In truth, Tal was too busy trying to keep track of his feet and his shield arm and the spear and his opponent to worry about attacking right now, even if that had been the goal. All he wanted was enough time to prepare himself for the next blow and space enough to react to it.
But we don't always get what we want.
Deimos spun in place and needing to cover much less ground, it took him much less time than the courier had done in his scampering past the General. Tal was already turning to keep an eye on his foe and he caught the rising sword out of the corner of his eye. His shield came up automatically and his old instincts caused him to take a step back.
A stuttering step, as his mind tried to push him forward instead, to get inside his friend's guard.
Which only put him off balance as he was caught between advancing forward and retreating back and the sword clunked down onto his raised shield--
This time the deflecting angle wasn't quite right, his confused footwork having snarled the entire process. The shield was pressed down beneath the sword's momentum until it bounced off of Tal's (luckily sturdy) skull and the courier wobbled, seeing stars. "Uh... wait..." He blinked dazedly at Deimos as he let the shield fall back in front of him - though at least he didn't drop it. "I think I screwed up..."
But we don't always get what we want.
Deimos spun in place and needing to cover much less ground, it took him much less time than the courier had done in his scampering past the General. Tal was already turning to keep an eye on his foe and he caught the rising sword out of the corner of his eye. His shield came up automatically and his old instincts caused him to take a step back.
A stuttering step, as his mind tried to push him forward instead, to get inside his friend's guard.
Which only put him off balance as he was caught between advancing forward and retreating back and the sword clunked down onto his raised shield--
This time the deflecting angle wasn't quite right, his confused footwork having snarled the entire process. The shield was pressed down beneath the sword's momentum until it bounced off of Tal's (luckily sturdy) skull and the courier wobbled, seeing stars. "Uh... wait..." He blinked dazedly at Deimos as he let the shield fall back in front of him - though at least he didn't drop it. "I think I screwed up..."
