As Jona came down for his heavy blow he felt something, a phantom pain acrosshis left thigh. Remembering the lessons tha had been drilled into him in two harsh environments, he reacted without thinking and stopped his swing, instead bringing his sword round to parry. A fraction of a second later, it clashed with the energy sword. Rather than be sliced in half, the blade of the bonesword seemed to ripple, as though the air around it temporarily turned to water. A moment later he pivoted around, moving gracefully to the Zealot's side and bringing the blade around in a broad, rapid stroke towards its spine.
Cynane clambered up onto the cart and gave a short, sharp whistle as she grabbed the chest. Stripe reared up on his hind legs and trumpeted then came down heavily in front of the two jackals, stampeding forward. As he did so Cynane got her bowgun clear of the chest and slapped in a long, thick magazine. Leaning out the side of the cart she opened fire, repeatedly cranking the bowgun's crank and firing a series of heavy shells at a rate of just over one shell per second at the elite.
