Show Russ the power of the Burning Rose

"Wait." You stretch your lamp-bearing arm in front of Russ, halting his advance. "I'm sure you're a master duelist, but I've devoted my life to slaying monsters like these. I'll take the lead. You can back me up." You turn your gaze to meet his and fix an expression that makes it clear you have no desire for further conversation on the matter.

Russ is actually speechless, but this is the first time you've displayed to him a temperament to match the fire of your hair. After a moment, he sheathes his dagger and takes the lamp from you. "Well, ladies first, then."

You swallow the faintest feeling of guilt at emasculating your partner, but you feel a real need to prove your worth to him. It's not about impressing him - not entirely - you need him to respect your skills if you're going to be travelling and fighting side-by-side. And... okay, maybe some part of you DOES want to impress him, but you're not entirely sure why.

The sword of Saint Magdalena is in your hands in a flourish. You take a step toward the abomination, and then wheel about to face Russ. "For luck." You step toward him onto raised toes to alleviate the difference between your height, even despite your high-heeled boots, grab the back of his head, and press your lips against the swordsman's. It's the least you can do to make up for your words. Yes... that's all it is.

Before Russ can return your embrace or give you one of his characteristic replies, you pull away and stalk toward your opponent. You need to focus now. His handsome features won't help you win this fight. The memory of his warm lips won't protect you.

"Blessed Rose, guide my hand and burn in my heart. In this hour, grant me conviction to follow your path and courage to smite your foes." You chant the prayer over and over again to still the emotions surging through you and to focus on the battle before you. Divine strength fills your being. You feel stronger, lighter, faster. You can see more sharply in the darkness, hear the crunch of each pebble beneath your boots. This state of being is a blessing granted by your goddess to empower you. It isn't 'magical' in the sense that you're weaving some sort of spell, though there is a sort of magic taking place. It's power being lent to you by your goddess. Your body has become like a vessel, like a conduit for her divine fury, and as such, is inexhaustible... so long as you maintain your faith.

You're only a dozen paces away from the corrupted miner now, and it finally seems to regard you, lowering its center of gravity as if to prepare to leap at you. Your divinely enhanced senses alert you to the shift in the creature's posture, but you're also keenly aware of a loathsome presence suffusing its flesh and connecting it to something vast and evil even deeper in the caves. What gives you pause is the disconcerting feeling that the vast evil has also become keenly aware of you.

Suddenly you find yourself a warrior on the front lines of a war you never knew was being waged, but the righteous fury of your goddess spurs you forward and your feet obey. You charge at the horror before you, and it likewise flings itself. You close the distance to one another in a split second and swing your sword across your body in a full arc, its holy power illuminating the cave for a few brief moments. Alien appendages erupt from the creature's body to lash out at you, but these only succeed in turning aside your fearsome attack before falling lifeless to the ground.

You've yet to arrest the momentum of your charge before you're already reversing the motion of your first attack. The strength and ferocity of your attack is unnatural - it would truly be impossible for any mortal being to manage a weapon like yours with such speed and precision, but with your goddess empowering you, you're still just warming up. The foul creature roars as you slice open its belly, unable to match your skill...

But this seems to deter it very little. The wound simply provides another path from which its disgusting tentacles can escape. Your strong offensive push is halted just as quickly when you realize that the corrupted miner seems oblivious to the wounds you've inflicted. The holy radiance of your blade seems to be damaging it more than the physical cuts you're inflicting, yet even that only seems to be slowing it down, not stopping it.

You back-peddle now, weaving your sword back and forth defensively, cutting at the monster's tentacles as they whip high, then low, then low again, obviously trying to catch your legs or arms to pull you off-balance. It comes at you again, this time trying to surround you - lesser trained fighters might panic, but you see this as an opening - you've **** but to fling yourself away from it, tucking your head to roll over your shoulder. You rise into a spin, whipping your blade around to slice through its protective tentacles and clean through the creature's neck. It's head rolls off its shoulders and hits the ground with a dull thud. You sigh in relief as the body slumps forward onto its knees, and your world returns to normal as you release your goddess' power.

You spare a glance over your shoulder for Russ' reaction to your battle prowess. You're disappointed to see that he's not impressed - in fact, he's set down the lantern as is racing toward you with his blades drawn. You turn back to the scene before you only to find...