Strax's grip on her blade didn't immediately loosen, but the world around them began to move again. The wind returned, the air pressure rearranged itself, and the frozen instant between them began to dissolve into action once more. Still, before any further blows could be exchanged, something caught his attention—not on the physical plane, but within the very connection he maintained with the sword in his hand.
Zani spoke.
Not as an external voice, nor as an audible sound in the air, but as a thought that wasn't his own, crossing his mind with enough clarity not to be ignored.
[Careful.]
The message came directly, without beating around the bush, carrying a weight that didn't match desperate urgency, but experience.
Strax didn't take his eyes off the woman before him, still holding her blade with one hand, but responded in kind, internally, without needing to move his lips.
[She's already being overly cautious.]
Zani didn't let himself be swayed by the response.
