RAVEN FYRE

Chapter 17

Gasping for air through a bloody throat, Raven's eyes shot open. The first few moments that she opened her eyelids again were terrifying, she couldn't see anything. Her heart pounded in her chest which soothed her panic before long. The pain in her neck and shoulder made it hard to think straight, but a beating heart and aches, meant she was still alive.

"Woah, shit. Take it easy Rae. Sush." The stress in the tone of her whisper made it clear that they were still in danger.

"What h--" Raven felt a soft but sweaty hand cover her mouth. The glow on the face of her wrist-watch confirmed it was WarFairy.

"Shhh."

For a second, Raven forgot where she was. The last few moments of what must have been a dream played back in her mind. A tear streamed down her face as a knot balled in the throat. What the hell ... what was that? Why would he do that?

Raven gently tugged at WarFairy's wrist. A loud shriek could be heard in the distance. It was followed by the sound of a few clanking objects and metallic something's.

WarFairy took her hand off of Raven's mouth. "I don't know if you're healed enough to move yet. That thing is still out there. So be quiet."

"What happened?"

WarFairy fiddled with Ravens watch and turned the screen on to a bright orange glow. She did the same with her own. "We caught up thanks to Ell. That woman knows how to run-and-gun."

"Thanks," Ell's voice whispered out from the gloom.

"I blasted it ... and you, with a bolt of lightning. It let go and ran off. We dragged you away as far as we could down a few hallways until we found a room with an open door. We went through a lot of MP trying to bring you back - thought we lost you."

"How long was I out? How long has it been?"

"I don't know. Ten, fifteen minutes?"

"Felt like days...."

"What felt like days? Being dead?"

"Was I?"

"I don't know. You lost a lot of blood," Ell chimed in as she got closer to them. She sat up against a counter and sighed as she rested her back on it. "I remember being stuck in a foxhole or two with Little-B. I know she probably came off as some chatty, bratty, kid - but she was ... fairly level-headed. B was never really good at sitting quietly though. I never told her, but it was nice having her with me during a stakeout." Ell scoffed after a moment of silence. "Getting her to shut up was the real challenge."

"Charming."

A little smile tugged at the corner of her lip as she rubbed at the skull ring on her finger. "Are you okay to move yet?"

"I don't know. Fuck." Torrents of colors emerged and flooded Raven's vision. "How much of that shit did you give me?"

"A lot."

"What? How much do we have left?"

"A few drops."

"You - I can't--. D'you have any idea how hard it is for Mike to make that stuff?"

"And we put it to good use, didn't we? That violent-prisoners-blood finally got to do some good. Besides, what was I supposed to do?"

"Wait. What 'violent prisoners?'"

"Ell. I know how you feel about these things, but trust me--"

WarFairy turned back to tend to Raven. A steel grip on her shoulder whipped her back around.