The wind blew hard across the mountain ridge. Behind them, the Bleeding Gorge had become a huge crater filled with broken rocks and ash. Smoke still rose from the ruins, but the explosions had finally stopped.
Squad 25 had found a place to rest away from the edge of the mountain. Lira lay on her litter while Kiuga and Zolinka checked her wounds.
Rika lay on a blanket nearby, her hands resting on her stomach. Most of the poison had been removed from her blood, but her body had suffered too much damage over the years. She was weak, and even Sagiri could tell that she did not have much time left.
He knelt beside her and held her wrist, feeling her fading pulse.
Kiana sat on Rika's other side, holding the old woman's hand. Neither of them spoke for a while.
Rika slowly opened her eyes. The anger that had filled them for so many years was gone. She looked tired, but there was a kind of peace on her face that Sagiri had never seen before.
