Prologue
The battle was over.
Remote screams of wounded comrades carried on the gentle breeze and with it came the smell of burning metal and blood, strong enough to make a grown man retch. Broken bodies were piled against alloy limbs, fallen in the disarray of a combat unplanned. Alekai stood nimbly amidst the chaos, scrambling soldiers falling to their knees at his feet begging for guidance. He could not bear notice to them. Something significant had captured his attention, although he couldn't quite place what it was or where it had come from.
In the distance, he could see the smallest hint of red. His mercury eyes narrowed. The red was not the color of fresh blood. It was bright, almost fruit-like in nature. About a hundred meters away, he was sure he had seen it.
You're imagining things at a time like this.
The thought came with disdain. Refocusing, he barked out orders.
"Gather the wounded. We will return to base. Leave the dead to return to the Mother." His voice came deep, but loud enough that he knew his men had heard him.
This battlefield would become just another graveyard. A couple of decades needed and it would be renewed, just for another battle to take place.
Man, I am getting tired of this shit.
He sighed, a pitiful sound coming from such a giant man, taking one last glance of the bloodshed before he began to turn his back on the loss of life before him.
He froze.
It wasn't the unusual circumstance of this particular battle, the rising numbers of dead soldiers, or the abnormal sight of such red that had thrown him off balance. It was the cry. The smallest of pleas riding on the wind, that rang just a bit too shrill to match any of the men or women that served under him. Just as fast as his body had stilled, Alekai was moving once again. The direction his feet were carrying him the same as the glimpse of vermilion. Dismembered appendages were nudged here and there, leaving behind a pathway of gore.
He approached a rather intimidating mound of perished bodies, the fear still embedded in their blank stares, mouths agape with the pain they had succumbed to. There it was. The strange color, brushing gently against ashen blood. A small mew-like moan came from the mound, Alekai's eyes widening slightly in response. Without a second thought, he buried his arm elbow-deep in the dead flesh, grasping for what made such an innocent sound. Clutching the first warm limb he came into contact with, he coiled back with brute strength, pulling the creature forth.
Creature. No.
Woman.
It took too long a moment for Alekai to register exactly the sight before him. Her hair was that of the sun, caked and matted with dry blood, sticking to her face, neck, and chest. Her crystal blue eyes, no, eye, staring at him. No emotion could be read from her half-stance; still leaning heavily against his deceased former family. Her right eye was inhuman. The robotic optic machine whirring in a circle, gold glinting in the mostly daylight. Along her eyelid there were visible scars and cuts of abuse where the skin had been broken, no doubt to replace the shining twin of her cerulean glare with that of the gnarly machine.
"It's alright. It's over." Alekai released the wrist that he grabbed to yank her from her hiding spot and instead slowly raised his hands, palm up, as if surrendering. "I'm not going to harm you."
The look she cast was incredulous. Her human eye narrowed at his words before her wilting voice caressed the space between them.
"Harm me?" She spat, disgusted. "What more harm could there be done?" She gestured to the carnage surrounding them. "This was a massacre. An unfortunate loss."
"We were blitzed." He growled. "Nothing is quite as messy as an uncoordinated battle. Speaking of which. What exactly are you doing out here? This is Chartered lands. You shouldn't be here."
"I live here." She looked over the span of land. "Lived." She corrected. "I suppose I should be finding myself some place to move on to now. I've lived in worse places, but a graveyard doesn't seem to be on my list of must haves."
He smirked. "You'll be more than welcome to follow us back to our base. My Commanding General will need information from you and you may be allotted to stay."
"I'm sure that wasn't a suggestion."
"You guessed it." The smirk grew. "Let's head out. No need to be caught out here after sunset. I don't think I gathered your name."
Alekai turned to head back the way he had originally come, the strange woman at his side. She didn't give a reply, only followed as he had suggested, shoulders lowered in silent defeat at a fight not fought. Once they reached the returning party of warriors, he stole one glance down at the serene woman.
She was looking up at him, almost as if she were looking directly into his darkened soul, her chin jutted out slightly in a small way of defiance.
"I didn't offer it."
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone