Alice sat up, smoothing her tangled white and brown fur with a trembling hand. She pulled a small, cracked mirror from her pocket, checking her reflection despite the soot and the chaos. Her big blue eyes were still watery, but a flicker of her usual vanity was returning.
She shuddered, a mix of fear and envy crossing her face. "It would be a lot of work to manage one, but at least I wouldn't have to hide in a cellar every time a Jackal looks my way. Come on, let's get moving before the 'gods' come back down that mountain. I don't want to be here when they realise the valley is empty."
Up on the cliffs, far above Alice and the cellar, the air was screaming.
Sarge slammed his fist into a ledge, hauling himself thirty feet higher. "Twenty minutes is too long! My systems are red-lining, but that doesn't matter. If she's crying, I'm spending a month training. This 'slow' pace will get her killed!"
