[The 'begins swearing' turns into blistering the air with curses--he's a soldier--including at himself for distracting her. While he's not fast enough to get there before the guard in question can unleash whatever sorcery--magic, whatever the term may be--that is, he does opt for not bothering to secure the guards he'd been dealing with.
Instead he just leaves them knocked off their feet and hopes it slows them down enough (or leaves them concussed or otherwise injured enough to be out of action). The request not to kill them seems even more stifling than before, as he can't just stop that happening again with firecrafting. The guard was using it on them; why can't he retaliate with equal force?
But slamming him into the nearest wall to pin him there with rather more force than the others have gotten is still within the constraints Septimus has agreed to. (If perhaps more forceful than Superman would have liked....) Not knowing how the sorcery works, Septimus opts for knocking the man unconscious. He has to work hard not to pull on his earthcrafting and to use only a blow to the side of the head for it--not killing apparently takes quite a bit of work.
He spares a brief glance for Superman and Aya, then snaps:]
Aya, make sure he's stable first--Superman, do not fight if that injury will leave you at a disadvantage. I'll handle these.
[The last comes out in something of a snarl. For the first time in a little while, memories of Calderon Valley rise closer to the surface than he would like. Not again. I am not leaving those at my back without protection again. Never again.
Even he can get overwhelmed, but-- does he have any choice, here? So he tries to take stock, switching from those ensorcelled weapons to looking for any other guards without them, who might be casting as well.]
no subject
Instead he just leaves them knocked off their feet and hopes it slows them down enough (or leaves them concussed or otherwise injured enough to be out of action). The request not to kill them seems even more stifling than before, as he can't just stop that happening again with firecrafting. The guard was using it on them; why can't he retaliate with equal force?
But slamming him into the nearest wall to pin him there with rather more force than the others have gotten is still within the constraints Septimus has agreed to. (If perhaps more forceful than Superman would have liked....) Not knowing how the sorcery works, Septimus opts for knocking the man unconscious. He has to work hard not to pull on his earthcrafting and to use only a blow to the side of the head for it--not killing apparently takes quite a bit of work.
He spares a brief glance for Superman and Aya, then snaps:]
Aya, make sure he's stable first--Superman, do not fight if that injury will leave you at a disadvantage. I'll handle these.
[The last comes out in something of a snarl. For the first time in a little while, memories of Calderon Valley rise closer to the surface than he would like. Not again. I am not leaving those at my back without protection again. Never again.
Even he can get overwhelmed, but-- does he have any choice, here? So he tries to take stock, switching from those ensorcelled weapons to looking for any other guards without them, who might be casting as well.]