With a deafening roar, the massively armored body of Ryan’s remaining opponent charged him…only to be forced back by a lightening bolt that seemed to do nothing else but that. Thanking the gods the girl was with him, Ryan quickly recovered from his stupor and hurled an axe at the leader to delay him. Unfortunately, this tactic did not work. Although the axe caught him full in the chest, the blade just bounced off and almost sliced Ryan’s arm off as it was blasted back to him by the armors protective magic.
Seeing that a ranged offensive wouldn’t work Ryan closed for melee. That may have been one of the worst decisions in his life. With this mer, if ranged combat was dangerous, then close combat was deadly. Before Ryan even got off a shot, a quick thrust bloodied his left arm and a fist to the face almost knocked him unconscious cracked his chitin helm.
Luckily, Brionna came to the rescue with a conjured spear of frost, though this didn’t have any more affect than the lightening did. It did give Ryan enough time to shake him self to full consciousness. He then rammed the butt of his axe into the mer’s crotch (for all the good it did) while his other went for the gap between his helmet and his chest plate. The low blow had absolutely no affect at all and a gauntleted fist blocked his head strike. The return blows were less readily received. Using his free gauntlet, the Dunmer shoved the axe aside and made a thrust with his spear at Ryan’s gut. Fortunately, Ryan’s other axe was able to catch him in mid thrust and slid along the shaft to score on the fingers at the end.
Needless to say, the Ashlander was less than overjoyed at the removal of those digits, and responded accordingly. Letting out a course yell, the mer swung a backhanded fist at Ryan’s head and bashed his armored face in behind it. Ryan head was forced backwards by the punch so that the head butt hit him in chest instead of the head. Feeling a few of his ribs break, Ryan fell to the ground in a breathless heap. The Ashlander then pick Ryan up and shoved him against a tree, his spear prepared to skewer the hapless Ryan. He managed to bring his axe up in a semblance of a defense but it was useless. Ryan knew he was doomed.
I didn’t expect to go like this… Ryan thought. Hell, I didn’t expect to go at all...
Then just before the finishing thrust, there was a sudden crack, and the Ashlander was forced towards Ryan, right onto his waiting axe. The axe, forced by the suddenness of the assault, was pushed up against the chest plate of the mer, blocking the spear and finding the small crease in his armor. So great was the force that the mer’s entire head was removed from his shoulder, helmet and all. When Ryan recovered from shock enough to look from the crumpled body at hi feet, Ryan noticed Brionna, breathing heavily, dismissing the remnants of a major lightening spell.
That was all Ryan saw before the adrenalin of the fight wore off and the pain in his chest made him pass out…
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