"Indeed. It is our duty as Torchline's rulers to encourage local businesses." His voice may have been solemn but his eyes were sparkling as he spoke, and that little smile gave his expression a mischievous cast that strangers never saw.
The mischief vanished immediately at the eerie crack, but no source was immediately visible and their spar was fully underway. The days were long gone when he could take it easy on Flora. She had become formidable in her own right - as proven by the way she recalled her weaponized feather from his fingers. He watched her with calm concentration, his attention fully hers since she had indicated nothing amiss behind him, and when she stepped forward he shifted back and to the left, seeing her initial movement on that side--
And leaving himself open to the true attack that followed the feint. Again his trident failed to knock the blade from the air but this time his StArmour could provide no aid. Her blade struck through feathers like they were insubstantial clouds and he grunted as the dagger sank fully into his shoulder.
Having seen how it worked now he was disinclined to let Flora recall it from his flesh, and he freed a hand from his weapon in order to pull it out himself with a flex of his jaw and a hissing pull of breath through his nose. Crimson coated the silver blade as he dropped it to the sand and inclined his head at his Queen in acknowledgment of her success.
His armour remained dull, but a faint sparkle was beginning to return to its edges as the seconds ticked past and Hadama shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, preparing for the next strike.
The mischief vanished immediately at the eerie crack, but no source was immediately visible and their spar was fully underway. The days were long gone when he could take it easy on Flora. She had become formidable in her own right - as proven by the way she recalled her weaponized feather from his fingers. He watched her with calm concentration, his attention fully hers since she had indicated nothing amiss behind him, and when she stepped forward he shifted back and to the left, seeing her initial movement on that side--
And leaving himself open to the true attack that followed the feint. Again his trident failed to knock the blade from the air but this time his StArmour could provide no aid. Her blade struck through feathers like they were insubstantial clouds and he grunted as the dagger sank fully into his shoulder.
Having seen how it worked now he was disinclined to let Flora recall it from his flesh, and he freed a hand from his weapon in order to pull it out himself with a flex of his jaw and a hissing pull of breath through his nose. Crimson coated the silver blade as he dropped it to the sand and inclined his head at his Queen in acknowledgment of her success.
His armour remained dull, but a faint sparkle was beginning to return to its edges as the seconds ticked past and Hadama shifted his weight to the balls of his feet, preparing for the next strike.
