[challenge] I am the pain, the reaper, a structure of lies; Mazikeen

[Officials]

Reave rolls a 7 for damage: Moderate Damage (open wounds or significant bruising, will impede movement)

[Reave]

To his immense relief, electricity does not crackle through him yet again when he makes contact with her. Reave might have the tenacity to power through despite the prospect of pain, but he certainly doesn’t relish the thought. He might have developed a tolerance after a lifetime of torn skin, but he still feels it just as acutely as anyone else.

Though his bones jar from the impact of his body with hers, his armor offers him some protection against it. In the aftermath of the battle, he will no doubt imagine a hundred ways he could have executed that attack better, but in the heat of the moment, he had gone with his gut. As it is however, he doesn’t have time to analyze every movement he makes in depth.

Reave takes a few stumbling steps before righting himself and backing away in a hasty retreat. To defend his escape and give himself some time, he attempts once more to pluck at her sight. Any finesse he might have once had has been abandoned, and rather than waste his effort on something more elegant, he instead simply tries to blur her vision. He hopes it will be enough to prevent Mazikeen from seeing him well enough to execute swift retaliation, especially considering his own reflexes have been regrettably slowed.

He doesn’t retreat far however. As much as he doesn’t want to leave himself open to her attack, neither does he want to give her time to get into a more defensible position. Her cry of pain as she shifts into another shape is enough to draw him sharply back to the situation at hand. Though his concern is not for others coming to investigate (even if it should be, considering he really does not need more horses to fight), he doesn’t hesitate to seize the opportunity of her distraction.

Because he had backed away, he is still facing her, so he simply launches himself forward once more. This time he does make the effort to aim, front hooves lifting to strike at Mazikeen’s injured right side again. Given how swiftly she curls around a tree in her draconic form however, he’s not certain how accurate his aim will end up being.

His distraction also means that, much to his regret and chagrin, he isn’t able to react to her blasting the tree limbs above them with the immediacy he would have wished. If he weren’t the recipient, he would have complimented her for the unexpectedness of that attack. Since he is the recipient though, he’d have to save it for later. If their relationship could be mended after this, that is.

Though he tries to swing belatedly away, a heavy branch manages to catch him on his still weakened hindquarters. The bruising hit does make his back legs buckle this time, but a weary scramble has him back on his feet just as quickly despite his aching muscles, strained joints, and abraded skin. As it is, he’s not sure he could take any more damage to his abused backside without it giving way entirely. With that thought in mind, he makes a decided effort to face her instead, shielding his weakness from his opponent as best he can.

@Mazikeen
@Officials

[Officials]

Mazikeen rolls a 3 for damage: Low Damage (small scrapes or bruises, don’t impact movement)

[Mazikeen]

Although Mazikeen does feel her sight being altered, she cannot tell exactly what it is Reave is attempting to do. Everything is blurry, but that could simply be from the pain as she tried to shift - she’s seen bright spots and blackness before when she’s done it with injuries. You would think once would be enough to learn that particular lesson - just not for Mazikeen, who often acts before thinking.

Regardless, with his rich copper coat and bone adornments, Reave does not blend in with the trees around them, even when blurry. His coat is both too warm of a red to match the cool brown-greys of the bark and not red enough to match the leaves of what reds persist from the maples and beeches mixed in with hardier trees.

Her injuries help keep her focused, the pain rooting her into this moment, and she twists her body through the trees of her home. Her lone, feathered wing rubs against a tree as she turns to the right, presenting her left side to Reave when he charges towards her. He rears up and though she tries to move as quickly as she can to twist out of the way, his hooves glance off her curved side. It hurts more than it would have before this fight since those ribs are already bruised and now will have a few more on top of the deeper ones. Still, she finds the presence of mind to be grateful that it was only bark jostling her fractured wing instead of hooves.

She trades checking to see if her previous attack of breathing crackling electricity onto the trees above was successful for twisting her flexible body around to look at the injured wing. It hangs pathetically at her side, despite her intentions to keep it as close as possible.

The uneasy post-fight feeling settles into her stomach and she looks back at Reave, wondering what was going through his mind. The time for sharing blows is over for at least the day and there’s no desire in Mazikeen to send a few verbal shots either. She does speak, though, through painful heaving breaths as she turns her now-clear gaze towards the lake she can just make out through the trees. The other entities sit there, but the one Reave is after has no statue or burning tree to signify its presence here in Hyaline. Instead, it is in the minds of all the residents and in the little changes that occur to the foals born here.

“Craft’s my grandmother.” It is not something she thinks about often, but the idea had returned to her after their last battle. Reave may not realize it, may not care - she still just wants him to know he is not the only one with some type of claim over that particular entity.

[Kyra]

Can ya'll stop fighting each other? Your battles are hard to judge.

Winner: Mazikeen
Battle Rubric