Loretta danced besides her king, muscles quivering with delight. She could not hear Archibald’s thoughts in any way, because of the eclipse, but she knew that she was going to get to right in this battle. Her red coat bristled and she moved eagerly ahead of her bonded, tail sticking up with its point towards the sky. She would feel blood in her mouth; the irony taste would satisfy her. She had watched Archibald dominate so many in terms of battle, and finally she was able to join him. She was a skilled hunter and by simply play-fighting with her sister, Manhattan, she knew how strong her jaws were.

"You are ungallant and deficient, useless." The black knight hissed as he rolled onto the scene. He stood tall above Jackal, with strength and muscle that far surpassed the smaller stallion. Archibald’s midnight colored ears pinned to the back of his head and his neck arched menacingly, muscles bulging. To not have a fear of the more experience stallion was a foolish thing for Jackal to follow through on—Archibald had killed more stallions and defeated more opponents than Jackal thought. The perfect white feathers that draped around Archibald’s skilled hooves had been stained a dark crimson more times in the past than the rusted appaloosa had even thought about battling.

Archibald’s eyes narrowed darkly as he continued to walk closer to Jackal, ears still pinned and muscles tightening with power. Loretta circled the pair in a wide manner, amber eyes glistening with delight as she eyed the brown dragon. She wondered how dragon tasted, with its tough hide. Ophelia’s dragon was something Loretta could delight in and learn from—this dragon stood as her enemy. Baring her teeth the young dog growled, lowering her center of gravity by bending her legs. She was ready. As Archibald drew nearer to Jackal the Chief pushed his shoulders forward, his feathers swinging with his advancing hooves, muscles rippling throughout his body.

In one swift motion Archibald struck his neck out when he was less than a fox-length away from Jackal. The closing of the space between them with the dark knight’s giant head was fueled with bared teeth, aimed squarely for the rusted stallion’s shoulder. As Archibald swooped in to bite he kept moving his momentum forward, hulking body hoping to crash into Jackal and move him backwards. A faint sound of distant thunder rumbled across the sky as one of Birdsong’s many thunderstorms pushed its way into the Foothills. A shiver went down Archibald’s spine as the cold pushed into him as a gush of air passed the fighting pair. Loretta’s snarling was muted by a new, closer roll of thunder as the storm approached them. The Dauntless was ready for the battle in the rain.



[ WC: 577 | 1/4 | Archibald gets close to Jackal and strikes to bite at his shoulder, all the while still moving his body towards Jackal to push him backwards.]