The balance that Gallus maintained in his lunge gave him little leverage against Ri'vashi's brute strength. By the time he let go of the shield he was off-balance, but any longer holding it would have put his face into the sand. The shield's placement of course did not obscure anything from Ri'vashi's uncanny senses as it was swatted away as well. Gallus was fairly sure that the edge of the wooden blade ran across Ri'vashi's palm, but he was not going to break off to tell her. Instead, he took advantage of the distance he had closed. His sword twisted away from Ri'vashi's parrying hand and cut diagonally upwards, heading for her hip.

He hoped he could land a hit before Ri'vashi's now shield-occupied hand could return to punish him. He intended to try and spring back as soon as he could.

[hr]
Tzirret looked to one side and narrowed his eyes. "This one is not sure. He does not think they had any plans. We might be able to find them in their room." Tzirret's ear angled itself slightly and the volume of his voice decreased. He added quickly, "If there is something tied to the door handle then...they are busy."

Before they headed off, Tzirret turned his eyes to Ma'tanza for a moment and narrowed one eye, looking somewhat worried. "Is Ma'tanza sure she is alright?" He reached a hand up to her shoulder, "You are all...Tzirret can see you are troubled."