And there we go. Now the demon had moved into Durin's effective range. He let go of the spear when Artholath grabbed for it, he didn't need it for what he was planning. At the same time he stepped in and towards the magic user, swinging his shield to deflect the ice spike and balling his hand into a fist with his middle finger's knuckle stuck out punching right at Artholath's throat, the [i]other[/i] major weak spot. As he punched, Durin pivoted his right foot inward and twisted his right hip in the same direction, putting the whole force of his bodyweight behind that punch.

The great weakness of thrusting weapons, other than meeting a surface it couldn't pierce, was that they were easily deflected by force applied in a direction perpendicular to their path and Durin's preference for centergrip shields was the surprising amount of agility and maneuverability one could get out of them. strap shields were harder to lose and sturdier, but Durin found them less useful overall for defense and offense. Sticking out the knuckle on his fist gave his armored hand a single point for the force of his weight to focus on. Doing this could be a good way to get your finger broken; however, when aimed at a soft fleshy bit and covered in tempered iron, Durin was more confident that his hand would remain intact.