The Aftermath

[Olivia Cycien]

Lina woke up with a splitting headache. She could feel the rough, cold cement floor beneath her left cheek. She opened her eyes and saw nothing but darkness. The chill from the floor she was laying on was slowly leaching the warmth of her body away from her and she shivered. She sat up with a groan as her aching head protested the movement. She rubbed the bump on the back of her skull, grimacing at the sticky feel of blood.

She vaguely recalled searching through some rubble that was near an old crumbling building. She had been looking for something she could use in her travels and then someone had hit her from behind. Maybe they had hit her with one of the bricks that had been laying around the area. If that was the case then she should be thankful that she wasn't dead. But what was she doing here? And where was here?

She squinted her eyes into the gloom as she looked around, trying to determine more about her surroundings. Vague moonlight shimmered through barred windows, creating more shadows rather than illuminating the area. Just seeing the bars however was enough to give her a good idea of where she was. Suddenly, her breath stopped in her throat as she spotted a dark shape in the farthest corner of the room.

As she rose to her feet, she moved one hand quietly around to the small of her back where she kept a dagger, only to discover that there was nothing there. She suddenly realized that she had been stripped of all her weapons. They, whoever "they" were, had even taken her jacket and shoes! She was wearing only her shirt and jeans. Damn!

"Who's there?" She called out, trying to sound braver than she actually felt.

[Painless]

There's this strange idea people have, that ice is cold. Even Nolan used to think that, though he was having real trouble remembering why. The truth is, nothing is cold. Everything else is just far too warm. Like this floor. Hard stone, slightly porous, it would rapidly take on the temperature of the surrounding area. It was greedy stone, the kind that would absorb anything you fed to it. And it was drinking.

Finally, the pain registered, and he forced himself to his feet. Even that was exhausting, and the effort left him lightheaded. He reached out, using the wall to steady himself. But instead of more solid, thirsty stone, he found bars. These weren't cold, but they were at least not so burning hot as the stone, and he rested his head against them, trying to clear his mind. He'd been stalking his prey. A deer, starved and pathetic looking, but alive. It would have made a good meal. He needed a good meal, he'd been living on nothing but dried out fruit and rotten vegetables. Anything he could eat raw. He couldn't bring himself to cook.

Whatever they had done to him, he couldn't remember. But it left him with frozen blood caked on his head, matted in his hair. That, he realized, was what he was feeling, not the bars. The bars weren't cool at all. In fact...

He leaped back, hissing. The bars of his cell were burning hot. Too hot to touch, and getting hotter. He backed away, shrinking into a corner, trying to get cold once again. That was when he noticed her. She must have been there the whole time, but when she got to her feet and spoke, that was when she actually got his attention. Her turned to her, and tried to get a look. Female. More than that, he couldn't really gather. Was she a threat? Was she the one who put him in here, or was she a fellow prisoner?

"The name's Nolan. Who the hell are you?"

[Olivia Cycien]

Her body instantly tensed at the harsh sounding voice. She had forgotten about her aching head but it was happy to remind her as she turned to look in the direction of the voice. Trying to ignore the pain in her head, she stood with her feet slightly separated. She kept her arms down, trying to appear relaxed, but she was ready to strike at a moments notice.

She could see a shape moving in the corner and she narrowed her gaze, trying to see better. The darkness hampered her efforts. She frowned as she began to wonder what sort of trick this was. The idea that this person had been watching her as she lay unconscious all this time was creepy. Who did he think he was?

Then she realized that she could shed a little light on the subject. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers together. Instantly a small fire came to life between her thumb and forefinger. She raised her hand higher so that she could see into the corner. She saw a man with a nasty gash on his head and blood stuck in his hair. It looked like she'd gotten in a couple of good licks before losing consciousness. That made her feel better and she took a step closer.

"My name is Lina." She put her other hand on her hip and narrowed her green eyes at him. "Now, do you want to tell me what the hell is going on? Or do you just like pain?"

[Painless]

When her abilities flared up, so did his fear. He hissed once again, and shrank away from her. "Stay away from me, you freak." There wasn't enough room to get away. And she had fire. Fire was death.

He tore his eyes away from the flickering flame, though it kept calling back to him. It was hard not to stare at something so small, yet so deadly. He forced his breathing under control. In... out... in... out... Just like that. Each breath soothed him, and each one seemed to draw the warmth out of the room. He could already see his breath, hanging in the air like smoke. It was good, wet air. There was water everywhere, in the stone, in the air, in the walls. He raised a hand to his head and drew away the frozen blood, shaping it into a crude dagger. Could he get this embedded in her neck before she burned him to cinders? He wasn't sure.

"I don't know why I'm here. I was out hunting, and someone attacked me." That's right, keep talking. Keep the room getting colder and colder. So cold that even these red hot bars would shatter like icicles. So cold that the floor would grow slick with a thick layer of ice. Ice made water, and water killed fire. Ice was life, fire was death. "I don't know what's going on. If I did, I would tell you."

Was it his imagination, or was her flame beginning to flicker and die? It didn't matter. The whole room was chilled. He was starting to get comfortable.

"You're bleeding," he observed. Presumably, the same people who had thrown him in there had gotten to her as well.

[Olivia Cycien]

"No shit Sherlock!" She replied, still glaring at him. "Since you're the one that did this, you ought to know!" Was it her imagination or was it getting colder in here? She frowned and looked around. Yes, the air was starting to get colder and the walls shimmered where the light from her flame was hitting them.

There was movement and her focus returned to the man in front of her. He was shaping his frozen blood into some sort of weapon it looked like. Wait... frozen blood? What the hell? The room was colder than ever and she shivered. The flame between her fingers was growing smaller and sputtering. Soon it would go out. She frowned. Only one thing had any control over her fire ability and that was ice and snow.

Her gaze settled once more on the man. "You're an Ice Mage aren't you? Well I guess that explains why you conked me on the head but it still doesn't explain what I'm doing here." Her anger flared up again bringing the flame back from weak sputtering life to a more brilliant light. She decided that if he tried to attack her again, she'd go for the ice thing--it looked like a bloody dagger--and melt it.

[Painless]

"I keep telling you, I don't know why you're here." He ran his hands through his thick, dark hair. Ice crystals were starting to gather on the edges, and it was a simple matter to shape them into a helmet. Not very effective against a fire freak like her, but at the very least, it was easing the pain in his head. More importantly, it wasn't hot. The room was finally manageable. And the flame was definitely flickering. If he could weaken her enough, she'd be helpless.

"Besides, you're a fire freak. What possible reason could I have to not only keep you alive, but lock you in a room with me? A room that's way too hot. So either I'm crazy, or you're an idiot, and I know I'm not crazy." It probably wasn't a good idea to antagonize her, but Nolan didn't really care. She was doing plenty to antagonize him.

The dagger kept growing. It was more like a sword now. It was a simple matter to pick up the moisture in the air and add it to the blood. Of course, if it came to blows, she'd have an advantage too. The dry air would make it easier for her fire to burn. The best thing to do would be to get her encased in ice. Not an easy feat, of course. When she'd gotten pissed at him, the air around her started to steam. She was melting all the ice that would have caked on her... and turning it into mist. Good job, idiot.

[Olivia Cycien]

She rolled her eyes. Her glare sharpened even as the fire between her fingers strengthened. What arrogance! What nerve! Why she ought to fry him where he stood! Ice mages, they never learned. You had to practically beat them over the head with knowledge before they realized the truth. Her thoughts were interrupted as the other things he said began to sink in.

He had said the room was hot. Of course to him it would be hot in here. Maybe he was telling the truth and maybe he wasn't. Either way she had to get them out of here before they got into a long discussion. Besides this was not exactly the ideal spot for a sparring match if that was what things came to.

An idea was forming in her mind. If he was willing to help her out, then maybe they could work out a deal. She wasn't thrilled about the idea but surely they were both better off if they worked together. Of course, it was possible that he had his own agenda and this was all some sort of sadistic trick. How could she possibly be sure of her safety?

Another question occurred to her. If what he was saying was true and he had nothing to do with the attack on her, then the blood on the side of his head would mean that he had also been attacked. But why had they both been put in the same room? Had someone wanted to provoke them into a fight? She shook her head, causing another flare of pain to arc across her head like a dagger.

This wasn't the time to stand around asking questions or waiting for the answers to become clearer. If he was the thug who had attacked her and brought her here then she would know soon enough. She eyed the bars as the idea she had became clearer, then focused once more on Nolan. She looked at him and arched an eyebrow.

"Ok, Let's say I believe you. You want to get out of here or what?"

[Painless]

"Get out of here? No, I want to sit in a burning hot cell for the rest of my life. What do you think?" Stupid fire freaks. They were always getting angry when they should be thinking. Nolan knew the value of thought. Hell, he even knew the value of a fire mage. They had abilities that could be useful to him, so long as they weren't directed his way. It was something to consider, for the moment.

He wasn't sure whether to trust her. Sure, if she needed him, she'd use him. But what about after that? When he'd outlived his usefulness, she'd be perfectly ready to abandon him. It was a damn shame, especially because he wouldn't do the same to her. He wasn't really that much of an idealist, but he believed in pragmatic altruism. Help his fellow man, or woman, in this case, so the both of them could live to fight another day.

He wondered why she even needed him. If she'd been in the cell alone, she could have just escaped, melted the bars right off the walls. Then it clicked. "Whoever put us in here, they wanted us to fight. They knew we could get out on our own, so they put us in here together." It was amazing what a little brain power could do.

Which meant he had to make a peace offering. Unpleasant as it would be, he eased up on the cold front. The room would take a while to warm up again. But at least he had his ice. He dispersed the dagger into a sort of vest to keep his body cool. If Lina got to close, the thing would detonate and fill her with ice shrapnel.

"Yes, I want to get out of here. If you melt the bars, or I freeze them, the temperature will be intense enough to kill us both. But if we keep heating and cooling them over and over, they should get brittle enough to break on their own."

[Olivia Cycien]

Lina gave him an odd look and smiled. "That is exactly what I was thinking." Maybe a truce wouldn't be so bad after all. Of course he still didn't know much for an Ice Mage but that was ok. Maybe he'd figure it out. She wondered how long after they got out of here that it would take him to go running off. She didn't mind Ice Mages, they were pretty useful, but that didn't mean they could be trusted. She'd have to keep an eye on him.

She moved over to the bars and held up her flaming fingers. The bars already had a few cracks and looked rather rusty. She didn't think it would take long for the plan to work. Before she tried anything at all, she wanted to get a good view of the area. It wouldn't do them any good to break out only to get attacked again.The window was too high to just look out of. She needed something to stand on.

She looked around the ratty interior of the jail cell and saw a rusty looking bed with a decrepit mattress that looked impossibly ancient. It was set against one wall and stood about six inches off the floor. She thought it would be good enough to use. After a moment of concentration, the flames on her fingers grew smaller and faded away.

When she was sure her hand was cool enough she used both hands to grab the rail. She tugged and dragged the bed until it was beneath the window, then she stepped up onto it and peered out through the bars. The area appeared to be entirely deserted and she frowned. She looked over in Nolan's direction. He was only a dark shape once again.

"The area looks deserted. Something is wrong."

[Painless]

The dark suited him just fine. Dark and cold went hand in hand. More importantly, dark meant that the fire was out. If he wanted to take her down, now would be the time. She had her back turned, he could get the dagger in her before she could even blink. But they had a truce. She was helping him, so hopefully that meant she wasn't all bad. When she wasn't lit up, it was harder to make himself feel threatened by a girl like Lina. She didn't look so tough.

"If it's deserted, that means everyone else has somewhere to be. That means they're distracted. We have to take this slow, figure out where they went." As long as she kept the fire out, Nolan didn't mind staying here a little while longer, long enough to make sure that their escape could succeed. Part of that meant learning the patterns of whoever had taken them, the better to exploit them.

He went over to the wall, though he didn't stray too close to her. She was standing on a bed, the only bed in the room. If they had to stay here, he'd gladly yield it to her. Not out of any sense of chivalry, but simply because he had less control over his powers when he was asleep. If he spent the night in that bed, he'd wake up to find the frame frozen solid, and the bed definitely wouldn't survive that level of stress.

She was clutching the window, still, though much more easily than he had. The bars were probably just as hot as the ones on the cell door, but unlike her, he didn't have to touch them. Ice was solid, and that gave it some major advantages over fire. A quick turn of his hand, and he'd have a nice little ice shelf to stand on. He hesitated, though. No reason to alarm her.

"Step back for a second, let me get a look."

[Olivia Cycien]

She moved off the bed and backed up so that he'd have plenty of room. Why were Ice Mages so skittish all the time?

"I don't think we're going to figure out where they went while we're stuck in here. I don't like how quiet it is though. Why would we be left here unguarded? Maybe it's a trap." She frowned and bit her bottom lip as she considered this.

What was going on? Her head ached fiercely and she was tired. Her thoughts felt muddled. She would not rest until they were out of here though. Until she felt safe enough to rest. She eyed Nolan's shape in the dark and wondered if she'd ever feel safe enough to sleep again. Her anger flared momentarily. Who ever had done this was going to find out just how pissed she was! She was in the mood to knock some heads together.

With effort she tamped down her anger. Now was not the time to put it to good use. Her father had taught her that self-control was the most important thing a Fire Mage had to learn. She tried hard to emulate him but there were times, like now for instance, that she felt more out of control than ever. Maybe she got it from her mother's side. Her musings were cut short as she heard Nolan move.

[Painless]

He let the ice flow down off his body and pool on the floor, where it shaped itself in to a small pillar with a wide top. Perfect for Nolan to stand on. It would never support the weight of a normal human, but he had no such problem. It was ice, so it was his. He never slipped on the stuff, and on the rare occasions that it snowed, he was able to run on top of it without punching through the crust. He'd heard about the idea of nuclear winter, but whatever that was, it had passed before he was born. Or at least before he was old enough to remember.

But just like Lina said, the place was deserted. He couldn't see anything. "Hmm..." He shaped some ice into a flat plane, shiny like a crude mirror. A very crude mirror. He was still learning to control his powers, and while he could get ice into virtually any shape he wanted, the fine details were still hard. But it was enough to show movement, and even outside their field of vision, everything was perfectly still.

"If this is a trap, it's a pretty elaborate one. This place looks pretty big, and if they captured us, they must have been confident they could hold us. That means there'll be a lot of them. They already have us, so instead of trying to trap us, why don't they just keep us under guard."

He wondered where they had gone to. It was a little worrying. Whoever got them could handle an ice mage and a fire mage, so if something had made them run away, he didn't want to deal with it.

[Olivia Cycien]

If there were no guards then it meant something had happened to make the guards disappear or run away. The thought that there might be something out there mean enough to scare the guards away made her hot blood run cold with fear. The cowardly part of her wanted to suggest that they just stay right where they were until the situation clarified but she knew that wasn't going to happen.

She straightened her posture and lifted her chin in stubborn defiance, calling on every ounce of her father's blood to get her through this. She pictured his face in her mind, smiling and kind. She felt her fear fade as she thought of his quiet strength and proud determination. When she spoke her voice was calm and collected.

"We have no choice, we have to get out of this place. What ever is going on right now won't be nearly as bad as whatever they have planned for us. We'd better get started." She took a step toward the bed. "It will go faster if we do this together as quickly as possible."

[Painless]

"Okay. Stay as far away from me as you can. This is going to take some concentration, I don't need to be worrying about you getting hurt." Still standing on the ice, he breathed out, slowly. It was a wide, slow breath, intended to cool the air a little so he could get started. Then he blew right on each bar, running his breath up and down each one. Water started to condense on each on, then ran down the sides.

When the room started to get just below unbearably hot, he stepped down, pulling the ice away with him. He knew that even this temperature would probably be too much for a fire mage. It was just below freezing, as the ice crystals now settling on the bars proved.

Now it was her turn. He said as much, backing away to let her work. She was probably going to bring up the temperature until he felt like he was melting, so he got as far away from the window as he possibly could and tried to stay cool. "Remember, you're not trying to melt the bars, just heat them up. And the faster you do it, the better."

[Olivia Cycien]

She backed away and stood near the door, watching as he worked on the bars. She felt the room growing colder and colder and shivered. She concentrated and gave herself just enough warmth to keep from freezing. While she worked to keep warm, she watched as water started to condense on the bars, then hardened into glittering ice crystals.

When he stepped away from the window and told her not to melt the bars, she rolled her eyes. What did he think she was a complete idiot? She was not a child and hadn't been a child for a long while. Really, what right did he have to tell her how to do anything when it was obvious he couldn't even control his own powers?

A voice tried to pipe up in her head reminding her that she was still learning too. She ignored the voice and ignored Nolan too as she stalked past him. Her hands were heating up as she moved toward the bed. She stepped up onto the bed which creaked alarmingly under her weight and touched the bars. Instead of making the room warmer, which she could have undoubtedly done, she focused on her hands, bringing her fire and heat into them.

The ice on the bars began to melt. Before it could fully transform into water it began to hiss and steam. The metal of the bars began to glow red hot. She released the bars and called to Nolan.

"Quick blow on it again and freeze it. Never mind about me. Just hurry!" She moved her hands behind her back to keep them a safe distance from Nolan.

[Painless]

It took another round or two, back and forth, before the bars were brittle enough that Nolan thought he could break them. They were black with soot and looked like they were cracking already. He cooled them once more for good measure. He rubbed his hand, building up a thin layer of ice. The bars might well still be hot, and he didn't need any more injuries.

He pulled back and hit as hard as he could. One of the bars cracked, with a sound like a gunshot. Nolan jumped back; he hadn't expected it to be that loud. More importantly, the sound was going to attract the attention of anyone near enough to hear it. There was only one bar broken, and even that one was still in place. They'd have to try harder if they wanted to get out.

"You give it a shot this time. Maybe you can hit a little harder. I don't know why, but even after I froze them, those bars are still really hot." As proof, he held up the ice on his hand, which had melted partially where it touched the bar.

He stepped back, getting away into the corner, and taking the ice with him.

"And watch out. If there's anyone around here, they definitely heard the sound of that thing breaking."

[Olivia Cycien]

As if she didn't already know that, Lina thought sourly. Between the two of them they had been able to make the bars more brittle. She thought for sure that he'd be able to break the bar, but she could see that he wasn't able to put his full force into the swing. He was probably getting weaker from the lack of nearby water and ice. She'd have to make sure he got to a river or something soon.

Instead of paying attention to the bars she looked around the room. Finally, she saw what she wanted. An old crumbling brick had fallen out of the wall some time ago and was resting on the floor. She went over and picked it up turning it in her hands. It looked sturdy enough to do the job.

She returned to the bars and stepped back up on the bed. She peered closely at the metal and was satisfied with what she saw. The bars were covered with cracks and still frozen from Nolan's last job on them. She moved her arm back and swung with every ounce of strength she had in her. The brick slammed into the bars hard enough to send reverberations up her arm. There was a loud metallic splintering sound as two of the bars shattered.

Steeling herself, Lina repeated the swing once more on two of the other bars. The results were just as noisy. Now four bars were missing out of the window. It looked like more than enough space for them both to squeeze through. She turned to Nolan.

"Come on! Let's go!"

[Painless]

He scrambled up out the window, ice platforms appearing under his feet to help him make the climb. It was easy enough to fit through the window, and it helped that he could ice over the sharp parts of the splintered bars. He was about to offer a hand down to Lina when he remembered her fire. A single touch would probably burn his hand off.

Instead, he waited for her to come up, looking around all the while. The whole place was still deserted, though he could get a better look from this angle. It was some sort of compound. Part of the walls were old stone, probably pre-war buildings. But there were also a lot of newer walls, made of wood or scrap metal, bolted and welded in place. They looked thin enough that either one of them could break through easily.

The downside was, it was far warmer out here than it had been in their little cell. And in such an open area, if would be difficult to cool things down enough to matter. Instead, he just pulled the ice in around him, looking around for a source of water where he could gather more.

"Come on up," he called to Lina. "I don't see anyone around, at least not yet. Let's get out of here before they do show up."

[Olivia Cycien]

Lina hoisted herself up into the window frame and looked around. The moon was a bright silver orb in the night sky. The amazing thing was that the sky was so clear. Usually, bruised looking clouds covered the sky day and night, a remnant of the Old War. She could see the area pretty well. She frowned at what she saw. It looked like some sort of military compound. Who would have a use for such a place? Just what in the heck was going on here?

She gauged the distance to the ground and then jumped. She landed cat silent below the window. She stepped to one side to make room for Nolan to land while she looked cautiously around. The night was eerily silent and she felt the fine hairs on the back of her neck rise. Something was definitely out here, but what was it? More importantly, where was it? A moment ago, the night had seemed brightly illuminated, but now it seemed dark and threatening. Shadows seemed to spring up where there had been none before and she shivered.

She looked to the right along the wall and saw something that made her feel faint hope. Under a strangled and blackened tree there was a well. Where there was a well, there might be water! She looked up to where Nolan was still perched on the ledge and frowned. Did he think they had all the time in the world to sit up there? Impatiently, she motioned for him to come down.

[Painless]

Nolan jumped down, a little louder than Lina had. On snow, ice, or even frost, he could be quiet as a mouse. Even quieter, actually. Mice could be unbelievably loud, tunneling through the snow and kicking up an amazing racket. But even on soft ground, he was much less comfortable. Still, it wasn't enough to attract attention, he hoped. Certainly it wasn't nearly as loud as the bars were.

He followed her gaze, and spotted the well. Water! He ran towards it, not a care in the world. The ground was just a little wet here, and that was enough to get it frozen beneath his feet. He took light, bounding steps over to the well, not being careful enough to watch for a trap. Leave that to Lina.

When he reached the well, he peered inside, but he couldn't see the bottom. He dropped in a chunk of ice to see if it made a splash. But it didn't. In fact, he didn't hear anything at all. Either the well was so deep that he couldn't hear it hit the bottom, or there was something soft down there to muffle its fall, or there was just no bottom to hit.

Warm as it was, he shivered.

[Olivia Cycien]

She barely had time to register that Nolan had landed beside her before he was running. His had obviously seen the well and was now running toward it oblivious to anything that might attack him. She hissed his name and reached out to grab him, not caring if she burned him in the process. Better a little burn than a lot dead! But he was too quick for her.

Muttering a curse under her breath she chased after him, trying to look everywhere at once. She reached the well seconds after he did. He was bending over it and peering into the darkness hopefully. She watched as he dropped something into the well. There was nothing. No splash. No clunk. Just a vast waiting silence.

Suddenly, she knew. Something was in that well. Something bad. There was still no sound from the well but she knew just the same that something was rushing up from that silent darkness. She looked over at Nolan her eyes wide.

"Run!" She shouted at him. No point in bothering with stealth now. They had to haul ass out of here and fast!

[Painless]

Something had spooked Lina. He had no idea what. Usually, anything that scared a fire mage was good news for an ice mage. But this time, he wasn't so sure. Whatever was in that well wasn't good news. It could... He wasn't sure what it could do. Kill them? But not just kill. Something worse.

He didn't know what was worse than death, but he wasn't going to stick around and find out what.

Fortunately, there were plenty of ways out. He looked over to a wooden wall. It looked a little rotten, a little warped. Hopefully that meant there was water in the wood. He breathed hard onto his hands and arms, cooling them, even as he reached out to the water in the wood, willing to to turn to ice, to expand, to shatter the weakened wall. He slipped past Lina, hoping she'd have the sense to follow him through.

The wood shattered as he burst through. He had just enough time to tuck and roll before he hit the ground, and he came up running. They were still in the compound, but he saw what looked like an outer wall and made a break for it. He looked back to make sure Lina was still close.

"Come on!"

[Olivia Cycien]

Lina didn't wait around for an engraved invitation. She ran as fast as she could, keeping close to Nolan as he ran toward the wooden wall. When the wood shattered, she grabbed some of the pieces that flew by without slowing down, and began to eat them. Fuel for the fire. From the look of that next wall she would need it.

From behind them came a terrible roar. It sounded like nothing she had ever heard. She did not look back to see what it was. She focused on making it to the outer wall. Running faster than ever she felt her hands beginning to heat up. The blood in her body was heating up to the boiling point. No human alive could live with those temperatures... unless they were a Fire Mage.

"Nolan! Move!" She shouted. Wanting him out of the way so she could blast the wall they were rapidly approaching. She moved her hands out in front of her and formed a circle with them by pressing her fingertips and her thumbs together. A ball of fire began to grow in the center of this circle. It grew bigger as she spread her hands apart, until it was the size of a basketball.

[Painless]

Nolan jumped away. He didn't want to, but running back towards the wall was the only way to get a safe distance away from the fireball. He did his best to shield himself with ice, drawing up as much moisture from the surrounding area as he could. Even so, when the fireball went off, it vaporized the first layer of protection, and left his whole body steaming. He screamed in pain, but after a moment, it passed.

He caught a glimpse of... something. Whatever the thing that came from the well was, it hurt to even look at it. He ran toward the hole in the wall, vaulting through the center, feeling his skin start to blister as he passed through the partially molten corona of rock.

And then they were out of the compound, running across solid ground, running away as fast as they could. He caught up to Lina, but maintained a safe distance. She was still burning hot. He tried to reform some of the ice, but it was proving very difficult.

"What the hell is that thing?"

[Olivia Cycien]

That was exactly what she wondered too, but she wasn't going to turn back and find out. She had the horrible feeling that just looking at the creature would sap her strength and make her legs turn to jelly. She was panting heavily from running but she could see that Nolan was in much worse shape. She had to get him somewhere cold fast.

She didn't bother to answer Nolan's question. Now was not the time for contemplation. She raced across the flat dusty plain at breakneck speed, not caring if she should fall, only wanting to get away from what ever that thing was.

The ground beneath her feet looked somehow naked and lost. In some places it was hard and cracked as if it hadn't seen water in centuries. The moonlight shone on something in the distance. It appeared to be in constant motion as it rippled and moved in a sinuous dance. She smelled moisture in the air.

"Nolan!" She pointed. "Look! A river! Can you make it?" The dirt suddenly changed from the desert hard pan to softer more resilient soil and she nearly tripped over her own feet at the quick change. By some miracle, she managed to stay upright and keep running.