The mastiff's jaw slammed into Seret's angled shields instead of Hajin's corner, and the whole line skidded back three feet. The men turned as one, shoving that mouth past the pillar while its forepaw smashed the old paving into gravel.
Helen kept her eyes on the alcove instead of wasting their four seconds watching those shields bend.
"With me!" Seret bellowed behind her, dragging his heel along the line.
The other head hissed and poured heat over the gap where four spearmen stood a heartbeat earlier.
Helen sprinted straight for the grille with six fading Shards circling her wrist, clamping the last charge above the guard.
'One burst into the bronze, then I come back with a blade instead of begging for another leap.'
She cleared the five-foot fissure without spending a drop of frost, landing with the rapier's point already raised.
