[IMG]http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u79/SharpshooterJack/markerJaelnec_zps53b7aa37.png[/IMG]
[h3]The Duchy of Zerul, by a road in southwest[/h3]
Move, he had to move fast, act, stop the enemy, pacify her somehow... His highest priority right now had to be trying to ensure Thaler’s safety, and the way the situation had turned out – though their odds were probably a bit better than they had been before the daywalker’s interference – she was the one being targeted by this unknown assailant. Thanks to Mother Tigress apparently allowing him to move again, somehow, he was free to close the distance the struggling women had stumbled away, but... what then?
[I]I can just slash at her with Roct,[/I] he thought, still staggering ahead to cover the scant few strides that separated him and his opponent. [I]I... no. Usually I’d be confident that I could aim a blow that would kill her without injuring Thaler, but the way I feel right now? I can barely walk straight.[/I]
He decided on an attack that would deal more localized damage and would not penetrate through: a solid knock on the woman’s head with the pommel of his sword. Even if he was reduced to a clumsy stagger, delivering that kind of blunt force trauma to a human skull was probably going to kill her, or at the very least render her dazed for a while. He just had to let his forward momentum carry into the attack, keep moving until it hit, and –

His reflexes were not what they usually were, nor were his powers of perception, so not only would he not have been able to react in time, he did not even [I]notice[/I] the woman aiming her kick at him. Propped against the ground as she was and with him moving toward her, there was plenty of force behind the kick, and it hit a bit too... well. Jaelnec did not even cry out in pain – did not think he could have, the way his throat contracted to the point where he could barely even breathe – but just let out a tense guttural sound through clenched teeth, the world swimming before his eyes as he breathlessly stumbled back, doubling over and quietly grunting as he endured this sinister malady.
[I]What is this fight?[/I] he thought unhappily, blindly reaching out his left hand in hopes of finding a tree or something to support himself against. [I]She... oh Spirits... argh... who [/I]does[I] that?![/I]