With vision still blackened and none of his attacks making their mark, perhaps it was time to play on the defensive side until an opening presented itself. This left Raelis' advancements unabated. The sea dweller took instant notice of the crumbling ground beneath him and knew he'd find himself in a literal hole if he didn't act quickly. His gold talons tightly gripped the remnants of the foundation below him and braced himself to leap up and forward. What stopped him, however, was the nagging feeling that's exactly what the Asaraen Knight was expecting. Surely if he leaped right this second, some kind of ramification would ensue. As such, he would feint imbalance for as long as the remaining structure would hold. 

One didn't need the array of enhanced senses to distinguish the searing blade careening towards him. Such a clever bastard that winged swordsman was, but Tharraleos harbored potent cunning of his own. With a deep inhale escaping his rostrum, Tharr studied the rapidly closing distance of the projectile while making sure he had the least bit of footing was still existent. It seemed the pressurized torrent was to make his mark, but in an attempt to alliviate both of his current predicaments, the beast suddenly bent his feathered knees and sprung forth. The sheer force of which deteriorated what was left of that portion of the ground; Raelis' projectile bringing further structual damage.

Though he wasn't quite free of danger yet. He simply transitioned from one unfavorable circumstance to the next. The bound didn't take him very far given the lack of leverage and definitely wasn't enough to attain lift even with all the vigor in his wings. He was simply forced to wait until he landed with a loud crash moments later to execute his next move. If he was successful in reaching a grounded state, he would instantly flip around to face his opponent. His eyelids would relieve their hold on each other, but his optics wouldn't be completely uncovered. The nictitating membrane at the corners of his eyes acted as a third eyelid for certain situations. Typically used during flight or swimming, this translucent lid would sweep horizontally across his eyes to protect from debris while retaining moisture. Here, he would test it against the blinding light Rhay's Champion boasted, where hopefully it would fair better than having no vision at all.

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