<strong><em>"By Torm's Fist..."</em></strong>Elora muttered the coarse oath under her breath, feeling a stab or irritation that her and Deon's time together had been interrupted.  Then, the tips of her ears pinked as she quickly touched her forehead, each of her ears and then the center of her chest as she offered a quick prayer to Torm in contrition to what she had uttered.  Later on, when she had a bit more time, she would spent more time in prayer and supplication to repent for taking His name in vain.  Swearing so easily wasn't like her, but she already was missing the warmth of the cleric's embrace, at how soft his lap had felt.  Oh certainly, she spent all her waking moments sighing and mooning over him anyways, but 'First Watch' was<em>special</em>.  All the girls understood that.<br/><br/>In fact, it was a conscious effort for the elven paladin to focus herself to the task at hand partly because Deon, her Deon, was comforting that little tiefling harpy!  A glare was shot in Beatrice's direction as Elora jealously noted how the cleric tenderly tended the witch's wounded hand and how the other girl seemed to preen under his attention - the tiefling's tail excitedly twitching back and forth.  With an air of annoyance, she snatched up her nearby sheathed sword, the fine silvered hilt glinting in the fading light.  The palm of her hand rubbed the delicate inscription inscribed on the handle.  '<em>Mehgen</em>' the word said, meaning 'Child of light' in the elven tongue even as she drew the belt across her waist and secured it. Then, she freed the blade with a practiced motion as it gave a light, oiled hiss - the bright, gleaming blade coming into view.  The heavy steel shield, which had been propped by the longsword was grabbed next, as she hefted it before slipping her forearm into the familiar leathers strap to securely hold it to help guard both her and those with her.<br/><br/>And not a moment too soon as two lizardfolk emerged, armed with clubs.  Each one easily dwarfed the slender elf, and they hissed and clicked in their native tongue to one another.  With a fresh flush of shame, Elora realized how little the chain shirt she was wearing protected her from their hungry gazes at her bared flesh.  She may as well have gone naked and been just as effective!  Of course, that thought<em>really </em>made her flush - at how naughty she would have to be to prance around completely in the nude!!  But at the same time, there was a small, heated tingle between her thighs as she glanced at Deon.  Perhaps it wouldn't be<em> so</em>bad, not if Deon was nearby and watching.  After all, he did said he liked what she was wearing now - maybe she should try and ask the next blacksmith if he could remove a few more chains...<br/><br/><em>"Stupid girl!"</em>she berated herself silently for being distracted, her face now definitely flushed, even as she turned sideways to narrow her profile to protect her vulnerable, unarmored parts...and to give herself a little more modesty from the lizardfolk's leering stares<br/><br/><strong>"Sir, please get behind me."</strong>Elora's voice now cooled, being calm and brisk - very business-like, even as she assessed the situation.  A shrill, piercing whistle cut through the air - courtesy of Lune and the whistle she carried around her neck.  Three short, clipped blasts meant that the half-elf was unharmed, but she would need to fall back lest her current position be overrun.  This meant all their horses plus anything those horses carried were in jeopardy and they could ill-afford to have their supplies ransacked.<br/><br/>Torm favored the bold and it was with that in mind that Elora went out against the two lizardfolk.<strong>"Your Hand shield my step and guard my path until the full dawn of day!"</strong>she boldly declared a common battle prayer, calling upon her deity as she felt a warmth suffused her and also that same, bright glow surrounded Deon and Beatrice - giving her an inward peace that they would be safe with Torm's protection.  And although she possessed that same eternal youthfulness that all elves did, looking barely a day past her early twenties, the elven paladin was a hardened veteran when it came to battle.  Immediately, she targeted the lizardfolk on her right, '<em>Mehgen</em>' singing as it sliced through the air with deadly force.  There was some risk in what she was doing, allowing them to flank her - but Elora decided it was strategically sound to engage and quickly overwhelm one of them rather than wait for their numbers to grow.<br/><br/>Somewhere in the distance, her ears now picked up the booming laugh of Misty, their resident mercenary barbarian.  No doubt the woman was busy boasting, slapping her muscled abdomen and flexing her arms to taunt the lizardfolk - asking if any of them were brave enough to face her and her greataxe one-on-one.  Though her uncouth manner grated on Elora's nerves - doubly so because Deon once mentioned he found the she-man's antics<strong>'<em>cute</em>'</strong>- there was no denying that she was a fierce opponent to face in combat.  Between her and Lune, Elora decided that they would be fine by themselves until she would deal with these two and arrive to provide reinforcements.<br/><br/>Besides, Deon was here!   Feeling the cleric's eyes upon her, the elven paladin was unable to stop herself from waggling her bottom at him - the tiny chain covering her backside jingling playfully.  Oh, she was being such a naughty elf!  The thought filled her first with shame before it was mixed with arousal as she mentally made a small note to ask Deon later shyly if he liked what he saw...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">OOC - Party's Action and Intent:</div><div class="spoiler_body"> <br/>Elora has activated her Protection Devotion, giving herself and Deon with Beatrice all a +3 AC sacred bonus.  This brings her total AC up to 17.  She will focus all her attacks on one of the lizardfolk so she can quickly bring down one of them so they will not be able to continue to gain a flanking bonus against her.  Meanwhile, she will make sure to position herself so neither lizardfolk can move straight past her and get to Deon or Beatrice without provoking an attack of opportunity.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, Lune will be using her full movement speed (40 ft) to position herself out of the immediately reach of the lizardfolk before choosing to take aim and fire at one of them using her Skirmish ability.  If they somehow manage to out-manuever her so she cannot move without provoking attacks of opportunity, she will then use her Tumble skill to get past at half-speed (20 ft), and then spend the remainder of her turn taking another move action (4o ft) to reposition herself.<br/><br/>Misty will simply attack the nearest lizardfolk with her greataxe - unless any of them take her up on her challenge of one-on-one combat.  Then, she'd hold her action to face off against that particular lizardfolk.  The barbarian will start off simply enough, but once she has taken 10 total points of damage - she will use her rage ability on her next turn.</div></div>