Dusty grunted in pain as he felt his arm get jerked by Mitha'lo. Damn, this guy had quite literally an iron grip. He cursed as the older boy blocked his incoming stab, the closed the space between them. Leagtha was stuck between them and Ardu was in his trapped arm. Both of his knives were out of commission and he couldn't reach his quiver or bracer. That was most of his main weapons rendered unusable. His mind raced to think of a new strategy as Mitha'lo wrapped his leg around his own.

Stay on your feet, was the first thought that came to mind. Dusty quickly moved his free leg outward, giving himself a wider and more balanced stance. He could see the headbutts coming, leaning his head back to avoid the other boy's forehead, though he couldn't do much about him grabbing and twisting his wrist, sending Leagtha to the ground. Another idea popped into his head as his eyes quickly flitted over to Mitha'lo's weapon stabbed into the ground. The archer's eyes turned black as feelings of dread and inadequacy radiated off of him and he dropped Ardu. Two shadow clones rose up out of the boys' shadows, one of Dusty and one of Mitha'lo, with each clone picking up their respective original's weapons. Dusty sent them at Mitha'lo, mentally commanding them to slash at any open spot they could and particularly at the elbow and shoulder joints of Mitha'lo's mechanical arm. Dusty shifted himself from attempting to break away to trying to keep Mitha'lo right next to him, aiming to keep the other boy's ability to dodge and counter the clones to a minimum.