A slashed nose was quite painful in a sensitive way, it was sharper than most pangs and it left tears weeping in the very corners of her eyes. Yet, her gaze told a different story. One of pig-headed stubbornness, a refusal to keel over to this monster and his pet dog. The profoundness of death had nulled in the heat of the climax but, even though she stood with a stout steadfastness, there was something to be said about the shuddering ground under pounding hooves and the bloodthirsty eyes that bore down on her in cold remorse. It was the way it wove into her body like a foretelling of a tragic future, the hammering footfalls were the countdown and the savage stares a brutal promise. The blood that coated her body and the agony that went with it were surely signs of a monarch who was going, quite literally, for her life. However, as her chest bruised under his hooves and her horn skewered his leg, a small sense of triumph celebrated in a corner of her mind. A small blow in comparison to the damage he had dealt her already, but it was better than none and perhaps the most she could hope for considering the situation. Whatever magical properties the amulet she had thrown from her neck possessed had not done her any harm either.

Still struggling from her injuries but with the heaviness of her bones now worn off, the Czarina stumbled backwards suddenly. New blood, the King’s blood now coated the end of her horn, though she had paid a price for her brief moment of victory. Her chest throbbed, he had fucking big feet and studded ones at that. Her collection of wounds had taken a hard toll on her body leaving her in a weary state, but not all was lost. Even as the grisly mutt and the rampaging behemoth closed in on her she felt a little lift to her body. As if she was getting a second wind, but it felt a little more permanent than that, perhaps there was a healer nearby. Africa or Kiara, who knew, the banshee didn’t have time to turn and thank whoever it was. It lifted the pain from her chest enough for her to take a quick, deep breath and lurch forwards into a scrappy canter. Determined, she then hastily flapped her wings in effort to scramble away from the oncoming clodhopper. It was difficult; the missing feathers hampered her balance and made the take off shaky. The mutt got close; her snapping jaws just missing her fetlock by inches and Ghost laced her ears against her neck, shooting a back right hoof outwards in hopes she was quick enough to smack it against the retreating, violent cur.

There was a whoosh and a rumble, if she had lingered on her flight any second longer then perhaps she would have been ensnared in the devilish trap below. The shaking ground and those canine teeth may have been her final undoing, but not this time. Thoughts of death filtered away for a moment as Ghost felt she had been handed a rare chance to take another shot at him one last time. She could not remain in the air for very long as her energy ebbed away, however, and her body felt almost useless under the stress. Taking the remnants of the extra strength she had been gifted from an unknown source, Ghost angled herself and dived in on Archibald. Her gaze set for a certain point of his body and, hoping she had targeted him accurately, she attempted to kick out one left back hoof for his already damaged gaskin. The armour made it difficult to target, but perhaps she’d slow him long enough to put her own life out of danger.

When she thought the ground was motionless and the prospect of danger was less, well, lesser than before, she landed in a heap and not with an ounce of grace. Her weary gaze searched the desperate scene and a defeated half smile conceded the overriding loss. They hadn’t stood much of a chance from the start, but she marvelled at those who bravely stood by her side in defence. It was one thing to fight a battle; it was another to keep on fighting in a losing one. She could not fault their courage. Her eyes left the sad scene and sought that of Archibald’s. "Spare them" she motioned to the fighters who had defended so gallantly "they are braver than most, you have what you want". She had no idea if the King would even bother hearing her request, he didn’t have to, but words were all she had in the dying embers of this battle.

[WC: 795 | 3/3
Good fight time ^^ <3]