It seemed he was the last to appear of the pitiful Foothills army that had showed up to protect their home. The emblazoned sun made his lids flicker more than they should, the Grey like an army of shadows ominously lined up to do battle. Locket wondered if it was easy for them to simply come and invade, they had little to lose except their lives and maybe pride. Not a home or a livelihood, a bond to a land that had slept in peace for a long time. Alabaster ears twitched as the time was now upon him, teeth grit as he mentally reached for his resolve. A warrior could fight two types of battles, one where he would face his adversary alone as he fought for his pride and dignity. For without those there could be no warrior. Two was in defence of loved ones, a home and friends who deserved his loyalty and solid protection. He had declared the Foothills his home upon invitation, now he fought to protect it. The dainty little soldier had a reason to go to battle.

The fighting ensued.

Locket soon found himself within a group, backed up only by an unknown equine mare whose name he didn't know. She stepped in front of him to the chagrin of the panda faced warrior, surely she did not intend to simply charge in without a simple thought on the matter. The unicorn watched her lithe form gallop off towards the weird looking tree horse and Locket's ears flattened, his heart racing in panic. "Wait! What are you doing?!" But his cry seemed to be in vain as the mare lunged for the tree horse who subsequently blocks. The chestnut stud was all set on rescuing his ally from her predicament when a movement caught his attention. It was a shadow caste from a winged horse.

Green eyes widened as he realized something or somebody was above him, white splashed face sharply looks upward in time for his heart to skip with danger approaching, the form of MURDOCK bulldozing straight towards him. Lost he had been in his panic for Ariadne, the little warrior only had enough time to quickly dance his lithe body sideways to the right and dodged the main force of the black stud's chest attack. He felt the brush of flesh against flesh, the minimal of touches on his shoulder, but the momentum MURDOCK carried was enough to throw him off balance for a few seconds. Teeth like daggers still finding some purchase on the crest of his neck, scraping like many small daggers that wounded Locket. With ears laced back the warrior tensed in pain, the cut was sharp and stinging with blood beginning to stain at orange fur. Unwelcome, minor damage, but better than a blow to the floor.

His opponent appeared to have retreated then, flying past Locket to settle back on the ground. In the far-off distance he could hear the cry of Ariadne who seemed to be trying to address him with words of warfare. Whilst he appreciated her effort, he was too engulfed in his own mini battle as it formed in front of him and he considered the black stud. Perfect, if I can keep him ground based I mig- tactical thoughts were cut off mid sentence as something cold rippled across his body. A snowflake turned into a blizzard and just like that his mind turned into chaos. Snow in summer?! Was this one of his enemies abilities?! Locket knew little of magic in Helovia only that some were in possession of it, including himself if only gifted to him by rank. The Arab fumbled around and muttered a series of curses as eyes squinted to try to see anything through the blanket of white that ensnared his vision. Something moved out there, he could hear the thunder of hooves through his personal mini blizzard. A temporary fear griped him and for a moment he felt completely helpless and at the mercy of the enemy. Curled tail had fallen rigid and Locket fought with himself, remembering his spar with Archibald. The former Chief's unrelenting attacks and the determination to win even though it was a simple spar. Locket visualized his teacher's face and let it fill him with determination.

Gaze was fixed on where he remembered MURDOCK had landed, his will gripped his magic and silently he raised one cloven hoof. Mind was focused on the direction he wanted to send it, Locket threw his right foreleg down with all his might. Letting go of the magic and allowed it to fill his hoof that struck the soggy looking earth under him with a mighty bang, he didn't know if his opponent had moved or in fact if the brute was advancing on him. The War Stomp shook the rolling greens of the Foothills in the vicinity that Locket had, a few seconds ago, seen MURDOCK. Locket dearly hoped his attack had struck true and unbalanced MURDOCK, back legs powered the front and Locket bravely charged forwards in the wake of his stomp, the lush summer ground giving him no challenges. His hope was to find Murdock, the warrior hated his impaired vision and as long as he couldn't see he was at a serious disadvantage.

The stinging pain on his neck becoming a constant nag on his mind.

-----
ooc ::
[WC: 897] [Magic use: 1/2] [Injury: Small scrape on his neck]
[Summary: Locket dodges Murdock's skydive manoeuvre by darting to the side, Murdock does make some small contact which has Locket off balance for a second. Murdock's bite also scrapes his crest. He is then engulfed by Birch's blizzard which impairs his vision and ability to see Murdock or any other adversary. He counters this by using War Stomp to try and unbalance Murdock to try give himself chance to gallop forwards and find him.]