Pain.
It was all she felt these days. Her mother and father were executed. Her brothers and sisters fallen in battle. Her home - the great crystal lit caverns of the nine clans - was consumed by the darkness. As she lay there, body pierced, all she felt was pain which slowly started to fade as the fires seemed to burn themselves out. The drow could have sworn it took longer for buildings to burn out. As she slowly started to close her eyes, the unmistakable chill of wetness being splashed across her face woke her up, the pain vanishing. Bringing herself to look up at the source, her eyes settled on four sharp toothed smiles looking down on her.
She didn't feel pain anymore. Instead, she felt fear.
*****
Aya realized she was like a sports car. Fast and nimble, able to go from zero to sixty in five seconds flat! One with a cool, sexy blue paint job!
One that was being chased by five tanks.
The Hoplites couldn't keep up with her, but they didn't quite need to. The momentum of their charge carried two of them them forward and past her, but as she turned, so did the other three! Slower than the Nekovalkyrja, the Hoplites simply cut a shorter route to her, and immediately started stabbing out at her with their spears. With one in front holding its spear over-hand by the middle of the shaft, she couldn't simply close in past the tip and strike - the other two held theirs underhand, jabbing in from the sides and making full use of the length of their weapons!
"Patience. It's at the last moment you dodge a charge, otherwise, they'll just follow you," Sif calmly pointed out from atop the spear dodging Neko's head. "For now though, try thinking vertical, or inside the box," she suggested over the fighting, the three Hobgoblins trying to force her back closer and closer to one of the intact houses, the window behind her well open and the roof intact. Out of the flaming darkness, a spear thrust fast and hard, the tip slamming into the square plated brigandine, deflecting into the space between them and tearing the leather they were bound to.
Yuzuki felled one of the hoplites, her spear piercing it square in the back with a furious bellow and gush of blood. However, she had no time to celebrate - the red crested hobgoblin spun, stabbing out at her with the spiked butt of its spear, forcing her to tear her weapon out of the corpse and retreat in the same beat. Facing each other down, their eyes locking for the briefest of moments, the sergeant immediately began to withdraw. Its shield held close, it was clear he was keenly aware of not only Yuzuki and Aya, but both Dimitri and Rin.
The two archers who had their own problems.
Feet moved fast and hard, Dimitri's bolt simply digging into the earth. Sparks flew and wood cracked as Rin's arrow embedded itself in a shield, with little effect. However, the flow of the battle was quickly changing. Further back from the action, the two could easily see events unfold - Aya was under assault, but her attacker was wide open for a shot. Yet, at the same time, they could see Yuzuki was caught in a rock and a hard place - if she moved to help Aya, the Hobgoblin sergeant guarding against them all - archers included - might attack her instead. And, most importantly, were the two hoplites coming straight for them! Up on the wall, a small, hastily built walkway was what gave them their height advantage, but at the same time, the stairs leading up to it were still intact. With one hobgoblin hunkering down in the back and readying its sling, the other pushed forward, making its way to the stairs to Dimitri and Rin's left to better protect itself with its shield during the ascent.
All as the drow was lifted up atop the heads of four kobolds and carried away like a sack of bound and gagged potatoes.