The other lay limply behind her back. xxx 18 A mother, father, and young boy fled west towards Alena. Torstein couldn’t help but admire this courageous girl. Mason, an eighteen-year-old in his last year of training, stood on the eastern edge of the beach. She would take revenge for Loni’s death even if it was her last act on earth. On her back, Alena watched the slaughter with a sort of emotional detachment. Even then, there was no grimace as her fingers touched the puckered and torn flesh; she showed no reaction at all to the pain as she calmly pressed her fingers to the wound to slow the bleeding. But she also hated him for not killing her with his own hands.
