The daze made her gasp for air. Slow moans escaped her as she crouched down and picked up the unconscious Kineko in her blood-soaked, shadow-scarred arms.
A sudden stinging pain made her retch and her body froze up. She could not breathe. There was no air. Wait, her lungs were not working, or is it her windpipe?
Her widened eyes looked around at blurry images while her heartbeats drummed in her ears. Her fingers clawed into Kineko's back to hold her-
Suddenly, all her breath came back in an instinctual audible gasp. Hyperventilation—everything was hazy and none of her limbs listened to her. Breathing, breathing, breathing—blood, blood, blood.
Everything was so red, and white, and then smoky. She turned her head, realizing she could not shut her eyes to blink and saw a blood pool—not of the dead god, but smaller. A severed arm was left on the floor.
