Звездопад / Starfall: Глава 23

Chapter 23

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 16:36

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Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 16:37

Taer woke up immediately - a sharp jolt - as if the nightmare had chewed her up and, not satisfied with the taste, spat her out.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:19

"Damn..." she groaned, pulling down the sweaty sheets and trying to sit up on the bed. "Again..."

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:20

The nightmare started right on schedule the night after the guiding was activated. Her body was shaking with small shivers, like a chill, and every joint was aching. She felt as if she had shattered into a thousand little pieces, and someone had hastily glued them back together. Not much care had been taken to fit the pieces together.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:22

Taer stretched out her arm, and with a loud snap, the elbow joint snapped into place. The palm crunched into a fist - the nasty aching feeling subsided a little. Reaching for the small table by the bed, she pulled out her communicator. Blue numbers flashed on the screen...

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:23

//Three o'clock! - Taer wondered in her mind. - I slept for almost twenty-four hours!

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:23

She summoned the droids to make the bed and tossed the communicator back onto the table. She rose carefully from the bed. It seemed that if she shifted more weight on her leg, it would burst like a glass of the finest crystal in a careless hand, and she would collapse to the floor like a broken doll. Whether or not that was really the case, she did not want to find out. So Taër moved slowly toward the bathroom, carrying herself gently across the room like it was the greatest jewel in the world.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:25

Walking past the security terminal, she mechanically ran a diagnostic, glancing unseeingly at the scattering of images from the tracking sensors, and was about to turn away when suddenly her body froze, and a moment later, she seemed to burst into flames from within.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:25

A wave of heat swept through her, burning away the shivers and weakness, her lungs on fire like after hours of cross-country. Taer took a deep, scalding breath, as if she'd inhaled pure flame instead of air, and stopped breathing altogether. At the same moment, her right hand shook the blaster from the holster left on the table in one incredibly crisp and graceful movement, simultaneously cocking the ready lever and setting the power to maximum. The accelerator turned on, and as her body floated in a thick syrup of thickened air in a swift dash towards the cloaked sliding panel that separated her and the lord's bedroom, Taer realized what had caused the homing reaction.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:27

//None of the pictures of the security terminal showed any summoned droids. - It hit her belatedly. - Either someone had blocked my communication channel, and they just didn't summon, or someone had hacked into the surveillance network, and now there was a "visual loop" on the terminal, spliced together from old records

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:27

The panel slid noiselessly to the side, and Taer stretched out in a crawling leap at the very floor, eager to escape the dangerous confines of the doorway. The fluffy pile of carpet swept in front of her face. She rubbed her shoulder gently against it and went into a roll, frozen in a tight clump behind the huge, human-sized mirror in the lord's bedroom. Only the edge of her right eye and the muzzle of her blaster protruded beyond the boundaries of the mirror.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:29

The dark room was flooded with the ghostly reddish light of the night sky, glinting dimly on the scarlet silk of the upholstered walls. One of the segments of the huge window that occupied the entire outer wall was open, and the slight breeze brought with it the scent of wet leaves, the quiet rustle of cilias, and the distant trill of rare finches. The frame of the mirror against which she snuggled cooled her cheek and smelled of old metal. There was silence and peace in the bedroom. The lord, sprawled out, slept across the bed, seemingly unharmed.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:30

She slid out from behind the mirror and moved in a wide arc toward the lord's bed, flowing from place to place, from one hiding place to another, with the scarlet dot of her aim resting on the door leading to the hallway and frozen virtually unwavering despite all her movements. Guider, managing to aim, survey the room and look behind the doors to the corridor and dressing room at the same time, brought Taer up to the lord, her palm resting near his face. The sleeper's calm breath came in a warm wave over her fingers.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:39

//Thank shadows, false alarm! With relief, she thought.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:39

And a moment later, she realized how uncomfortable her position was. Deep in the night, in her lord's bedroom, holding her palm to his face for some reason, with only one blaster, even without a holster or belt, still pointed toward the door. A cool, damp breeze blew in from the garden, sending shivers down my spine:

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:41

//Oh, Ryan, don't let him wake up," she mentally pleaded. - He'll think I'm crazy, or they'll put me in some kind of asylum.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:41

And then, to her horror, she saw the lord's eyelids flutter open, and his eyes (very slowly from the still 'accelerated' Taer's point of view) begin to open.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:42

For a few moments, they stared into each other's eyes. The lord's look of confusion was replaced by surprise, and Taer began to think feverishly about what to say when suddenly there was a quiet click, and the door to the corridor began to open...

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:43

As the light beam of the ajar door widened, a dainty hand and the edge of a dark purple dress became visible...

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:44

The blaster in Taer's hand shrieked, and a ball of orange firefly discharge raced towards the opening door. She watched in horror as the edge of the door slowly drifted to the side, revealing an intruder - a small scarlet Istalia flower pinned to the shoulder strap, long flowing gold earrings that accentuated the beauty of their owner's neck, dark hair gathered in a long tight ponytail with wide, dark red ribbons. It was Baroness Cairn Rional in the tight dark purple dress she had worn during the last breakfast. The discharge shattered into Kayrin's face in a bright flash, scarlet sparks of instantly burnt hair splattering to the sides, the tight scarlet bud of the explosion burst with smoky petals, fading into a black frost of soot. The Baroness swayed slightly but steadied herself, and her left arm went slowly upward.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:45

Taer threw the lord back so that he fell behind the bed and darted away from the intended line of fire with one mighty swing of her hand. The next shot fired by the 'specialist' also hit Kayrin's head and - again - with no tangible result. Baroness Rionale trembled, a wave of light sweeping through her arm and a dainty silver slicer leaping out of her wrist and into the palm of her hand.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:48

In response to this, the guider must have decided to change tactics as Taer's blaster let out a pulsating howl, lighting the baroness's chest in flames of smoke. Kayrin began to swell rapidly like a disturbed swamp jumper, and her skin began to take on a distinct silver hue, a slither rustling. An invisible jet ran across the room, trying to catch up with Taer, knocking white fountains of filler from the bed, flourishing a reddish stream of sawdust on the polished sides of furniture and light wisps of pile flowing across the carpet.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:51

Taer felt a slight jolt to her left side and was hit by something warm and wet. An alien prickly thought flashed through her mind. //No pattern correction required, and the guider continued to send out discharges. The scarlet dot of the sight twitched to the side, and a bright flash of tearing covered the Baroness' palm with the clenched slither.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:53

Kayrin, who by this point resembled a strange headless semblance of a human with rough silver skin and huge arms and legs that looked more like poles, jerked awkwardly and collapsed to the side, stepping out of the doorway and out of sight. There was a soft clap, and a cloud of energy-absorbing mixture hung like a pearly wall in the corridor.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:54

Taer stood frozen for a few moments, holding the doorway in her sights, then she frantically exhaled the scalding air and took her first breath of the whole time:

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:54

"Ancient Shapeshifter. I thought they were extinct," she heard her own voice, more like a croak.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:55

And she realized that the "guider" was right, and it really was an ancient shapeshifter, just like in the scary fairy tales her older sister liked to tell.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:56

Her body turned towards the lord - the latter, seemingly unharmed, was peering out from behind a parted jumble of beds and staring at her like a mesmerized man:

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:56

"Taer, the hand..." he said at last, with some strange intonation.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:56

Her gaze dipped a little lower, and the "specialist" realized with horror what the lord meant.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:57

Her entire left side was covered in blood, there was a dark wound just below her chest, and her right arm was missing above the elbow. Or rather, it was not where it was supposed to be, but on the floor. And around it, a dark stain was swiftly pouring across the carpet.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:58

"He went for reinforcements." As if nothing had happened, the guider continued. "We should change positions."

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 18:59

At that moment, her left hand swiped the phaser forcefully across her thigh, exposing the focus to the minimum, and brought the barrel to the wound.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:00

Taer realized what was about to happen and became unbearably scared:

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:00

//I don't want to! - the thought rushed through her mind, and for the first time, she tried to resist the guider.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:01

"I don't want to..." she heard herself wheezing. Her hand loosened, hanging limply, the blaster falling to the carpet with a thud.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:02

She suddenly realized that she was incredibly cold, and every breath was followed by a flickering pain in her left side. Another hoarse breath made her break into a convulsive cough. Taer wiped her lips and stared in surprise at the scarlet droplets left on the back of her palm. At that moment, the world shook around her, black dots danced in her eyes, and the floor swept toward her with splotches of scarlet.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:03

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Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:02

The sensation of living warmth that had appeared near his face made Alex wake up. When he opened his eyes, he tried for a few moments to figure out what it was that he was seeing. And when he did, at first, he thought he was still asleep. Above him, holding his open palm close to his face, leaned Taër in her Eve costume. Simply put, completely naked. Despite the obvious unreality of the sight, Alex's gaze slid almost spontaneously down to the mouthwatering curves and roundness of the "specialist," gleaming in the reddish light of the night sky.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:05

//And when in uniform, where does that disappear to?" - Dumbfounded, he thought, instantly realizing that the curves and roundness were perfectly real.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:06

Alex looked at Taer in surprise, trying to figure out what that was about, and froze, gazing into her face. Her unnaturally dilated eyes seemed to be completely black, staring unmovingly through him. Or rather an eye. The right one. Because the left one was looking somewhere in the direction of the front door, which gave an eerie impression. The barrel of the blaster in his left hand was pointing in the same direction.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:08

At that moment, the lock on the door clicked softly, and Alex was thrown into the air. The world around him flipped and spun, exploding in a whirl of flashes and howls of flying discharges. He suddenly realized that he was flying toward the small table behind the bed, and he reflexively clutched himself into a lump, covering his head with his hands.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:10

Rhythmic flashes of gunfire rolled through the bedroom with a howl, momentarily illuminating the room with orange light before exploding with loud pops somewhere in the hallway. Alex tried to rise from the floor, but at that moment, something unseen rustled dryly through the room, tearing everything in its path.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:11

The bed behind which he had fallen spewed out a swirling cloud of shreds and sawdust and collapsed on its side with a loud crack of shattering wood, a swirl of silk paneling, sawdust, and filling material swirled over the small, elegant couch that stood next, and it collapsed flat in half, a huge mirror collapsed to the floor with a loud clang. Something drew a bizarre zigzag across the carpet and caught up with Taer. A wound opened on her forearm, splattering a scarlet blotch to the sides, and the "specialist" disappeared for a moment in a swirl of tiny blood droplets. In the corridor, something clattered softly...

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:18

Suddenly it stopped as suddenly as it had started.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:18

An unnatural silence fell over Alex, so quiet that he could hear the thud of his own heart. He rose again from behind the ruins of the bed and searched for Taer with his eyes. The girl stood frozen like a statue on the other side of the bed. She was covered in blood, her right arm was missing, and blood was gushing from a dark cut on her forearm. Her face was perfectly still, and the blaster in her outstretched hand was perfectly still.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:19

"Fuck!" Alex whispered dazedly.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:20

"Ancient Shapeshifter," Taer commented blankly, taking a deep breath as if after a long dive. "I thought they were extinct."

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:21

She turned her head towards him, her eyes still unnaturally dilated and staring through him. Blood poured darkly down her side, but the "specialist" seemed not to notice.

Camrad_RIP 15.03.23 в 19:21