living creature usually reacts to pain. She scrambled to shoot again, but the shot wasn't lined correctly, there was no time to line the shot correctly. She slammed the sniper-sight down and took a wide shot at the elf barreling towards her, hoping to graze her arm, maybe even hit the shoulder. Fuck being worried about making Ley a cripple- Lilifred wanted to live.
The second shot was easier to dodge, as it missed completely. Aleyna charged Lilifred, not even bothering with her weapons at the time being. She dove towards the gnome, meaning to tackle her to the frigid ground.
There was no efficient way to go from sniper's position to a dodge. She clenched her gun and made to lunge aside, but Aleyna's long elfin arms and bony elfin shoulders caught her in the collarbone, pinning her into the snow.
Aleyna grappled Lilifred, quickly moving to pin her down. Unlike other races closer to her size, she did not have to sit on her waist and lean to hold her hands with both of her own. Instead, she could easily pin the smaller woman with her weight. Aleyna's crooked grin curled across her face, appearing to be the cat who caught the canary.
Lilifred was a girl of prolific false bravado. This felt like a moment for that kind of thing, but the gnome could not mask the terror flickering in her orange eyes. Her gun had fallen just out of reach and she had limited use of her limbs; there was no easy way out of this one. Aleyna's facial expressions weren't quite crazed, but they were inappropriate considering the weight of what she implicitly planned to do. Trickster's grins weren't for murder unless you were a freaking sociopath. Nevertheless, words were Lilifred Bumblehurst's best and last recourse. If only she could find some
”D-do it then," she hissed, dry mouthed. Oh shit, had she really just said that? She said it again, "I... I'm not a patient person, okay, so just do it."
”Do what, exactly, Lilifred?" She questioned playfully. "Tell me what you want."
Lilifred's practiced bravado started coming back in bits and pieces and she actually found herself rolling her eyes, but her stutter was made worse by the wet chill crawling up her spine and settling in like a tired dog. She hoped it was from the snow and not from the poison on Aleyna's blades, "D-do your badass criminal thing and "off" me. I bet I'm an easier opponent than Ester and everything."
Aleyna was lounged over Lilifred like a stretched cat, torso and waist being the only parts to actually come into contact with her. Her legs folded back, swaying over her back like a bored teen waiting on the day to end. A gloved hand idly brushed a strand of dark hair from the gnome's face, smiling crookedly, "Oh, Lilifred. Who ever said I was going to kill you?"
Lilifred's mouth stretched a long, expressionless line across her face, pupils and irises travelling to the edge of each eye in confused revulsion as she watched Aleyna's touch her face from the corner of her vision. It seemed better to say nothing.
The elf pushed herself up, moving to sit on Lilifred's body. It was a rather awkward position, as she had to bend forward to keep the other's hands up. Aleyna's nose flared in a small, frustrated huff. Using one of her gloved palms, she deftly unbuckled the top of her armor, digging down the front. For a small, horrifying moment, there's no telling as to what she was going to pull out. Unsurprisingly, it was a dagger. Thin and long, it shined against the snow's reflected light. Aleyna was efficient, if nothing else. The knife hurdled towards Lilifred's upstretched hands, easily hitting home as if skin, muscle, and leather were nothing but the day's breeze.
With a final push, the elf sealed the dagger inside the earth's frozen ground. She dusted off her hands as if she had just added the final touches to a recipe, "There. That's much better, don't you think?"
Lilifred bit down on her lip so hard that it drew blood, but she did not cry out in pain. She was actually very proud of herself that she managed that so she answered snarkily, "N-not really. We'll have t-to agree to d-disagree right about h-here, f-freckles."
Aleyna sighed dramatically, "We've always disagreed with one another, haven't we?" Satisfied with her work, she pulled off her leather gloves, setting them aside. She swiped away a smear of blood with the pad of her thumb, bringing it up to her mouth and sampling it. "You have an awful taste, I'm afraid," She announced with an air of regret.
Lilifred quirked an eyebrow and asked, with forced calm, "W-what the f-fuck is wrong with you?"
"Plenty of things," She replied easily. "Everyone tastes different, after all, and I have trouble keeping my curiosity in check."
"... it's b-blood. It t-tastes like blood. S-stop acting like a f-freak and just get it over with. A-are you getting off on t-this or something?" Lilifred fought very hard to keep her voice from getting all high a tinny with panic. She had always kept a very tidy mental inventory of Kamil members as listed from "Most batshit insane" to "least batshit insane". Aleyna was never on the top of that list.
"It's more delicate than that, Lilifred," She grinned brightly. Aleyna was in good spirits, it seemed. Her rough palms cupped Lilifred's face, turning it from side to side. "Which do you favor, Lilifred? Left or right?"
"W-which do I favour w-what?" Lilifred asked shakily. Left or right? Was she going to-
She doted over Lilifred's face, brushing hair out of the way and gently trailing fingers over her cheekbones. "Maybe I could accentuate your beauty mark, hm?"
Lilifred inhaled sharply and held the breath for a long, tense moment. She answered on the exhale, "Y-yeah sure. T-that's my f-favourite part of m-my face, s-so go for it, I guess." she tried to laugh fakely, but it came out as a gravelly hack.
"As you wish," She replied sweetly, leaning forward to place a small, chaste kiss on the brow above the chosen side. It was not out of some sick affection, but instead as a seal on their 'deal'.
Lilifred's eyes went wide in shock first, but then she snapped them shut as she caught onto the subtext and realized what was about to happen. She began fiddling with her pinned hands, feeling out how securely the stiletto was lodged into the earth.
Her pink tongue darted out to lick her lips, wetting them from the cold winter's bite. Fingers circled the eye, pressing now and again to decide which way was best to go in. Aleyna had no plans to use a knife. "Brace yourself."
She did brace herself. Lilifred kept her eyes firmly shut as she pulled at her hands. The dagger had been thrust into the earth at an angle, making it impossible for Lilifred to just yank the damn thing out without severing several of the most important tendons in her hands. She began rocking her wrists from side to side, loosening the earth's grip on the blade.
Aleyna's face twisted into a frown. A frown turned into a firm backhanded slap across her face. "Sit still," She barked suddenly.
Lilifred stopped immediately. Obediently even. She did not open her eyes.
The elf growled lowly in frustration. Her left hand moved to pry open the eyelid by pulling the eyelashes. The right went to work. Her fingers were thin and well kept, so any extra uncomfortableness caused by biting nails or too-thick fingers was avoided. It did not make the process any less horrific. She had to get a good grip on the slick orb, sickly pulling it from its hold with no hurry about her actions.
The pain was indescribable. Ley's fingers did not cause a biting or cutting sensation at the edges of Lilifred's eye. Rather, the nails scraped into her socket with a sharp, bone deep ache. She couldn't even scream- not that she didn't try, but all that came out was a thin, gurgling noise at the back of her throat. The elf's fingernails trailed stickily over the sclera and snapped the optic nerve with barely a pinch. Lilifred blacked out for a moment and dizzily came to with spinning, speckled half-vision. Aleyna's fingers were still halfway into her skull, but her body was beginning to adjust to the pain. Now she could describe it and it fucking sucked.
Aleyna tightened her grip on the eye, pulling as if trying to take care of a particularly difficult knot in her thread. Eventually with a final tug, it popped free into her hand. She grinned victoriously, grabbing her dagger to slice apart any stray threads of nerves that were stubbornly holding on. She held her prize up to Lilifred, fingers slick with blood and other bodily fluids. "What do you think?" She asked proudly.
Even if she wanted to make some feeble attempt at witty repartee, there was no doing it. When Lilifred opened her mouth, there was nothing there except ragged breath and an indistinct, high pitched whine that came from somewhere between her nose and brain and was probably low enough Aleyna couldn't hear it even with her tattered elf ears. Her head clearing, Lilifred inched her hands to the side, testing the stiletto again. Despite Aleyna's best efforts, it had come loose enough that one good tug would probably set it free. She wasn't sure she had the energy to do anything with it if she could get it free, but pain and exhaustion were irrelevant right now. Lilifred was a coward, yes, but cowards were capable of dangerous things when they thought they were about to die. She ripped the stiletto from the ground and brought her hands over her head quickly, stabbing for Aleyna's abdomen, palms down and grasped about the hilt to prevent the whole thing from just sliding out the other side of her hands if the blade made contact.
Aleyna's crooked smirk was wiped off her face with the contact of her own blade piercing her stomach. She gasped quietly, eyes widening in surprise. The eyeball was dropped into the snow as she staggered back, stepping off of the gnome with a hand held to her abdomen. She swung back at Lilifred, attempting to hit her back anywhere.
Lilifred was shocked into inaction for a moment, hardly believing that her last ditch effort had succeeded. She blinked her remaining eye blearily and watched Aleyna fall back in what felt like slow motion. She pulled her hands apart- the blade still stuck through one when she groped for her gun. Her grip on it was not ideal, but the action of sweeping into a shooter's position removed her from the clumsy path of Aleyna's blade. When the elf staggered up again, Lilifred had her rifle angled at her chest. (How the hell was she ever going to be a good shot again with one fucking eye?) Her breathing was slow and even. The pain or poison had her dizzy- even if she managed to intimidate Aleyna off at this point, it was up in the air whether she'd make it to a cleric in time.
"S-so." she said, and waited anxiously for Aleyna to make her next move.
Aleyna stared at Lilifred for a few beats of a moment. With a sudden kick, she threw a slog of snow at Lilifred, hopefully blinding her temporarily. She snatched the eye out of the snow before rolling to the side, staring at gnome like a crazed animal.
When Aleyna kicked, Lilifred took a shot, missing by a wide margin as the snow smacked into her face. The sting of ice in her raw wound blinded her more than the impact to her good eye and she dropped her gun again, holding her head gingerly as she tried to shake the snow out of the damned hole in her face. When she looked up again, Aleyna was clutching her dismembered eye like it was something precious. They stared at each other, Lilifred with her knees and bloodied palms in the snow, Aleyna with Lilifed's eye in her palms.
”... s-seriously." Lilifred choked out, "W-what now?"
"What now? You go back and you spread the word. I killed Ester. I did this to you. I'm not holding back. This is the last chance to join me-- You tell this to Lazaar and anyone else too. I'll kill every one of you who stands in my way," She spoke evenly and surely, voice unwavering. She straightened up and held out Lilifred's eye, letting the golden-brown iris stare back at its previous owner. "I mean business."
This was her chance to say something like the truth, to tell Aleyna what was really going on, that she had a plan and Aleyna was fucking it all up. Or failing that, say something defiant like: "Hey. Shut up. You're being melodramatic." even if it wasn't true. But she snapped her mouth shut and made one-eyed contact with her former ally. She lowered her shoulders in defeat and nodded very slowly and very carefully.
"See you, Fred," Aleyna announced with a short wave. It wasn't warm and friendly, as her usual partings are, but instead as cold and chilly as the Winterspring day. She turned and ran swiftly, disappearing into the first available spattering of shadow.
Lilifred exhaled a soft sigh of relief, but didn't dare move just in case Aleyna decided to return. When she finally felt safe, she leant back on her heels, the entire world spinning with the shift. The first thing she did was extract the stiletto from her palm. The second thing she did was grab her gun. She wondered if she should do something useful like make a bandage from her scarf or check to see if Aleyna's dagger had cut her after all, but her head was all fuzzy and ideas weren't quite meeting the conclusions half way. She dragged herself to her feet and began stumbling towards her mechanostrider.
Aleyna hadn't been able to answer the most important question. Why is this the best life we can achieve? Soon, the elf would understand the gravity of those words. Lilifred steadied herself against the strider and touched two fingers to the edge of her empty eye socket. She was numb enough now that the wound felt little more than tender. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, it was difficult to believe that her eye was really gone- there was no anger or sadness, she just felt strange and empty inside. With a concentrated effort, she managed to pull herself onto the strider's back and with the last of her wits, programmed in a destination. As the engine began to rev up, Lilifred passed out.