Zorlo's aura crackled against a layer of Dark Shield, fizzling out on contact like a good idea when it enters the mind of an ogre. Dust billowed around me, blocking me from view, but also making it hard for me to see anyone either; all I could make out was a vague, denser brown figure amongst all the...well, brown. I leapt away out of the slowly rising cloud as the ground under me gave way to Zorlo's attack and crumbled into a gaping crater in the middle of the street.

We've already moved onto property damage, I thought as I landed lightly on a lamppost. Always signals a new phase in the fight. Luckily, there will be no checks demanded for damages afterwards.

Zorlo could be heard, moving in the dust. For a while, things were like a sandstorm in the desert; a wind had picked up, whether from Zorlo's speed or natural causes, you couldn't be too sure. The buildings were coated in debris from the shattered stones of the street, and the air was thick and hazy. No problem there. As the fencer prowled around for me like a sand panther, I spread out the peacock feathers in my hair and started chanting. No matter where the man was, the melody would reach his ears; and then soon, all he would be able to move would be his ears, as the numbness overtook his body.

Of course, the fact that Zorlo could sense auras never escaped my mind. With some admittedly impressive accuracy, he launched towards me out of the dust cloud with a ready fist, trying to knock me off my perch on the lamppost; but he was just a breath too slow, and I flipped away, landing smoothly on the remains of the street. He came towards me again, faster now, and drew so close to landing a hit that his knuckles brushed against the feathers in my hands; but then I stepped to the side, swinging out with a leg to make use of my momentum, and he had to jump back to avoid the kick.

As the dust swirled around us, stinging the eyes, I spoke the last few words of Enchantment's spell and waved the feathers like a fan at the fencer. He stepped back for a moment, wary and ready to dodge something, but then found himself utterly unable to move after that. As he stood there, body frozen, I lunged forward and began beating him worse than an angry martial arts master who's run out of his morning tea and suspects his student of drinking it. Personal experience, there.

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