[Liem doesn't have to look behind them to know whether Hayame's arrow found its mark, because almost in the same moment that she looses it, an icy surge of dread grips him as he hears, feels a shard within the creature shatter. The force of it rips through him like a shock-wave, and before he has time to even take a breath, the creature howls again and explodes after them with a force that slams the air from his body.
It's a great irony, considering his lineage, that Liem has always been near-useless in a grapple. He can't do more than struggle to maintain his seat as roots pummel and grab him, very nearly dragging him bodily from Hayame's back as her bucking throws both Liem's and the creature's weight to and fro. Wooden tendrils tangle his limbs, wrenching them near to breaking, and he grunts as some of them jab into unarmoured flesh, piercing all the way through one thigh, gashing from one shoulder and along the muscle of his back.
He heaves at it with his other arm, only just managing not to be dragged along with it when it flails down to the ground, but he might not have bothered; a moment later he's flung to the ground in a tangle when Hayame's fall finally hurls him from her back. Liem rolls with the momentum but his bow is knocked clean from his grasp, and he gains his knees with black blood trickling from his nose and soaking the fabric around his stab wounds. Getting all the way up is an ordeal that makes his face go even paler than usual, though he at least seems to retain the mobility in his injured leg despite the hot flares of pain that using it causes.
He spots his bow lying on the ground maybe four metres distant, and makes a break for it.]
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It's a great irony, considering his lineage, that Liem has always been near-useless in a grapple. He can't do more than struggle to maintain his seat as roots pummel and grab him, very nearly dragging him bodily from Hayame's back as her bucking throws both Liem's and the creature's weight to and fro. Wooden tendrils tangle his limbs, wrenching them near to breaking, and he grunts as some of them jab into unarmoured flesh, piercing all the way through one thigh, gashing from one shoulder and along the muscle of his back.
He heaves at it with his other arm, only just managing not to be dragged along with it when it flails down to the ground, but he might not have bothered; a moment later he's flung to the ground in a tangle when Hayame's fall finally hurls him from her back. Liem rolls with the momentum but his bow is knocked clean from his grasp, and he gains his knees with black blood trickling from his nose and soaking the fabric around his stab wounds. Getting all the way up is an ordeal that makes his face go even paler than usual, though he at least seems to retain the mobility in his injured leg despite the hot flares of pain that using it causes.
He spots his bow lying on the ground maybe four metres distant, and makes a break for it.]