Lyani wiped at her dry, irritated eyes. She had cried for hours, long enough even to let her body revert back to normal. There was a nearly permanent mark imbeded into her skin where she clutched her friend's charm so tightly that she nearly drew blood. Her body hitched with one last sob, and she sniffed, eyeing her surroundings. At first it seemed like a comfortable little hidey-hole. But now, she realized she was in the middle of a digging sight. She glanced around for her sword and found only the shining Evenlight. She glared down at it
"This is your fault I'm in this mess! Your fault that Erol will be hurt!" she shouted at it.
The guitar-like artifact glowed with a slight illumination, and she heard a manic voice whisper in her head.
"You're lucky I didn't kill the squabling, depressed little thing you call a mate! I even left him with a kiss to remember you by! And this is how you thank me...?" it hissed.
Lyani clutched her head as it punished her for her transgression. After a few moments of burning pain scorching her mind, she stood, grasping the cursed artifact and eyeing her surroundings. Haven City wasn't far. She wondered how she had gotten so far away in the first place, and assumed that in her dark, grief wracked state, she had simply ran here. With a nod to herself, she started to explore.
Jumping over a brief rocky outcrop, she landed on two large wooden planks. She looked out, admiring the slightly deserty environment of the work sight. She couldn't identify what they were trying to build, but then again, it really didn't matter. A slight skittering sound alerted her of another life form, and she whirled. Six nicely sized, barely armored insectoid creatures hissed and clacked in front of her, snapping their claws eagerly. They looked like metal heads, but they seemed inferior in many ways. More like really big bugs, rather than the impressive beings she had seen as a KG officer.
Lyani reached for her blade, then spat an extremely rude epithet as her hand closed on air. She realized she was barely dressed. Only the prison garments covered her form, and she was in no shape to be fighting these creatures. She pulled her arms up in a defensive position as Erol had taught her and waited patiently for her first attacker to come.
The spider-like critters hissed their glee, and two jumped at her. She stepped a few inches back, forcing one to land again. As it did, she kicked her leg out, her foot snapping the neck between two hard armor plates. The other landed on her back, ripping at the thin fabric that covered it. Before it had the chance to mar her, she rolled, her mere body weight crushing the insectoid. She hissed as the acidic blood began to eat away at he top. With a frustrated growl, she pulled it off before if could scar her skin, only leaving a black bra to cover herself. Three others advanced on her, one of them missing. She stepped back into her stance, catching one on her arm and throwing it into an nearby metal pillar. With a sickening crack the arachnid's back snapped, and it flopped to the ground, now useless to its comrades. Lyani yelped as the other two both bit into her leg. With the foolish urge to escape the pain, she threw herself to the side, kicking her leg madly to shake them off. One successfully flew off, but the other had its jaws wrenched deep into her calf.
An unsettling whisper entered Lyani's mind, and two dark electric bolts flew at the bugs. The one that had been thrown screamed in pain as its entire body was scorched to ash. The other was hit hard enough to come loose, but not enough to be killed. Lyani ignored the now bubbling gash in her leg and stood in her stance once more. The little insectoid chittered at her, and lunged at her again. This time she was well prepared. As it came within range, she ducked and threw her fist upwards towards its exposed underbelly. Her fist literally penetrated the weak armor beneath, skewering the bug on her arm. Lyani cried out as the acidic blood ate away at her exposed hand. She threw the shrieking insect from her hand and cradled it, trying to staunch the pain by burying it in the cool sand of the dig site.
Only to be bitten again. The missing critter jumped out of the sand and bit into her hand, snapping two fingers in its jaws. Lyani surpressed a yelp and brought her other hand down onto the bug's skull. With a gross crunch, it caved in, causing more acid to bleed onto the already burnt and broken hand. She grit her teeth, and picked up her acid drenched shirt. She ripped off a piece that wasn't soaked by the gross material and wrapped her hand. She glanced down at her leg and cringed. It brought horrid memories of that night back...
With a dismissive wave of her good hand, she wrapped her leg in the remaining clean fabric and stood up. Her ear twitched as she heard a cat call from behind her. She looked behind her, confused that there was no one to be seen.
"Mmmm...I do love a ferocious woman who can use her hands!" a teenage sounding voice said from no where. "Wanna try some moves on me, sweetheart?"
She glared about, wanting to slam the idiot who said these things in the face with her fist. The voice cleared its throat.
"Down here sweetheart...see? I'm the portable, doctor of love!" it purred. She glanced downward, her eyes widening at the odd creature she saw. It stood about 2 feet high, barely reaching to her knee. It had bright orange fur, covering it from head to tail, and a less bright yellow underbelly. Its eyes were large and round, and eyed her as if some adolescent male looking for some naughty fun. Before she could ask, the creature walked up to her.
"Daxter! Nice to meet you...uhm.."
She eyed him with distaste, and finally gave up her name.
"Lyani. Lyani Cerulyn." she stated plainly, still a bit confused as to why this thing could talk. The weasel type thing carried a long stick, ending in a sparking tazer. A green liquid filled canister was strapped across his back, and he eyed the insect corpses as if he was meant to kill them. Before she could ask him, Daxter grinned and waved his little "electric fly swatter" in the air.
"I'm an exterminator! Now what is a kinky girl like you doing out here in the dust with nothing but your pants on? Certainly you aren't a damsel in distress just waiting for me to come around?" At this Daxter grinned. "Or are you...?"
Brief nausea spread over her, and she looked back towards Evenlight. She stepped away from the ottsel, who in turn followed her, whining that she wasn't answering his question. Daxter gulped and stepped behind Lyani as they both came into eyesight of the dread artifact, Evenlight.
"I grow impatient..." it rasped within her mind, as she grabbed it by the neck and walked back to Daxter. His eye twitched in fear as he realized what she was.
"Y-your...that escaped prisoner..aren't you...the..the dark one that supposedly mangled innocents?"
Lyani's eyes grew dark with grim understanding. "I killed no innocents..but yes..I am the creature you speak of. If you leave me in fear, then I understand."
Daxter frowned at her sudden tone of defeat. He walked up to her, and reached up to touch her hand, only barely able to do so. "Don't worry about it sweetheart...everyone's got their dark secrets. You look like you need some new clothes and some food. Let's get ya back to the city."
For a rodent, he was surprisingly caring. Even in her darkest mood, this ottsel managed to sneak a smile onto her face. With a tired nod she picked up Daxter, and balanced him on her shoulder. Daxter's eye seemed to twitch with some memory, but he quickly buried it, resting a hand on Lyani's head to keep his balance.
"I know a few people in the KG district that can help you. If we hurry we can get there before night fall!" he stated, squnting his eyes as winds started to stir up the sands of the dig site. With an absent nod, she tightened her grip on Evenlight and sprung from her perch, despite her wounds. She landed softly about ten feet below, and sprinted towards the city gates. She had no idea what fate had befallen her dearest...but there was no way she could help him if she didn't first help herself. Only a few miles and she could sate her thirst and rest her aching body.
