Dorian gingerly rubbed at his sore cheek as he knelt down behind the tree once he felt that he was safely hidden. Damn, that really had hurt...no matter, it was his turn to act now. He focused his senses and his mind as he reached out to Timber, who was currently crouching out of sight behind some bushes some distance away to Xaih's left.

[i]"Alright Timber, give me the low down. What's the situation?"[/i]

All five of the wolf's senses were put to work, as she began to relay all of the information at her disposal to Dorian.

So, the knife had missed. He supposed it would have been too easy of he'd gotten Xaih that early. It was currently laying in the grass behind her, just in front of the river. The water elementalist in the meantime had raised a ring of water around herself and seemed poised to react to whatever came her way. Hmm...that made a direct assault foolhardy. If her reflexes were anything to go by from her dodging of the knife, then she would easily be able to counter anything he threw at her. He could try manipulating some of the plant life nearby, but he wasn't quite ready to play that hand just yet. And according to Timber, Xaih had taken the water for her reaction ring straight from the grass itself that she was standing in, which was now currently dead. If she could drain water from plants, then that too would make Nature magic inadvisable unless he could find a way around it. He was in a tough spot right now; he wouldn't be able to directly assault her from any direction, and his Nature magic wouldn't currently have the advantage against her right now if he used it.

...Wait, if he couldn't attack her from the front, back, or sides, then maybe...yes, there were only two potential weak spots left then. He clasped his hands together as he focused on the grass where the fallen knife laid still, and commanded the grass to knot together and sink the blade into the dirt, hiding it away for now. He would save that ace in the hole for later. Now, what other animals were in this forest anyway? He called out through his mental connection, and was able to sense several animals out there: a bird or two flitted around in the trees, which was unsurprising considering he'd heard a sparse few chirps since he'd appeared; two crocodiles were in the river, which would be a hidden pleasant surprise to use against Xaih if she decided that the river would be a safe reserve for her; two large anacondas, separated by quite a bit of distance from each other, were also in the vicinity; and finally, a leopard was nearby as was well. Dorian grinned as he decided it was time to send a message to all of them.

[i]"Alright lads and lasses, I'm going to require your help here. Got a fight I need to win and you're all the right ones for the job."[/i]

He commanded the anacondas to stay off to the side, ready to attack only if Xaih tried to escape by either going left or right. The crocodiles would be on standby as well, staying hidden until the right moment to strike presented itself. The birds would stay out of the fight for now, as he didn't have a use for them quite yet. That only left the leopard, which Dorian decided he would use to test whether or not Xaih could react to attacks coming from two directions at once.

He gave the command for the large cat to slink its way to a tree near Xaih on her right, and once it was close enough to attack, it jumped out from behind the tree and quickly closed the distance between them as it rushed to attack, claws and teeth bared as it attempted to tackle into and rip into her. Dorian, who's directional location was to the front of her, meanwhile acted at the same time, and ran from the tree he'd been hiding behind as he made his way to take cover behind another. During this, two more knives could be seen in his hands, a blade held in each. He threw them both at Xaih with precision, one after the other with little time between each throw.

At this time, the rain had finally caught up to their battlegrounds, as a light drizzle began to rain down in the surrounding area.