The kindjal was in Galina's grip even before she scrambled to a crouch in her stocking feet, whirling on Souma the instant his blade finally materialized - and at the worst possible moment, airborne in a silver flash at her chest. She feinted slightly, the knife's edge catching and slicing easily at the seams of her kimono sleeve before burying itself in the earth behind her. 

Instinctively her eyelids shut tight against the dirt he threw at her face, her body following the original feint but only managing to change oh-so-slightly where Souma's powerful blow landed. 

She heard more than felt the dull [i]*snap*[/i] at her ribs, a flash of white hot agony immediately dulled by the adrenaline fueling her lightning swift movements. Galina sucked in a quick [i]hiss[/i] of a breath through bared teeth as she allowed the momentum of the blow to whirl her away from Souma. No, these were not the first broken ribs she had ever known, and would likely not be the last - unless Souma killed her here and now, of course. 

Galina realized he would wear her down like a hammer to stone if she let him, that she[i] must[/i] keep her feet and stay out of his grasp. Instinctively, she knew if Souma grappled her to the ground once more, she would likely not rise again. He was stronger than she - far, [i]far[/i] stronger, and he [i]certainly[/i] wanted her dead. 

But Galina was swifter, and not yet ready to die. 

Her free hand dropped to the dirt to steady herself for a split-second, just long enough to wrap agile fingers about the fallen dagger Souma relinquished. She allowed the momentum of the blow to marry with her own grace, lifting her form from the earth with the ephemeral lightness of a windblown leaf. Whirling away from Souma, Galina sidestepped him in a nimble dance that belied her injury utterly. Both blades glided in twin silver blurs as elegant as she, the kindjal slicing for the meat of his shoulder and Souma's own dagger flowing like water in a stream toward a hamstring as she landed delicately behind him.

Neither the muffled agony in her ribs nor her sudden struggle to breathe forced the pained grimace on Galina's face, but a single thought that seared her spirit like a brand:

[i]Please Souma, [b]please[/b] go down... Stay down... I don't want to die... God in heaven, please don't make me kill you... [/i]