She has chosen the Frozen Arch, purely because it is a blissful few degrees colder than most of Helovia and in the height of Tallsun she needs any respite she can possibly get from the searing heat. It is early evening, the sun already diving behind the distant mountains to cast the land into semi-darkness, but it is still unpleasantly hot and Nyx finds her limbs seeking out the snowdrifts simply for some relief. Sweat beads on her flanks and on the proud arch of her neck, tail thrashing to rid herself of the flies that insist on persecuting her. The conditions are not ideal, but they are the best she can come up with. Better, at least, than fighting at midday in the open plains, for example. It will be a long and ardous fight, but she hopes that will disrupt her opponent as much as it will her.

By her side, Dominus lurks. She can feel his palpable excitement, and he has prepared well for the battle ahead. His claws are freshly sharpened, his pristine white fur groomed to perfection ready to be doused with fresh blood. Nyx has to admit to a tingling sense of worry about fighting a herdmate with Dominus; she knows the lion's predatory instincts can often overrule his senses, and she does not know if he will listen to her when she begs him not to go overboard on her opponent. In a normal fight against a true foe, he could bite away to his little heart's content, but not against a herdmate. Still, there is little use in worrying; she forces it aside and allows excitement to replace it, neck arching magnificently as she waits for her foe to arrive. ""

[ OOC @[Daemyn] World's Edge seasonal spar! Magic and companions allowed (if you're okay with that), 3 posts each c: Set around the Frozen Arch.

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Her gaze slips down to the ground, reminding herself of the conditions. Although the snow is patchy due to the heat, it's still there, and she will have to be mindful of her step so as not to go arse-over-tit in front of him. That would be embarassing. It's not too hot, thanks to her careful selection of the time and venue for their battle, yet it is marginally more roasty than she would prefer and thus she will have to take great care not to overexert and collapse from heatstroke.

He introduces himself, and states his companion will be sitting out the battle. Dominus - whose hungry gaze hasn't left the pup since it appeared - looses a low growl, mentally telling Nyx in no uncertain terms that I'm helping, like it or lump it. "That's fine by me. I, uh, won't be able to afford the same courtesy." Her lion would likely rip her nose off if she tried to stop him bathing his claws in glory. "Good luck." Dominus scoffs - I don't wish my prey luck before I eat it - before adopting his familiar battle-pose, mane ruffled and limbs bent with lips peeled back from yellowed fangs, his tail swinging side to side in preparation for its use as a rudder with his claws twitching hungrily in their sheaths. He is a walking war machine, all tense muscle and feral masculinity, a world of difference from his bonded's cool assessment of her opponent. That's where Nyx differs from her mind-partner. He is living fire, whereas she is ice; where Dominus is all untamed emotion and wild savagery, she is frosty calmness and stormy steel.

Ladies first is the old rule, and the silver soldier loses no time in launching her first assault. She breaks into a trot, allowing her hooves to grow accustomed to the conditions underfoot, ascertaining the slippyness of the terrain and the firmness of the snow-hardened soil. Her speed increases, stride flowing into a canter with the grace of a ballet dancer yet the steely determination of a warrior. She aims to approach him head-on, because he's already seen her so trying to flank him would be a waste of everybody's time. She charges directly towards him, neck arched with muscles tensed and quivering, horn lowered like a javelin.

At the last moment before they would surely collide, the ironheart feints to her left, shying quickly and abruptly in her chosen direction. She's aided by the hard ground, hooves digging into snow, ice and dirt alike as she aims to run parallel alongside Daemyn, right side to right side. Her skull shifts to its right, horn pointing towards her foe as she aims to flick the point along Daemyn's right side from his shoulder to his flank. She does not put a great deal of push behind her attack, as she does not want to gore him too deeply, however she hopes to cause enough damage to create a decent-sized cut.

The soldier doesn't want Dominus helping just yet, however the lion has other ideas. He is, after all, not her slave, not inferior to his grey-hued bonded in any way. He is a wild, sentient, living thing and if he wants to throw himself into the fray, he sure as hell will. The titanic lion shifts forwards with a savage growl, body held low to the ground and icy gaze fixed warily on the hooves of the stallion. As Nyx aims to attack Daemyn's right side, Dominus tries for his left, specifically the left foreleg. Approaching from the left in a T-shape, the lion lifts both sets of massive front paws and aims to rasp them sharply down Daemyn's left foreleg from knee to fetlock, as though using a scratching post. He aims to leave bloody furrows in his wake, although he's generous enough to try not to strike any important tendons, at least. His weight is thrust back onto his haunches, optimising his balance.

[ OOC @[Daemyn] Nyx tries to slice her horn along his right side, whilst Dominus tries to scratch his left foreleg.

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