"Step aside..." Ishiki's scream tore through the gloom.
Filch didn't need the warning, his instincts were screaming the same thing. He saw as the ice fractured and the two serrated branches erupt like wooden serpents, bypassing Ishiki's guard with lethal intent.
He had already put Nina down and both his hands were free, so he went against his instincts and stood his ground. Gritting his teeth he summoned the small alloy dagger... that took a few seconds to materialize in his hand.
But the branches moved with an overwhelming speed. They closed the distance within a second, Liu Xi was also running, but he was unarmed... he had just dismissed his long sword.
But, the branches didn't aim for Filch or Liu Xi.
At the last possible millisecond, they shifted with a sickening, intelligent twitch. They blurred past Filch's guard and aimed directly for the unconscious girl behind him.
