I put down the bottle and faced her, my weapon out but pointing down in a defensive posture. She engaged to tie up my weapon and fired a quintuplet of orange bolts like the ones she’d used earlier. I cut through her attack and batted the fiery bolts away with my shield with barely a thought, coming out of the defensive and lunging through her flimsy guard.

I shielded the end of my own blade to stop the point from going straight through her.

“If a diversion you wish to make, be sure that it is a credible threat.”

I engaged first this time, sword down and back against my side. Two green bolts flashed from a raised hand, meeting a powerful upwards stroke from the blade a handspan below her guarding arm. The attack punched through her shield, and again I used my own shield to deflect my attack before it harmed her.

Her gaze narrowed, but remained steady. Not prone to excessive anger, then. I could work with her, I thought.

Then she moved, and there were six of her with swords raised.