A split-second of horror crosses Reynir's face, and all at once they're somewhere else. Somewhere dark and close, with the sound of gunfire and explosions all around, and she thinks she can smell smoke.
With these eyes, she can see clearly in the dark. But she almost can't believe it. This isn't Ami's memory... but the woman sitting next to Reynir is unmistakable.
It's Tuuri Hotakainen.
A kitten is dashing around between Ami's feet, puffed up and squeaking loudly, and she feels the floor shift beneath her... Reynir reacts before she can, slamming into her and knocking her to the ground, and not a moment too soon. Wood and metal splinters, and something comes through.
She scrambles back from the breach, pressing herself against the wall, too panicked even to scream. Reynir may have his back turned, but Ami can't look away. It's hideous - long and lumpy and bony and gristly and slithery and glistening with some unidentifiable fluid and the whole room smells like rotting fish and for one terrible heartbeat time seems to stop...
She isn't sure what happens next. But it happens so fast. Chaos, a flurry of spindly limbs and a too-flexible spine, it lunges, but not at her or Reynir - then suddenly the door slams open, and the CRACK of a single gunshot reverberates through the enclosed space -
and it's over.
The abomination slumps to the ground, and behind it, silhouetted in the flickering light from outside, Lalli Hotakainen lowers his rifle.
He doesn't see Ami, either. He doesn't see Reynir, or the monster he just killed, or the cat. Only Tuuri, clutching a bloody wound on her shoulder.
Then he's gone. They're all gone, except Ami and Reynir and and the corpse of the monster. It's dark again, eerily quiet.
Ami doesn't move for a long time, staring at the corpse, half-expecting it to get up again. Her lungs begin to burn, and she realizes she isn't breathing, yet it's hard to start again, almost as if she's forgotten how it works. Finally, though, she manages a loud gasp for air, breaking the silence. Her mouth makes a few attempts at shaping words, but none actually form.
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A split-second of horror crosses Reynir's face, and all at once they're somewhere else. Somewhere dark and close, with the sound of gunfire and explosions all around, and she thinks she can smell smoke.
With these eyes, she can see clearly in the dark. But she almost can't believe it. This isn't Ami's memory... but the woman sitting next to Reynir is unmistakable.
It's Tuuri Hotakainen.
A kitten is dashing around between Ami's feet, puffed up and squeaking loudly, and she feels the floor shift beneath her... Reynir reacts before she can, slamming into her and knocking her to the ground, and not a moment too soon. Wood and metal splinters, and something comes through.
She scrambles back from the breach, pressing herself against the wall, too panicked even to scream. Reynir may have his back turned, but Ami can't look away. It's hideous - long and lumpy and bony and gristly and slithery and glistening with some unidentifiable fluid and the whole room smells like rotting fish and for one terrible heartbeat time seems to stop...
She isn't sure what happens next. But it happens so fast. Chaos, a flurry of spindly limbs and a too-flexible spine, it lunges, but not at her or Reynir - then suddenly the door slams open, and the CRACK of a single gunshot reverberates through the enclosed space -
and it's over.
The abomination slumps to the ground, and behind it, silhouetted in the flickering light from outside, Lalli Hotakainen lowers his rifle.
He doesn't see Ami, either. He doesn't see Reynir, or the monster he just killed, or the cat. Only Tuuri, clutching a bloody wound on her shoulder.
Then he's gone. They're all gone, except Ami and Reynir and and the corpse of the monster. It's dark again, eerily quiet.
Ami doesn't move for a long time, staring at the corpse, half-expecting it to get up again. Her lungs begin to burn, and she realizes she isn't breathing, yet it's hard to start again, almost as if she's forgotten how it works. Finally, though, she manages a loud gasp for air, breaking the silence. Her mouth makes a few attempts at shaping words, but none actually form.