There was something strange going on. As she began pushing him, a gap appeared in his defense - once, then twice, then a third time - on the left side. She was watching for it to come again, having decided the best manner in which to exploit it, when suddenly there was a blow coming from her left, and she couldn't get her defense rearranged in time to block it.
She stumbled to the side, her relentless assault broken as she had to go on the defensive. She took several hits before she could find her rhythm again, and although he did not hit painfully hard, they did smart and likely would bruise. They traded blows until she had to jump back, reformulate her strategy.
For a short while, it seemed unclear which of them would regain control of the fight; she moved back, then forward, as she attempted to regain her rhythm. Slowly, the tide turned back in her favor, though as the seconds ticked by and her muscles began to tire, it was more difficult to retain the initiative. Hoping for the best, she attempted Flurry; although her mastery of the skill was imperfect at best, the speed of blows in such quick succession - even from her, who was ordinarily quite quick - would come as a surprise.