“Deflect. A new skill! Congratulations! Although you lack the skill and finesse for a parry that allows a smooth riposte, you at least managed a somewhat controlled flail that saved you from being gored.”
Julien sucks some air through his teeth, taking a couple of quick steps back. As Gariqa retracts her spear from the lightning-fast opening that could have ended him, he sees that the barbed tip of her spear has torn away a strip of his cloth—and flesh.
Congratulations? His right arm stings, sharper than he would have thought possible. His muscles contract in response to the disproportionate kitchen accident, the harsh cut forcing his hands to grip his weapon tighter. Still, it’s nothing but a flesh wound compared to what he has endured before. And he has backup. The Migaera pearl, tucked away like a gumball in his cheek. A gumball with life-saving potential.
“Not bad, Fool warrior! You survive first thrust.”
Julien ignores Rhaqasha. She crossed six paces! In barely a second! He quickly shuffles backwards through the thin layer of dust covering the flat top of the pyramid. While he increases the distance between himself and his opponent, he makes sure to keep his eyes on her. Anticipating a rapid follow-up, he goes back to the copied guard position.
Barely in time.
Julien doesn’t know whether it is the extra distance he took or the adrenaline kicking in, but he manages to deflect two consecutive strikes without getting hit. Right and left. However, Gariqa quickly claims his ground. Her reptilian eyes gleam with the thrill of the hunt as she stalks sideways, aligning the point of her spear with any and all openings.
Legs shaking, Julien tries to keep his stick between him and his predator. His arms and shoulders still feel the impact of wood on wood. He doesn’t doubt it; she’s bound to get a hit in at some point. As a precaution, he decides to ready his dodge skill.
He’s hardly done so when, with a primal trill, Gariqa resumes the attack. He turns her opening thrust aside with his newly learned skill. When Julien catches her follow-ups as well, instead of collapsing under the continued pressure, his confidence slowly grows.
Left, right. Right, left. High. Low. He can do this.
But then her spear comes in. Straight for his centre. Going for his usual defensive skill, the lack of resistance he encounters surprises Julien. Instead, because of Gariqa swiftly changing her line of attack mid-thrust, both shafts move on unopposed—his to the side and hers straight for his torso.
Julien nearly freezes in fear. Time slows as the deadly point moves in. The dodge skill activates, but Julien is slow to react. Twisting his torso at the very last instance, he avoids impalement. The spear tears through the Fool suit and leaves a big scratch on the cuirass he wears underneath.
Safe. Somehow. The only price is a chunk of his magical reserve. The experience shakes Julien’s already fragile confidence. He backpedals, reassessing his stalking opponent and his chances for survival. The raspy rattles inform him that his opponent did not foresee his dodge. But can he keep surprising her?
“Stop giving her all the ground, you half-wit! Soon you’ll have none left.”
The voice of the Fool comes from close by, and the truth of the message breaks Julien’s concentration. She picks up on the hesitance in his stance immediately.
Gariqa pounces. Startled and under pressure, Julien’s reaction is coated with risk. Instead of retreating, he advances with another big swipe of his staff, seeking to deflect and step past the danger. The move, not expected, miraculously succeeds, though Julien is not sure who is more surprised when he barrels into his foe. The lizard or him.
Crap! Now what?
It is a mess. Spear and staff stick out at harmless angles. Julien is stumped.
Gariqa demonstrates that reflexes born from ample combat experience trump unexpected tactics. Her recovery is swift. She hooks the butt of her spear around his weapon, right between his hands. Then she rams her shoulder into his chest while sweeping his legs from underneath him with her tail.
Julien, staff wrenched from his grip, is airborne for one brief second. His weapon clatters to the ground next to Gariqa, and he smacks into the dusty surface of the pyramid’s plateau at the royals’ feet. His arms barely prevent a faceplant as all the air is pushed out of his lungs.
In the instant of impact, two distinct silvery dust clouds erupt from the Fool suit on both sides of Julien. With her eyesight thrown off, Gariqa’s spear misses. Julien desperately rolls to the side.
Prompted by his dodge skill, he rolls on. The dust cloud expands in his wake as he narrowly evades another thrust. And another. And another.
Julien rolls for his life. His vision becomes a whirling chaos of floor dust and the impenetrable darkness of the cavern’s ceiling. Julien somehow manages to snatch a handful of shimmering dirt from the ground. He throws it directly in Gariqa’s face.
Averting her eyes, she blinks furiously while Julien regains his footing, races past her, and reclaims his weapon.
The sprint brings him just beyond the edge of the silvery haze floating over the other half of the small arena. Safe!
He gasps for breath. Looking beyond the eye-rubbing Gariqa, the corners of his mouth slowly curl up. Light emanating from the Fool reflects in the shimmering clouds slowly settling around Rhaqasha and the immense figure of Rhaqor.
Operation Dust completed! Will it work? Regardless, now I just need to buy some time. Although that might be easier said than done. Seeing a clear-eyed Gariqa storm towards him, Julien feels for the Migaera pearl with his tongue. Should I take it now? His meter nearly half-full, Julien decides against it.
The battle intensifies instantly. Gariqa trills and snarls. Her spearpoint seems to be everywhere at once. Leaning heavily on his deflect and dodge skills, Julien only just protects the vital areas of his body. But the number of cuts on his arms and legs accumulates and his Maegic reserves drain at an alarming rate.
He must swallow the Migaera pearl that he had hoped to save to recover his energy. It should last him a while. But he knows that his current defense is too costly and too slow.
As exhaustion starts to kick in, Julien realizes a change is in order. He attempts something new. On Gariqa’s next attack, he waits to deflect. Instead, he uses his dodge skill to feel out the line of attack. Then, at the very last moment, he closes it, blocking it with a controlled movement of his staff.
“Improvised Parry! Impressive. You applied two defensive skills to discover a third. I didn’t think you had it in you.”
No longer flailing his staff in attempts to turn aside the attacks, Julien is not stuck in a game of catch-up anymore. His staff now points at Gariqa after successfully defending each of her attacks. Making a few shallow thrusts of his own, he breaks up her ceaseless onslaught.
The rhythm of the fight changes. Strangely enough, Gariqa’s movement slows. Stranger still, her previous pinpoint accuracy reduces dramatically. Taking note, Julien smiles as he follows a parry with a firm counterattack.
The staff connects. Gariqa stumbles back, doubles over, and cradles her midriff. Her eyes are unfocused.
Julien raises his staff high and calls out. “Witness! Even with a weapon strange to me, I manage to triumph! Give me my sword, and I’ll demonstrate what I am capable of with my weapon of choice.” He turns towards the Mother, Rhaqasha, and Rhaqor. “Let me show you some of my sword skills.”
Leaving the corner of the arena from which she’d been watching the fight, Lirza approaches Rhaqasha and Rhaqor. Spitting out a sequence of rasps and trills, she purposefully strides onwards.
This is it, Julien thinks. Sweating profusely, blood trickling from various wounds, he stares anxiously at the verbal exchange between woman and reptile. Has enough time passed? The silvery dust has settled. Eyeing the spectating warriors, he notices that many spears are no longer crossed at a rigid, consistent angle. Additionally, the posture of most warriors is no longer straight.
Turning his attention back to Lirza and the royals, he feels thrilled as he sees Lirza striding towards him, holding his sword above her head. She takes a knee in front of him and presents the weapon as she hisses, “You know I only got out of range just in time? Please tell me you got all of them?”
Julien slowly takes the offered sword and whispers back. “Sorry. Probably not. I’ll have to dance around the arena a bit. Kick up dust as I do some swordplay.”
“But then…”
“Just make sure you keep your distance and keep your breathing shallow. When I’ve done a full circle, you start describing what they see. Really sell it. Give them a vision to get trapped in. The Moth Dust will do the rest.”
I hope.
Julien draws his blade and starts making cuts and thrusts, mixing in a few Crescent Slashes, the odd Savage Slash, and a couple of Triple Thrusts. In the background, he is vaguely aware of the lizard commentary Lirza has already started. In his improvised sword form, Julien does a full circle of the arena. Then, going back and forth, he approaches first one line of warriors, then another. He notices slitted, glazed pupils all over. The tension fades from his gut as he starts moving towards the end of the pyramid, where Lirza is still torturing her throat in cadences that are somehow still recognizable as a form of commentary.
When they meet, Julien sheathes his sword and smiles at Lirza. “And now…we run.”