A desperate lunge, fueled by rage without strategy, was more effective than any clever footwork a saner man might have mustered. Bastien went down into the snow, Jigano scrambling atop him to begin his grisly work with an unholy glee. Claw-tipped fingers drew back for a slash, but in the moment that he opened himself up Bastien the Ascended lashed out with the Rose. His powers had little effect on the blight that controlled Jigano's body, but the Rose was another matter. The once-bard snarled, flashing black-coated fangs as he flinched back from the piercing stem. He wasn't quite fast enough, however, and the thorns grazed lightly over his cheek and the hand he tried to deflect Bastien with. Black blood beaded swiftly on the shallow scrapes, and for a moment the beast froze, eyes wide with the fury of realization.
A hand balled into a fist as he struck down at the artist beneath him, sinking deep into the snow before he rolled away and came up shaking his head. Hissing protests turned to the gasping of a drowning man, and he shuddered as he dropped to his knees, face buried in his hands and clawless fingers digging into his skull as a rasping moan escaped and he finally went still except for the slowest, smallest of breaths that still shifted his rib cage beneath his filthy tunic.
A hand balled into a fist as he struck down at the artist beneath him, sinking deep into the snow before he rolled away and came up shaking his head. Hissing protests turned to the gasping of a drowning man, and he shuddered as he dropped to his knees, face buried in his hands and clawless fingers digging into his skull as a rasping moan escaped and he finally went still except for the slowest, smallest of breaths that still shifted his rib cage beneath his filthy tunic.
