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Malora darted forth and brought both her swords down, each on either side of Aura's head.
    "Darn it!" Aura said, falling to the ground in a heap.
    Malora danced backwards. I finally freed my whip. "Beria, now, Maya!" Nori said. I reached out with my whip. Beria shrank away from it, and Nori's whip wrapped around her leg. Nori yanked, and my sister went down.
    "Back," Malora ordered, and the three of us retreated, Nori dragging Beria like a dog on a leash. Well, if the leash were around the dog's leg.
    Neela dropped her staff, bent down, and grabbed Beria under the arms, trying to tug her away from Nori. This only left Jasmine on my leftmost flank and everyone else on the other side of the whip stretched between Beria and Nori.
    And I was better with a staff than Jasmine was.
    I cracked the whip at Jasmine, letting it fall over her shoulder. She jerked away from it, getting tangled for a moment, and that was all I needed. I dashed forward, swept her staff out of the way, and then pulled a strike to her ribs. Omie came around the back of Neela and Beria, coming to Jasmine's rescue, and I immediately backed away.
    "Cracked ribs," Malora called out, and Omie told Jasmine to fall back.
    "Maya switch," Malora called, and I ducked behind her, stepping between her and Nori. Nori jerked Beria off balance once more while Malora stepped out for Omie. The other warriors stepped forward towards Nori, who traded the whip and the sword, now wielding the sword in her primary hand.
    Omie defended herself against Malora, but she was deeply outclassed. With the whip stretched in the way, it served as an impediment to the other warriors helping her, and Omie retreated rapidly from Malora's attack.
    Vorine tried to duck under the whip to come to her sister's aid, but Malora reached out with her right hand, jabbing a sword at her, then Nori stepped forward and swished the whip, causing a loop to fall over Vorine's neck. She got a hand up to protect her throat, but I stepped forward and tapped my staff on the top of her head, then stepped back to Nori's flank.
    "Malora," Nori called.
    Malora didn't pause. She disengaged from a retreating Omie and retreated towards us, stepping between Nori and me.
    Vorine went down, dropped by my tap on her head. Beria managed to free her leg from the whip, and Neela pulled her to safety. Our opponents retreated, dragging both whips with them.
    Count: Vorine and Aura both down, Jasmine partially disabled, and our opponents demoralized.
    "Stay calm," Malora said. "Good job so far, but I need you to be extra cautious now. This is when you'll make a mistake."
    "Remember, you're not playing for fun," Nori added. "It's our lives at stake."
    My heart was pounding, but no pressure.
    "I think we should break up their conference," Nori said. Our opponents, down two, were making a new strategy. Nori stepped forward one step, then Malora and I together, the three of us in a line with me a quarter step behind Malora.
    "Keep up," Malora said, and then she was moving quickly, Nori matching her step for step. She took me by surprise, but I hurried after. But then Malora cut me off as Omie stepped forward. I feinted with my staff between Malora and Nori but then spun around behind Nori and swept the ground at ankle height, surprising Clara. She stepped backwards out of the staff 's path, and I caught Lidi hard against her ankles.
    I hoped it hadn't been hard enough to damage her.
    She grunted when she fell. Nori yelled, "Push!" and she and Malora danced forward a step and a half, causing our opponents to fall back a similar amount. I stepped forward and tapped Lidi on the top of the head with my staff.
    "Retreat," Nori called.
    I stepped back immediately.
    "Maya," Malora called, and I stepped further behind them, coming up on Malora's left side.
    "Hold!" Malora called. Everyone froze. "Lidi, are you all right?"
    "Hurts," was the response.
    "Oh no, Lidi, I'm sorry!"
    "Nori, check it," Malora said.
    Nori stepped forward and knelt