Cirilyn had always been the faster of the two, so she had little trouble moving the pair of backwards from the punch. She went to punish the attack with an upwards slice at the man's wrist, in an attempt to cut off his hand. Only as the maneuver was almost complete did her eyes widen as she spotted the feint. It was too late to pull back now though, she had put full force into the swing. The column of fire caught her at full force, square in the chest. The pair (with Nilori extremely worried as to what was actually going on) were launched away from the attack, and hit the floor painfully. Their armor had saved from the worst of both the burns and the impact, but the hot metal where Cirilyn had been struck was more than a small problem. She hurried to get the plate off, exposing the much weaker padding underneath but at least temporarily saving her life. She left it in a hissing mess on the floor. That impact had shaken the pair, literally and figuratively, but they held their ground. Nilori, being the one better protected, faced the man, while Cirilyn took the opportunity to reload her crossbow.