I'm a Fun Guy, I Promise! (Closed to Flamebird)

[Rehtul Orlouge]

She had regained her head. This much was obvious from the way that she was eyeing him up as she recovered from the disc hitting her. Whether this was the effect of knocking the wind out of her or not was unknown, but she was back in it and not flailing at him uselessly anymore. Rehtul frowned as he realized something else. She could formulate something that wasn't a straightforward attack now. His boots made a loud "shluck" sound as he tried to keep himself mobile. Had he been wearing looser fitting footwear, he'd have lost his boots in the muck by now. The stray thought amused him, but despite his small grin he kept an eye on Felicity.

She's going to do something... weird again, he thought. So far she'd managed to keep him on his toes, but in the four years since the two of them last met, she had become something much more frightening than the mage had thought she'd be... back when he gave her that mirror. For a brief second, Rehtul thought he saw a shadow snake its way through the darkness. He was too slow to realize what it was, however, as he felt a sharp pain in the side of his calf.

Another shadow followed closely behind, and Rehtul pulled himself out of the way just in time to see an arrow splash into the wet muck behind him.

Did she just... throw an arrow at me?

"Did you just throw an arrow at- hurk!" the young Orlouge felt bile rising in his throat seconds after the strike.

"Poison? No... I didn't see any vials on her..." He gagged again. "That rancid blood?!" Rehtul swallowed hard, fighting to keep the nausea at bay as his vision swam. With a wave of his hand, the sword on his arm shattered and he used the now free hand to pull his glasses off and wipe his eyes on his sleeve.

As he looked up, he saw the young woman dart behind another of the mushroom trees. She was trying to close distance between them. If that was the case...

Rehtul reached out with a single hand willed the water in the muck beneath him to come to him once again. As she got closer, he threw a hand out and put a sheet of slick, glasslike ice directly in front of the last tree she darted behind. If she came out too fast, his hope was that she'd slip and fall. Without even seeing if the tactic worked, Rehtul turned tail and ran as fast at the dark, sticky substance under his feet would allow him. The more distance he could make between himself and the formidable young woman, the more likely he'd be able to set the situation to his advantage and trap her in a situation of his choosing.