My spear swung up to meet that sword right as I sidestepped, creating a shower of sparks between us as her blade began to grind down the haft of my spear; now that I was on her side, I pulled it forwards and smacked the haft against her stomach, though the amount of force was negligible compared to what I wanted.
It still distracted her enough for me to lower my shoulder and ram myself into her shoulder, knocking her back a few steps and drawing a grunt from her as she used that momentum to push away from me.
The torch was swung towards my skull as she did, forcing me back as well and giving her the space back that she had just 'wasted' with a terrible opening attack; the heat washing across my face as I stepped back as well reminded me that this wasn't some kind of training.
There was no attempt to hold back, no chance that she would just toss the burning stick aside and fight me with just her weapon; she was going to use everything at once and try to kill me, plain and simple.
It was something that helped me as I decided to take the initiative, making it easier for me to accept what I was going to do and understand that this was the 'only' choice I had; it really was just me or her, and I doubt she would agree to some sort of deal where we could both walk free.
Even if she did there was no guarantee that she wouldn't warn the others and make our job of freeing the citizens even more difficult, so I had to end this here and now... that was giving me the purpose I needed to strike, giving me the rationalization I needed to kill.
Everything slowed again as I stared at her from just a few feet away, taking in how she bunched her muscles up or how she grit her teeth before throwing herself forwards again; that glittering blade was pointed for my throat, and her torch was held loosely in her other hand waiting to be utilized.
My emotions faded away as I just saw the various gaps in her form, the weaknesses that I could exploit to land the first blow; there was a free opening on the left side where her right arm was, there was her legs, and then... there was her head.
With that sword pointed at me and streaking through the air as she tried to plunge it into my throat, her defense was severely lacking... and the attack itself wasn't anything special either; there was no signs of a fake, of a feint, of some sort of ploy where she would use that torch to her advantage...
There was nothing at all, and that was... confusing, but it was a weakness that I could use; planting my feet and firmly grasping the haft of my spear, I stared at her and waited before thrusting forwards, meeting her sword and pushing it to the side with my own straight thrust.
Deflecting her attack to the side didn't mean that my own was off course, so before she could even do much she just had to watch as her blade sailed just over my shoulder uselessly while the tip of my spear found purchase in her sternum.
Punching straight through the armor she wore and tearing through the flesh, my spear easily slid straight through her body and pierced through the back of this Dogkin, shattering her spine and tearing the various muscles grouped up with just a single strike.
Her arms and legs went limp immediately, and if my spear wasn't lodged firmly in her upper chest she would have dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes; her eyes widened even more, and even with her torch dropping against the ground I could see the light in her eyes...
I was able to watch as it slowly faded, able to experience the glistening of her blood as she coughed it up, drenching her lips and chin in a vibrant crimson... the way her eyes were locked to mine as she was kept standing only because I allowed it was just...
My hands had steadied as I had entered that odd calm for merely a few moments, but now that I was watching her die in front of me... the shaking returned, and immediately my stomach began to churn.
My strength faded a little, causing her to slump forwards and land on her knees as I finally stopped supporting her, and seeing that just took the rest out of me; the realization of what I had done filled me with a chill that pervaded everything, and the only thing I could think about was how her eyes were still quivering with unshed tears as she bled out in front of me.
It didn't take long for the light to fade completely, yet it was of no comfort to me that she had died quickly; if anything, the mere acknowledgement I had to make only made me feel more sick with myself, and before I realized it I had let the spear go.
My knees were weak, and even though it brought me face to face with her again I couldn't keep standing anymore, though before I fell completely Dama caught me and kept me from face planting as my vision swam.
She was likely saying something to me, but over the drumbeat of my heart I couldn't hear anything at all, let alone comprehend it when my mind was latched onto the now dull eyes of the Dogkin in front of me.
Before I really even realized it I was doubled over, my stomach continuing to churn until it finally forced me to expel everything inside of it onto the stone ground; the visceral reaction to vomiting finally broke through what had just happened, but at the same time it only made it worse...
But what could I do?
It wasn't like I could 'unkill' her now, and there was no sort of list of people that I was aware of that I could go and support after losing her... she was completely gone, and I had killed her.
That was a fact, and even if it had been a single calculated strike that deflected her attack and allowed me to counter, it was still shaking me to my core... and forcing me to empty my stomach as I doubled over, heaving up everything I had like this was some sort of penance for my actions.