((Original title FTW!))
It had taken a few minutes before Zuriņe had gathered up enough courage to loose her bow properly. Before that she would pull back, but never release. Su yelled at her each time, and his arrows always hit their mark. Horses tripped and soldiers fell from his attacks. He would try to give her advice, but she knew how to shot a bow. She just didn't know how to kill anyone.
After a few minutes she began only to shoot the horses. This slowed them down but didn't deplete the number of soldiers. Even if the horses survived, they wouldn't go around killing people like the Interlopers would. It had taken the mental image of her smiling daughter to make Zuriņe properly aim. Finally she hit her mark, her arrow impaling a man in the heart. He fell off his horse and was promptly trampled by other cavalry thundering passed. Zuriņe was silent and still for a few moments until Su snapped at her yet again.
Each time one of her arrows hit a man, her heart jumped. She was killing people, taking their life. Even if they were barbarians, they had families, parents, wives, and children. She had a child, she'd had a husband, and she had parents and siblings too. If one of them killed her, would they feel what she was feeling? She wanted to cry, and even though tears blurred her vision, she never stopped shooting. Her brain told her she had to kill to live, and her body loaded and loosed her bow like a machine.
Suddenly she was interrupted. While the horsemen were still passing, Su had shoved her aside. She landed on the ground and rolled away with a surprised yelp. Raising her head, she saw Su on the ground trying to hold off one of the Interloper soldiers. Where had he come from?
Zuriņe spared no time to think on that and shot the man from her position on the ground. It hit him in the side, and that pain was enough for Su to overcome him. Zuriņe looked away as her brother raised his axe. Her cowardice actually saved her life. When she looked away she saw another Interloper charging up toward her with a sword raised.
Flight took over and she scrambled to her feet. She moved in time to avoid losing a foot as the soldier's sword came thudding down to hit only dirt. Zuriņe looked over to find her brother, but he was fighting yet another soldier. Where had these men come from? They looked differently dressed than the ones on the horses.
The man trying to kill her said something that was probably derogatory, as he laughed harshly after speaking. She had no idea what he said, and didn't really want to find out. Since he had a sword, Zuriņe pulled out her own. As inexperienced as she was with weapons and warfare, she could still tell the other man's sword had a superior make. He also knew how to use it. He swung and lunged with it and Zuriņe barely avoided a fatal blow. He did manage to slice her arm and her thigh, but those were only painful annoyances. She had been through pain that was much worse, thanks to Yanamari.
But Yanamari's birth hadn't killed her. This man and his sword could. Especially as she backed up to get away from him and tripped over a tree root. She fell hard on her back. He laughed again and moved like he was going to finish the job, but he suddenly stopped. His malicious face became confused and surprised, his sword hovering a few inches from her chest. She figured he had only just realized she was a woman.
Now was probably her chance, but she knew any movement she made would only cause the man to react. He had the upper hand, and all it would take was one plunge to finish her. She wasn't fast enough to raise her own sword to strike. She didn't think she was strong enough, physically or emotionally, to kill him like that regardless.