The sun is blinding as it retreats to the west, and the many-hued vixen has to squint to make out the form of their late-night visitor. There isn’t much for her to see with the sun obscuring her vision, but judging by the size of his shadow over the dimly-lit grass he is quite the large creature, and he is not alone. Despite the fiery orb’s light, flaming oculars dart from one approaching figure to the next, pausing momentarily on KAHLUA and her cart but freezing altogether on a set of familiar painted shoulders. “MIDAS?” A nicker parts her lips in shock more than in curiosity at the sight of their Czar (THRANDUIL), and the maiden twists her head to regard GHOST. Bright eyes flicker in uncertainty from behind the dragon’s skull as they try to read the girl’s expression. Did you know of his whereabouts all along? The bird cannot say that she trusts her just yet, but reason tells her there is nothing for the black to gain by lying to her about MIDAS’ absence.

A frown tugs down at blue lips as she tries to riddle out the meaning of it, but the young Czarina moves to approach the growing crowd despite the peahen’s own uncertainty. Weary of GHOST meeting with so many strangers at this hour, and despite MIDAS’ presence, the hybrid trails behind the red-tipped girl. She is about to pose a question to KAHLUA when the first brute screech spills into the air, and the show of a friendly meeting is suddenly transformed into a deceptive performance. How can she ever forgive KAHLUA for abusing their friendship like this? Has she not promised to protect the painted mare, to be her champion, or does the bird mean so little to her that taking her home seems like a better option than just talking it out?

What kind of friend is that?

Challenging the Shire’s cry with a furious scream of her own, the color-strewn vixen gallops towards the oncoming wave of traitors with a silent command to MICTLA, Use that smoke of yours and make them choke on it. Little resistance can be felt through their bond, but the rampant hybrid still manages to send the hyena on his way. Prove to me you aren’t more than just a nuisance. Prove to me you can fight. The spotted boy’s wisps make it even harder for the mare to see, but as long as he manages to be at least a little useful she really cannot care less.

For a few chaotic seconds all that she wants to do is punish KAHLUA for her betrayal, but yet another unfamiliar call wrenches her attention from the queen. Squinting at the steadily approaching mass of black and brown flesh, the warrior tries to gauge the distance between them before launching herself into the air. Broad wings catch in the wind with little to no effort, but with the accelerated descent of the sun (thanks to SILAS’ and AFRICA’s own fighting attempts) the bird has misjudged her opponent’s height.

Despite the towering beast’s warning the bird is unable to fly completely out of his reach, and the peaks of his scarred withers slam into her left haunch, causing her to lose balance and plummet from the sky. Rather than panic and get into more trouble, however, the peahen seizes this chance to deal some damage to her foe by forcing her hooves downwards with her own descent to try and strike at the stallion’s spine.

The thought of making him balk to give her room to land safely on the ground makes the maiden rethink her assault, however, and the skull-bearing maiden summons the rest of her armor in the hopes of doing just that. The bones rise from the ground one-by-one to join their silent master, linking together and covering the chieftess’ colorful body to form armor reminiscent of the skeleton they derive from. Though their touch is unfamiliar, the chieftess finds comfort in the bones’ embrace as she succumbs to the pull of war.

Whilst the bird has been suiting up for the battle at hand, her spotted boy has been darting between friend and foe alike, weaving past clashing bodies and trying to reciprocate the effects of his ominous magic on those he does not recognize. A swooping black figure captures his attention while he is darting past MURDOCK, and his chocolate gaze narrows into a look of concern as he watches GHOST dive for a little palomino. The little one is headed for his mistress, and deciding that GHOST can use backup in defending her, he redirects himself so that he is charging towards the stout mare’s left, trying to bite the tender skin of her flank when he is close enough.

{800/800 as per MS Word

BELLONA arrives with GHOST, blinded by the sun, and they approach THRANDUIL, thinking he is MIDAS.

BELLONA hears ARCHIBALD's call and takes to the air, avoiding his WAR STOMP.

BELLONA hears THOR but does not gauge his height properly due to the sudden shift to darkness thanks to SILAS. BELLONA is not in KEIRAN's vicinity and does not feel the effects of his STORM CALL.

BELLONA is hit in her left haunch by THOR's withers and knocked off balance, but she uses her fall to aim her hooves at THOR's back. BELLONA rethinks this and then tries to scare THOR by summoning her BONE ARMOR from the ground in the hopes of making him shy away so she can scrape her hooves down THOR's side (depending on which way he goes) before landing safely on the ground.

MICTLA runs around the battle field using his SMOKE ability, affecting those near him. MICTLA sees GHOST flying for ROMANI and tries to help GHOST by going for ROMANI's left flank with his teeth. }