Sword Quest VIII - A Z-Machine Adventure

[Kilgamayan]

> Well, at least it's something.
> Pull our left sword back to a defensive position.

[Hello Purvis]

> Well, at least it's something.
> Pull our left sword back to a defensive position.

>You pull your sword back, and none too soon, as Meira reverses her parry, and brings a diagonal right to left slash down on you!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Hold our right-hand sword up and diagonally from right to left as well, so as to be perpendicular to her slash. No parry or counterattack here, just a solid block before she gets to our head, neck, or shoulder.

[Hello Purvis]

> Hold our right-hand sword up and diagonally from right to left as well, so as to be perpendicular to her slash. No parry or counterattack here, just a solid block before she gets to our head, neck, or shoulder.

>You deflect her sword, as it comes close enough to that it may well have cost you a few hairs. Meira recovers from this with the unnatural speed you've come to expect, and sends a thrust toward your torso.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Have we felt any actual force behind these speedy blows yet?

[Hello Purvis]

> Have we felt any actual force behind these speedy blows yet?

>Yes, about as much as usual.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Are we at all leaning in one direction or the other at present?

[Hello Purvis]

> Are we at all leaning in one direction or the other at present?

>Somewhat rightward.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Lean a little bit further rightward (but not so much as to unbalance ourselves and topple ourselves over) and twist our torso counter-clockwise to present a much narrower profile, hopefully allowing her stab to pass by to our left.
> At the same time, since our right arm is coming forward anyway, launch a right-hand sword stab at her left (our right) knee.

[Hello Purvis]

> Lean a little bit further rightward (but not so much as to unbalance ourselves and topple ourselves over) and twist our torso counter-clockwise to present a much narrower profile, hopefully allowing her stab to pass by to our left.
> At the same time, since our right arm is coming forward anyway, launch a right-hand sword stab at her left (our right) knee.

>You lean a bit more to the right and twist. It's not enough, her blade still bites into your side, but through the pain you think it minimized the damage.
>You strike at her knee, and with her blade occupied as it is, she cannot parry it. Nor does she seem to be able to move away from it despite her best efforts, it seems her speed in that regard is normal. Your blade strikes home, reasonably well, though you're not quite of a mindset to assess the damage.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pull back our sword and recover as well as we can.

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull back our sword and recover as well as we can.

>You side stinging, you pull back and do your best to focus. The pain is irritating, but it shouldn't be enough to really debilitate you. Meira, for her part, looks even more furious than before, and you swear can smell blossoms in the air.
>She recovers as well, then launches another blazingly fast stab toward your chest!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Lean back leftward, rotating our upper body clockwise to present the narrower profile as before. At the same time, flick our right-hand sword up so that it makes an upward circular arc from our left to our right (and probably from close-to-Meira to further-away-from-Meira, given our right arm is being brough back by our upper body twist), in an effort to catch her stab and parry it to our right.

[Hello Purvis]

> Lean back leftward, rotating our upper body clockwise to present the narrower profile as before. At the same time, flick our right-hand sword up so that it makes an upward circular arc from our left to our right (and probably from close-to-Meira to further-away-from-Meira, given our right arm is being brough back by our upper body twist), in an effort to catch her stab and parry it to our right.

>You twist, and just barely manage to knock her weapon aside with the space you give yourself.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Stab-thrust forward at her stomach with our left-hand sword.

[Hello Purvis]

> Stab-thrust forward at her stomach with our left-hand sword.

>You thrust toward her stomach, but her blade moves with speed to bat it away.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Pull our swords back in a defensive position, righting ourselves again.

[Hello Purvis]

> Pull our swords back in a defensive position, righting ourselves again.

>You pull back into a defensive position, as Meira launches another attack, a slash toward your left leg.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is the slash aimed high or low on our leg?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is the slash aimed high or low on our leg?

>Lower, it seems.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Take a half-step back and to the right with our left foot, while swinging our left-hand sword so it is pointing straight down and positioned between her blade and our left leg.
> This motion will probably twist our body counterclockwise a bit, so use that twisting momentum to level a right-hand sword slash at her left (our right) shoulder.

[Hello Purvis]

> Take a half-step back and to the right with our left foot, while swinging our left-hand sword so it is pointing straight down and positioned between her blade and our left leg.
> This motion will probably twist our body counterclockwise a bit, so use that twisting momentum to level a right-hand sword slash at her left (our right) shoulder.

>You step back and deflect her blade; feeling it come uncomfortably close once again. Following through on the motion, you send Roukanken toward her shoulder, forcing her to take a step back in order to allow her blade, however unnaturally fast it may be, time to parry your strike.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Tch.
> Reset ourselves defensively again.

[Hello Purvis]

> Tch.
> Reset ourselves defensively again.

>You take pressure from Meira and focus on your defense. She sends a stab toward your head.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Is it coming straight-on or from an angle?

[Hello Purvis]

> Is it coming straight-on or from an angle?

>Straight on.

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Duck our head down and to the left, moving our torso down and to the left somewhat to help our head to get out of the way.
> At the same time, launch a right-hand sword stab at her stomach.

[Hello Purvis]

> Duck our head down and to the left, moving our torso down and to the left somewhat to help our head to get out of the way.
> At the same time, launch a right-hand sword stab at her stomach.

>You duck down under her stab, and feel it pass just overhead. Sending out a counterattack toward her stomach, you watch her blade dart down to knock Roukanken aside, then speeds toward your face again!

>_

[Kilgamayan]

> Our head is still down and to the left, yes?

[Hello Purvis]

> Our head is still down and to the left, yes?

>Yes.

>_