Julan landed a solid hit. He did well to exploit Argrei's mistake, though he was unlikely to make the same mistake again. More concerning was Argrei's skill and control. Julan may have been strong but he was clearly not Argrei's first strong opponent.

[i]"Argrei's armour might have helped Julan,"[/i] Janius quietly thought out loud. [i]"It would have given him better purchase to grapple. With Argrei's control, a grapple from Julan is probably the best way he could end this."[/i]

[hr]
Rhazii rose halfway out of his hunch and looked back at Ahnasha. He tried speaking and whipped his gaze away instead.

"Mother, I..." He sobbed. "I can't think. I'm..." He tried to step towards Ahnasha and recoiled. "I don't know what to do. I want to go and...be on my own for a while. I'm not leaving. Don't follow me."

Rhazii pushed off the tree he leaned in and lumbered away sadly.

Before he left, he halted and shouted behind him  "I believe you, mama. I love you, too."