Battle cries and expressions of extreme hatred were all well and good, if only they weren't giving away a perfectly good ambush. The rational thoughts only occured to her later, but Rajaala was keenly aware that had their hidden assailant not shouted out in his rage, then his first fireball would have left one of her oldest acquantainces a burned husk.<br/><br/>As it was, the shout echoed throughout the meadow, drawing the eyes and ears of everything even remotely close by, bringing the rapidy approaching ball of magical fire to the centre stage. Without hesitation Rajaala sprung to her feet, halberd left resting against it's tree and sword in hand, ready to face the threat of darkness head on. She had run once before, she'd be damned if she did so again.<br/><br/>The first fireball struck Daphnes straight on, absorbed by his shield in a spectacular display of brave stupidity, after which he called for a retreat to cover. A wise move, one she had no inclination of following at first. The second fireball convinced her otherwise, sending her flying into the surrounding brush with a beautiful pattern of burns down one arm. Picking herself up from amongst the detritus that her impromptu flight had caused, Rajaala raced back to the edge of the clearing, her arm spasming in pain that she ignored. It took quite a bit longer than it should have for her to reach the edge of the meadow itself, her trained focus blocking out the the fact that she could barely walk in a straight line, let alone fight. By the time she could collapse against one of the trunks that ringed it, the fight was over. By some miracle Daphnes still lived, despite his clearly damaged arm and broken shield lying discarded on the ground. The dark thing flitted away, moving through shadows like it was born to it, heading somewhere... anywhere.<br/><br/>The old man had eyes only for the Kokiri, even though he was clearly quite the worse for wear. When his steps carried him towards the sacred grove, or at least where she remembered it to be from so long ago, Rajaala made to follow. Something stopped her. Nothing physical, just a feeling. He needed to be alone for this.<br/><br/>She jogged to her halberd, every step sending shooting agony through her elbow, still leant against the tree she had left it at. Whatever that thing was, whatever Daphnes intended to do with a messed up sword arm, she didn't trust it would end well. Standing tall again, she placed herself between the meadow and the direction Daphnes had left in. With luck, she would see him returning alive.