His hit to Azzuen’s hind leg had been perfect, but there was no time to celebrate, as the wee stallion had now brought himself into the line of fire. Aurelius did not stop to see how the rest of the battle was going; there were bodies everywhere, clashing on the background of the setting sun. Allthough he did not think about it know, this would be one of the epic battles remembered; it would become lore and the story would be told over and over again. Aurelius fleetingly remembered similar stories from when the land he came from had been conquered by his ancestors. Those had been great warriors, not weak like his father had been. The fear that had been clutching his heart was pushed in the background, the adrenaline took over his consciousness and he acted on his instinct of survival alone.

Suddenly, something swept down from above and a pair of powerful talons grabbed a big chunk of his coarse, thick mane. He felt the tips of the claws reach his skin, scraping it raw without actually puncturing skin. He tossed his nape, feeling the stining in his skin as the creature went back up in air and his sights were on the griffon instantly. When Kali dived again, he dodged her barely, biting out at her figure in means of chasing her off. One second he was fighting the griffon, the next…

Darkness. A whimper of shock escaped him, halting in his tracks and shaking his head from side to side. All around him, he could still hear the clamor of battle, hear the shrieks and cries from friend and foe all around. Only, he could no longer see. He tried desperately to open his eyes, but was scared to move from his spot when he could not see. Suddenly, he was thrown to the ground with great force, the wind knocked out of the dwarven steed completely. At first he was numb, but then came the pain. Azzuen’s legs had hit him a little to the right, flinging him down on one side, gasping for air. He was sore and bruised, a scraping of fur stripped off to reaveal the pink, bleeding skin below. Fighting to get back up, he felt groggy with the headache that he had gotten from earlier, when he had rammed his opponents.

When he found his feet, he knew better than to stay in the same place, in case Azzuen should try the same trick again, so he set into a trot, still blind but trying to navigate by sound and smell. He limped, having strained a muscle in his loin, which made using his hindlegs painful. Clenching his teeth, he trotted on, and in his mad scramble he had turned around completely, heading for the group with TORASIN. Trying to think back on where he had been standing before going blind, he remembered passing the group earlier, and now he could smell Alan; and wasn’t that her voice, hissing something profane?

With his sights taken away, his other senses were strenghtened, but did he dare rely on them enough to charge? With complete disregard for his own safty, he scrambled into yet another gallop with his head down, hearing and smelling the body of TORASIN, a stranger stallion, right in front of him. Without knowing, he had aimed for the leftside frontleg, right around the knee. He continued on, throwing up his hindlegs in case anyone should care to bite at him, yet feeling a shot of pain drive through him from his injured muscle. Then, shapes and shadows started dancing in his view; the light was returning.

[610 words]
[Defense: Is scraped by Kali’s claws, but avoids her the second time. Is blinded by Azzuen’s magic and struck by his charge, knocked to the ground. He has got a bruise and a bleeding scrape, along with a strained muscle in the loin that will gradually make it harder moving.
Attack: In his scramble for his feet, he has turned 90⁰ and smells and hears Torasin moving, charging him blindly in a gallop, aiming unknowingly for Torasins left side front legs. After this, he keeps running and bucks, in case someone should lash out at him. Slowly, his vision returns.]