Ophelia felt her hooves connect successfully with the beast who approached her, the resounding snap a hollow trumpet of victory as she navigated the battle, neck being torn into pieces. The entire left and underside of her neck was gashed in red swatches so stark against her pale skin. Even the furious coloration of her passive magic seemed to blanch through the pain as flaps of flesh hung uselessly around her chest. The tears welling in her eyes were blinked away quickly, the droplets warping her universe in a detrimental fashion, and she did not want any more injures in this battle – not when the ones she sported now were so very deep.

Tinek gave her what she needed most – time. The smell of burning flesh made her crinkle her mousy, gray nostrils as she rounded to face her opponent once more, and watched the deer she kicked begin to rise from where he had fallen. There was no resounding cry of satisfaction from her inner beast, and no emotional response to this small victory. As she watched the labored, antlered beast rise, she felt absolutely nothing at all. Numb. All that remained was simple survival and basic instinct, and she honed in on those facets of her personality while trying her best to ignore the pain.

As she negotiated the snowy terrain, kicking up mercifully chilled earth into her bleeding wounds, she came to a sliding halt as her gaze landed upon her opponent. His figure began to twist and warp as she skid, recoiling and keeping her distance while she re-evaluated her final battle maneuvers. Thranduil wasn’t just looking like another, he was literally turning into her former king, Tembovu. Ophelia’s lips parted slightly as she took in this new information, strange, two-toned gaze sweeping the massive form.

How many could he turn into? Was he copying her now? Phi narrowed her eyes as she swished her tail around her hocks, limping slightly as she watched magic burst forth from the changling she was fighting. Hot magma (was this Tembovu’s power?) like a behemoth creature with tusks burst her way, and she grit her teeth as her cloven hooves made purchase on the sloppy ground beneath her hooves.

One hind hoof slid out, and she landed hard on her injured leg, seconds before the blast came her direction. The fire burned at the flaps of skin around her neck, cauterizing the wounds and licking at her left side. Ophelia gathered all her strength in her haunches to leap out of perdition and back into the impartial cold of heaven, but the flames gathered around her fetlocks. So hot were the burns afflicted on her hind legs, they hissed and sputtered when she landed back in the snow. White steam rose for the seconds following, and she struggled to clear the alarm bell howling in her head.

Cold. No emotion. Winter. You are winter.

She tried to repeat this mantra in her head as she groaned, heading directly for this not-Tembovu with her horn bared. Come hell or high water, she was going to make some impression, even if she wound up destroyed in the process. Survival was paramount, but she could not drop this fight. Ophelia was not going to give up. Giving no time for her hind legs to ache, she let the cool mud coat them in all their agony as she swung her head, pulling at the gashes in her neck as she aimed to slice Thanduil’s thicker, taller neck.

As she moved away from him, not giving a single second within the blades around his neck, she swung out with her injured hind legs, hoping to deter him from following. Tinek followed suit, covering her back with a spray of frost and even going so far as to freeze Ophelia’s neck. The burned and bloody wounds on her neck were then frozen, no longer bleeding and giving her a modicum of hope for the future of this battle.

With whispers of her magic, she sought out his mind. “Lets dig deeper, shall we?” she murmured, hopefully only in the recesses of his mind. “Show me what you’re hiding…” Ophelia trailed off, starting what she hoped would be a thorough perusal of his very mind while he was distracted by this battle.

---------------
(717 words in word) (2/3)
- Hind legs and left side burned by the mamga
- Aims to cut his neck with her horn
- Kicks out at him
- Tinek covers her back with a frost breath

(omg made it with an hour to spare ;-; )