Shamira couldn't move. Some girls had been fascinated by dolls and unicorns as a kid. She had been fascinated by death on wings, fire in the sky, and it was in front of her now, coming fast. Shamira let her eyes follow its body, even when she knew that she should be wheeling for her life. 'So beautiful,' she thought. 'Beautiful and . . . sparkly?'

Clara was the first to notice that Shamira was still outside next to the transport van she had come down in. "Shamira!" she shouted, bursting out of the armored car and bolting towards her girlfriend. That was when she saw what Shamira had been...