'You're trembling,' mumbles Shaan, his face smeared with dark, thick patches of soot and dust. A fresh small gash stretches from right underneath his left eye to his cheekbone. Even his long lashes look exceptionally dense with the filthy particles adhering to them and his short chestnut hair looks more like raven feathers under the rumpled patrol hat. His eyes, though, are still two chocolate gems, the only light in the shower of debris. His breath comes out as thin rings of frost.
Elli takes a glimpse of his shivering gloved hands that wrap around the sniper. They are crouching behind the fortified ditch along with their comrades, panting. Thunderous bangs pierce their ears as the tanks from the other side advance and fire in their directions. The ground quakes violently. Elli swallows
