Snippet #1460491

Jurial Plains

Talae's breath took its exit with a slight huff as she noted the scant accuracy of her crossbow shot. When the icicles impaled the same figure, she embraced the irony of Faera hitting a target she could not. At least it meant her sister was adapting well enough.

Sid called out for melee weapons, which was marginally better for Talae. Removing two knives from each boot, she decided to take advantage of what was far and away her best skill- mid-range projectiles- while she still could. One of the blades went sailing towards an incoming harpy Child, the other on a direct trajectory for a halfling busy spilling fire from its palms at Leila. She did not have time to debate the wisdom of following these up with flasks of poison (though the knives were coated in a mild neurotoxin, she did not necessarily count on it to work against Children), because the halfling with firepower was coming at her now, blade in each hand.

Talae's hand flew to her lower back and she grasped the double-bladed knife there, sidestepping to avoid the initial charge. Using her new placement to her advantage as much as possible, the elf kicked at the Child's exposed back, intent on perhaps sending him to the ground, from where the next move would be as simple as stepping on his arms and stabbing him in the back, as many times as strictly necessary. Of course, if she hadn't kicked hard enough or he had excellent footing, she'd have a problem on her hands.

She wasn't exactly built for full-on melee, to say the least. It was certainly possible, and she had trained for it to an extent (if teaching yourself what you could learn from watching others counted as training), but it was definitely not her preference.

A dark elven Child approached, and she grimaced as the woman swung a longsword, intent on hacking Talae to pieces. The first few blows she blocked, but the fourth caught her shallowly across the ribs, and she stumbled. The swiftness of reflex embedded in her body from a lifetime of running, hiding, and striking from the dark was the only thing that stopped the next blow from being fatal, and instead she dived out of the way, landing rather uncomfortably on an exposed root. That would leave a bruise.

Gritting her teeth, Talae drew a glass flask of acid from her belt and threw it with steady hand. While it could be blocked with the woman's shield, she was at least reassured that it could not be deflected and hit someone else. Regaining her feet, Talae glanced around, checking the area for Kisikoni. Hopefully, he was presently a little better off than she was.