Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or any of its characters. I do, however, own my own character and plots.

Chapter 29

"What do you mean, there was a revolt?"

It had been over a week and Repton hadn't return to Bogaton, due to his job. Everything on Nakoto's side seemed to have cooled down, so there was no need for him to catch any new activity or information for Cyclonis. Upon persistent request, Cyclonis finally had a radio brought to Repton so that he could check on his domain. He wasn't pleased to hear the news Spitz had to give.

"Some of the Raptors in the village tried to storm the fortress," Spitz said. His lisp made it very hard to discern what he was saying over the frequencies. "We managed to keep them back... at least for a little while longer."

"Which ones carried out the attack?"

"The strongest ones, from what I could guess. They were lead by Drellian."

Repton reached up and rubbed the inner corner of his eyes. Yes, Drellian was one of the strongest under him. Not only known for his strength, but his cunning. It was an uncomfortable situation to have him as an enemy... Why did his loyalty have to falter? He was the best of Repton's guards. The betrayal made the King of Rogues more than angry. Sickened. And the fact that the coward attacked the fortress when its lord was out...

"Exactly how did you buffoons manage to keep him back?" he asked irritably.

"There are still Raptors on our side, in the fortress. They helped us hold the fort." Spitz was used to Repton's insults, so he dismissed the name-calling. The scrawny lizard hesitated over the radio. "But..."

Repton leaned against the table with one hand, seeing as the other held the receiver by his lips. "But what?"

"...they're becoming fewer."

As expected, that inconvenient truth. Soon the whole Terra would be against him. He had to return home immediately.

He turned his gaze to the Eye, which showed Luchas at work again. Nakoto accompanied him once more, but this time she leaned over and watched him as he worked at a closer range. She would ask him questions and he would explain them, to quench her curiosity. The tensions between the two had calmed, even though Nakoto still kept her distance at times.

"Where are you, Boss?" Spitz ventured. "Cyclonia? Why, for so long?"

"I've got a job to do. Do you think that Cyclonis is happy, after you fools lost the Condor?" He snorted contemptuously. "I'm the one to pay for your miserable hides. Can't you show a little gratitude?"

"I'm grateful, Boss. But... it's just one problem after another, isn't it? There's no food, the others are rioting, there are holes in the farend of Bogaton—"

"Holes? You call that a problem?" Repton shook his head tiredly. "Why should I care if there are any holes in my Terra?"

"They're aren't just any holes..." Spitz paused, probably waiting to see if Repton would interrupt him again. This time the older brother stayed silent to hear it, despite how stupid he expected the next sentences to be. "They're like... chasms, caves. In the ground. More are appearing where we try to hunt."

The idea seemed ludicrous, until Repton actually thought about it. Then it finally became a reason for concern. The source of the decline in game.

"Are there any intruders? You may as well have screwed that up, too. It's probably some Murk Raiders stealing from my land! Mining for ore, then taking our food..."

"But Boss, this famine started when you were here with us. We reported whenever someone was on the Terra, and nothing with an energy source entered our skies, not for a long time."

That was true. He bore his teeth in annoyance.

"Did you send anyone down these 'holes' for recon?"

"Well, yeah, we did." Again, Spitz hesitated. Repton barked.

"Well?"

"Only one came back. And he won't talk... whatever was down there scared him real bad. All he says is... 'teeth from beneath'. I think that's it."

Teeth from beneath... a creature. And Repton had a feeling he knew exactly what it was. So would Nakoto.

A familiar scent filled his nostrils, and he grumbled in disgust. He glanced toward the entranceway to the study, where the Dark Ace casually walked in. Paying him no more heed, he addressed Spitz.

"Don't send out anymore scouts," he hissed. "Until I come back, Bogaton is in complete lock-down. Have I made myself clear?"

"Boss, there's no food to last—"

"I don't care if you and the boys lose a couple of pounds! It's better than getting killed by whatever's out there. And don't you already have a problem at your door? Protect my throne until I get there, and be assured, that's going to be verysoon."

"Y-Yes, Repton."

"Problem in lizard paradise?" the Dark Ace inquired. Repton gnashed his teeth and hung up on Spitz.

"That's none of your concern."

"Oh, I'm not in the least bit concerned." The Dark Ace passed Repton, leaving him rigid with anger. When the Raptor turned, the Cyclonian Elite was standing before the Eye, watching the image within it. "What has Beta done today, I wonder? Nothing, as usual. You're wasting your time here. It's probably why Cyclonis gave you this job."

Although Repton appreciated the fact that he was relieved of his job from time to time to rest, it infuriated him that Cyclonis chose the Dark Ace to be his substitute. It wasn't just because he hated him. That was only part of it. The thing that got his anger ablaze was the fact that the Dark Ace was watching Nakoto. There was something awfully wrong with that picture. He hated it...

"I heard you also had another function in all of this," the Cyclonian continued. Even though his back was turned, the Raptor could hear the smirk in his voice. "Breeding doesn't sound so bad. A little demeaning to be forced, but at least you get some, huh?"

Of all the—! Did Cyclonis tell everyone but him? A week had past and he tried to get the secret out of Cyclonis without her exploding unexpectedly, but she never admitted it. So it was true. The Dark Ace knew for sure before Repton could accept the idea. It was unbelievably infuriating!

"You should be worried by that fact," Repton growled. "If I ever have kids, they are going to be very strong. Then they're going straight for you."

"Because their father doesn't have the guts to kill me himself? Cute." The Dark Ace turned his red eyes to him, and put his hands behind his back. "I won't stand around and bicker with you, despite how much it amuses me. I'm only here to watch while you go off to wash up. Who knew you actually bathed?"

Repton's teeth ground and he slammed the receiver of the radio onto his hook. "Don't act so smug, Dark Ace... your days may be counted."

"Of course they are. Now hurry up, I don't have all day."

Repton was about to say something, but he thought it would've made him sound like a child throwing a tantrum, so he threw it down. His eyes strayed to the Eye for a few seconds. Luchas was packing up, seemingly done with his task. But then Seth appeared, and he was whispering something in Nakoto's ear. Her eyes widened slightly, and Repton wanted to know why, but he figured he would investigate when he got back. His anger presently wouldn't have allowed him to focus anyway.

When Repton left the room, he wanted to destroy the nearest thing in sight. But since that was Cyclonis' crystal machine, he had to refrain himself from possibly scratching it. He stormed out into the hall and made his way to a washroom with a shower, seeing as the other didn't have one. After a while he found it, and he shut himself from the world outside. His shower was relatively quick, which was all good and well; when you're standing, washing yourself, there's nothing else for your mind to do than dwell on what happened and what should have happened. He was in a terrible mood in those few minutes, but that wasn't new, was it?

Once he returned though, thinking up a good comeback to counter whatever insult the Dark Ace had in store, he was met with a familiar sound. A Raptor's call, furious. There were more than one voice of such. They seemed out of nowhere... what was going on? The Dark Ace was leaning his hands on the table and watching the Eye, but suddenly stepped back when a flash of violet light enveloped it, the luminescence blinding. A loud explosion followed. Repton was there in a flash and he grabbed the Cyclonian's shoulder roughly.

"What the hell's going on?"

"Another Raptor arrived," The Dark Ace started, looking bewildered. He looked back at the Eye. "Beta is fighting her."

Luchas' pendant recovered from the bright emission of light, and Repton looked at the scene. What Sector was this? B? Where all the blood transfusions were made. It was at the end of the hallway, closer to the elevator, which had remained opened, possibly jammed... sparks rained down from the fluorescent lights above, from an electrical surge. He saw Farida, her body hunched threateningly, and Nakoto, whose face was contorted with a snarl he had never seen on her before. Blood stained the both of them.

"Cyclonis needs to know about this."

Repton snapped and shoved the Dark Ace's shoulder. "Do as you wish! Get her, if that's the extent of your ability!"

The Cyclonian Elite didn't turn back to defy him. He was out of the room immediately, leaving Repton to take his place before the Eye, leaning down to its level.

Just a few minutes... he was just gone for a few minutes. What happened?

It started out as something like this.

"Farida?" I whispered. Seth nodded when he pulled away from me. I knew that I would eventually see her again, but not so soon. She liked to keep away for long periods of time, probably to make the confrontations more dramatic. Over a week though, that was a new record. That wasn't the only thing that confused me... it was why she had come. Luchas joined us after he cleaned his working area.

"What's wrong?" he asked, observing my face. Seth looked over to him and said nothing, probably still wary of him. I took the opportunity to tell him instead.

"Seth says Farida is here, upstairs. Says she needs to see me."

As expected, Luchas' face sort of paled. I smiled slightly, fixing my right arm. It still hadn't healed yet. After adjusting the sling, I headed for the door. "I'll be right back."

"You're not going alone."

I turned around, surprised. Luchas hesitated, then smiled mildly. "Wherever I go, you go. Wherever you go, I go. Wasn't that the agreement?"

"But it's probably going to be nothing," I said, although my voice dropped a little, doubtful. Seth stepped toward me and touched my arm.

"We're going with you."

I looked at the both of them, observing their faces. I knew Seth would have followed in a heartbeat. Luchas, after these few days, almost seemed like one of us. Sometimes I forgot that he was a Cyclonian. That was probably what Tatu warned me about... but what was the harm of letting him come along? And it was true, he had to be with me at all times. He waited patiently for me to reply, and I ended up letting out a loud gust of air.

"Alright. But don't interfere. Especially you." I pointed at Seth. "No matter what happens."

Seth, after some hesitation, nodded sluggishly. It was taking everything in his power to make that promise, and I had a feeling that he would break it. I gave him a stern look, then turned. I took a deep breath, to try and banish the anxiety at hand. When I reached the end of the hall, I chose the stairs over the elevator. I didn't want my nervousness to escalate.

I reached the the front hall, and I immediately saw Farida when the door opened. She was standing near the centre of the room, her arms crossed. When I entered, her eyes snapped to me, and she watched me for a few long moments. I felt unnerved by her gaze, because I expected some smug or annoyed look to change her features. But no... she just looked at me. I glanced over to Mrs. Gertry, who was watching Farida cautiously. She exchanged a look with me, but only quickly; she looked afraid, that if she let her eyes off of my sister for just a second, Farida would attack her. Seth and Luchas, a little winded from the climb up, stayed behind as I met Farida.

"Beta," she acknowledged. She turned her eyes away afterwards, staring at the table in the waiting area. My chin dipped slightly at the name.

"Hi, Farida," I started. My mouth felt dry, cottony. "Everything... all right? How did the meeting with the Sky Knight Council go?"

Farida uncrossed her arms, and for a brief second I felt tense. It turned out she only wanted to scratch her throat.

"As I said, I can't finish my training. But they won't dub me as an Elite Sky Knight, either. There are still some paperwork to go through."

"Ah." Her eyes were cast away from me, so I tried to lure them back. I leaned sideways to get a glimpse of them. "Is there something you need from me, then? Help?"

"Help? From you?" Farida looked at me, and I couldn't help but flinch. They narrowed nastily, and she opened her mouth, taking in a breath, but then her expression changed unexpectedly. She wiped all emotion from her face... then smiled. Smiled.I mean, not the typical mocking smile. The similarity between her and our mother took my breath away. In just one action, she looked just like her...

"Well, no, that's not why I'm here... I felt... terrible about last time we met." She had to be lying. No, that wasn't believable... or was I jumping to conclusions too quickly...? "Maybe I just don't understand, so... I wanted to try it out."

"Try what out?" I inquired, confused. She demonstrated a gesture, lifting her arm and tapping a finger on her inner elbow, upon her vein.

"Giving blood. Why not? It's not a huge loss, I'll just produce more. What do you say? Will you get me an appointment?"

I gawked at her, then turned to the others behind me. Seth and I held gazes for a long time, and I could read what was within his eyes; warning. He didn't trust Farida one bit. Mrs. Gertry looked much the same, only there was fear in her expression. Luchas looked like he didn't know what to feel about it. He was watching very closely, his mouth slightly open. He wanted to see what I'd say.

I turned back, and my eyes strayed down to her hip. "Why do you have your sword with you, then?"

"Oh, this?" She placed a hand on the hilt of it. "I just came back from training on my own. The forest on this Terra is a decent ground for such."

She did smell of vegetation and dirt. She didn't smell of sweat, though. Was it truth, or a lie? My paranoia told me it was a lie. Her smile though... I couldn't help but like it. It brought me back to those times, where I didn't have to care about anything but play in the oasis jungle where our family used to live. I couldn't see any darkness in it.

I couldn't see it because I didn't want to.

"Seth?" I heard him step forward to my call. "Do you mind going ahead and letting Brett know we're coming?"

I knew Seth was looking at me incredulously. I didn't want to argue. When I didn't hear him move, I turned around and gave him a serious look. He withstood it for a couple of moments, then stepped down. He bowed his head and stepped through the automatic doors. Luchas watched him go, then back at Farida and I. I saw his eyes widen slightly, and I turned back. My sister's face was the same. Whatever Luchas saw...

"What's wrong with your arm?" she asked, conversationally. The idea of her acting so civil with me made my head spin. I licked my lips briefly and looked down at what she addressed, shifting it.

"After what happened last week, I sort of overused it. A meltdown, if you will."

"Oh, so you're defenceless?" She scratched her cheek. "That's not good. Not good at all."

"I think I'll be safe for the time being." I tried to smile myself. I don't know if it came out a little strange. "Come on. I'll tell you how giving blood works exactly."

I stepped aside and held my left arm in the given direction. She nodded at me, then walked ahead. Luchas stepped aside as well, most likely startled. Farida only shot him a glimpse, then continued. I had followed closely after her, then forced a smile at the Cyclonian doctor, trying to reassure him. He followed after me. Before the door closed behind the three of us, I saw Mrs. Gertry reach for the phone.

We took the stairs again, and I started explaining what was going to happen with this transfusion. Farida seemed to be paying attention. She asked simple questions, all of which I answered. Her behaviour here was so alien to me... I couldn't help but feel a little shy. I peeked at her from time to time, to see just how muchshe inherited our mother's looks. When she caught me, my eyes adverted and I would go on about something else, useless information that would've covered me. A little spark inside me ignited... a small, hopeless, stupid hope. Was Farida... starting to like me? Why? The reason wouldn't have matter as much. I wouldn't have to worry about her trying to slice me up anymore.

We reached Sector B and made our way to the transfusion room. Seth and Brett had stepped out the door, expecting us... I was still speaking to Farida as she followed behind me...

Someone reached out to my arm. I looked down and saw that it was Luchas. He had latched onto my arm in alarm, cutting me mid-sentence of what I was saying. I searched his face for the reason, then looked behind me. Farida had stopped, and she was looking at the electrical box of this floor. She seemed really intrigued by it, but she wasn't smiling anymore. Where had it gone? Instead, it was that cold, hateful look she always had. She was back.

"Why did you stop? What's the matter?" As I said those words, her fingers twitched. She rose her hand and set it upon her sword. I grew solemn... I was a fool. "Farida..."

"Why are you helping these people?" she asked wearily. She unsheathed her weapon. "Why are you using your gift for something so trivial?"

My nostrils flared. "Trivial?"

"This is power, Beta." She raised her sword, and as before, she made it go ablaze in an instant. It took me a couple of moments to call upon the power in my blood, but for her it seemed like only a second. She turned to me and bore her teeth angrily. "You're the one who's supposed to use it! You, and you alone! You're letting them drain you dry... you're just wasting away down here!"

"What are you talking about?" I demanded helplessly. "I already told you! Our blood is not only for destruction—"

"But using it to its full potential beats what you're doing by a longshot!"

Before I could stop her, before I could even get myself over to her, she pulled her weapon arm back and ran the electrical box through. The lights in the hallway glinted dangerously, and a long, deep humming emitted from within the walls. Farida didn't seem to get electrocuted at all, because she stood her ground, untouched. Instead, she sent a more powerful charge through her sword, and many lights exploded from the energy. Sparks sprouted, imprinting spots on my vision when I closed my eyes. My pupils contracted at the sight before me, and without thinking, I leapt for Farida and shoved her away from the box. She gave away too easily... she let go of her sword and created some distance between us. When she straightened, she had a devious smirk on her face, and it vexed me immensely.

"What the hell was that for?" I questioned in indignation.

Farida's smirk spread wider. "This is not your home, Beta. No matter what childish delusions you force yourself to believe in, that won't be true."

I reached out and grabbed the sword's hilt. For sure, there was no electric charge travelling through it... it must have been a different material. I pulled the sword out of the control box, and I saw that practically all the wires were severed, punctured. My grip on the sword tightened, then I threw it down to the floor, away from Farida. Seth was at my side immediately, observing the damage, and he reached for the knobs beside the wires, flicking them all off calculatingly. There must have been a pattern. A pattern that summoned enough energy to prevent a power outage.

"That doesn't mean you had to do that!" I threw my left hand out, gesturing to our surroundings. "There are other people here, people who can't live without the help of machines! Now they're bound to suffer!"

Farida chuckled. "A small sacrifice."

I couldn't believe it... Why did I think Farida could be good? She tried to kill me the last time we saw each other; how could I have possibly found that acceptable? And now, because of my idiotic hope, my foolish need to reach out to the other last remainder of my tribe, an embodiment of Oasium... others had to die. The machines that helped some of them breathe would stop, and so would the patients' hearts and minds...

"...what has become of you?" I asked. I didn't mean my voice to crack, but it did. "Why did you come out this way...?"

Instead of completely dying, the lights remained, and the humming calmed a little. "Done it!" Seth announced. "The surge won't reach the other Sectors. We're okay."

So close. Despite the relief I felt at the bottom of my heart, it felt suffocated. Farida still stood before me, a sad sight for me to take in. Questions tore me apart. Doubts and hesitation barred me from acting. What was I to do?

The elevator had opened behind Farida, and I couldn't do anything but stare. Lilym had run out of it, her arms spread out like a Skimmer's. Her mindset in the elevator —a simple, happy mood— stayed for only a few seconds, and she stopped in her tracks. Another fluorescent light burst from too much pressure, and the eruption of sparks made her yelp. Farida noticed her, and my heart froze, then tightened. Dread grasped me, rendering me dumb and immobile. It took me all the breath in my lungs to shout;

"Lilym!"

Farida got to her before my warning could send Lilym away... my sister held the Blizzarian child by the neck, with her feet still touching the ground, and she turned to me to brandish her prey. Lilym's eyes were wide with fear, her fingers grasping Farida's fingers at her throat. She was choking. The scene of it snapped my composure.

"Get your hands off of her!" I screeched. My muscles were so stiff, tense... they started to tremble. Was it from the pressure, or from the rage that was starting to fire up? The same rage that urged me to rip Corvid's heart out...?

Farida's head tilted upwards and she considered me scornfully, looking down her snout at me. "Leave this place, Beta. Come with me... this is your chance. You want things to work between us? Then come with me, to Cyclonis. She'll have better use for us. Won't you follow your dear sister?"

"You mindless, thickheaded fool! When will you learn? To think, I'm related to you at all! To think, that you're our mother's daughter!" My blood was boiling, and I could feel my crystal-makeup churning. "Back down now! Let go of the child and we'll talk this through!"

"With that kind of answer, there is nothing more to discuss!" Farida's fingers coiled around Lilym's throat, and Lilym cried out. The sound of it fractured my heart, and the rage settled within it spread its coal-hot fingers, trying to pry the crack wider for its escape. I wasn't going to wait any longer.

Lilym raised her leg and stomped down on Farida's foot with her heel. My sister howled, momentarily distracted. By the time she took note of what else was happening, I had already arrived. I freed my right hand from its sling, and with all my might, I landed a heavy hit under Farida's jaw, sending her backwards. I encircled Lilym with my left arm, and she slipped from the others' grip. I scooped her up and retreated back to where Seth and Brett were standing. Derik appeared, and he was looking at us with confused apprehension.

I didn't send Farida to the ground... she recovered almost instantaneously, and she roared at me. This time, I didn't hesitate to return the call. I gnashed my teeth and stressed my vocal chords, echoing a sound far more menacing than I thought I was capable of. I didn't realize it, but Lilym was looking at me in terror. I let her slip from from my arm and stepped forward.

"You know what? Here! Since you've been fighting so hard to get it, you have my full attention!" I ripped the sling from myself, throwing it to the ground. Then, I started wrenching the bandages aggressively from my Claws. They weren't healed, but I had no choice. "I can't believe it took me this long to figure this out. It took you to threaten one of the people I care for to realize it! You are insane, and I'll do everything in my power to contain you!"

"Just you go ahead and try it, Beta!" Farida returned scathingly. She flexed her shoulders, bent her legs, then sprinted toward me. I hissed dangerously and fell into a sprint of my own, cutting down the distance between us much faster.

We collided, a storm of claws and teeth. We screamed at each other, noises I only heard on Oasium, when I heard the males try to defend the Terra from the Cyclonians when they first appeared. The night of the Crimson Rain. There was something powerful about that voice... I felt I could channel everything out, spend it and multiply my strength. The exchange of hits we each dealt each other, I have to say, I didn't feel anything; neither my fists landing on her scales, nor hers on mine.

I didn't want to kill her. I wanted to take her down and lock her away. She was obviously a threat to everyone around her. Why hadn't I listened to Tatu? I should've known that I was truly alone, and that Farida was never an icon of family for me. Her captivity shouldn't have been a problem for me, and my empathy shouldn't have interfered. She deserved to be confined. Looking like our mother meant nothing when her heart and soul were poisoned. The small part of me that cried out against it, the part that still saw her as my sister, was drowned out by a drone in my head, a drone of ferocious thoughts.

It was when Farida sank her teeth unto my left collarbone that pain actually shot through my system, and I beat against her harder to free myself. I grasped her tightly with both hands and slammed her into the wall, to force her to let me go. She only squeezed her jaws tighter, jerking, and I felt warm blood cascade down my shoulder. She reopened the wound I inflicted upon myself in the Wastelands, after so much time spent in its recovery. I dug my Claws into her shoulder as compensation, feeling it burrow into her flesh. I hooked them and tore, leaving long trails to bleed. She overtook me and slammed me against the other wall, still holding me in her teeth like a deathtrap. I kneed her repeatedly in the stomach, and after a few of those, she finally let me go.

She punched me in the face, grabbed my shoulders, and shoved me to the side. I didn't fall, but I stumbled unsteadily. I heard Lilym call my name, and I saw her for a second; Derik lifted her into his arms and was backing away. Yes, take her to the Children's Ward. I turned toward Farida immediately, and found that between her bloodstained teeth, an orb of violet had appeared. The star returned... and this time I would feel its power.

If my name was Dragon Claw, then hers was Dragon Breath. She unleashed the star, which grew into a thick pillar of energy heading in my direction. The attack hit me square in the chest, and the force of it had me flying, right off the ground. When I touched down again, it took me a great effort to keep my balance. Sliding to a stop, I straightened up. Blood shot up my throat and I coughed, spraying and dotting the tiles below me. I felt someone's arm on me... Luchas.

"No, Nakoto; you can't force yourself into this! You can't fight!" He tried to pull me back when I tried to get back at Farida, and I ripped myself from him. Farida was ready for another shot, preparing another blast from her mouth, and I reached down for her sword, which I had discarded before. The elevator behind Farida opened; the doctors inside stepped out and —once seeing the chaos— retreated in the stairwell beside it.

When I gripped her sword, I don't remember how I did it, but... I had little time to think about it. I forced all the energy in my body through my left arm, and into the sword. It started to glow as it accumulated the power, and soon it burst aflame, like it had for Farida. I was much slower at it than her, but as long as I accomplished what I tried, that was all that mattered. Her eyes strained at the sight, her pupils shrinking slightly in disbelief. I raised the sword across my body and over my shoulder. When she released her power-beam, I swung my sword as hard as I could, forcing everything I had into it.

My attack discharged out like a solitary wave, overtaking her attack and absorbing it. It continued its way to Farida, and she managed to avoid it at the last second by dropping to the floor. The doctors in the stairwell also ducked. The mass of energy hit the elevator, piercing through the walls and shattering the doors' windows nearby. The elevator's door wouldn't close after that; electricity wound from the sides like serpents, and the elevator itself seemed to sink. Had I done something to the cable? I didn't know. The sword completely went out, and as hard as I might, it wouldn't flare up again. I growled at it and threw it at the ground again.

"Impossible!" Farida seethed. She got back up to her feet again, glaring at me hatefully. "How can you do that? I am the Alpha! Not you! I am supposed to be the stronger one! You are Beta! The lab rat! The flawed, unfinished—"

"And you think being Cyclonis' pet is any better?" I shot back. I ran at her again and we continued our struggle. She waited for me, and when I swung out at her, she dodged it with seeming ease. After a series of attacks I couldn't land, she started her own offence. I managed to block a number of them, but otherwise I couldn't escape them. I crashed against the wall on my opened left shoulder, hissing in annoyance and pain, and swung out with my Claws. I raked them across her chest, leaving three long scars. I thought that would daze her for a few moments, so I backed away to recuperate. My back was to the elevator here. However, she didn't hesitate to attack me while I tried to recover. She tackled me, her head impacting my sternum, knocking the breath out of me. We crashed into the elevator, the railing on the wall digging into my spine. She sought to land a heavy bite on me again, but my hands came up and grabbed her head, forcing it down under my arm.

The struggling of dominance could not be done in a worse place. I could feel the elevator sinking slowly, as if hanging by a thread, but I couldn't think straight enough to get out of there immediately. And even if I did, I wouldn't have been able to, not with Farida pinning me like this. No, we had no chance to get out. After a moment of violent grappling, we heard the cable snap, and the elevator plunged. Light escaped us.

And we fell.

End of Chapter

A/N: Another quick update, woo!

I hope you enjoy this one as much as I enjoyed writing. I'm excited for the next chapter as well, so hopefully I can get that one done started soon. Thanks once again to Mystic Shadow Demon for looking through and editing with me :D Hope to hear what you all have to say soon!

Also, happy first day of Nation Novel Writing Month! I'll try to use this time to exercise my fingers and creativity~ Have a good day!

~Vixen