The trees, stripped of their greenery from a wildfire of recent memory, point like arrows to a relentless sun. Small shrubs and lupine have started to colonize the burnt forest, taking advantage of newly open space and profusion of sunlight. They offer no shade to the woman as she trudges across ashy ground, beset by biting flies irritating the wound on her face. She spots a bit of welcome relief ahead: a dense shrub providing a bit of shade. She doesn’t hesitate in throwing her sword aside and collapsing into the plant’s shadow to rest.