When Awesome Dude's body slumped to the ground, Severance's shock turned to panic. He backpedaled, fully aware of the horrid reach that Rohhk's weapon possessed.

"Get back," he shouted at Jack.
His war fans appeared in his hands, even as he hurriedly put more than a dozen paces between himself and the Knight.

The Knight Rohhk didn't attack immediately. He simply whipped his blade to the side, flinging off the blood. Then he stepped over Awesome Dude's body and strode towards Severance. He moved at a leisurely pace, like he had all the time in the world and wasn't concerned that his prey would flee.

Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap! Severance's heart was doing the two-step tango in his chest, but at double speed. He didn't dare take his eyes off the Knight. He knew how fast the man could move. Even Vast, for all his power and agility, couldn't do more than stall Rohhk for a few minutes. How could Severance even hope to do the same? He couldn't outrun Vast even in his dreams.

Jack's armored form moved between him and Rohhk, briefly cutting off his view of the Knight. Alarm shrieked through Severance's skull.

"Jack, he's a Knight! Stay back!"

Jack gave no indication that he heard. He simply held his shield close to his body and his sword at the ready. His golden eyes watched the Knight intently.

Severance silently growled at Jack's intrusion. The tank had no idea what he faced. He was going to get himself killed!

Rohhk drew closer. He hadn't altered his path, so now he approached Jack instead of Severance.

Gritting his teeth, Severance snapped open his fans. He moved out, circling to the side so he could get a full view of everyone.

"Precaution!"

He directed the skill to Awesome Dude. If they were going to survive the next two minutes, they were going to need everyone they could get. The skill fired off, sending the stored Revive to envelope the Shade's body.

As the Shade was lifted into the air by colorless winds, Severance invoked Sky Dance. Electricity sparked to life around him, though it mostly concentrated around his war fans.

Flow, he thought. His body grew light, like gravity itself had been weakened.

He brought his fans together.

Ionize. Energy surged towards his fans. Tiny bolts of lightning jumped between them, and if one looked close, they would have seen the electric currents reflected in his narrowed eyes.

Rohhk swung his sword, the motion relaxed, casual. Whoosh! It seemed like he wasn't close enough to actually hit anything, but-

Jack's shield fell away into two pieces. The tank staggered, a long line gouged across his entire torso. He fell to one knee, and only just caught himself from falling by planting a hand against the ground. Blood splattered on the stones beneath him. If it weren't for his shield and his armor, he would have been cut in half.

"I told you to get back," Severance hissed.

He ran to place himself between Jack and the Knight. It wasn't that he wanted to block any further attack—there was no possible way he could do that—but he wanted to grab Rohhk's attention away from Jack.

By now, his fans had gathered a huge amount of crackling energy. It was so bright that it was near impossible to make out the fans themselves. Severance yanked his fans apart, letting all the built-up power free.

A thunderous clap nearly broke his eardrums. The world flashed white, yet Severance could still make out a jagged light streak up from the ground. A second one dropped from the sky. The two connected, pulsed violently, and the stench of ozone filled the air. More tongues of lightning spiked upwards and downwards, meeting in concussive claps.
It staggered him, blinded him, and Severance could only hope that Jack had the presence of mind to get away.

The light faded, leaving spots in Severance's vision and a ringing in his ears. Even though it was his own skill, he wasn't immune to the side effects. Especially when its target was practically next to him.

Wait.

His skin prickled. On instinct, he cried, "Suppress!"

Electricity blasted off of him in all directions. Anyone caught in it would have been stunned for a couple of seconds.

But Rohhk wasn't anyone.

Severance remembered this small detail when silver flashed past his nose. He dropped to the ground, twisted, and was up again in the next instant. He glimpsed a figure rushing lunging at him. He didn't even have to guess to know who it was.

Pivot Cut. His feet pivoted, and he spun around the Knight. At the same time, the teeth of his fans sparked as they caught the flat of Rohhk's blade.

Flutterstep! The skill launched him into a series of rapid, unpredictable steps. It almost wasn't fast enough. Without even turning around, Rohhk adjusted his grip on his sword and struck out in a vicious backhand strike. Its very tip caught the edge of Severance's coat sleeve. A piece of leather fluttered to the ground.

Flutterstep carried Severance several yards away before it ended. He spun to face the Knight, panting lightly. Rohhk strode towards Severance again, his long blade poised diagonally at his side.

It was like the past minute or two hadn't even happened. They were right back at the start, Severance realized in despair. The only difference was that Jack was badly injured.

To his credit, the tank had managed to avoid the destruction of Ionize. What's more, he'd gotten back on his feet. A new shield was in his hands, but the entire front of his chest was drenched in blood. There was a sizeable puddle of it beneath him as well.

And Awesome Dude—Severance risked a very quick glance—was nowhere in sight. The Shade had accepted his Revive, he was sure of it, but where had the guy gone? He wouldn't have run away. It wasn't like him.

Severance had no time to worry about it though. All of his movement skills were on cooldown and Rohhk prowled ever closer.

"Earth Dance," Severance muttered. His brow creased as he stared at the approaching Knight. It was like the man was taking an evening stroll. There was no hurry. It gave the impression that Severance could simply run away.

He didn't dare. The moment he turned his back, he'd get the same treatment as Awesome Dude. No, his best chance was to heal Jack.

"Radiant Dome." He flung out a hand and placed the Dome in Jack's general vicinity behind himself, not daring to look back to place it accurately. The other player would have to move into it to get healed.

With little flurries of wind swirling around him, Severance slowly backed away from the approaching menace. His mind whirled, trying to think of a way he and Jack could get out of this alive.

Rohhk's mouth curved. "It is disappointing," he said. His voice was smooth and light, each word articulated clearly and precisely. "The vastlhidan provided a challenge the last time we met. I had hoped he would be nearby."

A tremor ran through Severance. Vast had almost died when they last ran into the Knights. Rohhk had taken his time then, drawing blood one cut at a time until the silver fur glistened red. Severance hadn't forgotten Vast's snarls and high-pitched yelps of pain.

"Sorry," he ground out, struggling to keep calm. "He stayed home today."

He lowered his stance, turning his body away from the Knight. The less area to target, the better.

"A pity." The last word hung in the air, because Rohhk was no longer there.

Severance's eyes widened. He took an involuntary step back-

Rohhk appeared right before him, so close that Severance could see the sudden gleam in the man's eye, the triumph for a fight that was already over.

No. Not over. Severance wasn't done yet! He was in Earth Dance, and had a new level 50 skill to try. Final Dance!

The wind exploded into a howling gale around him. It pulled at his coat, and yanked up leaves and dirt into a raging whirlwind. Rohhk punched through the wall of wind that had sprung up between them. With a deft flick of his wrist, the sword flashed left to right.

Severance moved and the wind moved with him. Each motion he made left visible green ripples in the air, much like currents in water. With its aid, he encountered no resistance and was able to move faster than he ever had before.

His first strike caught the side of the Knight's arm. The sleeve split open and the flesh beneath gained a slight cut.

Rohhk's eyes darkened. His sword sang above the roar of the wind. It cut. And cut again, one motion feeding into the next with lethal grace. Blood flew, drops trailing in the wake of the blade.

Heat rushed into Severance, filling him right up to the point where it almost became unbearable. Earth Dance always felt warm, but this—this was something far stronger. It was like riding a tornado, wild and powerful. He danced around Rohhk, his war fans striking continuously as if they were the edge of the storm.

He matched Rohhk blow for blow. Every time that terrible sword cut, his fans dealt an answering attack. For every wicked slice Rohhk dealt him, Severance healed it with one of his own. And that was the only thing that saved his life.

The wind vanished, so suddenly that Rohhk paused. He seemed almost disappointed.

Severance swayed, but stayed on his feet. His breath came in ragged pants. He stared at Rohhk, who only looked a little worse for the wear. His clothes had a few cuts, and there was a thin wound across the bridge of his nose. A few other spots of blood dotted his clothing, but that was it. All Severance's Final Dance had done was give him a few paper cuts.

Rohhk glanced down at himself. One brow lifted subtly.

Severance's coat chose that moment to slide off his body. It fell at his feet in pieces. So did his shirt. And part of his pants. It was about then that he realized that he was absolutely covered in blood. He could practically smell it in the air, thick and pungent.

Severance's mouth went dry. If he hadn't directed Final Dance's healing affects to himself, then he would be in the same shape of his clothes. Even then, the skill hadn't been enough to negate all of the damage. It was hard to tell the extent of it, but judging by the pain, he still sported quite a few wounds. Nothing that wasn't manageable, however.

"Well done," the Knight said. His lips smiled, his eyes glittered, and Severance shivered. "Not many warriors survive my sword. But it ends here." He pointed his sword at Severance. It was more red than silver at this point.

Heart sinking, Severance took desperate stock of his available skills. He had his Steps and Skyfall, but he didn't have the confidence in surviving long enough in melee to use them. Only Pivot Cut had come off cooldown. He could heal with a Counter Gale or even toss out a Ward, but again, those would only buy him a second.

He strongly doubted they would save him now.

The Knight vanished from where he stood. Severance tensed, bracing himself for-

A wall appeared in front of him. A cool voice stated, "Last Stand."

Severance almost collapsed in relief. Jack! In the next second, that relief turned to dismay. Jack Coyote was still heavily injured. There was no way he could-

Golden light spilled out of every crack of Jack Coyote's armor. Not even a second later, there came a sound like metal striking a dull surface. Rohhk's sword glanced off of Jack's breastplate, and failed to leave a single scratch.

"What-?" Severance stared. He'd never seen this ability before. Jack had actually nullified a Knight's attack?

"Heal," Jack commanded. He didn't look back. "I'll handle this. Bulwark."

The golden light began to dissipate. In its place rose brown and orange as Jack Coyote piled on the defensive buffs. "Bastion. Fortify."

"Right." Severance snapped back into focus. After hours of raiding with Jack, he knew what the tank intended. He also trusted in Jack's confidence, for it was rarely misplaced. If Jack said he could handle it, then he'd handle it. That, in turn, gave Severance his own boost of confidence.

"Sanctum," he murmured, and a yellow-ish green light glimmered over himself and Jack. It would only last a minute, but left behind a feeling of warmth and strength. It would give Jack an extra few seconds of increased fortitude. It would also boost Severance's healing.

"Counter Gale!" The spiral of wind felt oddly weak compared to the raging storm of earlier. Yet with the boost of Sanctum, it was enough to close most of his wounds as well as ease some of Jack's.

He couldn't quite see what happened in the next instant, since Jack's armored bulk blocked most of his view, but he heard as metal screeched, then tore in an awful grinding squeal. Jack grunted. His second shield fell to the ground in pieces, just like the first. Severance saw them hit the ground.

Nonplussed, Jack held out a hand and summoned a third shield.

"You are wasting your energy," came Rohhk's smooth voice. "Your Outsider skills are weak and limited. Once you use them up, it'll be like crushing a bug."

"Yet a mere healer cut you," Jack growled. He hunched forward. "Shield Block. Come, then."

Severance heard the quiet swoosh of a blade's movement. He heard a sharp inhale from Jack. And then shouts came from down the street, followed by stampeding feet.

"A pity," Rohhk murmured. "It seems our time is up."

Severance glanced up. Jack Coyote towered above him. When had he gotten so tall? No, wait. When had Severance sat on the ground? Just past the tank's legs, Severance could see Rohhk.

The Knight flicked the blood off his sword. He seemed to dislike when it got bloody. Which was odd, considering his bloodthirsty behavior.

"A word of advice, Outsider. Don't use that poor skill again. A shield is meant to move and adapt, to defend from any direction. It is not meant to be a stationary wall, for walls can easily be circumvented."

He turned to face the street, the very picture of calm as a crowd of Vigilant guards, each armed to the teeth and clad in gleaming armor, spilled into the gardens. In a matter of seconds, they blocked off all entrances.