The sludge hound came at her and Ashara met it head-on.
She threw a kick into its jaw and felt the sludge swallow half the impact. It snapped at her and she ducked under its teeth, came up inside its guard, and drove three fast punches into the base of its neck. Each one landed solid. Each one sank in like she was hitting clay. The thing barely moved.
It swiped at her with a paw and she danced back, feet working the way Celeste had drilled into her, momentum carrying her out of range. She reset, came back in, and threw a spinning kick that connected with its shoulder and actually made it turn.
"Mira! Can you flank?"
"Working on it!"
Mira was circling with a dagger in her right hand, her left arm tucked against her body. She was moving but she was slow, favoring her right side hard. She got behind the creature and slashed at its hind leg, cutting a line through the sludge that closed itself before she finished the stroke.
