He was following her footsteps as she slipped in and out of the shadows. She heard his cursing through his panting breaths just behind her head and her anger swelled higher. Claws scraping against the cliff, she pulled herself up and over a jagged precipice and swiveled to face him just as he joined her. The brown cat immediately began running his fingers through the bristled fur on his head in frustration.

"Son of a bitch!" he roared. "Fuck, fuck, fuck…"

"The Pride is gone," Nere said in a blank voice that didn't match her whirling anger. "Helen's… ours… everyone's dead. And you… you…" Jackoi's hands dropped as she advanced slowly; her yellow pendulum tail dangerously swinging. He backed away and his foot slipped on the cliff. "Everyone is dead because of you!"

He hissed and stepped into her confrontation. "How dare you blame me?! I'll kill-"

"Kill me?" she scoffed. "It would be almost poetic to kill the last member of your pathetic Pride! I looked up to you, Jackoi! I followed every single thing you said! It was your decisions that destroyed us! Your arrogance-"

"We would have fuckin' won!" the brown-cat snarled. "We would have beaten those bitches back! I would have ruled The Wastes!"

"But now we must face the fact that we have nothing! We are done, Jackoi! Our land, our Pride, everything is gone! Coyotes, Bears, you name it! Anyone can take our turf whenever they like! Anyone can hunt us down and end us!" His ears lowered an inch and she straightened her back at his submission. "You are so weak! How did I not see this before?"

"I-I will not let them fucking take us! We can rebuild!"

"Rebuild with what?" She motioned behind his back and he turned to look at the vast rocky wasteland. "We have nothing to build with!" Nere swiveled away and willed her racing heart to slow. "What is the point of being a master huntress when there is no one to be master over? No pride to lead? We have to leave now…"

"That fuckin' car…" Jackoi growled behind her head. Turning to look over her shoulder, she gave him a confused look. He was staring at the sunset, his ears forward and his feet planted. "They are the reason the those soldiers came here! They led them here! They are the reason everything fell apart! They were the ones who killed my people…"

"And what do you plan to do, Jackoi? Go back and invade Coyote Territory again?" Nere crossed her arms with abided fury.

Jackoi reached to his side and withdrew two sharpened canine claw daggers from his belt. "I will take revenge on my Pride," he vowed darkly as the blades slipped skillfully over his fingers. "I don't expect you to follow me, but with or without you, I will take those motherfuckers out."

Nere, despite her anger, took a deep breath and stepped up with him to face the cliff.

"This is the last time," she agreed, extending her claws. "I'll help you kill them."

There was a strange quiet between the five of them as each set about unloading the vehicle to continue through the Wastes. The smell of death was palpable even to Van's human nose. The blood splattered rocks, ripped limbs, and crimson-stained fur was enough to make Van feel sick. He'd seen his fair share of death, but this… this had been a massacre. And in the wake of the corpse-strewn ground, a heavy feeling pressed on Van's chest. Like anticipation building with bated breath. Van reached into the popped trunk and lifted an axe as, beside him, Chordata unlaced one of the packs for a bandage. He gave her a worried glance as blood trailed slowly down her snowy cheek, but she noticed his expression and waved off his uneasiness.

"It is nothing, Master Fanel," she reassured, fishing out a sticky bandage. "Head wounds always bleed more than normal." Placing the axe back in the trunk, he stepped forward and grabbed the bandage from her fingers, placing it tenderly on the side of her head. Her ears lowered, but she gave him a kind smile.

"Thank you..." Her amber eyes lifted and she gave him one of her all-knowing stares. "Might I ask… are you… worried, Master Fanel?"

"About what?" he asked, stepping back and regarding her.

"About what will happen?"

He let out a low breath before answering. "I do not know what to expect, Chordata. This," he gestured to the cat bodies lying around them, "was definitely not planned."

"Let me ask you a question. This may be blunt, but I believe you need to think about it. What would you do if I were killed during all of this?"

"I would kill the person who killed you," he said immediately with his eyes flashing steel.

"Wrong answer," she shook her head kindly. "Your answer should be, 'I would get to the yew tree'."

He dismissed her comment with a scoff. "Why are you asking this? You are strong, Chordata. Nothing will happen to you."

"I am strong, but not invincible, Master Fanel," she said wisely. "I can be shot. I can be stabbed. There are many ways I can die along this hard road we've chosen. You have a greater purpose than me. I am nothing and no one compared to you. Promise me, if I die you will continue to the yew tree."

"You are not going to die, Chordata… And you are not nothing… You are everything," he whispered, his voice unexpectedly shaky. Taking her shoulders in his hands, he could see his mixed emotions flashing in the reflection of her deep eyes. Reaching out, she cupped his jaw with her soft hands.

"You raised me… you… are my family."

"I am nothing," she repeated. "You must understand this. I have another question, Master Fanel. And this one you need to know the right answer to."

"I am not sure I want to hear it," he said darkly and she let out a small laugh before growing serious.

"What would you do if Lady Hitomi got killed?"

He blanched, his mahogany eyes cringing. Slowly he started shaking his head as if to rid the words from his mind. She sighed, dropping her hands from his jaw.

"You need to know the answer, Master Fanel."

"I will not let that happen."

"You cannot save everyone."

"I can try."

"What will you do if she gets killed?" Chordata repeated, her soft voice growing sterner. "Answer the question."

"I-I…" he stopped, his eyes sliding to the left where Hitomi, several feet away, was awkwardly trying to balance while strapping one of the heavier packs on her back.

"Idiot," he murmured, hurrying over to help her.

Chordata watched solemnly as the boy she'd taken watched over for more than a decade straightened to his full height and snatched the backpack from Hitomi's startled hands. He looped the straps through his arms before holding out a hand to help her up. Her surprised face grew light as she grasped his fingers and let him pull her on her feet.

"What will you do if she gets killed?" Chordata whispered to herself as she watched the girl turn away to shut the car door and Van's eyes followed her every movement.

"Single-handedly bring Zaibach to its knees," Grammy answered, coming up from behind her. The white cat looked over her shoulder to see the old wolf shambling up, her long furs swinging with her strides. Bakura followed Grammy, the second axe waiting in his hand.

"And after that?" she asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

The yellow eyes flicked hard on the young king and she let out a huff.

"He'll kill himself."

"The pussies are all dead," Snots reported, his tongue, for once, not dripping from his mouth. "They're all lying in the street all dead and shit! The people in the car have axes and they're headed down that pathway on our turf again! It's those fuckin' wolves from yesterday! 'Cept now they have a cat and another human. And get this: it's a female human."

One of them let out an excited howl. "I like the taste of human females!"

Snots whined. "She's a little thing! Not much to share! I've been the one doing the running!"

"Who said anything about sharing!?"

"They're headed through our turf again…" Cadaver said lowly.

"They were messing with the Blessed Angels last night in the clearing! That must be where they're headed." Snots nodded his head quickly. "We can catch them there!"

"Why don't we catch 'em before they hit the narrow tunnel? That's like, a half mile before the clearing, yo!" One of them suggested from the back. "A quick death as a thank you for killing off those pussies off for us!"

"Except the female! Human meat tastes better if you work them a bit beforehand."

"I just realized this entire fuckin' land is ours! The pussies are gone, brah! We own this shit!"

"We gotta protect this shit!"

"Yeah!"

"Protecting shit!"

They turned as one and watched as Cadaver tilted his head thoughtfully.

"Let's get 'em before the crevice. Save me an arm from the girl," he grinned and they all let out long howls.

Grammy's ears perked.

"Damn it," she hissed. "Time to go."

"What? What is it?" Van asked, his sword buckled on his hip, the axe in his hands.

"Coyotes are coming," the wolf growled. Hitomi limped to Bakura and he blushed lightly as he picked her up on his back. Chordata stepped forward, the fur on her neck standing slightly, the other axe safely in her claws.

"I can hear it," she agreed. "We have to go! Do we have everything?"

"We don't have time for that nonsense! We got what we got!" Grammy snarled. "Travel in a line. Cat, you go first and pick our way through. Fanel, you're second. Bakura, you follow with the invalid, and I'll bring up the rear!"

Hitomi's face fell at the name, but she didn't have time to concentrate long as Bakura broke into a sprint behind Van's back and followed up a long ragged path past the dented signs. Clinging onto the dogman's shoulders, she did her best to hold on as they dodged around boulders and climbed up a slippery slope. The loose rocks, jagged and hard, would trip him slightly every few minutes and her heart would pulse in her throat every time he stumbled.

"Hurry up, you lazy lard!" Grammy growled behind her head.

"I'm… trying…" he panted, pulling on the branches of a tiny shrub to help him up a steep incline. On and on they raced through the Wastes, the afternoon sun beginning to lower over the hilly horizon. Just when her hands were beginning to hurt from clutching his shirt so hard, she heard it.

She felt Bakura shudder underneath her.

A terrible snarl erupted from the left and Hitomi's green eyes barely had time to register the grey-brown blur as it raced towards them from a cliff. It was followed by three, then four, then an uncountable amount. One of them veered to the right and she saw its wild glittering eyes catch hers.

It was coming straight for her.

It was like slow motion, everything seemed to slow to a crawl as the canine that spied her leapt from the precipice with his jaws open wide.

Coming closer and closer to her.

Just as she began to smell the hot breath, an axe swung out and caught the coyote's belly. The beast wailed and was thrown backwards into the mountainside; taking the axe with it. Hurrying forward, Van wrenched the handle out of the coyote's stomach and slammed the razor edge on his skull, splitting it open.

"Don't get separated!" Grammy commanded, an unexpected tightness in her gruff voice. "Get back in line and don't stop! We're almost there to the narrow part!"

Van nodded, panting, and hurried to follow Chordata. Meanwhile, the coyotes were beginning to jabber and laugh from the cliff above their heads.

"They think they're actually going to make it!"

"Damn! He almost had the human bitch!"

"Well, I guess that means she's all mine!"

"No, mine!"

"I'm partial to kitten myself!"

Hitomi looked forward, trying to push down her terror. She could see it now. A tight three-foot squeeze between two large mountainsides. The coyotes' cliff was beginning to slope back down to join their pathway. They barked excitedly.

Bakura trembled underneath her and let out a terrified whine. Van, his axe bloody, glanced back and met her eyes briefly.

That was a mistake.

A howl sang from the left and a bouncing coyote hit Van square in the chest. Van landed hard on the ground with the full weight of the brown-furred beast on his body. Hitomi screamed as yellow jaws instantly closed in on his exposed neck.

A figure launched from behind Hitomi's head and the coyote was suddenly soaring through the air. He flew into the mountainside with a terrible crack and fell limp like a rag to the rocky ground below. Grammy snatched up Van by his shoulder and pushed him towards Chordata.

He wheezed, but he looked okay.

"Go!" she snarled.

Chordata reached the narrow tunnel and slipped through like a shadow. Van followed a little slower, his breath still caught in his chest. Bakura, with Hitomi, had to measuredly slither into the crevice as to not scrape Hitomi's knees. He was the slowest of them all.

Glancing back for Grammy, Hitomi let out a gasp.

"Grammy!"

They all turned and stopped to see the wolf just outside the crevice. Her arms were outstretched and she faced the sharp black eyes of the coyote pack.

They were beginning to surround her.

"This is the only way through, right?" she growled, her lips pealing back. "Figured as much, you dumb shitheads."

"Gr-ammy!" Bakura's voice did a heartbreaking pause, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. "What-What are you doing!? Come on!"

"No." She shook her head and her long dreads flapped.

"Grammy, please-"

"Get to that Tunnel! I'll hold them off! It's better this way!"

"How is this better!?" The tears were already running down his eyes.

"I can guarantee you will get to that yew tree if I take out every single one of these motherfuckers!" she thundered.

The pack snarled at her, their jaws snapping loudly. Her yellow eyes turned back for the briefest of seconds to pierce Bakura's pale face.

"Get going, you stupid, fat idiot. It's time. It's bullshit, I know, but this is something I can do."

She turned back to face the pack.

"This is something I can do for you."

Hearing all the commotion, they were easily traced. Nere slipped through the shadowy pathway, tip-toeing narrow ledges and scaling up the mountainside with ease. Popping up over an edge, she felt Jackoi join her only a moment later. They both watched as a white cat with an axe led a human, a dog carrying a human, and a massive wolf to the entrance.

"The coyotes will follow them in," Jackoi hissed, his sharp eyes following the mangy shades as they zipped right behind the five. "They'll be trapped. The bitches will pick them off one by one."

"I will have my kill," Nere vowed angrily. She was about to dart further to along the mountain when Jackoi grabbed her arm and made her look.

The large female wolf was standing at the narrow tunnel, her arms spread wide.

"She will be torn to pieces. One less kill."

Nere smirked. "Let the mutts have her. That just means I can play with the rest."

Stepping forward, she felt the muscles in her back and shoulders tighten as she spread her long arms wide to block the pack's pathway. Flicking out her claws, the jagged, stained talons stuck out like five inch daggers from each of her fingers. With a growl of warning, Grammy straightened her back and let the sheer magnitude of her aura infect the pack. She had sang with the hunt many times throughout her life. She had given into her desires to rip flesh and drink the blood of her kill.

But never had she lost control; her rationality; her mind. She had never truly let out the beast she knew lurked within her soul. The one that slipped through the darkest shadows inside.

The earth-shattering roar that erupted from her throat trembled the stones around the coyote pack. Turning her head, her yellow eyes narrowed on three daring canines attempting to slip past her to get to the crevice.

Instantly, she sprang after the darting shadows and rapidly closed in on one. She grabbed him, her claws dragging into the rippling flesh of his neck. The yelp died with a bloody gurgle in his throat, and she tossed the limp body against the rocks.

Her blood raced with fire as she spied the two coyotes that had continued past her. A pressure hit her back, teeth snapping wildly in her left ear. With a terrifying grin akin to delight, she reached a hand back and pierced the canine on the side with three fingers. He rolled off of her back with yelp of pain. Hurrying, the pads of her feet crunched the ground swiftly after the two and she quickly closed the gap between them. Grammy snatched the tail and the hind leg of both coyotes and held them dangling in the air. With a bellowing howl, she tossed their wiggling bodies over her head before bringing them down to slam their skulls into the ground. A satisfied snort escaped her as she flung their dead corpses just as the pack started to surround her.

Snapping her canines through her blind bestial rage, she could taste their hard stink and the sweet smell of their fear. It sang gloriously from their eyes, their bodies; wafting into the air. As if a hidden signal was made, five coyotes rushed her all at once.

The taste of fur and flesh drippled hot and delicious over her tongue as she caught a pouncing coyote in her mouth by his shoulder and her jaws crushed easily through bone. Hurling him out of her mouth, her right hand swung and dragged through the thick hide of one attacking her flank. With her left, she grabbed the arm of a coyote trying to rush her and she snapped the bone in half with her hand.

Everywhere, canine bodies were tossed in the air as she took them out two or three at a time. Her muscles pumped, her claws slashed, and her mouth dripped with rich, red blood.

For a few minutes, they continued to come at her; confident at first. But as the mutilated corpses began to pile below her feet, they jumped away from her with less certainty; more fear.

One coyote tripped over a body and Grammy missed catching him with her claws as he sprawled on the ground in front of her. Crawling forward, he used his opportunity to close his jaws around her lower calf. With a roar of pain, she stomped on his neck with her other foot; effectively snapping it and killing him.

The wound was minor, but the swell of agony was just what she needed. It twirled the beauty of her rage higher, added more uncontainable fuel to the sweltering magnificent frenzy that swept through her soul. Her rationality was gone. Her control was lost. All she knew was the blood singing its wondrous hymn through her body. Arching her shoulders backward, Grammy lifted her right hand and tugged the bloody furs loose from her tunic. The fabric shredded easily. Just like paper. Just like skin. The ragged tunic fell away from her body; just like her sanity.

They backed away from her now. None of them dared to come close.

She flexed the exposed muscles spread over her back and chest.

Twilight was beginning to spread over the rocky canyon, and the impending dusk chanted to her. Grammy grinned, crimson oozing from her mouth as she stepped over the piles of bodies from the fallen pack. Naked and untamed, Grammy suddenly charged forward and many scampered out of her way with yelps of fear. Reaching out, she caught the head of one that hadn't moved fast enough. Her terrible strength was the last thing he knew as she crushed his skull in her fingers. His eyes popped, his snout rained blood, and she lifted him over her head to let his blood drip like a thick shower over her bare shoulders.

Oh, the fear in the air.

Oh, the cries of death.

Oh, the iron smell of torn flesh…

This was who she really was.

Only five were left of the pack. And they didn't dare come near her; their heightened senses spilling with warning; danger. The blood-covered wolf advanced with the promise of death and they retreated from her with tight whimpers. Ears hostilely pressed against her head, her eyes slipped from one future kill to the next.

They backed away further –

All except one…

Brilliant deadly yellow met a narrowing topaz.

They parted to make a pathway for him as he walked forward challengingly. He lifted the side of his lip in a snarl as the black claws on his fingertips visibly lengthened. Torn brown breeches and a tan leather vest covered his muscled chest and legs. The long ragged fur along his shoulders and neck bristled aggressively. The long curved blade hung at his hip from a simple leather belt. Slowly, he withdrew the weapon from its holster with a shining hiss and even through her berserked mind Grammy couldn't help herself from growling at him.

"Relying… on piss-ant… weapons…?" she struggled to say through her fiery rage. "Bloody… second-rate… cur…"

He gave her a roar which she replied with one of her own – louder, stronger, and drowning out his. The pack jumped away further, most of them with their tails between their legs, but the male crouched forward to attack.

"I'll kill you, fuckin' bitch!" he snarled, spinning the blade in his fingers expertly.

He continued to run, but he didn't want to.

He heard the snarls and screams growing fainter and fainter as he dutifully followed Van's steps. Each one that hit his ears brought a different grotesque picture to his mind. Grammy's throat being torn out. Grammy's arms being ripped off. Grammy's face between someone's jaws.

"I'm sorry, Bakura," Hitomi's voice hissed in his ear. "I'm so, so sorry."

"Th-this was her choice," Bakura stuttered and immediately heard Grammy's voice in his head:

'There's something you should know: You… you… are… special.'

"She knew what she was doing. This was probably her plan all along."

We are the peons in the cross-fire; blocking the bullets from hitting them.'

He could sense Van was listening to their conversation. He felt Hitomi tilt her head in confusion. "How can you be sure?"

'We are the bloody unsung heroes in their garbled tale of romance.'

"Because she told me we were… the bloody unsung heroes. Destiny doesn't give a-a shit about us. You… You and Van have to make it to the yew tree alive. And if that means taking a bullet for either one of you… I-I'll take it."

Hitomi's mouth opened slightly as his words sank in. "You-You can't truly-"

"With my whole heart," he interrupted her with a small smile on his face.

Grammy had told him not to. But then again, she wasn't here to stop him anymore.

"I will take that bullet because I'm in love with you. And I will take that bullet for Van because you love him."

Bakura smelled a terrifying surprise from her. The king stumbled slightly and caught his footing. His fingers wrung on the handle of his axe as he continued to follow Chordata's back. He spread the downwind with a mix of emotions; from jealousy to uncertainty to… to… contentment?

She finally found her voice.

"You don't love me."

"Of course, I do," he gave a weak chuckle. "Fat chance I have with you though! So, I think I'd rather be a bloody unsung hero. I think I can live with that."

'You've got another, but you're a lot stronger than he is.' Grammy had told him in her tent this morning.

Was this the reason why she said that? He was strong enough to admit his feelings, but understand he could never have her?

If that was the reason, Bakura would do his best to be the best damn version of himself ever.

The rest of what she said rang in his ears and his smile grew wider:

'He's a weak fool… and you've got better hair, too.'

Chordata let out a hiss and stopped shortly before the exit out of the crevice. Van slid on the rocks behind her and Hitomi craned her neck to see what was happening.

"Hello, there," a yellow tabby greeted loudly as she hopped into the clearing. Chordata took careful steps and slid out of the narrow crevice with the axe clenched hard in her hands. Van followed her out and Bakura brought up the rear.

That was when a strong brown hand grabbed Hitomi by the neck and wrenched her off of Bakura's back.

They met with a tight clash, the sword swinging low and Grammy's teeth snapping. The Alpha growled as his blade missed her flank by inches, and Grammy snarled as her fangs swept by his shoulder. With berserked speed, she swung her right hand to stab him with her claws, but he rose the razor-sharp edge to meet her fingers. The blade sunk into the skin of her palm and she howled with intense pain.

The howl quickly turned to a snarling laugh as she closed her strong fingers around the metal of the sword and yanked the weapon out of his palm.

His topaz eyes widened in shock and his ears pressed against his head. He stumbled back a step just as Grammy jerked the sword out of the flesh of her hand and threw the blade several yards away. Her grin widened as her yellow eyes followed the trains of blood that ran down her arm. The weapon had deeply sliced her tendons; almost rendering her fingers useless.

No matter. She had another hand anyway.

Snapping her jaws, she rushed him. He ducked under her swinging arm and focused on her vulnerable right side. His claws raked her bare torso. She swung again, but missed as he jumped back just out of her reach.

"Now!" he cried, and Grammy felt the bite of an unexpected searing pain on her right shoulder. With a roar, she turned her head to see a smaller coyote leaping away from behind her –the handle of the blade jutting out of her back. She crouched as if to spring forward as the Pack began to bravely circle her.

The Alpha stepped forward with a panting smirk.

"Who's the second-rate cur now, bitch?" he shouted with his arms open wide and the small pack laughed. Grammy, her eyes growing hazy, fought against the agony seizing her joints.

This wasn't right. This wasn't how she was supposed to go. Not with a damn sword in her back.

"I'm not… dead yet… sodding weaklings…" she wheezed.

"You will be soon!" One of the coyotes cheered and the rest followed.

Reaching back awkwardly with her left hand, she yowled as she tugged on the sword's blade. It slipped squelching from her tough skin. Her fire was still burning, but she felt the flames growing dimmer.

"No…" Grammy rumbled, her left hand shaking with the crimson-stained weapon. "Not… yet…"

The emboldened Pack rushed forward and she swung the blade clumsily. It slashed across one's stomach and he fell forward with a shriek as bits of organs spilled from the cut. Grammy cried as she felt two sets of jaws latch onto her useless right arm and she tried to shake them off. Her arm hit a pouncing coyote. Tight claws bit into the sides of her neck.

Another jumped on her chest.

Another bit at her wounded leg.

The one she'd knocked away was back and ripping at her left side.

She was slower, so much slower.

The pain growing over her anger.

The blade dropped from her hand as another slashed at her left bicep and severed the muscles.

She lost her footing.

She hit her right side hard on the rocky ground. A roar ripped through her throat, but it hurt too much.

Grammy fought against that weakness. Threw everything she had left at it.

She had to keep going…

She wasn't finished yet…

Hearing the ring of a blade as it slid against the rocks, the pack backed away and let their Alpha have the finishing kill. Grammy looked up into the smoky topaz eyes as he stood over her. Slowly, she bit back the groans of agony as she forced herself to her knees - and then to the balls of her feet; her shambling legs trembling and slipping with her blood.

She struggled to catch her breath. She struggled to keep the encroaching darkness from enveloping her eyesight further.

She struggled to summon the last of her strength.

All for one last kill.

He grinned as the weapon tightened in his fingers.

He swung-

And he hit air.

She was a blurring shadow as she leaped high into the sky; her muscles screaming in agony. Feet first, she landed on his body and knocked him backwards.

The sword pierced her stomach deeply.

Her large jaws latched over his entire face and pulled away the flesh from his lower chin to his forehead. Her left claw dragged over his neck and shoulders; cleaving him, shredding him. He shuddered against her only once before becoming motionless, but still she continued to tear him apart. She ripped his arm off his body and flung it at the shaken pack. Her jaws severed his head in half, tearing his face completely off.

Snarling and panting, it was a handful of grueling seconds before she finally stopped.

Collapsing to the side with her strength finally failing, his obliterated corpse was all she could see. She stifled her whimper as the agony finally overpowered her rage. Her entire body shook with the loss of blood and encroaching death. Her heart beat erratically inside her eardrums.

Her vision crawled towards darkness.

Her heart was slowing now.

She felt warm and cold at the same time, and the pain was lessening.

Her third eye opened as her real ones failed her.

And she saw him.

Mern: standing tall and strong as if he'd been waiting all this time. He was just as she remembered him: soft golden eyes, open wide smile. He grinned at her now, that brilliant smile of his, and he reached out a hand for her.

A crimson grin spread on her lips.

Through her third eye, she took his hand and stepped into the vision. She let him pull her along; her coarse hide transforming into smooth and beautiful bronzed fur. Her claws were clean, her wounds were healed, and she no longer felt the pain. Tan, lightly curled hair fell about her shoulders and she brushed an unwrinkled hand down her slender young frame. Mern looked her up and down, his golden eyes playfully suggestive. He began to pull on her hand, but she stopped for a moment.

She looked back and saw the ripped flesh on the calf, the hilt of the blade poking out of the stomach, the deeply jagged slashes across the back and abdomen, the crooked right arm, the limp bloodied left arm, the chunk missing from the shoulder...

Then she saw the frozen smile.

She had done everything she could. The rest was up to them.

A bloody unsung hero?

You're bloody damn right.

Kerapal Bubbles edited. Thank you.