Kiyanna was about to return her attention to the river when she saw something unnaturally large move into her field of view. Turning her head to look, Kiyanna's heart stopped for a few moments as she took in the sight of what she saw. Kiyanna felt Ander move more than she saw him, and frowned to herself. Kiyanna was wary of those who possessed magic since she possessed none herself to use as a defense. All she had was anger and muscle, though sometimes you could do surprisingly well with that alone. Her senses coming back to her, Kiyanna stuffed her javelin back into the bundle she wore and thrust her shoulders to the right in a crescent moon arc. Her shield came loose easily and Kiyanna caught it with her right hand.

The weight of her shield was reassuring. It told her that the world was still real and reliable. Kiyanna stood for a moment, shield and spear in hand and ready to fight. Kiyanna examined the creature, and noted an arrow in its shoulder. Thinking to herself that the previous sound of a bow being fired had been directed at this creature, Kiyanna deduced that she and Ander were not the only two people now engaged with this beast. A third was nearby, and hopefully they would prove useful to this fight.

Bringing her shield forward, Kiyanna did something most people considered brazen. Bashing her spear against her shield several times, she issued a challenge to the beast before them. Now shouting, Kiyanna spoke. "If you want me-" Kiyanna dropped to her knees, her shield taking it's place before her with her spear held aloft in front of it. "-Come and claim me!" Kiyanna braced the base of her spear in the ground, making it so that a firm impact wouldn't send it reeling. Kiyanna placed the full of her weight behind the shield she had, which would ensure that hits against it would be met with maximum resistance.

Kiyanna was ready, and hopefully Ander was as well. The third hunter of this creature would also hopefully lend themselves to the fight sooner rather than later, as this creature was obviously inhuman and seemed to be unhindered by the arrow lodged within its shoulder, which was concerning. Again Kiyanna felt a longing for a steady phalanx more than anything. The reassurance of others by your side was always a comfort when facing the unknown.

Unfortunately, Kiyanna was the only one in these lands likely trained in phalanx and thus would be working on her own. She didn't like this outcome, but it was unfortunately the fruit of the circumstances that Kiyanna had thrust upon herself, and she had to reap what had previously been sown.