Sword Quest VIII - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull our human half a little to the left and continue running.

>You move a bit to the left, as she continues rightward and seems to be about to pass you by.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Will she be in slashing range when she does?

[Hello Purvis]

> Will she be in slashing range when she does?

>Not likely, but you ought be able to close it yourself; your ghost half is less likely to do so.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> List back toward the right with our human half to get into slashing range. With our ghost half, pivot and turn hard to the right.

[Hello Purvis]

> List back toward the right with our human half to get into slashing range. With our ghost half, pivot and turn hard to the right.

>You move right, as your ghost half pivots, and Meira's blade descends toward you from a diagonal angle, slashing somewhat from her front toward her back.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> With our human half, swing our blade vertically upward, in an attempt to block Meira's swing by deflecting her blade back upward.
> Once Meira herself is fully past our human half (NOT the (w)hol(e) horse, just Meira), have our ghost half pivot and turn back to the left so it is running behind our human half, and have it slash diagonally upward to the right.

[Hello Purvis]

> With our human half, swing our blade vertically upward, in an attempt to block Meira's swing by deflecting her blade back upward.
> Once Meira herself is fully past our human half (NOT the (w)hol(e) horse, just Meira), have our ghost half pivot and turn back to the left so it is running behind our human half, and have it slash diagonally upward to the right.

>You block Meira's attack, and try to move your ghost half to catch her, only to find the horse is circling around you, as Meira recovers from her deflected attack.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are we still running forward?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are we still running forward?

>Are you?

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Well, could we have possibly stopped in the short period of time it took for us to notice that Meira started circling behind us?

[Hello Purvis]

> Well, could we have possibly stopped in the short period of time it took for us to notice that Meira started circling behind us?

>If you want.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Stop with both halves and whirl around to keep Meira in our sights.

[Hello Purvis]

> Stop with both halves and whirl around to keep Meira in our sights.

>You stop, and turn as Meira continues to circle around you. As she draws close to your ghost half, she launches a quick stab toward it.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is the stab coming in from our ghost half's left or right?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is the stab coming in from our ghost half's left or right?

>Slightly toward the left, but moving along with the horse.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Have our ghost half swing her sword in a semicircular arc in front of her body, from pointing left to pointing up to pointing right, to deflect the stab upward and rightward.

[Hello Purvis]

> Have our ghost half swing her sword in a semicircular arc in front of her body, from pointing left to pointing up to pointing right, to deflect the stab upward and rightward.

>You deflect the stab away, almost too late. Meira seems undaunted as she continues to circle around you, recovering with an easy grace.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is our ghost half still between Meira and our human half?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is our ghost half still between Meira and our human half?

>Yes.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are our swords designed to be able to lock with an opponent's blade?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are our swords designed to be able to lock with an opponent's blade?

>They can.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Follow along Meira's curved trotting path with a curved path of our own with our ghost half, slashing diagonally upward at her from right to left if we are able to swing before she does.  Our goal with this slash is less to actually hit Meira and more to lock blades with her; attempt to do so should she block with Miko's blade.
> While our ghost half is operating thusly, dash ahead of out ghost half's curved path with our human half. Our human half should be close enough to our ghost half that our human half is also within slashing range of Meira, but not so close that our ghost half runs into our human half before making sword contact with Meira.

[Hello Purvis]

> Follow along Meira's curved trotting path with a curved path of our own with our ghost half, slashing diagonally upward at her from right to left if we are able to swing before she does.  Our goal with this slash is less to actually hit Meira and more to lock blades with her; attempt to do so should she block with Miko's blade.
> While our ghost half is operating thusly, dash ahead of out ghost half's curved path with our human half. Our human half should be close enough to our ghost half that our human half is also within slashing range of Meira, but not so close that our ghost half runs into our human half before making sword contact with Meira.

>You slash at her with the ghost half, and she parries it. Acting quickly, your manage to lever your blade against hers for the moment, forcing her into place for the moment at the risk of being disarmed or throw wide open. Given that you are moving, though, you don't think you can maintain it more than a moment or two.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Now or never, then! Stab at the closest part of her stomache/side with our human half!

[Hello Purvis]

> Now or never, then! Stab at the closest part of her stomache/side with our human half!

>You stab at her as her blade is momentarily occupied. She twists away as best she can, but the saddle only allows her so much room to move and your blade sinks in solidly. Her face contorts with pain as she kicks her horse into a somewhat faster pace, breaking her blade away from yours and continuing to circle around.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> How much longer does our ghost half have before it pops back into blobby place?

[Hello Purvis]

> How much longer does our ghost half have before it pops back into blobby place?

>Not long.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Can we feel where our ghost half is relative to our human half based on touch sensations from our ghost half standing or walking on the ground?

[Hello Purvis]

> Can we feel where our ghost half is relative to our human half based on touch sensations from our ghost half standing or walking on the ground?

>You can generally feel where it is.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Let's try that again, then. Pursue Meira circularly with our human half, slashing at her in another attempt to lock blades. While doing this, run ahead of our human half's path with our ghost half in preparation for stabbing at Meira with our ghost half.