MORENTH

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Some spoke of a battle and Morenth still remembered Ophelia's cool words as she spoke of Rift Gods. Even so, as the tiger leaped for the Earth God, Morenth felt himself grow cold on the inside. 

Throughout the gathering he had remained his usual, quiet self, not wishing to bother others with his inexperience of this land. He was no Riftian but, he was still new to Helovia, so he did not truly understand the implications of the Rifts or the Gods who opened them, nor those who came through it. So he gathered what he could from those who spoke around him, being nothing more than a silent shadow on the edge of the crowd. Still, this was beyond anything he had ever known. Legs planted in place, Morenth watched in silent horror as the tiger drew blood from the Earth God. Everything seemed to move slowly, but all at the same time it moved fast. Faster than he would remember later on. In a heartbeat everyone reacted. The winged horses took to the sky as the Earth God shook the ground with his might, throwing great boulders at the tar-spewing tiger. 

He heard shouts of warning - stay away from the tar! Glancing down Morenth realized that the tar was pouring out of the tiger, creating large veins of black goo that with an unnatural speed seemed to move towards those who were still unlucky enough to be on the ground. Don't touch it! His mind roared and he felt his mind begin to sharpen with the battle-ready hardness he had been trained into. His heart thudded against his chest, but he made himself move. Dancing away from the black gooey substance that drifted towards him, he could feel the heat that rose from it as if it were a river of fire instead of tar. A new layer of sweat marred his neck, dampening the stripes on his pristine coat. Hooves crunched against the earth, he could hear cries and shouts of battle around him. A few charged in head first towards the tiger, and others attacked from the skies. Morenth considered his options, still dancing away from the tar as the earth began to rumble underneath him.  

It caught him by surprise, and unable to steady himself from mid-stride, he stumbled. The earth flew towards him, the rumbling disorientating him and he felt his knees scrape against the rough surface of dirt, his face stopping inches from where the black tar rolled past. His knees burned, but Morenth cursed and pulled himself away from the tar as quickly as his feet would carry him. Drawing himself upright, his cheeks flushing with heat and his breath heavy, Morenth whipped his head around to where the tiger was and, without a second thought he charged. He followed the flow of the battle, unable to allow himself to leave as others fought against the other God. Adrenaline now pumped fiercely through his veins and he charged, lowering his horns towards the beast. He leaped neatly over the streams of tar, wary to keep away from them as he closed the distance between himself and the tiger. Others charged as well, one by one, all in unison they attacked. In his mind he was going to gore the beast with a horn, but after observing the black tar oozing out of the tiger, he suddenly realized it would not be such a good idea. Instead he landed neatly next to the tiger, swinging on his haunches he struck out with a hind leg, hoping to smack the beast with one of his hooves. 

From the corner of his eye, Morenth catches glimpse of a flickering light. Twisting his head up he is just in time to see winged horses set the tar alight with a flickering flame. Gathering his muscles Morenth leaps away from the tiger, hopefully he was in time.
  


notes: Team Earth! After nearly slipping into the tar, Morenth charges in and kicks at the tiger with all his might.