It seemed Madison was more ready to get underway than he was. She disappeared from sight, and John heard a breath behind him. He turned instinctively, barely catching sight of a form through some kind of smoke. As his shoulders came round, he raised a massive elbow, aiming to plant it on Madison's head. She was deft, and shorter than he, though; she leapt back as John's elbow struck a stone column, with a shield on it. The first clang of battle was of a miss, and nearly crushed the aegis on the column. It caved inward as John drew breath again, and coughed mightily.

He tried to fix Madison with a glare, but only succeeded in holding his head up and looking in her general direction. His head swam in growing pain, and he fought the urge to empty his lunch all over the paving stone floor.

Damn woman and her damn diseases, he thought. It was going to be an uphill battle again it seemed. The half-giant plunged an armored hand into a glass case beside him, pulling a shortsword out, flinging it at the girl with what strength he could muster through this haze. There were probably better strategies than rushing her after the sword, but he couldn't think of them at the moment.