'Stop this madness!' his mind screamed, demanding him to follow the order, 'Or you're just as bad as the very unicorns you've come to hate.' But no matter what his mind told him, no matter how badly he wished to back off from Tor and simply give Mirage up, the stallion feared what consequences might come of it. The two fighting beasts were locked in their own little world, but surely, the eyes of others were cast and locked upon them, ever watchful and wondering who would come out as the champion.

To say that Xanthos was surprised by Tor's next move would have been an understatement. Time seemed to slow as his lunge was practically made in vain. Her teeth were, indeed, successful in nabbing his horn, which would have been an even more incredible feat if the mare managed to keep her mouth from being cut open. The grullo had no time to react to her defense, his head snapping and stretching to the side painfully. His cloven hooves slid and scraped at the snowy ground beneath them to maintain balance. There was a great sensation of tingling that ran from his nape all the way down to the base of his withers, throbbing to the same beat as his racing heart. A muscle had been pulled, no doubt, and it would hinder him for the remainder of the fight and beyond.

But he would not allow her to twist him over like some worthless omega.

The stallion was quick to sidepass his hind end, bringing himself to stand vertical with the paint, putting her at an inconvenience to put forth another attack. With this he threw his head back violently, aiming not only to free himself from her hold, but possibly leave her with an ugly cut depending on which way his horn pulled loose. The action was quite painful for the stallion, given the harsh jerk from only seconds ago, and had not been as powerful as he had originally intended. Still, twelve hundred pounds of force would surely be enough to free him from the draft's clamped mandible.

Years ago, back when he had just left Melhaven as a three year old, the grullo had been unfortunate enough to come across a band of horses who saw his passing through as a challenge. The grumpy stallion, an old red roan going senile in his age, had came at Xanthos with the intentions to fight. But despite the grullo's promises to leave at once, the old leader had lashed out him anyways. Locked in a rear, much like this very fight had begun, the roan had latched onto his horn to try and overpower him, to throw him over onto his side or just keep his head down, but it hadn't been that easy. The poor roan, as much as the unicorn had hated to recall the memory, had lost far too many teeth in that move, not to mention his pride. Would the same happen with Tor?

Once freed, the grullo pivoted to his left, bringing the pair to stand as a one armed cross. There was only a small gap between their bodies, and wasting no time, Xanthos aimed a spring loaded kick for the mare's barrel. He was lighter on his feet than the draft, but that didn't mean she couldn't dodge his attack, or at least lessen the damage it could cause.

'Why are you doing this, Xanthos?' his mind began to persist once again, nagging at him like an old mother, 'This isn't you.' But subconsciously, the grullo pinned his ears against his poll, the naked flesh where Tor had bit him singing as it was touched. No matter what his mind dared to say, no matter how much it begged him to stop, even if he knew he should, he couldn't. If Mirage was won fair and square, would Psyche even honor it? Let the Weyrleader go without a fuss? It was doubtful. The words shared with the Dragonheart rang loud and clear in his head, and truthfully, he wasn't sure what the mare would think of him now, out here fighting to keep her in the Basin. If Romani was here, what would she think? He had not abandoned the idea of slipping away from the Basin in the night, with Mirage at his side, laughing madly as he left behind the horrendous unicorns he once thought he could trust. But he couldn't put the plan into action just yet.

WC - 763
Defense - Throws his head back to try and free himself from Tor's hold.
Attack - Kicks for her barrel.
OOC - 2/4.

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I can see you're losing it