Turbulence tore into shut eyes, opening up a clamped set of bloodshot orbs. Azrael sat upright, knitting his eyebrows in a groggy frenzy.

  “Sleeping beauty finally come to it?” asked Raen.

  “Aren’t we there yet?” He rubbed the sleep out his eyes, tearing up.

  “We should be over the drop-off point soon enough. Strap on all your essentials, ‘cause we’re gonna have a rough descend.”

  “Right,” said Azrael, peering out the window. The night sky trailed past a stream of wispy clouds, the pale moonlight radiant against a starless backdrop. Squinting past the clouds, he nearly anticipated a scaled reptilian to appear out of the dark, spewing words of wisdom.

  “Expecting someone?” Raen brushed her lips against his ear, setting his hairs on end.

  “Could you stop doing that!?” Azrael grunted, inching closer to the window.

  “Here’s your bag.” She pushed a rucksack into the redhead’s hands, threading a similar one through her own arms.

  He followed suit, noticing a set of cords dangling off the edge of the straps, brushing past his elbows. Blinking the last shred of sleeplessness out his eyes, a slap of cold air whacked him across the face, threatening to slam him against the cockpit. “Hey, what’s going on?”

  The back of the plane was pried open, like the gaping maw of an ethereal beast. He was certainly questioning if his scaly acquaintance was planning on dropping by any moment.

  “Oh, must’ve slipped my mind?” She thumped a dull fist against the side of her head, mouthing oopsie-daisy. “Everyone’s gotta give skydiving a try on at least one mission. Nothing like getting pumped with a mildly stimulating life-threatening plunge.”

  Before Azrael could protest, she pulled him to the edge of the plane’s rear. In a forceful thrust, he was hauled over the ledge, down the beast’s gullet. Or perhaps out its rear?

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  Blinking confusedly, he realised, now wasn’t the time to debate over nitpicks.

  Gusts of wind ruffled and tousled his hair. A sense of weightlessness seized him, messing up his perception of down from up, plummeting through the sky. Before he knew it, his throat was raw, unleashing unbridled screams of horror past an awry pulse.

  Fuck! I’m going to kill Raen for this!!! If I survive!

  Despite the chaos, he sighted a spiralling mass cutting through the heavy clouds over the edge of a cliff, blinking past watering eyes.

  “That’s it, you’re headed the right way.”

  Azrael twisted his neck, sighting a sinking Raen beside him, wrapping an arm around his waist. Needless to say, despite the urge he had to strangle her, he wanted nothing more than a safe landing, presently.

  “Relax, would you?” she chided. “Twist a bit more to the side. A-aaand I can see the balcony up ahead.” She pulled the cords dangling off his bag, killing the momentum they had built up, slowing their descent to a crawl.

  Tipping his head, he spotted a canopy slide out his bag, attached to a set of firm strands. “Did you pack just one of those?”

  “Mine’s filled with essentials for the mission,” said Raen. A gust of wind upended their descent, reeling the pair away from the balcony and towards the dark glistening sea. “Oh no, you don’t.” Sliding out a knife strapped to her thigh, she cut the strings attached to the parachute, hastening their descent to a complete free-fall.

  The redhead didn’t hold back. He slackened his jaw and wrung his throat raw. The screams got worse while Raen clung onto him, swerving their bodies towards the parapet.

  “This might hurt a bit.” Raen twisted her body mid-air and wrapped her legs around his waist, steadying his lower half for a crushing touchdown.

  Bare heels met stone-floor, followed by an audible crunch snapping Azrael’s knee in half and buckling his spine. Raen leapt off of him, as he dissipated the momentum of their haphazard descent, crumbling to a fleshy body bag of debris. With a somersault, she landed on her feet with a touch of miasma, and hurriedly covered the redhead’s mouth, dampening his howls.

  “I heard you’ve endured worse,” she said. “And you heal up, so quit your whining! We need to get our mission underway, right away!”

  Squirming, Azrael clenched his hands, his miasma mending his broken legs and shattered spine, abating his agony. Raen loosened her grip on his mouth, giving him space to steady his breath and balance his pounding pulse. “Would it kill you to tell me the specifics beforehand!?” he coughed out, blowing a string of drool down his chin.

  “Then you wouldn’t come along.”

  The redhead gritted his teeth, clambering to his feet. “Yeah, no shit.”

  “Exactly.” She winked, popping her bag open. “Now then, let’s get down to business.”