Marcel had moved faster than a blink. I hadn't blinked and yet I didn't see him coming. All I felt was a tingling sensation screaming from behind me, so strong that it wouldn't stop telling me to duck, duck, duck.
I belatedly obeyed and as I did, Marcel's spear swung over my head, cleaving a thin swathe of my red hair. Strands floated down past my eyes. I stood there for a moment, lowered and shocked at what just happened.
But I didn't stay for long. I lunged up, twisting my entire body to backpedal away from Marcel. He was fast, too fast. Already closer to me, spinning his spear from behind with blinding speed. He drove it forward awkwardly, the same way he had tried the last time.
It should have been impossible to make that work. But Marcel had changed something.
