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They had dove it from above, and didn’t even have the good sense to [i]stab[/i] it?

Lucas, she could understand, if only in the way that any immature buffoon could be expected to bungle about. But Fleuri? Had the Flower of the North seriously been infected by the younger knight’s madness? Had the heat gotten to them both, driven more hot blood than good sense into their brains, compelling them to do something like [i]this[/i]?

An element of chaos had been introduced into the combat, one such that even Lein’s own shot went wide. Another superficial wound marred the bucking beast, and now? Serenity didn’t have eyes behind her helm, but she had heard Dame Katerina’s words clearly enough, could parse together meaning from archaic incantations and foreign accents. Reon’s tits, these stupid fucks!

And then, the griffin made a choice.

It stilled its movements and set its gaze [i]past[/i] Serenity.

Intelligent, it was. An apex predator in the natural world. Most knights of the Iron Rose could be vanquished by one of its kind if alone. But the heat too had gotten into its head, and it had gone out of its way to [i]ignore[/i] her.

A flash of anger struck, a bolt of lightning she grasped. Dame Mori’s song thrummed in tune to her beating heart; years of discipline imprisoned her volatile mind, forced it through a single gap, ending up against a single decision.

A decision that Serenity changed.

The griffin leapt, fearless.

The lion stepped, dauntless.

And as it soared overhead, a perfect, powerful arc, so too did another arc crest underneath. A bright flash, fearsome as lightning, sliced deeply for the soft underbelly that it had so willingly exposed, intent on disemboweling the griffin like a common fowl.

Whether it did or not, Serenity followed through with her step, and with a nonchalantness almost insolent, raised her shield over her head, welcoming the molten flame that spilled from the heavens. Her spear, discarded, would not survive the bombardment. Her sword, held in her hand, would require but another sharpening.