[Overdriven]

Aiden's heart dropped as he discovered the spell missed. The slug-space-thing had vanished. Aiden spun on his heel, holding his sword perpendicular to his body, searching for the creature. He vaguely noticed that the space pirate had abandoned his own battle, leaving the Princess to pursue. She opted against it, however, thinking it wise to wait on her protector.

Before Aiden could move to engage his opponents again, he noticed the slug begin to glow again. Perhaps this was what occured when the slug used it's powers? As if in answer to Aiden's unspoken question, he was lifted immediately from the cloud, heading straight up into the air. The shock from the upward movement hit Aiden instantly, and he almost dropped his long sword.

He managed to keep a grip on it as he ascended, the clouds falling away rapidly. He didn't know exactly what the slug had in mind, but the options didn't seem pleasant. Being propelled rather high in the air, Aiden decided his best option was to sheath his weapon, leaving both hands open if he needed to catch himself.

He had barely slid the weapon into the scabbard when the clouds began to rise up to meet him. More correctly, he was plummeting back toward them. Even as he fell, he realized that the clouds were, in fact, moving. There was a distinct possibility that he wouldn't even land on them. And if he did, from that height, there was a good chance he wouldn't be getting back up.

"Aiden!" Cassandra shouted.

The Princess had sheathed her own weapon, and was sprinting directly toward Aiden's plummeting form as fast as she could. As she ran, the rather dainty girl shrugged off her traveling cloak, gripping it tightly in one hand. She closed the distance swiftly, as Aiden realized he wouldn't be landing on the clouds at all.

The Princess reached the edge of the cloud cover just as Aiden was about to pass it, and the woman through herself to her stomach hard. As she landed she immediately through the cloak out at the Spellsword, holding tightly to one end. Aiden reached, strained, and caught the cloak in one hand. He swung in an arc downward, the momentum pulling Cassandra a little ahead across the cloud.

Aiden put his feet out, and was overjoyed when his feet hit the bottom of the enchanted cloud as solidly as they had the top. He pushed off, reversing the movement to propel himself back around and roughly onto the top of the cloud. He quickly sprung to a foot and a knee, kneeling next to Cassandra.

"Are you okay Cass?" He asked, brown eyes touched with concern.

"I'm supposed to be asking you that."

Aiden smirked, turning his gaze back up to the Space Pirate and the slug. All humor left his face. That slug-thing had tried to drop him to his demise, and that wasn't something he was keen on.

"Are you okay to fight?" Aiden asked, standing and staring straight at the man and his worm.

"Oh, I'm more than okay."

Cassandra stood next to him, drawing her own blade before he had even touched his. There was a quiet fury in her eyes as well, for more reasons than one. These two contestants in this sick tournament had not only tried to kill her protector, and a man co-responsible from pulling their country from the brink of open war, but also a man who had become a personal friend.

It was evident to Aiden that the use of that technique had left the slug thing weak. He based his assumption not on any evidence from the slug, but from the actions of its cohort. The man had taken up a defensive stance, making it seem as though perhaps the creature was weakened.

Aiden drew his sword smoothly, at which time Cassandra took off in a sprint. The sorceror had to run twice again as fast to catch up with the girl, who before this had never beem so aggressive in a combat situation. She was trained for self defense, not assassination, despite her current actions. Aiden pushed himself harder, cutting in front of the girl with the intention of attacking the pirate first.

The reached the man quickly, at the speed they moved, and Aiden immediately flashed his sword out at the man in a vertical upward slash. As he attempted this attack, Cassandra executed a smooth spin along his left side, her hair splaying out behind her. She completed the tight revolution, thrusting the point of her rapier ahead with great precision toward what she was able to hit on the man; his right bicept. Even as she attempted to pierce his arm, Aiden was reversing the grip on his sword. Upon completing the upward slash, whether it hit its mark or not, the Spellsword would drag the sword back down diagonally, attemping once more to get a solid cut on his opponent.

Depending on how resilient the pirates shield was, the attacks launched by Aiden would most likely slice him open if they landed. The Princess had opted for a less fatal strike, but one that would be a good deal more difficult to parry. Assuming, that is, his space age shield was unable to defend against it.