The Strength of Motion

Sadie nodded at Gulmar, but her instincts were still fired. She turned - and threw herself backwards to avoid being hit by the wide sweep of a massive sickle-like weapon that she identified as a khopesh as she landed and rolled to avoid being trampled.

Astarlane stepped over her, steadily advancing under a tight ripple of defensive movements. She was tangled with the orc on the other end of the khopesh, a obscenely massive warrior easily Gulmar's equal in size. The slight-framed sorceror with a conventional longsword looked comically small in comparison.

And yet, standing her ground behind a screen of flickering parries and millimetre-accurate efficient ripostes, Astarlane held her own. Behind her, Sadie saw Tenever lift his rifle into a firing position with his mage hand, the arcane limb steadier than any natural or artificial presence. But even the wizard could not find a clean shot in the whirling melee.