Sapphire was on guard the moment she started hearing the sounds. Sidestepping the tree was pure instinct, but she did not expect it all and was left slightly shaken by the event. She promptly turned around to see who or what was attacking them. The sight of the being left her with dread creeping up her spine. Almost all her life she had spent her time without a home, on the streets for the most part. It was a mystery as to how she had managed to not run into such a creature before. Maybe it had something to do with her sheer luck in surviving this long. The more she stared at it, the more she could feel her hands starting to shake and her heart beating with a speed she didn’t think was possible.
As the creature lunged at Sapphire she froze. It was as if her mind tried to make the parry motion but her body just wouldn’t listen. For a moment she thought she was going to die that very instant.
“After all I’ve gone through in my life this is what I’m reduced to. A shaking mess ready to freeze at the sight of danger? Pathetic . . .” she thought as time seemed to slow down the closer it got.
All these emotions, dread, fear, self-pity, she experienced them all in an instant, the same time it took for Nickolaus to intervene and fire at beast.
Sapphire felt immensely grateful for that, as it gave her the moment she needed to regain her composure. Her hands stopped shaking and with new-found determination she gripped her Kris tighter.
Despite the abomination being unlike anything she’d seen before, seemingly torn right out of her nightmares, it wasn’t the first time she’d faced a plagued beings and it wasn’t the first time her life had been in danger. She knew what she had to do.
The shot fired by Nickolaus grazed the disfigured harpy staggering it for a mere moment as it attempted to dodge the shot. Sapphire immediately took advantage of this. The moment Nickolaus’ pistol hit the ground Sapphire was no longer standing beside him. A dash and jump later, Sapphire landed feet first on the lower chest of the harpy, clinging to its feathery arm with her left hand. Using the Kris in her right hand she slashed at the creature twice before pushing herself off the creature. As she did this she used her air burst spell to put even more distance between her and it, creating the illusion of an additional mid-air jump. This sent her flying backwards which would most likely end up in her landing rather painfully on her back.