Balthier would thank Rodolphus for the thought, if he could have seen it - sure, it wasn't personal, but it was a neighborly effort. Alas, he's already several meters underwater - damn those things are strong and fast - and dealing with the particularly unpleasant combined issues of an eel still lodged teeth-first in his shoulder and needing to breathe. Priorities; the monster got his off-hand shoulder, he's still holding his katana in a death-grip (Hm, unfortunate phrasing, that) he has no plans on letting up on, and he can still move his left hand. Furthermore, his collarbone doesn't feel shattered (it's a sensation one doesn't forget). Not bad, all things considered.

Utilizing the disorienting gravity-but-not of the water around him to his advantage, Balthier twists the blade in his hand and sends it point-first behind his back and up through the body of the eel that's bitten him. Its death shudders make him think he might pass out from the pain of it, and the water near his face is warmish and salty in a way that's a bit too natural to be anything besides him bleeding quite fantastically. A jerk, and he rips the blade back out, and manages to shove the now-dead eel off of him - just in time, as the harsh, sudden current that passes by him tells him that another one of the creatures has come to investigate, but is first feasting on its fallen comrade.

Now would be a fantastic time to orient himself enough to figure out which way up is.