It was shocking to be alive. It filled Raven with such a strange, overwhelming feeling of happiness that she barely knew what to do with herself. She wasn't used to being happy.

As yet, she hadn't actually done anything at all. She hadn't even opened her eyes. She was lying prone, and it felt like others were nearby, gathered around her. She knew something had happened to her, and it was something bad.

But she could feel her lungs working, drawing in air, and her heart beating in her chest. She was alive! And the fact that she was so amazed to be alive made her realize that she hadn't expected to be. That was right, wasn't it? Whatever bad thing had happened to her, she had thought it was going to kill her, right? It was hard to organize her thoughts. Her memories were a jumble.

But there was something very wrong about all this.

Suddenly, Raven's eyes sprang open and she lurched upright, her left hand grabbing for a spot on her back, at the base of her neck, just above her right shoulder. There was some vague, frightening, urgent memory of trauma there. Something had struck her from behind, violently, with deadly force. Struck her just as... as she was running to protect General Weisel.

"General!" she cried out, in a strange voice.

Calm down, Raven. Lord Weisel is quite well.

Her eyes were wide open but her vision was blurry. She felt very strange, and the happy thrill of being alive suddenly evaporated. Something was indeed very wrong. The voice she had just heard seemed to have come from inside her own head.

Who... who is that? Raven felt foolish, like a child scared by a noise in the dark. But she asked the question silently anyway, in the confines of her own thoughts.

She was answered. My name is Vadya. Welcome to my body.