Joan moved first.
Not the aggressive open Silas had chosen — something more measured. She came forward at a controlled pace and as she moved the first construct appeared: a barrier, same translucent compressed-light quality he'd seen against Silas, positioned not directly in front of her but angled — set to her left, creating a partial wall that funneled the space between them.
Controlling geometry.
She was shaping the field before the first exchange even happened.
Jelo read it instantly.
He didn't walk into the funnel.
He went right instead — widening the angle, refusing the geometry she'd set. Joan turned with him, and the barrier dissolved and reformed in a new position, this time cutting off a different approach vector.
She was fast with the reconstructions.
Faster than she'd looked against Silas.
Either she'd been conserving during that fight, or she was more focused now.
Probably both.
⸻
Jelo stopped.
Let her build.
