It was not the red this time. There was no mechanism, no judgment, no clever sentence. Turiel simply tried to go through Ronan, because Ronan was standing between him and Death, and going through him was the fastest way.
Ronan caught the first blow on his shield. The shield was already split from the earlier exchanges, and it split further, a crack going right up the face of it. Ronan reset his feet.
Turiel hit him again, and the shield gave. What was left of it hung off Ronan's arm by the straps.
James moved. He started to go round Ronan, because he could see Ronan could not survive another exchange.
Ronan moved with him.
He did it without turning round. He stepped sideways as James stepped sideways, and kept his body exactly between James and Turiel, the way he had stood in front of James for years without anyone ever needing to tell him to.
Finn came in to help and Turiel backhanded him without looking, and Finn went across the floor and hit a column.
