"Arhu was on my team," she said absently, and stepped out into the street as if she was in a daze, her eyes fixed on Arhu.

Distracted as she was, she hadn't noticed the taxi bearing down on her as if the words she had said earlier had summoned one. The driver's horn blared, Rhiow froze in her tracks, and the cab swerved -

- into the oncoming lanes, where Rhiow watched as a larger truck caught it side-on at full speed, an impact that she could feel across the street and in her bones.

"Oh great Queen Iau," she whispered. "Not this. Not now."