'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.