Aiden struck the Warden's arm before its hand reached the floor.
His blade didn't cut through the stone plate. It drove the joint sideways, enough to turn the ground strike away from the entrance ledge. The blow landed near an empty post instead. Liora moved at the same time.
She crossed the two shallow steps from cover to the left side of the lower floor. Her blade hit the seam below the construct's elbow, not the broad chest plate. The arm lifted to meet her. The mouth pulse went high.
It broke stone above the recess instead of striking straight into the people beneath it. Seraphina held a narrow shield overhead until the smaller pieces had fallen, then lowered it with a sharp breath.
"Back behind the posts," I called.
Both fighters withdrew before the next turn of the head. Aiden's sword hand shook once under the force of the contact. Liora kept her injured forearm close while changing her angle. They had made it miss. Neither had made the exchange easy.
