Nayash had spent the most of the night looking, searching for the hooded man. She had made sure that Illurath hadn’t crossed her paths and headed back towards the village, and she hoped that she’d find him soon. So as dawn started breaking, only a couple of hours later she wasn’t surprised at all to hear bolting footsteps close by. She stopped and just listened, then as the footsteps stopped, she headed to where they ended, preparing both mentally and physically for the encounter. So when Mr.Hoodie hopped down in front of her she was prepared, and her stance was already in defencive position as he hit the ground. 

She didn’t reply to his words as he spoke, however she was a tad bit surprised that he knew her name. That did however not break her focus, and neither did his empty words about her lack of empathy. When he drew her blade, Nayash didn’t move a muscle. She paid full attention at his movements and once he darted at her, swinging his sword, Nayash sidestepped and twisted her hammer so that it acted like a shield, but it turns out that the sidestep had been more than enough for him to miss. She nodded at him, as if saying “Well played, but not quite there yet”, and then prepared for his next attack by facing him. 

She took a better grip of her hammer, lifting it up so that it was slight above the ground enableing her better movement. She prepared her mind to have swift feet, in case of an unexpected move but her plan was that once he would expect him to have the first move, Nayash would swing her hammer low, the momentum of the hammer just moments later swinging higher, for his head.