"We're under attack!"

Horror and rage battled it out in an instantaneous reaction to the call that rang out terrified and determined across the sands. All the invasions, all the wars, he had never been able to participate. Too young, too fragile. Every time he would have to sob and beg Midas to stay, and later on to let him come along, to let him fight and help. He was no stranger to fighting, his father was the General and later Sultan after all. He had battled and killed his father's alter image in a fierce fight that had nearly ended his own life as well. There was nothing he feared, not even death, for he knew his Lord would take his soul into eternal rest should he ever meet it.

Ilaria refused to be sent from his spine when he commanded her to the safety of the desert floor, and Cera lacked the dexterity required to remove her forcibly from the crest of his neck. Frustrated he snapped at her before taking to the skies in a leap and a bound, wings sliding out and embracing the winds. There was no time to waste, regardless of who was attacking the longer he waited the more injuries possible.

The sands became a blur of color beneath as he raced for the source of the call, Tandavi's voice a familiar beacon until the crowd became apparent. Cougars, his mind supplied with a shudder of disgust and a tinge of fright. It seemed his family had scared off the majority of the large, vicious cats. But one remained, and under Cera's gaze and approaching body, it began to sprint on padded paws across the sand towards...his heart sank and everything turned a brilliant shade of carmine, like blood splatter.

Sikeax.

There was no time.

Cera screeched, a falcon before the kill as anger and the desire to protect his friend swelled inside like a tsunami of dangerous proportions. There was a temporary fear of those long, deadly claws he was headed straight towards, of the damage they could inflict. He knew what cougars could do to horses, what they could do in that moment to him. But in that long, suspended moment, he also knew he'd suffer any wounds if it meant keeping a single scratch from Sia's hide.

Careful of his hooves, he swooped down from over Sikeax's head, blunt crown tucked and forelegs extended for impact as he intervened between the predator and the victim, eyes flaming and mouth gaping as he screamed and dove towards the cougar. Straight into its waiting claws without a single regret for his actions.