That was a good idea; and with as cold as it was, practical even if they ran into nothing at all. "You have a point."

She wasn't sure if Ilia was humoring her with the praise, but she tried another punch, this one a little surer. It still didn't feel like something she could really do when faced with something with two heads and five-inch-claws, but people could do remarkable things under stress. Some of them even good.

"Had you ever fought, in earnest, before you came here?" Was that poise Ilia maintained the voice of long experience, or something that had come together under pressure? It was idle curiosity, but Lana liked knowing what made people tick; it was an instinct she couldn't quite turn off, and didn't especially want to.