Their collision is jarring, so much so that even Oizys feels a thrumming of pain through her muscles with the sheer force of the impact. He reverses, and Oizys suddenly has no idea what to do next. Does she take the high road and stay where she is, let him recover and splutter I didn't mean to hit you so hard? That seems like the right thing to do, the good thing to do, going by the limited amount of fight etiquette she possesses.

Or does she take the low road, the vastly more appetising road, and press home her advantage by ploughing into him again whilst he's struck dumb? Her horns haven't caused as much damage as she'd hoped, which helps lessen her guilt about the wounds she forged with her chest. She reminds herself that this is battle, that niceties are to be left at the door and that honour is not a friend to true warlords, but it's hard to think about that when it's her General she's hurt, a man she begrudgingly respects and wishes to earn the admiration of. She'd told herself to impress him, not break him!

It occurs to her that she's underestimating him, though. He is not a soft-skinned battle virgin who will crawl away and cry at the force of her blow. No, Oizys rather thinks that she might have woken the beast - and that thought fills her with a savage thrill that she can hardly explain. Unlike against Weaver, where both women wore kid gloves and never fully let themselves go, she thinks she's about to experience the true ire of a warrior. She thrives upon that thought, feasts upon the notion that Erebos will want to punish her for her sins, that he'll hunger to break the little grey upstart that dare plant such a blow upon his sacred chest. Oizys' heart beats and her excitement pulses as she watches him wheel away to his right, knowing that she's about to earn a General's rebuke, a soldier's fury...

Then, inexplicably, her eyes fail her. The dim visibility of the cave is challenging enough, but now she can see nothing but manic lights and flashing, pulsing brightness, causing her ears to pin and her head to flail madly as she tries to rid herself of the hideous strobe effect. Ker, help! she commands, and the raptor unfurls like a snake from her perch on the stalactite she'd flown into. Her sharper, keener eyes become the gargoyle's as Oizys reaches deep into her bonded's consciousness and snatches her sight to use in place of her own, giving her a dizzying sense of vertigo and the odd phenomenon of being able to see herself from above (is her ass always that big?!)

It's just enough to allow Oizys to hurl her weight to her right as Ker's vision shows her Erebos' fire-gilded horn coming for her left side. It isn't enough to save her completely, but her movement means that only the very tip of the General's rapier slashes across her left flank and hip. The wound is light, glancing, but the heat from his horn makes it smart more than it should; she winces, grimaces, snarls as she feels her ripped flesh burning. It's not enough to impede her, but it's enough to harden her determination and make her silently berate herself for not seizing the opportunity to damage his chest further.

But ah, perhaps she can! She continues to wheel to her right, using her forequarters as a pivot as she attempts to swing around and bring her back end facing Erebos. Launching her weight to her forelegs, the mare bucks out twice with the thickly muscled bulk of her hindlegs, seeking to slam her great hooves into his already-injured chest. She wants to further the damage to the area to immobilise him completely - underhand and dastardly, perhaps, but all's fair in love and war. Surely as General he would want to see his soldier using her body to her advantage, utilising every tool she possesses to try and claim victory? She uses Ker's eyes to direct her, as her own are still throbbing with headache-inducing lights.

The raptor is not content with just giving Oizys her sight, though. Ker wants to bloody her beak in true battle, and her gargoyle bonded makes no attempt to stop her as she folds her wings and plummets from the skies. She aims for Erebos' rear, unfolding her gleaming talons as she attempts to slam her full weight into the stallion's rump, just above the dock of his tail. Her beak and claws attempt to rip into his skin and make him bleed, hoping he will be too distracted by Oizys' vicious kick to be able to avoid her.

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@Erebos !

2/3 - 797 words