[i]No. It couldn't be. This couldn't be what was happening.[/i]

For the barest sliver of second, Quinn watched. The sword rose. Slowly. Slowly. No. The cameras above zipped around like flies.

What could she do?

It was her fault that Roaki was there. It was her fault that [i]Blotklau[/i] was crippled. And it would be her fault if—

So what could she do?

A cannon shot wouldn't be enough. Even if it [i]hit[/i] the Modir it might not even have the impact to stop the inevitable descent of the fell blade. Dahlia [i]obviously[/i] wouldn't be down here in time. She had only seconds. The axes had been—

The axes.

A memory played back in her head then, right at the beginning of the duel: Roaki throwing an axe at her, then dashing after it. Then another: Roaki's savior, arm hanging limp, still screaming, struggling on. The threads snapped together. Only a few moments left. She and Roaki were similar, right? That's what she'd said just a little bit ago. Similar enough that [color=black]Quinnlash[/color] was disturbed by the assertion.

Maybe it was time that instead of looking for the Quinn in Roaki, she needed to look for and channel the [i]Roaki[/i] in [i]Quinn.[/i]

So clenching her teeth and hissing out an anguished half-cry, she dashed forward.

Ichor still streamed from the wound in her leg. It still hurt like [i]hell,[/i] but she ignored the pain, ignored it as best she could. The half-cry ballooned out in her chest into a full-throated scream, pain and [i]anger—no, no you will NOT kill her I worked TOO HARD for this[/i]. And a second after she started running—no more, or there would be no time left, but no less, to build up that savage momentum—she twirled the cannon, holding it like a massive baseball bat, and [i]hurled[/i] it forwards. It spun in a gleaming arc of silver metal and white light, cutting through the air with a sound like a helicopter towards the Modir as the blade reached its apex.

And she careened with it. If she hadn't been in a Modir's body, tears would be streaming out of her eye. Her Savior's scream was already starting to die to a croaking moan that presaged haunting wails. But she still pressed forward. 

Nobody dies today.