"I'll be right here."
Nahla smiled at Riley and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "I'll keep it safe," she whispered. Once she was dressed Nahla slipped her sidearm into her hip holster and headed for the door. "Don't wait up on me, okay? Try to get some rest."
And with that she was on her way.
The mansion the Talon had made her temporary roost was a rare sight for someone like Nahla. She'd spent the better part of the last year living out of tents and inside cave afteralls. Despite its dreary decor, it made for a nice change of scenery.
Once she made it to Talon's suite she knocked on the door and waited patiently for a response.
The Talon was stood beneath the domed glass ceiling in the centre of the suite, her flesh fingers carefully caressing the magnificent device that was mounted there, when she heard the knock at the door.
"Enter." she called out, sounding almost absent-minded (though she never was), and turned to smile at Nahla as she crossed the threshold, her hand still resting on the enormous telescope.
"Nahla, at last!" she said happily. "Come. I want you to watch the stars with me."
Nahla offered an innocent grin and stood at Talon's side. "You seem to be in rare form tonight," she remarked.
"We live in exciting times." The Talon told her, stepping back to let Nahla peer through the eyepiece. Despite being three time taller than either of them, the telescope was beautifully ornate in detail, a work of art as much as industry. To find one so well-preserved was a luxury. Obviously, the rich mahogany construction meant it was obviously imported, likely by some imperial governor who had once laid claim to this part of the world from this house. The image amused her, of someone with such power and wealth going to such lengths to remind themselves of all that they could never possess.
"I find it strange, and sad..." she wondered aloud "that so many of us, when we gaze into the cosmos feel so lost. For me, it's comforting, to be reminded of the vastness of possibility so far beyond me, and so far beyond my trails. Why should something be insignificant just because it is small? However, when set against the backdrop of such permanence, even our boldest endeavours seem so much more manageable."
Nahla always appreciated her master's existential nature. She had a way with words that Nahla could never hope to rival. "Perspective is a power thing," the soldier said, rather ineliquently. "Riley returned to my bed tonight in despair. What do you make of that? I imagine this perch of yours offers a unique vantage point."
"See..." The Talon continued, delaying her answer for now. "I look up from our dying world and I see one simple truth. Rejuvenation. It is the law of the universe. Every ending is in its own way a beginning, or even a dozen beginnings. Each death gives way to new life, there's no stopping the march of survival, you simply have to look beyond the boundaries of your own attachments, when things seem hopeless. What we do, the lives we take, simply fulfil a contract untold millennia in the making. What happens next? Now, that's the truly astonishing part, but the cosmos provides..."
The Talon touched Nahla's arm as the other woman continued to stare through the eyepiece at the clear night's sky.
"I told everyone that Riley killed Dietrich on my orders. I assume he already told you that was a lie."
Nahla nodded. "Riley was disturbed by your acceptance," she explained. "That you would be so quick to forsake someone so loyal to you... what really happened, Master? What had he done to deserve his fate?"
"Loyal is the operative word." The Talon answered "Save for yourself, you would be hard pressed to find a more loyal servant to our cause than Dietrich; and, in truth, he only ever did exactly as I had instructed him to do. In short, he died because his path had arrived at its natural terminus. Our plans would not have been possible without his good work, but that work was now done. He had no more part to play, and better he die like this than be left hanging as a loose end, out of place and vulnerable. I believe that, on some level, he always understood the terms of his service to me. He believed, as I do, in rejuvenation, which is not possible without destruction; and in his final acts proved much to me about the challenges I still have left to overcome."
Turning away, The Talon moved towards the windows, looking out at the silhouette of the mountains beyond the compound. In a few hours, the Sun would begin to rise over them.
"I have a confession to make Nahla." she said "I hope you will not be angry with me."
So he really hadn't done anything wrong...
Nahla tilted her head, trying to get a better look at her Lady's face. "Oh, I thought you already confessed," she said with a small chuckle, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Her humor betrayed her fear, however. There was a weight to Talon's words that sent a shiver up the soldier's spine.
"When you and Riley first came to me..." The Talon said, not turning to face her "I matched you together. My intentions were... not entirely altruistic. Seeing you find comfort in each-other is it's own reward, of course. However, there were other reasons for why I wished it."
There was a melancholy in her voice that it was hard to judge conclusively as guilt.
"In your own ways, you were both lost. You fought, not for a better world, not even for your own personal vengeance, but because you simply did not know what else to do. I saw potential in both of you for far more than that, and hoped you would find your visions for the better world we fight for in each-other. We all have a past that has driven us here, but without a future, we will change nothing. I wanted Riley to be your future, and you his... but it hasn't worked, has it? Riley cares for you a great deal, but not enough to be inspired, not enough to fight for something greater than to fill the void within himself. Without that purpose, the void will engulf him the moment he realises that our path will not give him what he seeks. We are so close Nahla. So close... and yet we are still so vulnerable to crumbling from within. Am I supposed to risk it all on a man without faith?"
Nahla blinked stupidly. "I..." she muttered, her words failing her.
What are you saying?
"Master," she began again, "what do you mean? R-riley has been loyal to you from the start! I-I-I can talk to him if you want me to. Surely I can help him. I know I can."
"He has been loyal to me so far because I have asked nothing of him that he cannot abide." The Talon responded firmly. "I have asked him to kill faceless, nameless men, wearing uniforms he despises, in far-flung, lawless corners of the world. I have asked him to be in his element, and he would do the same for anyone fighting for any cause, because he has nowhere else to go and nothing left to lose. Until now, that was acceptable. However, when I ask him to cause suffering beyond the imaginations of ordinary men, beyond even the deaths we have caused so far, will he truly understand why? When I ask him to tear innocent families asunder, just as his own once was, do you expect him to realise that there is no other way, that these innocents are held in the grip of a system so rotten, so corrosive, that it must be shattered and all it's remnants burned, in order for all the good in the world to at last take its rightful place, free of cruelty and exploitation? When I ask of him to possess both the heartlessness to purge this world, and the love to cultivate what must come after, so that no innocent will have suffered in vain, will he truly have it in him? Tell me honestly, Nahla, of the measure of the man you love; and when you do, look to what happened to Dietrich, when he asked the same question."
"Then make him leave," Nahla blurted. She was trembling now. "With Dietrich dead, the timing couldn't be better. Just... just tell him to leave in the dead of night and everyone will just think he did it because of Dietrich! There's no reason to take it further than that..."
"Nahla, it's alright. Hush now..." The Talon said, crossing the room at the sound of her mounting distress and embracing her, with her warm arm of flesh around her back, and her cold, meta one at the back of her neck. "If I wanted Riley gone, he would be gone. I see the potential for greatness in him still. I still believe he can succeed with us, but I will need your help. I shall require your absolute obedience, regardless of what Riley thinks of the matter, if we are to same him from himself. Can you promise me that Nahla, can I hold your loyalty above question?"
"Absolutely," Nahla whispered. "Anything for you, Master." The Talon's touch had stilled her weary heart, as it always did. Nahla felt her anxiety drain out of her. She always made a point to remember moments like these. They were all too scarce.
Nahla wondered if anyone else ever got to see this side of their leader.
"I am yours, always," she said, resting her head against the Talon's shoulder.
"Good." The Talon said softly "From now on, I will need you to report everything Riley says to you in confidence. Only when I am given a window into the twists and turns of his mind, can I guide him to a path of inner peace. Most importantly of all. He must not know. He would not understand the goodness of our intentions. When he asks you of what we've spoken of here tonight, I need you to lie, convincingly. It won't be easy, I know, but it's for his own good..."
Lifting Nahla's head up to her own, and locking their eyes together, The Talon moved her flesh hand over the other woman's chest, resting above her heart, feeling in slow.
"It's in these moments," she said, smiling "where I wonder if I could do this without you, Nahla. I am blessed to have the faith and loyalty of so many, but only when we are alone, do I feel that there is someone in the world to whom I bring more than just awe, but also comfort. It is... not a connection I had ever hoped to have with anyone."
Slowly, almost tentatively, she leaned in, and their lips touched...
"Sorry!" she blurted, checking herself, but still holding Nahla close. "That was ill-judged. I do not want you to feel obliged to... I just... I'm sorry."
Again, Nahla could do nothing but blink like a fool. What had just...?
Did she...?
Had she ever apologized to anyone? Earnestly?
"Uh, um," Nahla mumbled, her face glowing bright red. "Well--I, um, I--huh? Did you... I-I'm sorry, I'm mumbling like a bafoon!"
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
"I didn't mean to startle you." The Talon sounded crestfallen "I just... I can't deny that I feel we share something, like this. The moment is just... with how far we've come, and what we still have left to overcome... I want you to know that you comfort me as I comfort you."
She began to sound more hopeful, as their embrace held, she began to lean in closer again, almost imperceptibly.
"I want to write your name in the stars tonight..." she told her "So that, no matter what else, happens, we can preserve this moment forever, even beyond when we return to the infinite that gave form to us."
"Um, okay," Nahla said. "Th-that sounds good."
What's happening here?
However uncertain she may have been, Nahla's trepidation was easily banished by Talon's soothing words.
D-does she want to fuck me?! Should I just... ask?
Nahla giggled nerviously. "Master, I... do you... what do you want me to do, Master?" she asked rather sheepishly. "Just say the word. Just say the word and it is done."
Fucking smooth, Nahla.
"I don't... I don't want to command you, not right now." The Talon said "Be here, with me, if you feel this. No declarations, no betrayals. Two loves need not have any bearing on one another. Why stay true by denying what's real?"
Nahla looked down at the bracelet Riley gave her earlier. She had a feeling he'd have given it to someone else, had he the opportunity.
You could never replace her.
Nahla bit her lower lip and giggled. "O-okay," she agreed. "B-but be gentle, okay? I've already uhhh... well, what I mean to say is that you wouldn't be my first this evening."
"Of course." The Talon's smile was infectious. "I want you to share in this."
They kissed deeply, The Talon's good hand exploring as much of Nahla's body as she could reach, but slowly, before leading her into the bedroom. Guiding the other woman's hands over her combat jacket, she stripped it off and the vest beneath it, revealing her dark, toned body was covered in mauve scars, savage-looking and yet strangely methodical.
"Nobody's ever seen me like this before." she said nervously. "Perhaps I should be asking you to be gentle with me?"
Nahla caressed the woman's chest, lingering on one of the more pronounced scars. It was in this moment that she realized how little she knew about her leader. She giggled. "Do I get to be your first?" she asked with a sinister grin. "I admit, I never imagined you'd be so... well, I suppose I always thought you'd be more aggressive in this type of setting." She pulled her eyes away from the scars and meet Talon's gaze. "It's cute."
"Well, we are just getting started..." she said, a little mischievously "I'm sure I'll get the hang of it."
She tried to strip Nahla as well, but her bladed hand was proving to be a liability.
"It's not always convenient." she giggled "Help me out."
"Of course," she said, almost a bit too formally. This whole situation was all kinds of weird.
Relax.
Nahla stripped down to her underwear and took Talon's flesh hand in her own. "If I may ask... why now?" she said. "Why haven't you ever taken anyone into your bed before now?"
"For once, it's a fairly mundane answer." The Talon said, drinking in her partners body, as the two sat on the edge of the bed. "I've always had so much to do. On the edge of my life's work, this is the first time I've ever had to clear my head. It might also be my last."
"And what about your... hobby?" she asked. "If that wasn't to clear your head then---you know what, nevermind. I don't want to kill the mood. I'm sorry."
"No, it's alright." The Talon answered "You deserve an answer..."
She guided Nahla's hands over her abdomen.
"I am forged from pain. Each of my scars, are a step along the path to what you see here. How I can do the things I can do, and the secrets of the world that I know. Deep within me, past all the layers of endurance that they could peel back, they discovered something. Something that allowed me to become something greater than they had ever anticipated. When a life is held at its limit, when you remove it from the world of understanding and create a universe all of its own within that moment, you get a glimpse of something, something that has driven me out from the Darkness and towards the Dawn. It's not recreation, it's a necessity."
"So you feel that by sharing that experience you are... enlightening them in the same way you were?" Nahla asked. She chuckled quietly. "You still have most of your skin though."
"It's not for them, it's for me." she answered.
No more talk. The two of them sank into each-other, tumbling back onto the bed.
Afterward, The Talon held her lover close, her chest heaving with shuddering breaths as the moonlight shone beaded jewels upon their skin, her ravenous hunger finally satisfied.
"Can you stay?" she whispered as she cooled down. "I'd understand if you're being missed somewhere else."
Nahla snuggled against the smaller woman and grinned. "I think I could stay a little longer," she told Talon. "Might need to persuade me though."
"Tempting." she said, kissing Nahla once more "but we should both get some sleep. There won't be much rest in our futures for a while. The Dawn is rising, and we must be there to herald it. No matter what happens with us, or with you and Riley, remember that above all."
"I'll just have to cherish this while it lasts then," Nahla replied.
