LogFAQs > #884099435

Martin collapsed against the wood and his hand went to his side.
There was blood leaking out of his wound. He'd torn the stitches.
He looked over his shoulder, through the gaps in the wood, and spotted Jess.

The horse suddenly shook itself and, because of Martin cutting the rope hastily, something terrible happened.
The saddle slipped off of the horse.
Jess, falling, somehow managed to grab onto it and hold herself up.
However, the saddle and stirrups were lost.
Seated unsteadily on the horse, she did something Martin never would have expected.
She urged it forward.

The tail of the creature flickered, smashing into the ground, drumming it loudly.
However, Jess did not panic. And because of this, her mount did not panic.

There was a lance stuck in one of the dead foes on the ground.
Jess grabbed it as she passed and raised it over her head.
Without stirrups there was no way she could gain leverage for a full tilt.
Truthfully if she tried to joust she was likely to knock herself out of the seat.
This was one of the major drawbacks to horse based combat since before the stirrups were invented.

The enemy rounded on Jess and began to crawl forward to meet her.
It was much larger than the horse.
Keeping its body low to the ground it was able to block off most of the street.

"Devan, do something!" Martin commanded. "Sen!"

Then, at the lost moment, the Storm Drake vaulted over Jess.
She passed under it, a look of shock passing over her face.
Honestly, at that time, even Jess wasn't sure what she was going to do.
But she was going to at least try to hit it.
Now all she could do was regain control of the horse and try to turn it back around.

There was a rumbling sound and a crack as the enemy landed on top of Sen.
Its claw dug into his shoulder and wrapped around his stomach.
Then it lifted him into the air. It seemed to... fully intend... to smash him against the ground.
The Martin began to feel a chill overtake his body.
The enemy they were fighting wasn't just powerful. It was intelligent.
It knew that smashing the Knight inside of his armor would do a lot of damage.
It was like cracking an egg that was inside of a locked box.
Rather than try to get the box open, all it needed to do was shake the box and the egg inside would pop.

"Eruptio!" Blackwater suddenly called out.
It seemed he had regained control of his nerves.
A brilliant light began to shine within his palms.
That was needed.
In order to cast a powerful shadow you first needed a bright light.
Martin put his hand against the wood and tried to pull himself back to his feet.
He felt light headed. Wasn't sure he could stand at all.
Jess's horse whinnied and then began running at the Drake again.
Blackwater was approaching it from behind.
A brilliant light began to shine, spotlighting the entire street.
And, from the edge of the light, shadow began to take form.

All at once, Sen came to life.
Maybe it was the shock or the pain that had woken him up.
But he did not plan to idly lay there and be crushed in the palm of the enemy.
His legs curled and he began to push outward with all of his strength.
The enemy flexed its claw and then tried to shove it through the front of Sen's helmet.
But he raised his blacksteel bracers, crossing them in front of his face, and protected against the attack.
Since the enemy had loosened its grip to perform this tactic, Sen was able to wriggled free and break loose.
However, the best he could manage was collapsing to the ground.
He was quivering there, trying to rise back to his feet.
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~* The <Stars> Protect Me ~*
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