Honestly the indignity bothers him more than the stray hits do, but worse than either are the moments when he hears her taking a hit and he tenses, afraid she might take a fall and he’ll have to blindly try to catch her.

He hears, and vaguely senses, the burst of magic a few feet away. He’s not sure what exactly she’s done but he can hear the monkeys chattering with alarm and there’s definitely a break in the pummeling. While Lioriley works on snipping and packing up, Rezo takes the breathing room to adjust his position so that he’s tilted in Lioriley’s direction, poised to jump.

“Just say the word, and I’ll come for you.”