As Was Foreseen

Penny had only one move left. Her left hand grasped the last arrow that hadn't spilled out of the quiver on her back. She rolled her body, and Turail's spear cut her across the collar bone and stabbed into her right shoulder. At the same time, her left hand shot out with the arrow and, with the force of Turail's own dive, drove it into the roof of his mouth as he roared some battle cry.

The imbuement on the arrow did its work. As the wooden shaft shattered, a blast of energy exploded from the arrowhead. Splinters tore scratches into Penny's hand, but Turail suffered far worse. Nakir had lost her jaw and throat from such a strike. Turail lost his head. Lifeless, his momentum carried him through, flopping down beside Penny as his halo began to seethe with power and his body convulse, the death throes of one of the loyal angels.

Penny gasped, and grasped her shoulder, warm blood rapidly slicking her hand as she writhed in pain. Tears clouded her eyes and she felt her right arm starting to go numb.

She'd heal from it, Penny told herself. Azalea had handled worse when the school had been attacked, Penny could endure this much.

Penny forced her eyes open and surveyed the battlefield as the pillar of light bursting from Turail cast it in stark relief. Gadot and Shamnail hadn't stopped. Both were bloodied, Gadot from a cut on his forehead, Shamnail a deep gouge at his waist

Penny tried to force herself to her feet, but her body wouldn't respond with enough coordination to properly lift herself from the floor. She glanced to Yua. Though the girl hadn't moved from her spot she was sweating, her face contorted, looking miserable, and there could be no doubt that as much as Penny had struggled to read those thoughts, holding them was doing Yua no favors either.

Penny tried to calm her nerves. It was a sensation that was unfamiliar. This weakness, this fear, was part of being human, but the will to fight through it had to be as well.

Because of that, Penny crawled, leaving a gilded trail on the ground in her wake. She knew what she had to do, and so she grabbed one of the scattered arrows in her hand, and then started to drag herself towards where she'd dropped her bow.

Gadot and Shamnail clashed, and Penny could hear the raging fight, but she couldn't see it, and didn't dare try to dive into the futures before she absolutely needed to.

Finally, her good hand grasped the bow. She squirmed in place, and kicked off her shoes and stripped away her blood-soaked socks. Then, she managed to artlessly flail her way onto her back, and sit up just a little.

Penny couldn't move her right arm. Her left thigh was still bleeding, and the wound felt like it was on fire, but all the same that was better. So she slung the bow forward, and braced it against her feet, locking her knees so she could draw with her good arm. As she tested the draw, her left foot slipped at first, but with a grunt she shifted her weight, provoking that wound to get better purchase.

It was no way to aim and no way to shoot, but her target was, perhaps, ten feet away.

And Penny still had her secret weapon. She nocked the arrow and drew it back, feeling the tension throughout her body, and then dared to once again cast her mind into Yua's.

The vision changed, Penny knew, when she acted with the intent to change it, creating possibilities at every choice. But this time, before Penny decided, the horizon collapsed to one.

Yua, through her foresight, saw what Penny intended. She stood up, and walked carefully over to Penny.

“Rest,” Yua said, her voice sounding hoarse and weary. Penny let the bow string go slack, and Yua took the bow and arrow from her.

With form practiced for ritual, Yua stood tall and nocked the arrow.

Penny could still see into her mind, knew what she thought each heartbeat. In her mind's eye, the struggle between Shamnail and Gadot became a target on the shrine grounds.

Yua had shot before, arrows to banish evil and purify the land. This one was no different.

She watched carefully a second ahead. At the perfect moment, she moved, her form smooth and flawless, firing one arrow. As Shamnail drove Gadot back, the missile lodged itself in his chest and burst with crackling blue flames.

Yua let the future go. She watched Shamnail begin to convulse and blacken as his halo distorted, and offered a silent prayer to the gods she worshiped to watch over and accept that which was good.

“Nice shot,” Penny croaked. She flopped over on her side, breathing hard.

“Can you stand?” Gadot asked

“What does it look like?” Penny replied. Yua was already picking up arrows. Penny would have wondered if Yua even understood the situation they were in, but she knew that the girl did. There was just something more important to her than whether she could manage or not.

“We need to hurry,” Yua said, “the others could have already gotten there.”

Gadot hesitated glancing between Penny and Yua.

“You heard her,” Penny said, “You've still got two strong legs, so run along.”

Gadot nodded.

“We'll be back for you as soon as we can be,” he said.

“Good, good,” Penny replied. Yua hurried along the hallway, and Gadot followed her.

“Just wish I had something to read,” Penny groaned.