The world narrowed down into a tight tunnel, centering on the Thrizon. His first hit had brought him enough time to get himself back into a balanced position before a white limb shot speed at his chest with super-human. Kael twisted his upper body, getting most of it out of the way and turning certain death into a mere flesh wound. His heart was pumping at impossible speeds as he used the momentum of his twisting motion to swing his weapon at the Thrizons head. The strike missed. Their dance of death continued, and with every exchange, Kael got more and more proficient. He had still not managed to get another solid hit in but had been able to reduce the damage he took.

*Swish* The Thrizons claw-like fingers scraped against his hip, costing him valuable time for his counter. Right leg centered, left as a counterweight, Sean's words resonated in his mind. Then put most of your weight and power behind the strike, keeping enough back to react. The length of rebar cut through the air and impacted against the Thrizon's withdrawing arm, snapping its bones in half. "GRAWRAL!!!" It shrieked. Kael took another half step forward, using its pain and inattention to his advantage. His weapon raced towards the monster's head. Suddenly, right before he could connect, his instincts screamed bloody murder and instant death at him. He dropped. *screee! scre! screee!* Three purple projectiles zoomed over his head. Jason. His focus had been entirely on his fight against the Thrizon, making him forget the other's involvement entirely. Taking a valuable second to look around as he got back onto his feet he could not help but feel some satisfaction swelling up in his chest. Jason was on the backfoot, substantially so.

His left arm, the one previously holding the cube, hung limply by his side. A deep wound right below the shoulder, still showing splinters of ice in it, was slowly bleeding. Jason's bloodshot eyes were focused on Kael right now, and, considering the nature of the attack he had just evaded, it seemed that he had suffered for his change of target. Even now, there were projectiles of ice hurtling towards Jason. That was about all he could see before he felt death coming when the Thrizon was upon him again. Everything went back to its previous rhythm. Kael fought the monster while Sarah kept Jason's attention on herself. While he could not capitalize on the opening his successful strike had presented, the Thrizon seemed to be slowly running out of energy. Not too soon either, since Kael's own wounds and blood loss were beginning to get to him. Some small part of his mind wondered how he could still fight at all, but those questions could wait for the future if he had one.

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Over the next few moments, neither Kael nor the Thrizon could establish a position of dominance, making their fight a constant back and forth without any real consequences. Out of the corner of his eye, Kael could, from time to time, see Sarah and Jason fight. Ice against energy. Rage against calculated calm. It was... amazing. If only Kael could have stopped to watch, really take the deadly display of magic in. Legs spread and one arm extended, Jason used his magic to shield himself and attack without movement. Endless missiles of purple energy poured out of Jason's right hand before smashing into barriers of ice or missing their agile target. Sarah, on the other hand, was mobile. She used her ice as shields, rarely sending her own attack, saving her energy for critical moments. The stalemate lasted until Sarah made a mistake.

Her agile defense put a lot of pressure on her, and only a single mistake was enough to push her against the ropes. During one of her maneuvers, she slipped, losing balance for but a split second. The delay was enough for one of Jason's attacks to clip her foot, crippling her agility. Kael's heart dropped, dread flaring up. He dodged another blow and watched helplessly as Jason slowly closed the distance between him and Sarah. 'NO!' Kael screamed, constraining himself to his thoughts to save oxygen. 'FUCK!!!' 'What do I do? This can't be happening again. Please. No.' Fear, anger, and desperation made him lose focus, almost costing him his life when the Thrizon attacked again. Would he be powerless again? Let someone else suffer for his incompetence? What were the chances of him being in the right place twice in as many weeks? No, this was something else. Fate had given him this chance. He watched Jason advance on Sarah, both of them still exchanging spells. She was putting up a good fight, but ultimately, Kael knew that Jason would win. Even while fighting. Even with this distance, Kael could feel the immense, endless power coursing through Jason's body. Sarah would die, or worse. Then Jason would be free to attack and kill Kael. He could not run, could not fight, could not win. Death was all but assured.

The realization was... freeing. There was no need for fear or anger in the face of death. Some part of his mind resisted the allure of giving up, wanted to keep struggling, but what could he do? This was his reality, was it not? If only he could have saved the girl, go out like the heroes in the stories. Ah! Maybe he could? The grip of his left hand that had been loosening ever since Sarah got injured tightened again. Kael stopped trying to fight back and focused solely on evading while manuveríng closer to where Jason and Sarah were. When everything was ready, he only needed to wait for the Thrizon to overextend itself. One attack after the other followed, Kael always on the lookout for the perfect moment.