03-07-2022, 12:00 PM
Mazikeen had expected Reave's first attack to be used today, but that doesn't mean it is any less infuriating. The sensation of someone messing with her eyesight is so familiar to her now - not just from Reave but from other members of his damnable family. It aggravates her enough that she wishes she had left the scar tissue covering them after Ryatah had healed her. Losing her eyes might be worth the things she would miss seeing - like the faces of those she loves and the first hint of sunshine when it rises above the mountains - but it might just be worth it to avoid the familiarity of this violation.
Should she claw them out herself now, just to rob Reave of the opportunity?
It is more tempting than it should be, but she takes a less dramatic approach - changing her eyes from those of a falcon to those of a horse to those of a wolf and then a mountain lion. These alterations in the structure of her eyes lessen the effects of Reave's attack. However, she still gets a headache - but it is hard to be sure whether that is from the influx of light through her pupils, the concentration it takes to change such a small part of her so often, or the significance of her aggravation. Likely a combination of all three, and the headache helps full her anger either way. For the first time in a long time, bright markings appear across her scaled back as she lands in the dirt as a crocodile with dragon eyes. As the sun continues to rise, slowly causing the morning mist to dissipate, the firelight of her glow is less apparent - less of a glaring warning signal - as it competes with the streaks of light coming through the branches of the trees.
The sunlight shows other things that have changed about Reave, like the carvings on his bone armour, but she does not have a chance to notice or remark on this just yet.
Her anger distracts her from doing what she should - namely, getting out of striking distance. Reave rises up, and though Mazikeen tries to focus enough to change herself into stone, she is too slow at that particular trick. She had managed it while fighting with Gale, but this fight simply does not carry the same weight. Though she is annoyed now, she had been blind with fury and grief as she had wrestled with that demon near the bleeding corpses of their children.
So right now, with her claws digging into soil made rich by decaying leaves, she cannot conjure a protective form of stone. She manages only to shift her weight away enough that when Reave's hooves come down on her glowing back, they strike to the left of her spine and bruise the ribs there - knocking the wind out of her.
Her ability to self-heal has always been slow to act, especially when she is angry - as though it requires a calm heart to actually do the job it should. At this moment, there is little relief provided as she involuntarily grunts at the impact. She knows that bruised ribs will make both breathing and moving painful, but pain has rarely deterred Mazikeen from action unless it belongs to someone else. If anything, it helps focus her on the present a little more.
Reave's strike caused the air to rush out of her, and she knows the bruises will make movement hard, so as she inhales an agonizing breath, Mazikeen does what she knows best - she changes her form. Like the falcon to the crocodile, Mazikeen chooses her next shape based on something that she hopes will eliminate the space between her and Reave quickly. So, where there was a low-lying crocodile, there is now a Thunderbird - crackling with electricity. Mazikeen pushes herself to the absolute limits of the size she can take without draining the energy she will need to finish this fight (making her now just over half the size of a bus). A larger form means more prominent ribs, and her body protests against changing shape with an injury - a cry of pain erupts from her as she grows and twists. Moving the wing on her left side causes her vision to grow spotty with the pain, but she flares them both out anyway. Her right wing cannot extend out very far because of a few trees in the way, the feathers catching on twigs and her large shoulder even snaps a small branch as it pushes against it. But Reave had been on her left. So, even though that is the one that hurts the most to move, she stretches it out as she grows into this new shape and hopes to catch him with it on his retreat. As a foal, Mazikeen had run afoul of a swan and knows that wings can pack a bruising blow and these particular feathers also have the ability to produce a small electric shock (as she once discovered by accident). So hopefully, through the simple act of significantly growing in size where she stood and stretching out her wings, Mazikeen can avoid moving her bruised body as much as possible and still have an effective attack.
Her giant beaked head twists around as well, intent on keeping Reave in her sights even though she knows she cannot truly trust what she sees.
Should she claw them out herself now, just to rob Reave of the opportunity?
It is more tempting than it should be, but she takes a less dramatic approach - changing her eyes from those of a falcon to those of a horse to those of a wolf and then a mountain lion. These alterations in the structure of her eyes lessen the effects of Reave's attack. However, she still gets a headache - but it is hard to be sure whether that is from the influx of light through her pupils, the concentration it takes to change such a small part of her so often, or the significance of her aggravation. Likely a combination of all three, and the headache helps full her anger either way. For the first time in a long time, bright markings appear across her scaled back as she lands in the dirt as a crocodile with dragon eyes. As the sun continues to rise, slowly causing the morning mist to dissipate, the firelight of her glow is less apparent - less of a glaring warning signal - as it competes with the streaks of light coming through the branches of the trees.
The sunlight shows other things that have changed about Reave, like the carvings on his bone armour, but she does not have a chance to notice or remark on this just yet.
Her anger distracts her from doing what she should - namely, getting out of striking distance. Reave rises up, and though Mazikeen tries to focus enough to change herself into stone, she is too slow at that particular trick. She had managed it while fighting with Gale, but this fight simply does not carry the same weight. Though she is annoyed now, she had been blind with fury and grief as she had wrestled with that demon near the bleeding corpses of their children.
So right now, with her claws digging into soil made rich by decaying leaves, she cannot conjure a protective form of stone. She manages only to shift her weight away enough that when Reave's hooves come down on her glowing back, they strike to the left of her spine and bruise the ribs there - knocking the wind out of her.
Her ability to self-heal has always been slow to act, especially when she is angry - as though it requires a calm heart to actually do the job it should. At this moment, there is little relief provided as she involuntarily grunts at the impact. She knows that bruised ribs will make both breathing and moving painful, but pain has rarely deterred Mazikeen from action unless it belongs to someone else. If anything, it helps focus her on the present a little more.
Reave's strike caused the air to rush out of her, and she knows the bruises will make movement hard, so as she inhales an agonizing breath, Mazikeen does what she knows best - she changes her form. Like the falcon to the crocodile, Mazikeen chooses her next shape based on something that she hopes will eliminate the space between her and Reave quickly. So, where there was a low-lying crocodile, there is now a Thunderbird - crackling with electricity. Mazikeen pushes herself to the absolute limits of the size she can take without draining the energy she will need to finish this fight (making her now just over half the size of a bus). A larger form means more prominent ribs, and her body protests against changing shape with an injury - a cry of pain erupts from her as she grows and twists. Moving the wing on her left side causes her vision to grow spotty with the pain, but she flares them both out anyway. Her right wing cannot extend out very far because of a few trees in the way, the feathers catching on twigs and her large shoulder even snaps a small branch as it pushes against it. But Reave had been on her left. So, even though that is the one that hurts the most to move, she stretches it out as she grows into this new shape and hopes to catch him with it on his retreat. As a foal, Mazikeen had run afoul of a swan and knows that wings can pack a bruising blow and these particular feathers also have the ability to produce a small electric shock (as she once discovered by accident). So hopefully, through the simple act of significantly growing in size where she stood and stretching out her wings, Mazikeen can avoid moving her bruised body as much as possible and still have an effective attack.
Her giant beaked head twists around as well, intent on keeping Reave in her sights even though she knows she cannot truly trust what she sees.