Their captain was a better fighter than the last few had been on their ascension to the post. Good enough to hold off an enemy with considerably more experience and greater physical abilities, though Tyaethe had to grant him that he seemed to have been taking her less seriously than he should have.

Or she would have given him that leniency had she been thinking much at all rather than embracing anger. This jumped-up killer of knights dared to touch her captain? To threaten her with death and worse? Or, most heinous of all, to set out explicitly to destroy the order that she safeguarded for Elionne?

Some might express their anger by tearing the man apart verbally, or joining in with the captain's flowery declaration. There were those that would try to calm themselves, or at least focus through the anger. Tyaethe was not one of those people and didn't even bother co-ordinating with Garret or the new girl: she jumped down with embers still caught in her armour and the scarf starting to smoulder.

Her surge forwards slid into a low stance and the paladin threw all her momentum and weight into her swing, the massive blade slicing down with more than enough force to split him--and anyone foolish enough to stand in line with the bandit 'king'. If it only got his sword or even missed, that wouldn't matter. It would force him away from fighting the captain. Even if he got a lucky hit in, Tyaethe was confident that it wouldn't be a blow that actually killed her.

Not until she calmed down.