Phoenix Maplewood But I'm here to remind you what's lost is never gone

In hindsight, she should have anticipated such a severe reaction, considering the 180° change in Saena's demeanor. But she was too busy trying to play the diplomat, attempting to warn her half-sister without escalating it into a fight, to recognize the red flag. So when the first hit came, the Bandrona went down like a sack of potatoes. She did fight back—angrily, even—but she hadn't trained as a warrior in over a year. Her small size and lack of experience kept her on the ground, the unwitting victim of Saena's pure, unbridled fury.

At some point, the assault ended and the battered Wildfire was left groaning beside the water. For a long time, she just lay there, trying to catch her breath and will away the worst edge of the pain. Eventually, she managed to push herself upright and painstakingly assess the damage. Blood flowed freely from what looked and felt like a hundred different contusions—both teeth and claw marks—all over her body. There were no broken bones as far as she could tell and only one particularly worrisome wound on her left thigh where it appeared Saena had torn off an entire mouthful of flesh and fur. At least, that's what she could tell with only one eye, as the right was swollen shut.

Wildfire felt incredibly weak and shaky but she somehow managed to drag herself into the water. She hissed at its icy touch on her dozens of cuts and scrapes, though the water's low temperature quickly numbed her. She watched threads of red turn pink and wash away downstream, then managed to clamber back onto the shore and begin dragging her sorry carcass back in the direction of Drageda.