03-16-2022, 12:45 PM
The grunt of pain that she can hear from Reave when her wing connects with him sends a tiny jolt through her heart. She is more annoyed now than angry, and the remaining glowing markings beneath her feathers fade away. Her compassion has always been inconvenient in a fight - so Mazikeen still has to remind herself that being without it had been far worse.
There's worry in her orange eyes as she painfully folds her wings while watching Reave take a few steps with uncooperative hind legs. She had only known the Thunderbird's shock to be minor, so this effect on him troubles her. This guilty feeling inside her should serve as a reminder to stick to elements she knows well, like fire, but she has been enjoying experimenting.
The guilt and small respite from the fight do not last long. Rune screeches and Mazikeen instinctively looks to him as he swoops down. Although she knows that companions cannot touch anyone other than their bonded, it's one thing to know and another thing entirely to have an eagle flying right at your face.
Next comes a cascade of reactions, each so fast on the heels of the other: flinching from Rune, reprimanding herself for getting easily distracted, and then the impact of Reave colliding with her right side just as she is turning her great head to look for him.
Her folded wing takes the brunt of the impact, the muscles and the bones inside. They are larger and slightly sturdier than they would have been if she was a smaller bird. Still, Reave's body is not insignificant - just like her crocodile body had not been compared to his horse bulk - and she is sure there are some fractures, if not outright breaks. Only her experience and instincts keep her eyes from closing and giving injury all her attention - Mazikeen does not intend to make the mistake of getting distracted twice in the same fight.
Because while the pain is undoubtedly distracting, it is also manageable. And she can still remember their last meeting, so she'll take fractures and bruises and even broken bones over the horror of her own dredged-up memories. The physical pain is not sweet, but it is better. Or, at least, it is better until she gets it into her head to shift again. This form in this spot is clearly vulnerable and only so maneuverable. And although she remembers the Thunderbird that had lived in Hyaline, she doesn't recall any of the other tricks associated. Mazikeen wants to be able to move more than just her head and stretch out either her limp left wing or the one on the other side with the bruised ribs.
She thinks instantly of the armour of scales, and her body reacts to these thoughts, shifting quickly like she has done throughout her entire life. One heartbeat and the pain is manageable and the next it is horrifying as bruised and fractured bones try to alter their shape.
This time, Mazikeen's pained cry is loud enough to shock her back to her senses, and she quickly grits her teeth to cut off the sound. She does not know if anyone is close enough to hear, but she will not risk any others getting involved. Did Reave want the entity badly enough that he'd fight through anyone? Would he threaten her young daughters if they came over to investigate?
They were friends once (or maybe they still are, it's hard to tell as they trade injuries), but Reave wasn't the only member of his family to make her laugh and then cause trouble. Gale had too. And Nashua. And Aela. She had spent years carefully rebuilding her ability to trust, and it did not include this set of siblings.
So as the fractured bones in her wing attempt to change shape, Mazikeen's scream is muffled by her closed mouth. Her beak turns into scaled lips that curl backwards with the effort and blinding pain. Her attempts to change her injured wing ultimately fail. It would take too much of her concentration, and she's well aware she'll likely blackout from the agony. That self-healing ability once again missing in action - it had not helped her whenever she fought Gale, and it doesn't help her now. It will only work later when she manages a fitful sleep and calmer heart rate.
When the rest of her is a serpentine dragon, only a foot taller at the shoulder than she is as a horse, only one wing is present. And it is the injured, feathered wing that is folded loosely at her right side. It no longer crackles with electricity, her concentration elsewhere. It is easier to move in this smaller, flexible form. She twists around, attempting to keep Reave on her left and away from her more injured side. Both of her sides are in agony, but she'd prefer to take her chances with the completely draconic left side with its bruised ribs than the one still sporting a wing from her previous shape.
Despite the desire to rest, there is no part of Mazikeen willing to give up. As a dragon, she has breathed fire before, but the un-changed wing gives her another idea. She thinks it will be easier to keep with the same element, even if it is unpredictable and she has little experience wielding it. So when she curls around a tree and opens her mouth - it is a thin torrent of electricity that emerges.
Mazikeen is not sure of her aim, having little practice. After seeing how electricity affected Reave moments ago, she does not want to attempt a direct blow. Therefore, she tilts her jaw upwards and shoots for the trees above them instead - hoping to snap off a branch and encourage the bone-armoured stallion to retreat.
There's worry in her orange eyes as she painfully folds her wings while watching Reave take a few steps with uncooperative hind legs. She had only known the Thunderbird's shock to be minor, so this effect on him troubles her. This guilty feeling inside her should serve as a reminder to stick to elements she knows well, like fire, but she has been enjoying experimenting.
The guilt and small respite from the fight do not last long. Rune screeches and Mazikeen instinctively looks to him as he swoops down. Although she knows that companions cannot touch anyone other than their bonded, it's one thing to know and another thing entirely to have an eagle flying right at your face.
Next comes a cascade of reactions, each so fast on the heels of the other: flinching from Rune, reprimanding herself for getting easily distracted, and then the impact of Reave colliding with her right side just as she is turning her great head to look for him.
Her folded wing takes the brunt of the impact, the muscles and the bones inside. They are larger and slightly sturdier than they would have been if she was a smaller bird. Still, Reave's body is not insignificant - just like her crocodile body had not been compared to his horse bulk - and she is sure there are some fractures, if not outright breaks. Only her experience and instincts keep her eyes from closing and giving injury all her attention - Mazikeen does not intend to make the mistake of getting distracted twice in the same fight.
Because while the pain is undoubtedly distracting, it is also manageable. And she can still remember their last meeting, so she'll take fractures and bruises and even broken bones over the horror of her own dredged-up memories. The physical pain is not sweet, but it is better. Or, at least, it is better until she gets it into her head to shift again. This form in this spot is clearly vulnerable and only so maneuverable. And although she remembers the Thunderbird that had lived in Hyaline, she doesn't recall any of the other tricks associated. Mazikeen wants to be able to move more than just her head and stretch out either her limp left wing or the one on the other side with the bruised ribs.
She thinks instantly of the armour of scales, and her body reacts to these thoughts, shifting quickly like she has done throughout her entire life. One heartbeat and the pain is manageable and the next it is horrifying as bruised and fractured bones try to alter their shape.
This time, Mazikeen's pained cry is loud enough to shock her back to her senses, and she quickly grits her teeth to cut off the sound. She does not know if anyone is close enough to hear, but she will not risk any others getting involved. Did Reave want the entity badly enough that he'd fight through anyone? Would he threaten her young daughters if they came over to investigate?
They were friends once (or maybe they still are, it's hard to tell as they trade injuries), but Reave wasn't the only member of his family to make her laugh and then cause trouble. Gale had too. And Nashua. And Aela. She had spent years carefully rebuilding her ability to trust, and it did not include this set of siblings.
So as the fractured bones in her wing attempt to change shape, Mazikeen's scream is muffled by her closed mouth. Her beak turns into scaled lips that curl backwards with the effort and blinding pain. Her attempts to change her injured wing ultimately fail. It would take too much of her concentration, and she's well aware she'll likely blackout from the agony. That self-healing ability once again missing in action - it had not helped her whenever she fought Gale, and it doesn't help her now. It will only work later when she manages a fitful sleep and calmer heart rate.
When the rest of her is a serpentine dragon, only a foot taller at the shoulder than she is as a horse, only one wing is present. And it is the injured, feathered wing that is folded loosely at her right side. It no longer crackles with electricity, her concentration elsewhere. It is easier to move in this smaller, flexible form. She twists around, attempting to keep Reave on her left and away from her more injured side. Both of her sides are in agony, but she'd prefer to take her chances with the completely draconic left side with its bruised ribs than the one still sporting a wing from her previous shape.
Despite the desire to rest, there is no part of Mazikeen willing to give up. As a dragon, she has breathed fire before, but the un-changed wing gives her another idea. She thinks it will be easier to keep with the same element, even if it is unpredictable and she has little experience wielding it. So when she curls around a tree and opens her mouth - it is a thin torrent of electricity that emerges.
Mazikeen is not sure of her aim, having little practice. After seeing how electricity affected Reave moments ago, she does not want to attempt a direct blow. Therefore, she tilts her jaw upwards and shoots for the trees above them instead - hoping to snap off a branch and encourage the bone-armoured stallion to retreat.