"I was just thinking the same thing," Janius said quietly. "An accident could cause harm. But I think they'll both be more cautious without armour. They're not trying to kill each other."

Janius watched Julan's stance closely. The still defensive stance may not have been the best approach; Julan needed to be unpredictable to avoid the quick jabs of his opponent's spear in advance. Then again, if Julan planned to spring quickly, he could end the fight decisively, or at the very least put Argrei off balance. It all depended on his footwork on the damp soil below them.

[hr]
When Ahnasha embraced Rhazii on the forest floor, she could feel his heart pounding. She could hear him hyperventilating. Unlike every other time she had hugged her son, nothing about him relaxed with her touch. She perceived this all in a blink before pain shot through her bitten arm and Rhazii roared down at her -- though it was more of a scream than that. With an iron grip, Rhazii pried Ahnasha's arm off him, leaving scratches from her claws.

As if some last shot of fear dulled the pain in his limbs, Rhazii scrambled up to a limping run a few paces from Ahnasha and stopped. He turned his head to face her. He still had a panic in his eyes and his ears held flat. "I'll never kill like you do! Never!" He said, before running away on all fours as fast as his limp could take him.

Rhazii's mind might have still been clouded by his beast, but his words left much less doubt as to which was the true source of his turmoil.