[center][h2][b]Ophelia[/b][/h2][/center]

Ophelia witnessed the unleashed light with a hint of a smirk--she knew from before that the power was indiscriminate, that it would heal Arrayah too, but to lose anyone in this pivotal moment would have been worse than letting Arrayah recover some of her vitality--vitality they'd not even come close to depleting in her awakened form. This fight was no longer about wounds, the wretched vitality of beasts that sustained them all--it was about a single instance of time. A free moment where [i]she[/i] would be the champion to unite the two halves of their blade, and in depriving Arrayah of her weapon they would immediately win the fight--a moment that would come to pass through strategy and not savagery. Ophelia herself was no fighter--before the night began she could not even walk, let alone run--but her mind had taken all of that unused energy and grown mighty indeed, nurtured by her tutelage under the witches. She was still getting accustomed to everything the Old Blood now allowed her to do, it was true, but strategy... that was something she knew well. One did not get abandoned by one's parents at a small and tender age and survive if one was not pragmatic and ruthless--qualities that no doubt had endeared her to her mentors. Perhaps, many moons ago, she'd even have sacrificed Gerlinde and Torquil to get closer to her goal... but that was not strategy, that was folly--they [i]were[/i] expendable, in a sense, but only if their deaths would serve a grander purpose. Sacrificing them at this stage would do nothing but leave them without the numbers to distract their foe and seize the moment when the light of opportunity shone upon it.

With Arrayah hurtling towards her, Ophelia reckoned she should have felt fear. The champion of darkness' full attention finally turned to her should have caused her knees to tremble and buckle, caused her to flee for her life, but fear... fear felt like a distant memory. The playful sprites of gentle guidance warded all of it away, left her clear-headed and ready for whatever would happen next: and with their foe headed straight to her, Ophelia knew well what she had to do. She let Arrayah get close, primed and tensed and charged to quickstep away, and let Arrayah begin her motion of grappling before Ophelia quickstepped a full five meters to her left, ducking and weaving under and through Arrayah's stronger arm to get clear of the danger and give her the most time possible before Arrayah could change course. Her sudden burst of reflexes over, Ophelia exited the quickstep into an immediate and full sprint arcing towards the cluster of her allies still recovering. 

She kept in mind Arrayah's various modes of attack now revealed to them: she needed to ensure she could quickstep to get the full ten meters away from Arrayah should she repeat her previous attack, and was still unsure if Arrayah [i]could[/i] target her with one of the ranged attacks through shadows--surely if that were an option, Arrayah would have done so relentlessly from the beginning? With that in mind, the arc she made was fairly shallow, but enough that if she were to quickstep the fullest distance to her left she would at least have a chance (with the necessary wind-up taking time) to get out of distance of any of Arrayah's attacks. "Farren, to me!" she shouted as she began to move, continuously scanning and assessing the battlefield to be sure of his relative position and Arrayah's--getting close to him was key to her plans, after all, and if Arrayah focused on them she would leave herself vulnerable to attacks from the others. Ophelia only hoped the beast could not ignore the threat that three powerful Hunters posed and give Ophelia enough breathing room to fill Farren in.