10-16-2021, 03:57 PM
A grunt escapes Mazikeen-the-bear when Reave's hind legs land their kick at her dense chest. She stumbles backwards a single step, her large paws crunching and shifting the leaves coating the ground. The heavy coat and muscles of this shape absorb some of the blow, but the bruises will be deep and painful for a long time. She mentally chastises herself for leaving that area exposed while stretching out to swipe at him with a paw and then quickly resolves not to dwell on it just yet. There will be time for that later during her post-fight ritual of agonizing over every move and mistake.
The sound of Reave's laugh and the scent of his blood hit her at the same time, and suddenly her head reels. When Reave speaks, she isn't seeing him anymore and cannot comprehend what he is saying. Instead, she hears Gale laugh as she tears a chunk out of his throat. Seeing the bay stallion she had hunted down with Gale that first time. The mare Mazikeen had watched him tear apart in Islandres. The small handful of other, nameless victims that came afterwards and who she had tasted. The feeling of ecstasy as she had sunk her teeth into their flesh and tore pieces out to devour or just because she could. Mazikeen's eyes go wide and white-rimmed as she struggles to remain in the fight, but Reave's blow to her chest makes it difficult to breathe and these visions sit there like a weight making it worse. Each breath becomes a ragged gasp and the scent of blood is there with each inhale, giving strength to the memories.
Mazikeen instinctively shifts back into a horse. Although it has only been a few seconds since Reave's feet landed back on the ground, it feels like time has stretched and warped before her. The sunlight through the thin trees seems muted. Mazikeen's trapped in the past and Firion is not nearby to draw her away from her thoughts with a gentle touch. There isn't the sound of Myrna and Malik laughing to root her in the present.
She can feel the blood that isn't there, feel it slide down her cheek and throat as she goes for another bite…
A sob chokes out of Mazikeen, cutting off these thoughts. Then she is surging forward to close the gap between them and stumbling into a hasty rear, striking out with dark hooves for any part of Reave she can reach. Her blurred vision has mostly cleared from his first attack, only to be partially blinded now with tears as she exists half-in, half-out of her memories. Mazikeen's chest aches as she moves, but the pain is not enough this time to snap her fully into the present.
She is not worried about how exposed this apparent weakness makes her and whether the bone-armoured stallion will delight in it. She can't even wonder if this trap had been set out by Reave - if he was manipulating her thoughts to send her into a spiral. There isn't a single rational thought, only some instinct telling her to finish what had been started here at the edge of Hyaline's forest.
The sound of Reave's laugh and the scent of his blood hit her at the same time, and suddenly her head reels. When Reave speaks, she isn't seeing him anymore and cannot comprehend what he is saying. Instead, she hears Gale laugh as she tears a chunk out of his throat. Seeing the bay stallion she had hunted down with Gale that first time. The mare Mazikeen had watched him tear apart in Islandres. The small handful of other, nameless victims that came afterwards and who she had tasted. The feeling of ecstasy as she had sunk her teeth into their flesh and tore pieces out to devour or just because she could. Mazikeen's eyes go wide and white-rimmed as she struggles to remain in the fight, but Reave's blow to her chest makes it difficult to breathe and these visions sit there like a weight making it worse. Each breath becomes a ragged gasp and the scent of blood is there with each inhale, giving strength to the memories.
Mazikeen instinctively shifts back into a horse. Although it has only been a few seconds since Reave's feet landed back on the ground, it feels like time has stretched and warped before her. The sunlight through the thin trees seems muted. Mazikeen's trapped in the past and Firion is not nearby to draw her away from her thoughts with a gentle touch. There isn't the sound of Myrna and Malik laughing to root her in the present.
She can feel the blood that isn't there, feel it slide down her cheek and throat as she goes for another bite…
A sob chokes out of Mazikeen, cutting off these thoughts. Then she is surging forward to close the gap between them and stumbling into a hasty rear, striking out with dark hooves for any part of Reave she can reach. Her blurred vision has mostly cleared from his first attack, only to be partially blinded now with tears as she exists half-in, half-out of her memories. Mazikeen's chest aches as she moves, but the pain is not enough this time to snap her fully into the present.
She is not worried about how exposed this apparent weakness makes her and whether the bone-armoured stallion will delight in it. She can't even wonder if this trap had been set out by Reave - if he was manipulating her thoughts to send her into a spiral. There isn't a single rational thought, only some instinct telling her to finish what had been started here at the edge of Hyaline's forest.