[ Sage is right about one thing– he's not about to raise his weapon to an ally.

Blades come up defensively, reflexively. There's the barest of blinks as he takes his eyes off of the arrow, expecting impact in the fraction of moments it takes for him to refocus on it. But it never comes. Instead, there's the distinct smell of ozone, electric and raising the hair on the back of his neck. For a short, horrifying second, things seem to split, energy trying to ricochet off into separate directions. It feels wrong.

This isn't how it's supposed to be. They're not meant to fight each other. Furiously, he turns his attention on Anubis; could this be a trick? Something Dais is puppeteering? In their clash against the Dynasty, the other side has used underhanded tactics before.

Ryo wants nothing more than to believe this is just another one of them. But there's something about the set of Rowen's jaw, how he'd exhaled as he let the arrow fly; those aren't things that can be imitated. ]

Sage, you're not going to be able to take another hit like that!

[ Stubbornly, he moves forward, heels digging into the ground underneath of him. While he won't fight Rowen, he will go toe to toe with Anubis. And what they all need right now is time– he intends to buy them some. ]

I don't care what you're up to Anubis, but if you think you're going to be able to hide like that, you've got another thing comin'.

[ Steel flashes as he re-angles his swords, a more direct challenge. ]