Fire and Night

Death

Kilika

Glass spun in the air, sparkling like glitter above the busy skylanes below. Lights from the various hover vehicles blurred beneath, unaware of what was happening hundreds of feet above them. A single body floated through the night sky amidst the shattered glass, torn red evening dress drawing a crimson arc behind her as gravity pulled her trajectory from horizontal to vertical.

As she rotated in the air she caught sight of her own reflection, regal and calm. Calm in spite of the freefall she found herself in now. A glimmer of a smile appeared on the face reflecting back at her from the intact glass rushing past. Calm, because she was the one who had put herself in this predicament.

It was difficult not to look at herself in the tower's glass as she fell. The dark red of her lipstick contrasted against her light brown skin nicely, bringing attention to her normally modest lips. Similarly the black and gold lining her eyes had been carefully applied to draw ones focus to her blazing yellow eyes. It all seemed so silly now, all that time and effort to make herself as beautiful as possible. The sparkling golden jewelry hanging at her neck shifted awkwardly as her falling speed increased. Her long mass of wavy black hair normally framing her face was pulled taught by the rushing wind. Her golden jeweled tiara floated in the air next to her, having fallen free of her head in the effort of breaking through the window.

Yes, she thought, a princess. She was Princess Kilika Surai Elhonedas, heir to the Sylfana Imperial throne. Her elven family's dynasty over the greater part of the galaxy stretched back hundreds of thousands of years, to the times now only remembered as legend. She would have carried on her family's legacy, so why? Why would the beautiful heiress of a galaxy spanning empire throw herself from a tower to certain death?

Wind roared in her ears as the falling speed approached terminal velocity. Her body's rotation in the air brought her sight away from the glassy sides of the tower. The skylane was rapidly approaching now, the neon guide lamps reflecting off the sides of the myriad floating vehicles pushing through them. She was close enough to see through the windowed cabs for only a moment. Some tired dwarven workers finally on their own way home, one smiling orcish man drumming on his dash to the beat of some unheard music. An elven mother leaning back, taking an ill gotten candy from her child in the back seat.

The child's face was agape, staring out the window. His eyes met Kilika's in that brief moment, and she felt ashamed. No child should witness this... Apparently the child was not the only one who caught sight of the airborne maiden, for as she rocketed through the skylane's altitude, a massive cargo truck with a wide bed shifted violently towards her. Unfortunately the pilot's attempted heroic intervention was a fraction too late, a single strip of cloth torn from her dress caught on the bed their only reward.

A glass shard caught light from above, flaring a brilliant orange. Orange like fire, sparking recent memories. Kilika striking out at the handsome face of a Duke, her open hand ablaze with golden fire as it connects with his right cheek. His skin instantly charring as he stumbles back and falls to his knees. The scream coming from his mouth so erie, even the memory of it chilled Kilika's veins.

Dark pipes rushed past now. In most cities a mere hundred feet beneath a skylane would be a walkway for those without hover cars. But in an industrial mega city like this, there were layers upon layers of city, and gaps in the construction that acted as almost bottomless pits to provide airflow to even the abandoned deep levels. This seemed to be one such pit. It would seem silly to build a governmental tower right next to one such pit, but with the Duke's reputation for corruption, it made sense. A ready location to make unwanted people disappear, easily written off as an accidental fall.

Though this pit wasn't exactly bottomless, Kilika noted too late as her body collided against the side of a metal pipe, putting her into a wild spin, her right arm screaming in pain. Somewhere blood was spewing freely, because her face was now splattered with warm fluid. She noticed her right forearm flipping through the air above her, revealing the source if the blood loss. Another pipe, lit by the artificial sunlamps of one of the lower levels rushed past her dangerously close.

She had known this trip was one way. She just didn't realise she'd be alive long enough for it to hurt so much. She recalled the Duke's face as he grabbed her, struck her, then began tearing at her clothes. Rage had built in her chest, and the fire magic that flowed through her veins manifested in her hand as she slapped him, nearly instantly melting half his face. She would have happily continued her assault, no one attempts to rape a princess and walks away. At least, no one should be able to. But his words afterwards, as he regained his composure, broke Princess Kilika's resolve. In that moment she realised the only way she could escape that monster of a man was through death. The windows of the tower were reinforced, designed to not shatter. But Kilika had used her fire to weaken the glass, then threw her body at it with all her force. This fall was her choice.

Klang!

Another pipe, caught by her legs this time. Pain shot through her body. Best to not even look at them. Do I really deserve this pain? She had always thought of suicide by jump to be nice and quick, with a short stop at the bottom. Painless. Not ricocheting off infrastructure while still falling at terminal velocity.

By now she figured she was in the deep city, the abandoned quarters, where only armed gangs of criminals and genetically mutated beasts prowled. Well, she thought with mild amusement, at least they won't have to bother recovering my corpse...

As she spun through the darkness she thought she spotted beneath her a flickering light, beneath which appeared a solid surface. Finally this journey's conclusion was in sight. When she had first thrown herself from the tower, she had done so without thought or remorse. But now, she closed her eyes, tears slipping out from under the lids. She only wished she had waited a moment longer to tell her mother goodbye. And in that moment she felt something watching her. Her eyes flew open, the concrete below rushing up to meet her,and in the darkness, two glowing red rings stared up at her.

Then, suddenly, smack. Sharp pain as her body collided with the walkway, then black nothingness.