Every breath is greeted with pain and discomfort. It's one she's grown accustomed to over the many years, but it's still no less rattling fracturing a rib. She can feel Helios shaking her and hear the furious cries of the bear tries to free itself. She even feels the heavy steps as the bear-monster rushes at them. One moment Helios is there, the next moment he goes flying away at a might swipe.

No. No, this isn't how it ends, this can't happen. With a rattling breath, Ginia forces herself up to her knees and up to her feet. Her entire torso aches with pain and she wants to lay down and rest because it would feel so good. But resting is not an option, not when Helios is laying bleeding on the ground and the bear is stalking toward him. Her fighting knives were scattered when she was thrown away, but she draws a throwing knife from a hidden pocket on her arm and shadow jumps to a tree branch above the owlbear. She drops down on it and drives the knife into one large yellow eye, shadow jumping away and landing in an untidy pile several feet away.

The owlbear howls as fluid drips from its eyes. It claws at its face, raking its face further as it tries to remove the offending knife.