Snippet #2553548

Eilin had been hoping. Aiming for the attack to connect. Just one slice through his skin and she would have a quick victory. Yet it was not in the cards. As she swung her weapon around, the demon moved quickly to block the attack. That was one of the pesky issues that came in going toe to toe with a demon. They were stronger and faster than even the best of the humans and harbored powers that no mortal could hope to be born with. Eilin was no stranger to such tricks. As the blade connected with the spear, her glare shot toward her opponent. Strange as it was, in the back of her mind, she registered a familiarity of his features. Had she seen him before somewhere? Perhaps a wandering face in the midst of the masses.

She had very little time to dwell on it. No sooner had their weapons separated, steel sliding free of the dense wood, than the male switched to the offensive.

Eilin had a very narrow window of oportunity to dodge the attack that followed. As close as they were, she was forced to duck to avoid the blade, falling back a step. Then another.

Even though he was talking once more, Eilin's focus strayed very little. A third swing from him managed to back her toward the ruins of the butcher shop. With her options of movement narrowing to a dangerously low point, Eilin moved quickly. At his next strike, she ducked. Though instead of attempting to back away further, she tucked the body of her spear securely to herself and dropped to the ground, rolling straight under the demon's sword and over one of her shoulders. As soon as she was clear of him, she came back up, regaining her feet.

She wasted no time. Spinning around on the spot to face him once more, Eilin swung her spear around. He was fast, however. Too fast. His broad sword connected with her weapon before she could get a good pass at him, sliding down close to her hands. Eilin's grip tightened as she threw her weight against his, knowing that if she did not she would lose her main weapon much too quickly.

"But I'm stronger," the demon finished.

That infliction in his tone of voice. Where had she heard it before?

"You mistaken strength for victory," she replied, her teeth grit together from the strain of holding him off.

Eilin's gaze narrowed, her features twisting with the effort of the fight. For a moment she appeared as if she was losing her grip on the spear. The next, her weight shifted drastically. She twisted her weapon to let the demon's broad sword faulter in the sudden loss of oposition. A move designed to throw him temporarily off-balance. Yet even as she pulled her spear back, her body twisted inward and she moved in with a swift elbow to his ribs. Twisting her body around, she swung the spear in a horizontal arc, aiming the blunt end of it down at knee height.

He was correct in one observation. He was stronger than her. But so were the vast number of demons she had killed before this day. It was not strength that won those battles. It was quick thinking and tricky manuevering that had kept her alive all of these years. She used the same effort now than she had many times befoe. Tripping him from the back would send him down on the ground and make him an easy target to finish off. Eilin was prepared to return to the defensive, however, should the cards fall out of her favor once more.