Ser Nerys Ronain, Knight of Redcliffe (ronain) wrote in thedas,
Even though Nerys managed to find secure footing at her attacker's waist, she didn't have the strength to move the hurlock's weight -- at least twice her own with armor on -- and she was losing air rapidly. She barely saw the dark mass that obscured her vision, a blur of brown and black-stained fur, come hurtling forward at the alpha's head, broad pads smashing into the helm and sending it skittering away. The impact was enough to stun; Nerys pushed herself free and rolled to her palms and knees, gasping for air. Cafall continued to snap at the dazed hurlock, biting and retracting to dodge its empty fists until his mistress could fully recover. She couldn't see her sword from where she kneeled, but she was within reach of the battleaxe, which stuck out of the ground on blade's edge, just begging to be wielded against its owner.
The Mabari just had to keep the alpha occupied a little longer. If she timed it right, and stood in the correct position, she could make a killing blow now that the hideous mass of flesh that made up its head was exposed. The hurlock's beady, sunken eyes were focused only the dog; even if one darkspawn could be clever enough to master magic, not all were brilliant enough to pay attention to an assault from two directions. Nerys wrapped her hands around the thick wooden stock of the axe's handle, channeling all of her anger and turning it into strength. She thought of those who had perished in the first wave of attacks on the arling, the bold men and women who had given their lives at Amaranthine to prevent this from happening, her friends, her family... Fueled by a thirst for vengeance and justice in their names, she dislodged the weapon from the packed topsoil and brought it down on top of the hurlock's bald, fetid head.
She was careful to shut her eyes and her mouth as a geyser of black blood spewed forth from the gaping wound, though the axe had become embedded in the cloven skull and she was forced to let it go when the rest of the armored body fell with a rattling crash. Cafall had already bounded out of the way as soon as he saw the blade's descent; the tar-like substance dotted his fur and blended with the kaddis stripes, but he hadn't ingested any of it. It was fortunate that he was no prissy pet and didn't feel the urge to lick himself clean after standing in a shower of of darkspawn ichor. Nerys left the axe where it was, and didn't need to perform much of a search for her greatsword. The hound had already made his way to it and held the hilt in his teeth as he dragged it over. She was exhausted and in pain -- and possibly bleeding from where the axe had nicked the armor of her upper arm -- but determined to protect the rest of her party with what remained of her stamina. They were her charges, after all, having been ordered by the Arl to defend the Wardens and company against any and all possible assailants. The knight picked up her sword again and marched herself toward the thick of the chaos.