wall , spilling some of his prizes from shelves , and fell to the floor . Quickly she rose to her feet and turned back to the fight .
She flew straight at him again , and he braced himself for her frontal charge . At the last second before impact , she stopped , and hung , frozen , just inches from him and , pulled from behind her a large mahogany splinter that she had grabbed after falling . She stabbed it forward into his belly and danced back out of his reach . He roared out his anger once more , but this time , she also heard pain in his cry .
“ You ’ re finished ,” she yelled at him , enraging him . “ You ’ re weak .” Again , she flew at him . She aimed her fangs for his neck , her arms ready to thwart any defensive moves . But the Baron was ready for her and made no defensive move but allowed her to fully penetrate to her target . At that point , he enfolded her in his massive arms and began to squeeze . Lisle knew right away that she had miscalculated . His strength was still great , and his battle experience so much more profound than her own . She felt one of her rib bones crack as he continued applying pressure . As she struggled , his fangs bit into her shoulder . Pain surged through her , and she spun in his arms , trying to break free of his grasp . She wrapped both her legs around one of his and felt his balance tested . She rocked hard to her right and he stumbled and fell , breaking his grip upon her . She would not underestimate him again .
He flew at her , swinging both fists at her head . One blow caught her chin and she was momentarily stunned . He tried to press the advantage , but her recovery was too quick for him . She bit into his arm , tasting the age-old
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