Her gambit had worked, amazingly. She had half-expected for the warrior-shaman to find some way to evade her strike, but he apparently hadn't be prepared to take an attack from below. He had recovered remarkably quickly, though. As she soared upwards, a feral screech drew her attention. To her shock, he was hurtling straight at her, antler prongs trained on her chest. Panic jolted in her gut, but there was no time to react. She bunched her muscles and screwed her eyes shut, waiting for the collision, but what came was a whoosh of wind as his wings were applied like airbrakes. Her eyes opened, incredulous, as she caught the unmistakably mischievous look in his eye and realized she had just been subjected to an aerial round of Chicken by a horse who could barely form a sentence.

The fight was still going, though, as he lunged out at her with his teeth, then attempted a passing kick at her side as he dove. By throwing her front half to the left, she avoided his bite, but the kick thunked on her ribcage, and although his hoof only scraped against her barrel, it was enough to stun her momentarily, giving Gaucho an opportunity to get away without a parting attack from her. She wasn't out yet, though.

When she had sufficient breath in her lungs again, she twisted and dove after him, almost completely folding her wings to maximize her velocity. Attempting a tactic that had just been used by opponent was undesirable, not to mention foolish, but she hoped to put enough of a twist on it that she would be successful. She kept his rear in her sights, stretching her front hooves out before her. While Gaucho might have been trying to protect himself by keeping his hindquarters between her and the rest of him, she hoped she would still be able to land an attack. When the two were close, she folded her wings all the way to create a final burst and speed and held the course, intending to slam her front hooves onto his rump, either bruising or scraping him. It was similar to his feinting charge before, but she fully intended to strike him, rather than simply bluff him. Had they not been going the same direction, which would remove some force from the blow if it landed, she would have hesitated to put all her weight behind the attack. Even though she was aiming for a less-vital area, she didn't want to accidentally injure him.

Despite her injuries, the thrill of battle buzzed through her mind, a product of their rollercoaster flight path and the fierce fighting. Gaucho may have been a little...simple, but damn, could he fight! Whether or not the kick hit, Aryel would pull away to avoid a counterattack from his hind hooves, then continue to fly down in a wide circle towards the mesa again, alert for another attack. The fight had begun to wind down, but adrenaline was a tough thing to get out of your system.

Words: 509
Summary: Is startled by his mock dive, pulls away from his bite but gets kicked, then dives after him and tries to slam her hooves onto his rump, then breaks away.
Injuries: Cuts on neck, bashed nose, bruise on side from kick
(Is this my last attack?)

Walk walk walk walk.
"Talk talk talk talk."