From the Diary of Seb Alltaire: Well, just as all good things come to an end, so do bad things, as well. This damned war, for example. I just heard from a squad of Returners that General Renshield is dead. Killed by an assasin, they say. Can't say I'm surprised. Anyway, the fighting appears to have slowed some, so maybe if I can just hit the outskirts of town with Alin we might be okay until the whole thing's over with. Here's hoping. *********************************** "DOWN! NOW!" Alin heaved herself at Seb, throwing the two down into the garbage below. Just after the rather painful landing, the hiss of passing arrows was heard overhead. Seb blinked in disbelief. Alin just flashed him a lopsided smile. "Told you so," she said, and then leapt to her feet, sprinting headlong towards the archers nearby. The two archers looked to each other, eyes narrowed in question. One even had his mouth open when his neck was wrapped up neatly in Alin's whip. The tip of it scratched his skin, and he winced once before the handle was pulled up sharply and his neck gave a final crunch. Alin pulled the whip back to her, leaving the soldier to gurgle his way to hell. The other looked to his friend, eyes as if full moons, and then sprinted away, bow and quiver clattering to the stonework below. Alin just watched him run off into the shadows of the inner city. "My. Letting him live. How strangely nice of you, Al. Did you have some Happy Potion before we left the last safe haven?" Seb said, bounding up from behind Alin. She chuckled a bit. "Works wonders on the nerves. You should try one; Happy Potions, I mean," Alin replied, her expression deadpan. Seb bowed deeply, smile creasing his face as if wet paper. "I believe I shall, milady." "Good. Now, let's get moving. I don't like the feel of this place. Do you know anyplace where we can... rest, I suppose? The cut on my head's starting to sting again." Seb pointed towards the setting sun, finger silhouetted against the faintly shimmering image of the crimson orb. Alin noticed that there were no plumes of gray smoke obscuring the sun in the direction he was pointing. "Look over there - no smoke. That means safety, no matter who's occupying it. I don't see any better options; you?" Seb explained. Alin shrugged. "Right then. Let's get going." The two began to walk westward, eyes still blinking from side to side, searching for danger. After a moment, Seb finally turned to Alin. "Say - whaddya say I race you there?" Alin didn't smile back. Not, at least, on the outside. ******************************** The remains of the once-utopian city of Jidoor were no more than ash and rock. Charred, shelled out buildings lay in ruins all around, some still on fire; no one tended to the flames. The stench of death was all around, and the sounds of fighting had barely diminished since the first day; from the sewers, from the air and streets, everywhere was the sound of steel screeching on steel, the clatter of Magitek and the stench of broken flesh. The stonework was slick; Seb couldn't bring himself to wonder whether it was just rain, or something worse... Seb looked to Alin, bringing his hand through his hair absent-mindedly as he did. She marched forward, as if in a dream, eyes staring straight ahead, and yet to nowhere. One half of her face was nearly crusted over with dried blood; the makeshift bandage seemed so inadequate now. He touched his shoulder, and winced slightly. It appeared that no one came unscathed from the wars; not children, not couriers, not mothers, not mercenaries, not anyone. Everyone had to suffer their share. "Hold it right there!" Five men, clad head to toe in ebony steel, climbed out from the remains of a house. All carried knotted, glittering swords. Seb winked at Alin, who shrugged, and drew her own weapon. "Wouldn't it be nice if one of these days, someone came up to us and DIDN'T try to kill us? For variety, at least?" Seb asked sarcastically. "Get the hell out of our way or die," Alin barked to the soldiers. She glanced to Seb, who signed an "a-ok". "Well put, yet succinct. We'll make a stateswoman of you yet," Seb commented. Just then, the soldiers shrugged, quite nearly in unison, and charged, screaming and hollering. "We warned 'em," sighed Alin, and quickly whipped her arm up from her waist, releasing her everpresent knife in midarc. The knife bulleted through the smoggy air, and embedded itself neatly into the lead soldier's windpipe. Seb drew his sword with a quick laugh. "You're getting good at that." Seb cleaved easily through two soldiers in a streak of gray, and was turning to finish the other two when he noticed that Alin was engaged in snapping their necks. Within seconds, there was a sickening crunch, and Alin picked her way forward, not stepping on any corpses when she could avoid it. "That was quick," she said with a grin. She almost seemed disappointed. ******************************* "There it is!" The sight of the somewhat damaged mansion seemed a godsend to Alin and Seb. Their eyes traced over its every detail, and the Returners outside it seemed happy enough... they were nearly to safety. Alin moved first. She sprinted down the alleyway, head swiftly turning from side to side in search of danger. None presented itself, and soon she skidded to a stop, waving happily to the Returner guards. They waved cheerfully back, and Seb could hear one call for a doctor. Alin turned towards him, motioning him forward. He rose to his feet, and then started moving forwards... Seb blazed past piled of garbage... Past windows... Stonework... ... and into the hard, static arm of a Magitek armour suit. "Seb!" Alin called out in shock. Seb felt a cold, wet numbness spread across his forehead, and then, slowly, it all faded into a white nothingness. The rather lost and confused Imperial soldier looked down, and saw a gray-clad teenager lying right under where his arm hovered. He felt quite embarrassed, and was leaning over to help the poor man when he saw a young, blue-haired girl charging towards him, knife in hand. He swallowed hard. "I surrender?" he tried weakly.