The shield worked well enough last time!

This second strike impacts much harder than you expected, even given the last, and this time you just aren't strong enough to push the scythe away as the attack forcefully knocks the back of your shield into the side of your head. At the impact, you're dazed and fall back to land on your bum on the gravel path, both hands flying out flat to catch yourself from falling onto your back. This thing is so tough!

The creature snarls and stares you down, now above you and ready to strike at your {if Armour == 2}unprotected body{else}much less protected body{endif}. As you brace for impact, you hear a sudden twang and woosh as a bolt is fired from your right, ricocheting off of the monster's chitin before it can bring its powerful swing down onto you.

The monster snarls and whips its head around to the side -- you follow its vision and see Jace and his crossbow just barely peeking out from the hut's window, having just fired the shot. Without even a second longer's pause, the monster breaks into another rapid sprint towards Jace and the hut before he's even knocked his next crossbow shot, kicking up a gravel dustcloud into your face that you have to cough away in the process. What a rude monster!

To your left, there's a loud CLANG as Cameron's shield-backhand connects with the snout of the monster he'd been fighting, with enough strength behind it to send the creature falling sideways to the ground temporarily stunned. It quickly and unelegantly scrambles back up to its feet, yelping, and sprints back in the direction it came from.

Cameron turns to you, breathing heavily, and offers you a hand. You take it and he pulls you back up to your feet.

"Okay, huff, that probably could've gone a bit better for both of us." He says.

You blink and look around to assess the situation, reloading your pepperbox pistol back up to maximum capacity with the loose bullets stored in your pocket as quickly as you can. The monster that was just on you has just about reached Jace in his hut, and it looks like it's going to be causing him some real problems -- the other one, that Cameron just scared off, has joined its other friend on the bridge, who up until now has been in something of a stalemate with Delilah.

Cameron gives you a quick smile, then sucks in a deep breath and jogs over to the hut to help Jace out. You look between all of your classmates, trying to figure out where you'd be most useful and very aware that Professor Phoebe is watching this whole thing.