Angel of the Damned

AotD - 10

Drake grit his teeth and clutched his pinned leg. The rover's dashboard pinched it, and every jerk of the muscle sent a spasm of pain up his leg. Ebony was gone, she had been when he came back around. He tried to push the rover's dashboard, prop it up long enough to pull his leg out and get blood flowing back through it again. The stinging in his forehead stung and the haze of red in his left eye, currently distracted him. His filter was up around his mouth already.

He began to grow light headed as he propped the metal panel up. His vision began to swim as blood flowed into his leg again and he slumped down in the seat, barely able to keep the panel up. A thump against the window caught his attention and he shifted his head just enough to see the window. A thin female figure in a nanosuit stood there and pounded on the glass, probably trying to break it. Then they resorted to yanking on the handle but the lock was engaged and Drake couldn't reach the controls without releasing the panel and pinning his leg once more.

The helmet on the nanosuit slid back, but the filter remained in place. It revealed the face of a teenage girl that Nathan had purchased the necklace from. She lifted her arms and covered her face with them, one hand had a row of metal spikes along the knuckle.

Drake arched his stinging eyebrow up, watching her tap the glass and make a punching motion. Understanding what she was going to do, he twisted his body as far as he could and covered his head with his arm. The first thud accompanied a crackling sound and a glance back confirmed the glass was cracked but not broken. A second thud spread the cracks further and she vanished behind the spider web of cracks. A third thud sent glass raining down onto his body and she reached through, hitting the lock controls and pulling the door open. Drake lifted his head completely and the knuckles on the girls hand vanished as she looked at Drake's pinned leg.

"Is there anyway you can retract the suit?" she asked.

"You don't think I've tried that already?" Drake snapped.

She flinched back a little and reached down to her belt, producing a small arc cutter. She activated it, the blue hot tip sparking several times before it stopped. She bent over him, smacked his hand away and touched the tip to the metal above Drake's leg as it pinned the leg once more. The metal cast of sparks which danced over Drake's leg. She traced a small semicircle over it, the metal melted away in an instant by the high heat. She flipped the tool off, flipped it over and smacked the end against the metal. The metal bent inward, releasing the pressure on Drake's leg and letting the blood flow again. Her hands wound under his shoulders and she gave a sharp tug, but he didn't move. He braced against the steering wheel and pushed, sliding out of the rover as she pulled him. Drake finally got a good look at her and recognized her by her tools, she sold jewelry on the side but she worked for a Salvager who made and fixed machines for anyone willing to pay. Her utility belt held over two dozen small salvage tools and the suit gave in the areas of protection to increase maneuverability of the wearer.

She pulled his arm over his shoulder and helped him stand. "Come on, we need to get you back to Arkane, get your leg looked at," she grunted.

"Nathan, get Nathan," Drake said.

"He's dead," she informed him, "his filter's down and I don't know how long it's been since the ambush."

"He's not dead, trust me," Drake said. "Take me over to him."

"Sir, you're bleeding and your leg is broken. We'd be wasting time," she argued.

"What's your name?" Drake asked.

She hesitated before she spoke, "Leneath."

Drake looked at her more closely, her platinum blonde hair was pulled back into a braid and the extra fell in front of her ears, they tapered to a gentle tip and pink petals sprouted from the edges. Her eyes were more pointed on the outside than human eyes and they sparkled a pale pink color with flecks of silver and purple.