A jolt caused her head to cock to right. Her helmet clinked against her right pauldron. The pain registered a moment later, a white heat in the side of her neck, oddly mirrored on the opposite side. She reflexively reached up, her fingers tapping the wooden shaft of an arrow.

She gasped. Only to choke as the arrow now blocked her trachea. Blood welled in her throat. She stumbled, coughing and grasping at her neck. Blood began to replace the air in her lungs, spewing from her mouth and nose.

She fell before the battle had even started.