Theatricality and deception are powerful agents.
You must become more than just a man
in the mind of your opponent

The best defense is a good offense.

A sweeping amount of confidence had started to fill him once MIRAGE had returned to her equine form. His defense morphed into a counter-attack, he had squared back up to his swarthy opponent and blew a cloud of ash to swallow her face. He meant to keep coming, raining hellish limbs down like a cage over a wild animal. Keep her contained and if the opportunity presented itself, he would end this invasion with one fell stroke. Everyone knew that if you severed the head of the snake, the body died. But then VIKRAM interrupted and quickly deflated his moment of buoyancy. Dragons had so many weapons at their disposal and he didn’t have experience fighting them until now, after crossing Helovia’s Threshold.

Unfortunately his horn missed VIKRAM’s wing and the hybrid would still be able to take flight and attack from above like Akaith. Cineviam couldn’t even spare a second to dwell on that disappointment because as soon as his vision cleared of the copper VIKRAM, he saw MIRAGE (a battering ram in the disguise of a mare that had masqueraded as a dragon) was stubbornly charging him down a third time. He had hoped that the ash would have debilitated her for a couple more seconds but he would need to deal with her quickly. He didn’t want to be double-teamed by her and her mate.

The soot-stained stallion had not fully reared and since he was already descending, there was only a foot between his front hooves and the ground when she struck his side. Under normal circumstances he would have bet that their weight difference (Cineviam being the heavier of the two) and his close proximity to the dirt would have meant that he would need to take her charge full force, but that she would never succeed at knocking him to the ground. However, his right hind leg had already suffered repeated abuse so when MIRAGE collided with him, it gave out and he felt his weight teeter in that direction. In desperation his coiled left hind leg straightened, forcing him higher in the air while his back arched and ribs twisted, bringing his front end into the direction of the fall to save himself.

Since her attack wasn’t entirely successful (Cineviam was still standing) meant MIRAGE had to go with her back up plan, cantering to a spot several metre’s away. Three legs had scrambled to right himself while the fourth dangled uselessly and Cineviam took a moment to test it before pursuing. It was weak, useless to kick but could still bear his weight. He hadn’t thought to where VIKRAM had gone, neither had he seen the coppery dragon hybrid approaching. Cineviam didn’t wait for his surprise; he had turned and started to chase after VIKRAM’s girlfriend. The stream of fire scorched his retreating rump and he hissed with pain as it throbbed – nerves firing off angry protests. The burns he received from the Sun God had been spread out over his neck and shoulder, this time he had just the one large burn near the base of his tail. But the hot ache the delved deep into muscle was the same.

The devil lingered in those red eyes as they zeroed in on MIRAGE.

All he saw was red in the haze of his anger, he loosed a great bellow. Her boyfriend might have saved her from his methodical attack style but he had spurred Cineviam into a reckless violence. He wanted to inflict as much pain onto her as he felt. He charged like a bull, path arching out wide before plunging in toward her side. Head swung left just before he reached MIRAGE and then he braced his jaw and used every muscle in his neck to fling it to the right. Aiming to open MIRAGE up from shoulder to hip – or if she is trying to evade him, whatever expanse of body is closest. He does not stop there, for he no longer cares for retaliation and he keeps coming. Head lowered close to his knees as he followed the black mass in front of him like a heat missile (Cineviam has lost all awareness of the position of her body, he doesn’t care). Then he tossed his head heavenward as if he could toss her like a ragdoll or like a raging bull tossing a Matador.

Then he canters away, red eyes seeking VIKRAM but the dragon hybrid is at the other end of battlefield near Mauja. His head start to clears as he stops and looked back to MIRAGE; the pain begins seeping back into his awareness and he wonders if this is done.