Crow gritted his teeth as their daggers clashed and Penelope danced just out of the range of his second attack. Fighting offensively in close quarters was a lot more difficult than he had expected it would be. Her swiftness didn’t make things easier on him either. He considered himself to have faster than average reflexes, but she kept pace with him easily. In fact, she seemed to be even a little bit quicker than him. He wouldn’t be able to rely on his speed to win in this matchup.

“Sorry,” he said in response to her gibe about how long he had taken to attack. “I guess I’ll just have to make it up to you, huh?” His eyes followed her movement as she came at him on the right, aiming for his shoulder. He stepped back and to the left, meeting her blade with his own and forcing her hand farther right so that it passed across her body.

Immediately, he felt himself start thinking of ways to get through her defense, and he had to make himself stop. [i]There’s no time to consider every option,[/i] he thought. [i]Just do something.[/i]

Fighting the instinct to put distance between them, he rocked on the ball of his right foot and leaned in again to bring his weapon around towards her right side while stepping out of the reach of her dagger. He hoped to take advantage of the awkward position he had put her in by pushing her right arm across her chest and catching her before she could recover.