"Aramis, stay away unless I say otherwise" the shade commanded of his companion, who obeyed and went to stand over where Aviya had been. d'Artagnan smiled when the Sergeant replied to his challenging words, if the mare had simply stayed away, then both Lana and Athena would have been free. The Nightshade was even bringing himself to excuse the intrusion of Aryel until she spoke the words that belittled his race. He could feel the anger coursing through him, boiling his blood and infecting his mind with the madness so many knew him for. Once taken by that kind of rage it was almost impossible to bring d'Artagnan back to the world of sanity, it was the moment the shade felt most powerful. When he held nothing back and let the beast that roamed within free of it's metaphorical chains. d'Artagnan became the nightmare that plagued the dreams of young foals in their sleep, a creature of darkness who loved nothing more than to wallow in the blood of his enemies.

He watched Aryel through simmering eyes, she was small, they always seemed to be small from the Throat herd. Even the armoured freak was short in stature. However he was bigger boned than this one. The mare before him was compact, but finely built, her body seemed to be more equipped for speed rather than the unforgiving power of his own build. She reminded him vaguely of Kou and her dainty structure that had much more flexibility than his tall, rangy body when they had duelled together. Then, of course, there was the matter of the wings that grew from her body, d'Artagnan had never been in one-on-one combat with a pegasus before now. Yet, he knew one thing was for certain, if the mare wanted to win, she couldn't just take off and hover in the sky all day. She would have to come down at some point. His cloven hooves itched to carve scars into her blue body, the moon's glow lit up the cold ground of the Basin and the first attack came from Aryel.

d'Artagnan's body was flung into life as her hooves pounded into the ground, her charge seemed unrelenting as she galloped straight for him. The Nightshade flicked his tail and grunted as she neared, intending at first to take Aryel's charge head on. However, the mare was clever and feinted to the side, unfurling wings that sprung to life with blue roaring flames. Dual painted eyes widened and the red stallion recklessly danced to his left with the one objective of staying away from her flames. His movement was fast enough to avoid the crucial burns, but she found purchase with a glancing blow to the right of his rump, burning his hairs and scorching his skin. The burn was small and with a flash he saw the image of Aaron. The bare headed stallion that had used an invisible fire against him, the simmering wound would not prove too troublesome, but the burning sensation was all the reminder he needed. Of the day the child of the Edge had challenged him for his mother. The Nightshade took solace in the fact he had been victorious that day, but seconds pressed on and he wasn't completely out of the woods. He continued veering left in his gallop, scampering away from her flame ridden buck that singed his tail in its near miss. Tall legs were spurred onwards and d'Artagnan already knew his next move.

The Time Mender didn't miss a heart beat and as she galloped away and turned to face him once more, d'Artagnan sent forth his magic into her body. Filling the water that resided there with poison, a narcotic drug that he hoped would send her drowsy as he turned as tight as his large body would allow him. Cloven hooves slammed hungrily into the ground and he attempted to approach her right side in hope of over powering her with his sheer height. Trying to slam his left shoulder into her own shoulder area whilst teeth flashed and aimed a vicious bite for her wing joint. Hoping he had succeeded, d'Artagnan galloped away to his right and danced around in the darkness. His body a flash of red in the shadows.

The burn still niggled at his rump, but as d'Artagnan awaited the next attack he knew he would be lucky if that was all he received. The Nightshade was happy though, his heart pumping excitement into his bones and thrills into his blood. He may be a healer by rank, but he had been born a fighter, born on a battlefield and born a killer. It was in battle he felt most at home.

--

[w/c: 787]
[Magic/Companion uses: 1/2 || Battle Buffs: Bulk]
[ooc commentary: d'Artagnan dodges Aryel's flaming wing by veering out to his left, he is however nicked on his rump and suffers a surface burn. d'Artagnan carries on galloping forwards to dodges her buck and singes the ends of his tail. d'Artagnan then turns and uses his narcotic magic to make her drowsy, hoping it gives him chance to barge into her right shoulder and bite at her wing joint.]

(ooc note: If she loses then d'Artagnan will expect her to leave the Basin, with or without Athena and Lana.)