Right. Shields. Thornton side-stepped the returning Obscuro instinctively, having completely forgotten it was a possibility that his own spell could be used against him. Heart racing, Thornton spotted the snake that materialized where his feet had been. He had to do something with it. He had to keep it from getting to him. He had to.. Panic rising, he said the first thing that came to mind.

"Serpens Oppugno," and sent the snake slithering right back toward Dante on the attack. Whew. When he looked back on it, he'd see it as a gift that Dante had provided Thornton with a means of attack, but all the same, he was not a fan. Creatures. In duels.

Hoping that the snake would serve as distraction enough, Thornton shifted to his left, to have his spell attack from a different angle than the snake. Dante couldn't handle them both at the same time, could he?

"Colloshoo," he said softly, aiming quite carefully for Dante's legs. He needed to keep the boy in place.