"Like a car but bigger, coastal, far north and cold and mountainous."

"I've never heard of a car either."

"...it's a vehicle."

"...okay. Have they heard of the Enemy in Noregr?"

"...no?"

"Valar, Eru, Beleriand, Valinor - have you met any Elves or any Dwarves -"

"I don't recognize any of those names and no everybody where I'm from is a human. ...Everybody on the whole planet."

"You've mapped it enough to be sure? Okay. Entertaining the premise here, we've got to evacuate this world, is yours a good place to evacuate it to? We've also got to move - can you ride -"

"I have never been on a horse in my life. I have never been near a horse in my life. Um, I guess it might be an okay place? Depending how many people this is and where they went - I don't know how you'd get there -"

"How did you get here?" Lírnith is coordinating their retreat. It is not too complicated to coordinate because there is no one left here in any state to resist them. Lírnith is sending her the names of the dead. Once upon a time she would have appreciated that, and for a long time even after she stopped being able to care about things like that she would have appreciated that her sister kept doing it. She is past appreciating either of those things. It isn't really Lírnith anyway. Amras isn't really dead. 

She stops dead still in the street, shaking, unable to maintain her train of thought. There's so much blood everywhere -

"I think one of the artifacts sent me - do you have those here -"

"No, no we don't. What's the hook, if there's no way to save anyone -" distractedly, not really looking at Annie -

"...huh?"

She is no longer paying attention to her. She is still dragging her along. 

Annie trips along after her.

And after a minute - "...Nelya - what - I need you to get yourself together, everyone in the palace is dead except the princesses, they're six, they're a mess, entertaining the premise for me what do you want me to do -"

"Kill me -"

"...entertaining the premise far enough to make strategic decisions but not far enough to form preferences based on it, then -"

"Someone would probably find the kids before they starved -"

"Nelya."

"Sure, let's take them. Let's take Annie too. May as well round out the ticket with some hostage infants -"

"Half-mortal, they're six and this high -"

"I don't care, Laurië, everybody's dead -"

"And I actually have to fucking come to grips with it, so stop it with -" with the coping mechanism that is the reason you are still alive - "...would you like me to coordinate our retreat, commander."

"Yes."