Cuts came and went, bruises were a little slower but the pain was dull and easy enough to carry. Fire, on the other hand, continued its ravenous rampage through flesh and blood, searing its way with unrelenting ferocity. It would be easy to say that the expression that marred Ghost’s face was one of great discomfort. Fire had no mercy. Even the tender scratches over her eyes were dull in comparison, but still very much unwanted. It didn’t help either that her desire to turn fear into strength caused her inexperience to show in headstrong naivety. Perhaps the pieces of the puzzle would click into place later, that fear could only be fought with understanding and patience, a clear mind and little arrogance. Ghost lacked in all these areas, but she ploughed on with her attack, the air sticking in her throat as the brute underneath her anticipated well and raised his own feet to challenge. His hooves collided with her underbelly as her own feet landed the blow on his rearing body, the thud of his well executed attack sent a dull pain through her already aching body and sucked the air from her lungs. It was a strange mix of hurt and satisfaction, her brazen melee had landed, but it didn’t come without a painful backlash.

Even now as the Cadaverous had landed only to turn back, she struggled to take in air and her face was set in a permanent pained expression. She began to question what on earth had possessed her to challenge such a brute of a stranger? Why didn’t she just shrug and walk home like she did most of the time?! In the end, Ghost had a thirst for exhilaration and challenge, her life was a charade in shadows but it was nice to let everything go now and then. It was one thing to watch the world and yet another to feel it. Her battle ability, however, lacked some and her piercing horn missed its target, brushing through his folds of blonde instead.

All of a sudden it became a battle of neck and neck, the banshee opened up her stride and allowed her long legs to stretch. He might be strong and powerful, but that mountain of a body could surely not move as fast as her lithe form could. Her ears were flat as the stud flashed a bite at her and Ghost switched her rear inwards to her left, taking the attack as a graze to her fleshy rump with a sharp, high pitched squeal. She flicked her own back end into a cow kick, allowing his hind hoof to scratch against her hock in a glancing blow as she aimed her own rear hoof for his shooting back leg. As soon as all four hooves stuck the floor once again, Ghost used the momentum to flap her wings downwards and lift her bodice into the air, but only slightly. She drew her hovering form over where she thought the roan would be and smacked her two rear hooves down, aiming to injure the stallion’s right shoulder.

Weariness began to tug at her senses along with all the other injuries, the fight would surely be at an end soon and the sprite knew she couldn’t force her body to give much more. Aware of the dragon above, Ghost returned to the earth, aiming for someplace slightly away from where Argen had turned to face her. There was one thing she had left up her skinny black sleeves, however, and she turned her slight body to canter towards the canopy of a tree, using her efficient burst of speed in hopes to outrun the stallion should he follow her. Once there, Ghost fell back into a ragged walk and took cover under its branches, her dark eyes seemed lost somewhere far away. Her brow deep set in concentration and to any looking in, the girl almost appeared to have given up on the fight. She imagined something far away and tried her best to concentrate on it, conjuring the illusion of gathering clouds that signalled a sudden storm and the world became dark. For any watching on, the sky above looked like it might rain heavily, but this was Ghost’s trick and what fell from those imaginary clouds wasn’t cold water. It was blood and it burned. Or seemingly so, it was only a trick of the mind after all. The pain, however, should feel real enough.

She brooded from her vantage point, hoping her little game would prove fruitful and watched for the next move.