She turns just in time to watch Cedric sever the golem's arm, shield raised against the shower of stones it creates. Then he climbs the damn thing, and Ness can only watch, mind racing to come up with a way to help defeat it without endangering Cedric in the process.
She's so small, is the thing, and a dagger affords her so little reach—she could try to stab between cracks in stone, weaken the magic holding it together the same way Cedric did, but she'd have to get so close, and she hasn't got any armor save the shield. This just isn't the fight for her, she can't do anything, she's going to get someone—get Cedric—killed—
The golem turns on her, and slams Cedric into the wall. He drops his sword. Everything goes very quiet around her.
Size is just a variable. Reach is just a variable. Cedric is just a variable. The golem is the problem. Work the problem.
If she doesn't have enough strength or reach to stab or cut effectively, leverage is her next best friend. The construct is vulnerable to being pried apart; she can take advantage of that. The dagger will not be effective toward that purpose, and so it must be discarded. Cedric's sword might be more useful, but it's too far away. His shield will have to do.
Ness throws the dagger at the golem's head. It clatters harmlessly off the stone, but whatever magic animates it understands the threat as any creature would: it steps back, bracing itself, its intact arm raised in front of itself for balance. She darts forward, heart pounding, and wedges the shield into the join of elbow and forearm. The magic holding it together quivers, but doesn't sever, but Ness doesn't let herself hesitate. She wrenches the shield downward with all her might, levering it under the stone elbow, and there's one last quiver of resistance before the arm breaks apart, shattering up to the shoulder into so many pebbles.
The golem reels backward, swinging out wildly with its half-remaining limb. The shield clangs down on the ground with the remains of its other arm; Ness leaves it, and darts out of the way, ducked to avoid flailing stone as she weaves single-mindedly to Cedric's sword. He needs a weapon back to finish this.
right back atcha buddy
She's so small, is the thing, and a dagger affords her so little reach—she could try to stab between cracks in stone, weaken the magic holding it together the same way Cedric did, but she'd have to get so close, and she hasn't got any armor save the shield. This just isn't the fight for her, she can't do anything, she's going to get someone—get Cedric—killed—
The golem turns on her, and slams Cedric into the wall. He drops his sword. Everything goes very quiet around her.
Size is just a variable. Reach is just a variable. Cedric is just a variable. The golem is the problem. Work the problem.
If she doesn't have enough strength or reach to stab or cut effectively, leverage is her next best friend. The construct is vulnerable to being pried apart; she can take advantage of that. The dagger will not be effective toward that purpose, and so it must be discarded. Cedric's sword might be more useful, but it's too far away. His shield will have to do.
Ness throws the dagger at the golem's head. It clatters harmlessly off the stone, but whatever magic animates it understands the threat as any creature would: it steps back, bracing itself, its intact arm raised in front of itself for balance. She darts forward, heart pounding, and wedges the shield into the join of elbow and forearm. The magic holding it together quivers, but doesn't sever, but Ness doesn't let herself hesitate. She wrenches the shield downward with all her might, levering it under the stone elbow, and there's one last quiver of resistance before the arm breaks apart, shattering up to the shoulder into so many pebbles.
The golem reels backward, swinging out wildly with its half-remaining limb. The shield clangs down on the ground with the remains of its other arm; Ness leaves it, and darts out of the way, ducked to avoid flailing stone as she weaves single-mindedly to Cedric's sword. He needs a weapon back to finish this.