Zelia screamed as she tore the blade from her side and rammed it into the beastman's throat.
Blood sprayed across her face, hot and steaming.
The creature's claws slashed her arm open before collapsing.
She didn't have time to breathe.
Three more charged from the smoke.
She blocked the first, stabbed the second, and was tackled by the third.
Its fangs sank into her neck.
Her scream was cut short.
She woke up kneeling in a swamp.
No time to recover. No one nearby.
Only the heat of battle in the distance.
Her hands were still trembling from the last fight.
She stood.
Ran.
Arrows rained from the cliff above.
One struck her shoulder. Another pierced her thigh.
She kept running.
She reached the base of the cliff.
Climbed through blood.
Her body failed halfway up.
She fell.
She woke up again.
Her armor cracked. Her vision blurred.
A soldier screamed for help nearby.
She grabbed a spear and answered instead.
She fought beside him for three minutes.
