Chapter Text
The steel coffin that surrounded them groaned beneath the waves, interrupted only by the shuffling of equipment being donned. The loud rasp of velcro as a pocket was torn open, and the sharp clunk of a magazine being loaded reverberated dully in the small submarine compartment.
Tanya stared absentmindedly at her squadron, her thoughts directed towards their mission.
'Damn that Schugel. As if risking my life with his experimental junk wasn't enough, now I have to go save his ass from the Unified States!?'
Tanya sighed pitifully. Orders were orders, and she'd received hers. Rescue Schugel. Take anyone and anything they could carry. Burn whatever was left to the ground so that the States wouldn't gain a competitive edge in the war. The Empire was already on the backfoot, losing ground day by day no matter how many young men they fed to the meat grinder. God forbid the States be given anything that might accelerate the Empire's downfall.
'And if we can recreate whatever he's been researching back in the Empire, then maybe…' It would take a miracle, but she was due one or two of those by now, wasn't she?
Tanya noticed the sounds beginning to die down. Her squadron was ready, some speaking quietly amongst each other while others waited patiently for orders. Tanya raised her voice and cried out, "Fall in!"
Words died on lips as the members of her squadron did as directed. They separated to either side of the compartment, creating a space through the middle that she could walk through if she wished. Smiling tensely, Tanya did just that. Her small steps thumped lightly against the floor of their underwater coffin. She kept her back straight, arms clasped behind.
"In only a few minutes, we will reach the shores of a small island off the coast of the Unified States. Central Intelligence has received word that the Doctor is being held there as a prisoner of war, forced to work with them on technological advancements. We don't know what research he's been conducting, but given the nature of his previous inventions, whatever it is cannot fall into the hands of anyone other than the Empire!"
Tanya paused as there was a brief cheer from the handful of soldiers she'd been able to bring. She used that opportunity to pivot on one foot and face back the way she'd come from. The faces that looked back at her were eager for battle, their senses honed to a razor's edge and their pockets loaded with hundreds of rounds, each capable of liberating their enemies from life itself.
Tanya's eyes briefly roamed from face to face. 'Serebryakov, Weiss, Koenig, Neumann, Grantz…' Each had a small group of their own that they would be in command of, aside from Serebryakov who Tanya always kept at her side. 'I brought the best I could. It had better be enough.'
"This mission is a total blitzkrieg, gentlemen. We need to get in, grab the doctor and his compatriots along with any research we can get our hands on, and return to the submarine all while the Unified States is caught with their pants down. Unfortunately, Central Intelligence wasn't able to procure any blueprints of the research compound we'll be infiltrating, so we'll be flying blind once we get there. Lieutenant Serebryakov and I will enter the building in search of Schugel, while Commander Weiss' squad liberates any other worthwhile 'assets'. The rest of you will stick to the air and watch our backs."
Serebryakov smiled as she caught Tanya's eye. She nodded readily, her hands clenching more tightly to the rifle she held.
Tanya nodded imperceptibly in return. She was opening her mouth to assure the older woman before she was cut off by the speakers buzzing to life.
Momentary static heralded the voice of the captain, "Major Degurechaff, we are approximately four hundred meters from the shore line. Our vessel will breach the waves in two minutes. Prepare for departure."
Tanya sighed, then shot her men a look that she hoped inspired confidence. "No time like the present. Let's show those damn yankees why you don't steal from the Empire!"
There was another cheer as Tanya led the way through the submarine. Whether imagined or not, she could almost feel their steel coffin rising towards the open air. After the better part of three weeks spent beneath the waves, Tanya couldn't wait to return to the blue skies above.
The submarine was just beginning to breach as her squadron reached the compartment housing the ladder shaft. Tanya was the first up. A slight giddiness born from so many hours breathing stale air urged her to climb quickly. The first bit of real sunlight in weeks pierced her gaze as soon as she opened the hatch, forcing her to blink back the sudden brightness while simultaneously basking in the breeze.
Tanya climbed out on to the top of the ship and stretched, letting out an uncharacteristic hum of delight as her back popped and her golden hair billowed in the wind. The rest of her men seemed to be similarly relieved as they escaped the watery deathtrap, each taking a moment to savor their first breath of fresh air.
Once the last of them exited and closed up the ship, Tanya allowed her mask to slip back over her face. Her expression returned to one more serious.
"No mistakes today, gentlemen! Everyone here will be returning to the ship in one piece, with Doctor Schugel in toe! Let's earn our paychecks!"
The soldiers threw up an arm each in unison, fists towards the sky. "For the Empire!"
With one last smirk, Tanya activated her Type-97 and took off. The island was directly ahead, only around a mile across and a few miles away from the mainland. As she gained height, Tanya could see the canopy of trees opening up to reveal the military compound nestled within.
"Magic signatures detected! They've noticed us! Approaching from one o'clock!" Serebryakov shouted in warning.
'That was fast…' Tanya narrowed her eyes at the enemy mages in the distance. 'It's only been a minute since we breached. Either they knew we were coming, or luck just isn't on our side.' She glanced up into the clouds above and sighed dramatically. 'Is it ever?'
Shaking herself out of it, Tanya glanced off to the rest of the formation on her right. "Neumann! Take your squad to intercept! Once we're past, Koenig's squadron will circle back and watch our flank! Keep them occupied!"
There was a brief chorus of agreement as Neumann took charge, flying past with the handful of mages under his command. Each of them was an Ace in their own right. Tanya was confident the enemy would pose little issue.
Magically enhanced rifle rounds began blasting back and forth between Neumann and the enemy. Tanya led the rest on a wide arc, cutting past them at an angle before readjusting their course. Koenig and his squad fell behind as commanded, turning on the enemy to pick off any that attempted to pursue.
Tanya took a closer look at the facility ahead of them, less than a hundred meters to go. She could see men on the ground, scrambling desperately to get to armaments that might pose even the slightest threat to a group of mages.
"The rest of you, pick off the ants and make sure no one else takes over this airspace!" Tanya spotted the entrance to the most prominent building. The exterior was more heavily guarded, with concrete walls lined with barbed wire surrounding the perimeter. "Visha, Weiss! With me!"
Tanya could feel Serebryakov and Commander Weiss' squad on her tail as they all dived towards the facility. Shots rang out, flying past them to pepper the enemy soldiers below and causing untold havoc with each magical eruption. A stockpile of ammo was hit, exploding into a bright burst of flame that leveled half of a secondary building. Pieces of soldiers were scattered across the ground, other's screams soon silenced by follow up shots.
Tanya raised her own rifle as they approached the front entrance to the compound. She could see some kind of advanced locking mechanism on the entryway. 'It's a good thing I brought a master key.' She grinned as she fired, blowing the doors off their hinges moments before she and the rest landed.
A few soldiers shouted as they rounded the corner, trying to get a drop on the group of mages. They were immediately blown to pieces by a well-placed shot from above.
Tanya ignored them regardless. Their shields were more than capable of handling small arms fire from the common rabble. She signaled Serebryakov to follow and jogged past the melted doorway. One door was lodged into the wall, while the other had been flung even further inside.
Previously pristine white walls and tiled ceilings greeted their eyes as they rushed in. Another door lay ahead, a double layer of protection to bar the way of any intruders. This one at least had a security station. The man behind it raised a pistol to fire at them but was quickly dispatched by Serebryakov.
Uncertain what might be beyond this layer, Tanya wasn't about to take any more chances on potentially harming the doctor. Thinking quickly, she shoved her magically enhanced bandolier into the door jam and increased her strength enough to pry it open like a tin can. The door itself easily gave way, revealing a large lab within.
The room was a mess of mangled equipment and hastily scrawled writings on chalkboards scattered across the walls. Other scientists cowered in fear behind their desks and lab equipment as they stared at the mages that had so easily gained entry.
"Are we taking them, Major?" Weiss asked. His rifle was already raised, trained on the largest group of scientists.
'There are more than I was expecting…' Tanya sighed internally. It was going to be a challenge to get this many unwilling captives back to the ship. If left here, their potential threat to the Empire couldn't be understated though. Regardless, she hated wasting great minds, even when they happened to be working for the enemy.
"Prioritize the scientists. If anyone has hands left, take whatever looks the most valuable. Once we've evacuated, the rest of their research will be target practice." Tanya paused, glancing over at the commander. "Save one. We need to ask them where the Doctor is."
Weiss got to work, ordering his squad to grab two captives apiece when able, while others began taking quick photos of the diagrams and the equipment left on the tables. One last scientist remained, an older, stoic man that stared Tanya down as she approached.
Tanya grimaced. He didn't seem like the type to cooperate. "Where is Doctor Adelheid von Schugel?" She asked roughly.
The man sneered. "Empire dog! Why would I tell you that?"
Tanya narrowed her eyes in annoyance. 'We don't have time for this.' She aimed briefly and pulled her trigger, blowing a couple fingers off the hand at his side. He screamed and fell to the floor, cradling what remained of his mangled digits. "I'm the one asking questions. You can either answer them, or suffer and then answer them. Where is Schugel?"
"D-Down the lift!" The man whimpered pathetically and pointed vaguely towards the back of the room, all defiance gone. "W-We keep his experiment d-down there!"
"Thank you." Tanya shouldered her rifle, then stepped past him towards the elevator. Her boots squelched in his blood as she passed, leaving behind a trail of small, bloody boot prints. She spoke over her shoulder, "Take him back to the ship and get him patched up, Weiss. I'm sure he'll be a valuable resource for the Empire. Visha, with me."
Serebryakov glanced at the whimpering man before joining Tanya at the elevator. It was a bit more advanced than the ones in the Empire, but still archaic compared to the ones Tanya had used on Earth.
Tanya waited until Serebryakov joined her in the lift before starting it. There was a rumble from above as the motors activated. The elevator shook once before the doors closed, and it began its descent.
With magical perception, Tanya could feel every foot that passed outside the walls of their cramped box. Her eyes slowly widened in surprise as they lowered thirty feet, forty, fifty… 'What the hell are you working on, Doctor?' If the Unified States thought burying it beneath this much earth and concrete was necessary…
Tanya was starting to get a bad feeling about this.
The elevator didn't stop until nearly a hundred feet had gone by. The air itself was warmer, and she could feel herself becoming claustrophobic all over again. At least she'd had a fair chance of escaping the sub if it was breached. The only thing connecting her to the skies now was a small vertical shaft, so far beneath the earth, and prone to failure if anything went wrong.
The door opened. The light inside momentarily blinded Tanya until her light blue eyes had a chance to adjust. The underground lab came into focus, or at least, the observation deck above the lab.
Tanya stepped warily out, her weapon prepped for any surprises and her finger tensing against the trigger. In front of her was a long desk against the wall, and above it, a window looking down into an expansive lab. Unknown gears and devices whirred and clicked in the room beyond. Cables surged with energy, each pulse intermittently brightening the room further as light emanated across those that snaked along the ground.
Looking more closely at the central device, Tanya felt a hollow pit open in her stomach.
"Ah, Major! I knew you'd be here!" The mad doctor spoke joyously as he stepped from around the back side of the enormous central contraption. It pulsed with blue energy as well, almost mimicking his greeting.
"Doctor… we've come to take you home." Tanya spoke carefully. Her eyes darted in either direction, looking for an entrance into the lab. There were none to be found.
Doctor Schugel laughed, throwing his head back as he roared at the hilarity of it. "I'm right where I need to be, Major! As are you! God spoke to me. He told me that now was the time to unveil my grand design! That you would come to bear witness to its majesty!"
Tanya narrowed her eyes, "I don't know what 'God' told you, Schugel, but we need to leave! There's a sub waiting to take us back to the Empire. Now hurry up! How do we get you out of there?"
Doctor Schugel shook his head as if incredulous. "After all the blessings He's given you, still you reject Him? Nonsense! Neither of us are leaving here until my grand device has been awakened!"
Tanya's impatience flared, along with a brief flicker of fear. She raised her rifle and shot the window, only for the round to bounce back and deflect off her shield. She flinched in surprise, then glared once more while charging her magic into the next shot.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" Schugel warned mockingly. He began to move around the central device, pressing buttons and making final adjustments, all the while hopping over the glowing cables snaking across the floor. "That glass has been reinforced with state of the art technology that the Empire could only dream of!" He glanced up at Tanya with a smirk. "And it's been blessed. God assured me that our reunion and the activation of my device would go uninterrupted~"
"Major? What are we going to do?" Serebryakov asked nervously.
Tanya glanced back at her, speechless for the first time in a long time. She looked back at Schugel, and the device he was activating. With a hesitant, shaking hand, she pulled out the Type-95 that he'd made so long ago. It was glowing in tune with the device, each pulse mirrored perfectly as if the two were breathing in unison.
Schugel noticed and smiled in glee. "I see you're beginning to understand what I've been doing here, Major! Indeed, this is a computation orb the likes of which the world has never seen! The Elenium Type-95 that I designed utilizes four cores. Can you guess how many I've managed to pack into this magnificent marvel!?"
Tanya couldn't even begin to guess. The structure was intricately crafted, each individual piece on the same scale as the orb hanging from around her neck. Yet it was easily hundreds, perhaps even a thousand times the size. Tanya could practically feel magic in the air around her, a thick miasma of potent energy leaking from the massive structure.
"Stop, Schugel!" Tanya screamed, running up to pound her dainty fist against the glass. "What are you even trying to accomplish!? What could this possibly achieve!?"
Schugel paused in his activation of the device, a slow smile creeping across his face as he stared towards the ceiling in rapture. "God whispered it to me in my dreams, Major. The device only has one purpose. One singular goal that each core is putting one hundred percent of its power towards." He lowered his gaze, finding Tanya's wide eyes once more.
"I'm going to split a magical atom."
Tanya's heart stopped as her body momentarily slackened. Her voice came out in a quiet murmur, disbelief etched across her face. "You couldn't possibly… with magic?"
Tanya's demeanor firmed as the doctor started to hum, ignoring her quiet doubts to begin powering the device once more. She moved away from the glass, and motioned Serebryakov to do the same.
"Put your shield up at full power, Lieutenant."
Serebryakov gulped and moved back, her shield visibly springing into existence as a large bubble around her body.
Tanya moved nearly to the elevator, then raised her rifle towards the glass. She spoke in prayer, "Lord, deliver righteous fury upon my enemy. Strengthen me so that I may send this foolish soul back into your loving embrace."
The Type-95 brightened, a brilliant golden glow lighting across its surface, mirrored by the golden glow of her eyes. A cascade of color traveled down her rifle, an entire spectrum of visible light that echoed the strength of her magic, and the blessing of her words being bestowed upon the bullet within.
Schugel raised his eyes once more and smirked, "I told you that was a bad idea, Ma-"
The bullet erupted from Tanya's barrel with the power of a thousand suns. Sound itself was distorted, reverberating off itself infinitely in a singular display of godlike power. The greatest weapon in Tanya's arsenal, the ability that had laid waste to hundreds of mages, that had never failed her in all her years fighting on every front line the Empire had to offer…
…ricocheted off the glass.
Tanya ducked to the side in horror as the magically enhanced shot tore past her and into the elevator. She put every ounce of magic she could into her own shield as the explosion erupted, blasting both her and Serebryakov across the room. Tanya lost all sense of direction as her body spiraled, ragdolling briefly before abruptly slamming into a wall and bouncing off to roll limply across the floor. The ground itself shook for long moments after, and it wasn't until Tanya could raise her eyes and get her bearings before she realized what had happened.
The elevator shaft was caved in. They were now stuck down here with Schugel and his abomination of an invention.
A few ragged coughs caught Tanya's attention from across the room. She glanced over to see Serebryakov struggling to her knees, disoriented by the blast. Her shield was still visible, though it was only holding on by a thread. Large chunks were chipped off, and even more were falling off and evaporating into the ether.
"Visha…" Tanya croaked. She coughed up blood while trying to clear her own throat and stood, stumbling over to help her lieutenant off the ground.
Tanya didn't know what to say to her. She could only stare in devastation at the collapsed shaft. Twisted pieces of metal and rubble had flooded partway into the room. Sparks erupted from exposed wires, while small fires smouldered across anything that was even the least bit flammable.
Smoke drifted up, activating the yet unnoticed sprinklers that began to rain down upon them all.
'There's only one chance we get out of this alive… and it's not much of one.'
Tanya turned back towards the window, and began her last desperate plea to convince Schugel.
"Doctor!" Tanya pounded on the glass to try and get his attention. "'God' isn't the one that spoke to you! Being X is a fake! A devil in disguise! It wants you to believe it's a god so that it can manipulate you!"
Schugel laughed, not slowing in the slightest, even as he and the lab became soaked by the sprinklers. Judging by the hum and glow of the device, he was nearly done. "Nonsense, Major! We have both bore witness to his miracles! Only a God could be capable of such things!"
"Major, what are you two talking about…?" Serebryakov asked uncertainly.
Tanya didn't have time to fill her in. "Your device is going to kill us all, Doctor! I know what it entails! It's pure devastation! It could erase millions in the blink of an eye! No one should have that kind of power! Not even the Empire!"
"God has already shown me visions of what it can do, Major! Your words will not dissuade me! My grand design will usher in a new era!"
With a note of finality, Schugel grabbed a large cable that had yet to be plugged in. Tanya could see it surging with power like all the others, a deadly pulse that promised to bring about their inevitable destruction.
Schugel looked up at Tanya one last time. "Welcome to the future, Major!" He turned back and jammed the cable in, heedless of the new conditions he'd found himself in. A blast of electricity arced back up the cable and into his hands, shocking him to the bone in moments. Schugel only had a few seconds to scream before his body jerked one last time and fell, his eye sockets now smoking craters where flesh used to be.
Tanya had a glimmer of hope, before realizing that the last cable had been plugged in regardless. The device was quickly growing brighter, the final conditions met as power built within.
Tanya stumbled back weakly. The strength left her limbs as she stared with despair at the doctor's final invention. The nervous shuffle of movement off to her right brought her attention back to Serebryakov.
'This… this isn't right. Visha doesn't deserve this. She doesn't deserve to get caught in my mess with Being X. He… He set all of this up to kill me… That damned cheater! And he doesn't care that he's taking out my lieutenant with me!?'
Tanya shifted her gaze towards the ceiling and shouted, "Damn you, Being X! You planned all of this, didn't you, you bastard!" A wave of despair clutched at her heart, her voice faltering. "At least spare Visha! She doesn't have any part in this!"
There was no reply. No stoppage of time, no voice reverberating sourcelessly from her surroundings. Only the sprinklers continuing to drench them both, and the rapidly brightening lights on the doctor's final invention.
"M-Major? What are you…?" Serebryakov spoke falteringly, unsure who her commanding officer, her friend and closest confidant, was speaking to.
Tanya felt her anger beginning to fade. Demanding things from Being X had never worked, and now it wasn't just her that was going to pay the price for her arrogance. Her heart fell in her chest as she decided to truly pray for the first time.
'For Visha…'
Tanya's eyes drifted up to the ceiling, even as she fell to her knees. She clasped her hands together in prayer. Another twinge of anger tried to force its way into her mind, but she stifled it as well as she could. This needed to sound sincere.
"Oh God… protect my comrade from the devil's machinations. I beg this of you… as the least faithful of your flock… Let her be saved…"
Though the Type-95 had begun to glow, there was no response from the heavens above. The bright pulses of the device in the lab quickened, like a countdown that would spell the end of them both. Tanya turned her head, and stared into the frantic eyes of her lieutenant.
Tanya sighed with despair, "...I'm sorry, Vi-"
The device activated. The atom was split.
And time stopped.
"-sha…" Tanya paused in shock as she stared at the drops of water floating in front of her eyes.
"So, you've finally chosen to offer up a true, heartfelt prayer," Being X's voice echoed through the surroundings, its tone filled with glee.
Tanya stood slowly, her eyes burning with hatred, though she knew better than to voice it. The lieutenant's life was hanging in the balance.
"Show yourself, Being X…"
Tanya's eyes were pulled back into the lab as she noticed Doctor Schugel's body shift, the head turning nearly one eighty from where it had been laying on the ground. Tanya was surprised she didn't hear it snap. Schugel's face was widened in a delighted grin, though his smile didn't quite reach the eyes that had been burnt out of their sockets.
"I must congratulate you. And myself, of course. I was beginning to lose hope that I would ever make a believer out of you. Yet here you are, offering up a genuine prayer in your final moments. It's almost too good to be true~"
Tanya narrowed her eyes. "You knew this was going to happen. You set it all up from the beginning. Schugel and his 'invention'." She practically sneered the word despite herself. "How could you bring something like that into this world? You know what it's done on Earth. What kind of Go-"
Tanya stopped herself and took a moment to breathe. It wasn't her problem anymore. None of it would be, once time started again. Her eyes slowly drifted back to her lieutenant. 'This is the last thing I can do for her.'
"Will you do it?" Tanya asked simply, still staring at Visha. "Will you save her, and grant my final request?"
"For a devout believer such as yourself…" Being X mocked sarcastically, then became slightly more somber. "I will save her."
"What of my comrades above?"
"I will ensure their safety as well."
Tanya turned back towards Being X. She stared into the doctor's hollowed out eyes. A twinge of disgust twisted her stomach, though it was for the creature now puppeteering his corpse. She'd seen far worse in this life. "What happens now? You erase me from existence because I lost the bet?"
Being X laughed, "Ah, but it's always a win when someone starts to believe. When they place their faith in a higher power, and ask sincerely for help from God. You may see this as a loss… but I do not. You have earned your place in the great recycling of souls. I will grant you reincarnation, instead of erasing you from existence as I once threatened."
"How kind of you," Tanya stated sarcastically.
"My generosity knows no bounds," Being X chuckled. "You were an interesting mortal. Farewell..."
His voice echoed as it began to fade.
Time resumed.
And in the blink of an eye, Tanya's life was snuffed out.
The last thing she saw was Visha's panicked face, and the overwhelming golden glow of a shield surrounding her before a bright flash of heat consumed everything else.
Tanya felt the magic wash over her. It coursed through her body in an instant, overwhelming her magical nodes and suffusing them with more power than she possibly could have imagined. It destroyed her body in a flash, even as the magic itself filled her very soul.
There was no pain. Only darkness remained. A vague sense of floating for what felt like an eternity. Tanya couldn't close her eyes, as she no longer had eyes to close. She couldn't breathe. Sound itself was nonexistent. Her only sense was that of her own soul, and the twisting fragments of magic that had overwhelmed her in her final moments.
She began to reflect on her life.
'I didn't have a moment of real peace, not in all of my fifteen years spent in that world. Even so…'
Her memories were drawn back to those of her men, and her lieutenant. The pain in her soul took her off guard, though its source was obvious.
'Maybe I played the part of a caring commander so well that even I started to believe it…? Or maybe…' Tanya sighed mentally, as if shaking her head. 'No, I don't think I was ever capable of real empathy…'
A light began to blossom in the distance, hauling Tanya across a vast expanse of nothing. She floated towards it, drawn in by the hopeful warmth of a promised rest.
'I hope they'll do well without me…'
It was her final thought before she crossed the threshold into a new world.
Being X stood within the vast expanse of the gods' domain. His eyes were cast into the distance, watching as the corrupted soul he had been overseeing for the past fifteen years was sent across space and time to a world only recently discovered.
"Are you sure it was a good idea to send that mortal?"
Being X felt the presence of another god appearing behind him, right before it spoke. He pulled his gaze away to regard it respectfully. The question brought a smile to his lips.
"Mortals capable of inspiring so much faith are few and far between. Regardless of its own misplaced convictions, I believe it is the best choice for a world that will soon discover our holy personages."
The other god turned its bird-like head to stare into the distance as Being X had. Its voice was laden with sadness, "A world abandoned by its gods. Truly a travesty for the ages. Have we managed to locate its creators?"
"No. Once we do, we'll be sure to bring them into the fold. Fledgling deities deserve our guidance in creating a strong, lasting faith."
"All that remains of their world is but a Remnant, after all…"
The other god glanced sideways at Being X. "And the mortal you sent… did you notice…?"
Being X smiled. "Notice? I was counting on it. The blessing on her soul should assist her in the hardships to come. She's going to need all the help she can get…"
Darkness, and a heavy weight wrapped around her body were the first things Tanya felt as the world around her came into focus.
The first sound was a scream that tore through the night air. Tanya's eyes darted open in alarm as she tried to get up, only to realize her arms were trapped.
'What the hell is-?'
She struggled for a few moments, shifting in place, thrashing against her bonds. She looked down to see what could possibly be holding her in place.
She was swaddled in a blanket.
And the monsters were closing in.
Tanya tried to take in her surroundings. She was in some kind of wicker basket crib, the sides of which were blocking most of her view to the world around her. She could smell smoke and see it drifting into the densely packed trees above. The orange light from flickering flames danced across the leaves and branches.
More screams echoed through the night. This time she noticed men's voices in the mix. Their pained screams were cut short.
Sudden footsteps approached.
A woman rushed over to pick her up. She had raven black hair and red eyes, now filled with tears. Blood stained the front of her tunic, though it was hard to tell if it was her own. She panted heavily, incapable of catching her breath while fumbling with the babe now in her arms.
The woman seemed to notice the panicked expression on her baby's face. "Ssshh, it's okay Cinder!" She took a step, beginning to rush towards the treeline. "We-"
Her mother's body jerked to a stop. Her mouth was wide, eyes twitching in pain for a few moments before they began to dull. Slackened fingers slowly dropped the swaddled baby, unwrapping the blanket and allowing 'Cinder' to fall to the ground and see what had caused her mother's sudden death.
A giant black feather had skewered her through the stomach, pinning her to the ground. Blood poured down its length and stained the baby's clothes.
The quill was as thick as the child herself.
Tanya's eyes darted into the darkness above as she saw the enormous shape of a monstrous bird flying overhead. Its bellowing screech promised death.
Anger boiled in the babe's chest.
'Damn you, Being X!'