Dawn’s breaths came quickly, rushing from her like a tide. Her chest rose and fell as she swayed from side to side, barely keeping herself upright. In front of her, a yahnus twitched violently on the floor; her staff, mostly splinters now, had been fired through his chest by magic. She didn’t have much left. She didn’t know even how she’d used as much magic as she had.<i>You’re out of practice,</i>she told herself, but the truth was she’d<i>never</i>had to use so much magic in such a short time. Lucian had warned her about that, but it wasn’t as if she could just stop now. If she didn’t keep fighting, more people would die.<i>She</i>would die. But maybe she’d die either way.<br/><br/><b>“Help me...”</b><br/><br/>Dawn whirled around, somehow managing to stay on her feet. They’d gotten around her, to Verita. She gritted her teeth.<i>‘I won’t let them,’</i>she’d said, and she’d meant it. She wouldn’t let them have her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ashy and Darion spring into action. A staff flew out of nowhere, bouncing harmlessly off the only unoccupied yahnus’s shoulder. It was enough. With what strength she had, she pounced onto the distracted yahnus from behind. To his credit, he kept his balance, trying desperately to throw the girl from his back.<br/><br/>Finally, her palm found his forehead. There was a muted thud, like distant thunder, and a dull glow visible behind the creature’s skin. He crumpled to the ground like wet paper.<br/><br/>The sword barely missed her as she fell with the yahnus, slashing through her robes from her left shoulder all the way to her right hip, not even grazing the skin. It seemed like, even if she’d taken the full strike, it wouldn’t have cut very deeply. She didn’t have time to wonder at that, though.<br/><br/>Dawn hit the ground rolling, landing so that she faced her attacker. Her splintered staff still jutted out of his chest - she wasn’t even sure how he was still alive. As he raised his sword to strike again, she thrust out her hand. The staff trembled, then exploded, tearing him apart from the inside out.<br/><br/>“I don’t want to die,” she muttered, stumbling to her feet. She glanced around wearily, and, seeing that Verita was all right, gave a weak smile. “We... have to go,” she said. “Too many.” She saw Donchen fighting some distance away, but she wasn’t sure how much she could do. She drew two daggers out of her robes, now hardly able to keep her grip on them. They sped out of her hand as a blur, barreling toward two of the yahnus that had cornered the vulpari. At worst, they would at least be a distraction.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>