Fifty… maybe sixty feet. Sarah had only made it so far, barely scratching the distance between her and the other when a movement from the end of the road stole her attention; a subtle, one, that she could have admitted to almost not seeing: the slightest rustle of pants as the heel rose and fell. While it could have been a mere fidget, or movement for movement’s sake, Sarah’s sense of preparedness delivered her thoughts directly to the possibility of an imminent danger; the expectation of a sudden rush of a likely adversary was her conclusion, and she would act accordingly. 

As the man’s heel fell, she slowed her pace, and raised her fists to fighting position, left held in front as a slight mask for the right. As the hands set into their places, an internal flux directed energy through the arm to the palm of the closed right hand, where it would hold until the right moment. 

What came to follow, or rather, what didn’t, threw the young fighter for an initial loop. The anticipated charge from the man opposite her never came. Instead, came a brief, unexpected level of stillness… And then, a vibration through the ground, resonating like a hum up her leg. Stirred for a moment before reassuring her footing, she took to a slightly wider stance. As the ground before her began to split, her course of action became evident. Repositioning her left leg, then at the rear, more to its proper side, she bent at the knees. In the following, motion, she sprang into a low jump to the right, lunging out to compensate for any missed distance. 

The maneuver put her, albeit narrowly, out of the path of the swelling, stone skewer that had set upon her. 

Shaken, and by effect, more motivated towards combat, she moved with urgency to make her response. After setting her left leg back to its rear placement, she stepped forward, throwing her right hand forward. As the hand pushed in the direction of her then opponent, the fist opened. The energy, until then reserved within the palm, released against the air, spurring a gale that would sweep across the length of road. The force, and the air it carried, would spread outward, and evenly over a steadily expanding area; if a shape were attributed to it, it would be that of cone, widening towards its base. By the time it would reach its destination, this area would span a rough diameter comparable to Sarah’s height.