He wasn't quite sure how it happened, but suddenly the bitch was standing up in front of him.

The last place he left her was behind him, he had felt the reassuring thud of his hooves hitting her side, but it seemed even fools had luck, for while he had struck with the power of both hindlegs, she had suffered merely a bruise. Frustration immediately set in - it didn't take much for Madyrn - as he pushed a snort from his nostrils in a huff of short surprise at her quick moves.

Perhaps he had underestimated her. He wouldn't do so again.

Tucking his head swiftly down once more, he felt his chin bump against his bulging pectoral muscles, as he eyes tracked her rising motion, he took another swift, light step to the right, angling himself so that she was once again aiming for his left side. It would hurt like a bitch when he completed this move, but he was prepared for the pain, his teeth already grinding in anticipation.

He didn't come up with these ideas on the spot - with the years of battle he had seen, there wasn't much that could surprise him in the way of attacks - the way to react to this one was simple. He could either run away from it, miss it completely, or alternatively, he could use the precarious position this 'assassin' had placed herself in to his own advantage. He grinned to himself - it was obvious, at least to himself and his brother, which choice he would make.

She was of lighter weight than him, something that gave her a clear advantage when it came to fancy footwork - which she had demonstrated here now. But she wasn't that much lighter than him, and any horse placed themselves in a vulnerable position when they decided to take their forefeet off the ground, and rely entirely on the powerful, but not necessarily perfectly steady hindfeet.

Madyrn moved towards the mare now, his previous step away taken only to prevent her horn from happening to give him another scrape on its way up, but now that she was in the air, he ducked quickly to his left - bracing himself for the impact of her hooves he would surely feel, as he attempted to drive the point of his shoulder into the underside of her barrel, the ultimate aim to knock her off balance, to the ground.

There was a theme going on here.

Knock her down, crush her skull into the dirt where it belonged. Madyrn was akin to an efficient bulldozer, happily hoping to destroy everything and all in its path without a second thought.

He felt her hooves crash down upon his back, mostly upon his left side, though the odd paw did scrape across his spine, and they hurt about as much as he expected them to. He grunted with the effort to maintain his forward momentum into her thrashing legs, driving with his hind feet, keeping his head tucked and tilting his muzzle slightly towards her, to his left. While he was there, his lips pulled back, and yellowed teeth tried to snap at the tender flesh upon Ignita's left flank.

He did hope she fell down soon, he was not looking forward to when the rush of battle wore off, to the time when he must eventually sleep, and the stiffness and pain settled in from this effort. For now, the throbbing was constant, but he knew it had been coming, and would not regret his decision in the least should it prove fruitful to his desires of seeing this wretched creature destroyed once and for all.

[615 words.
2/4 attack posts]

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