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Rina and the other Peg Knights darted here and there through the temple, thanking whatever soul had decided to build it large enough for a pegasus to fly freely in. Adara swooped down, her hooves stomping on a row of helmets, the pegasus flying carefully to avoid getting either her or her mistress hit. Rina gritted her teeth; if the priestess didn't want blood shed here, then the Falcon Knight would try her best not to shed blood. But she made no promises; things were going to get dicey, and these intruders were annoying. Several of the Holy Order Knights were already bruised, some knocked unconscious. Rina found it odd, and just a little unsettling, that the enemy was trying just as hard not to let blood be spilled on the holy ground.

She didn't have time to be unsettled, not when there was a battle going on. She dodged a javelin someone threw, then batted away a hand axe with her sword. The cavalry was getting smarter. And somehow, she'd gotten a cut on her face, perhaps from the javelin. There was no time to tend to it now, and she would not retreat even temporarily for something so simple as a scratch.

Shouting for them to follow her, Rina led a faction of the Peg Knights in a charge, attacking the cavalry with lances, hooves, and a few solid slaps with the pegasi's wings. If they couldn't kill them, they would at least beat them back, literally kicking them out of the temple.

Rina was more than annoyed at this point. Having to fight without shedding blood was a lot harder than it looked, and they were quite obviously outnumbered. And at least one of the enemy no longer cared about keeping the temple grounds clean, using his axe to cut into a pegasus. Rina looked away, internally cringing. She had seen bloodshed before (she had lost count of how many times Estarcian troops had fought against stray monsters from Mordache), but the sight of an injured pegasus--or any other animal for that matter--tore at her heart.

Determined to seek vengeance for the injured creature, Rina directed Adara to fly above the battle, out of reach of any javelins that might come their way. She surveyed the scene below, searching for an opening, searching for the leader. Above it all, Rina saw the faction breaking off, forging a new path through the dwindling mass of Pegasus Knights.

They're after the Priestess, she realized. They must be.

No.

"I will not let you take her!" she shouted, lance raised, charging at a man clad in blue armor who looked to be the leader of the faction. "I will not let you win! By my name as Priestess Guardian!"

She watched the rest of the faction move on, shouted for her own troops to cut them off. She hovered above the knight, glared down at him.

"Why should I not fight to protect what it is my duty to do?" she challenged. "What kind of knight would I be to let some ruffian beasts take off with my lady? Why do you--What gives you the right to barge in here in a foolish attempt to make off with my Lady Priestess? If you wished to seek her council," she added, gripping her spear tighter, "then you could have just asked!"

She wanted to charge him again, but surely he would expect that. She would not let her emotions get the best of her. She wanted to know his reasons for fighting, to understand why an army would attack a temple. To understand why he, a knight, would question her sense of duty. To understand why someone would abandon their child.

Mentally, she slapped herself. Those demons had been laid to rest, slayed a long time ago. Or so she had thought. And now, there was another demon to slay.

She frowned at the paladin, waiting for his response.

He was right, of course the world didn't work like that, but she could not let him get to her--he was obviously trying to mess with her. She would prove him wrong the old-fashioned way--defeat. His loss would prove his fault, however crude a way that was.

But to call all of Estarcia wicked? Surely he was mistaken. All kingdoms had their problems, naturally, and while some of Estarcia's more powerful nobles were indeed corrupt, the kingdom as a whole was not wicked, especially not when compared to Mordache.

Apparently, this knight was not one to mince words. He spurred his mount forward, toward her position, hefting his lance. Rina shifted her own lance, adjusting her grip. When Felix attacked, Rina, focused her attention on him, thrusting all else from her mind. She dodged, reminding herself to be patient.

As Felix recovered from his attack, Rina urged Adara, the Pegasus flying straight for the knight. Rina kept her eyes on him, no longer caring if she happened to draw blood if it meant that she could defeat him and protect the Priestess. When she was close enough, she lunged, thrusting the lance at the knight, hoping to do more than scrape his armor this time.

With her lance now caught in the knight's saddle and the knight's hand gripping it tightly, Rina opted to release her lance rather than risk injury were she to take the blow. His lance struck her own instead, sending it flying, the shaft broken in two.

So much for that lance, she thought. Better it than me.

With no time to lose, Rina slid her spare weapon from its sheath, the sword whistling through the air. True, a sword was not the best weapon to use against a lance, but it was all she had left to defend herself with. Thinking back to her first days in the Estarcian Army, before she'd decided to try for Pegasus Knight, Rina smirked.

Without thinking, Rina guided Adara with her feet around the backside of the paladin, swinging her sword in one of the simpler battle dances, if you could call them that, that she had learned after her promotion to Falcon Knight and earned the right to battle with a sword in hand. Of course, Rina expected the knight to defend himself, and directed Adara to fly just out of easy lance reach before circling back to strike at the paladin's shoulder straight on.