Loxi saw her coming, but knowing didn't mean he could stop her.
She moved with a smooth, practiced ease, her steps light as if she barely touched the ground.
She stepped in, swift and sure, slipping past his guard as if his defenses didn't even exist.
It was maddening how easily she closed the distance, her movement so fluid it felt like she had melted through the air itself.
Loxi swung without hesitation, his blade slicing through the space where she should have been.
But at the very last second, she twisted, her body bending in a way that seemed almost unnatural, her momentum carrying her just out of reach.
The tip of his sword missed her by a hair's breadth.
A rush of wind followed the force of his strike, ruffling the strands of hair that had escaped the tie at the back of her head.
She was close now, too close, and Loxi barely had a second to recover before she would strike.
Then her fingers found his ribs.
A single press.
