There was a sadistic satisfaction that rolled through the red bitch’s clamped jaws, the taste of dragon scale and flesh exploding on her tongue. As she came down her legs bend to absorb the shock, but slight pain tingled up her paws. With a quick lash to the left, Loretta hoped to smack the small dragon against a tree and render her unconscious. The warning from her bonded not to kill the creature was gone; instinct took over the red dog’s mind, deafening her to any command from Archibald. The malamute was a prisoner of the aggression towards prey her kin, so close to the wolf, possessed. Loretta’s body, with muscles tightened and coiled, ready to spring, began to shake with a bloodlust and desire for death.

As Loretta moved to hopefully smash the poor, little creature, razor-sharp talons scraped over her face. Closing her eyes quickly in defense, Loretta winced and took several steps backwards, feeling the dangerous tail smack against the thick fur of her neck. On her face, where the fur was thin and Fajira had focused most of her damage, began to bleed, but the thick fur of her neck protected her skin from puncture. Despite the pain that erupted across her face, her amber eyes were protected by her quickly shut eyelids, and Loretta began to shake her cranium back and forth, left to right, hoping to disorient the small lizard if she had not already knocked her to a forceful sleep.

The clip of Archibald’s hoof against Lace’s shook up his leg, vibrating the sore bruising on his stifle. The sensation did little for the pain of it, but the warlord inwardly was disappointed he had not crushed the leg of his opponent. Lace’s hoof clipped over the Dauntless’ neck, just behind his poll, thwarting his attack on the grulla’s exposed jugular. Tucking his head quickly away from falling hooves, Archibald grunted with the impact of his shoulder against Lace’s chest, and he pushed hard with his powerful hind legs off of the loamy soil. He remembered his first spar with Romani, with such a similar attack throwing the halflinger, heavier and most sturdy than the glazier, to the ground. With the quick hope, Archibald wished Lace to fall to the ground, for his body to finally surrender to the power of the General, for him to cry out in agony and defeat. But as Lace fell away from Archibald and his feathered white hooves came back to the earth, he realized it was all different.

Archibald’s body surged with a sense of panic and anger as Loretta’s emotions struggled with success and pain. Widening, Archibald watched with glistening golden eyes as Lace moved, quicker than he had seen him through the entire battle, and gallop towards his companion with a rage that Archibald had seen before. Archibald threw his weight to the right, pushing his body into a gallop as quickly as he could in the short spurt, and he arched his neck and bound his muscles, angling his body to hopefully crash directly into Lace’s, hoping to send the grulla away from his path on Loretta and into the nearby trees. Rage fumed within the chest of the Dauntless, and as he charged, a deadly tank poised for death, Archibald slammed his front hooves into the ground, wishing his magic to surge forth and shake the ground beneath them with more powerful tremors than he had ever released before. Straightening his neck out quickly, Archibald opened his jaws, hoping to land a hard bite on Lace—anywhere he could, hopefully drawing blood and bringing his attention back to the dark warrior.

GET OUT OF HERE. Archibald screamed inwardly, pushing Loretta away with mental force. Loretta, panicked, opened her mouth. The red bitch dropped her hold on the dragon and swung around, amber eyes widening with fear as she watched Lace’s dangerous hooves aim for her. Yelping, the malamute jumped forward and away from the weapons, feeling them just smack over the tip of her tail. Fear filled the dog’s mind, reminding her of the Thistle Meadow, when Knox had attempted to kill her for punishing Manhattan. Unlike that day, Loretta did not run for the safety underneath Archibald’s hooves, for he would surely trample her in his attempt to protect her, Loretta ran for the safety of the thick underbrush that laced the World’s Edge forest. Darting to the left, Loretta jumped into a thick, prickly bush that ripped her sides. Despite the pain, the dog continued to run, body straight like an arrow.

From the depths of the earth, Archibald’s magic finally shook the earth in one, powerful wave, lasting only seconds before it stopped. Archibald shifted forward, thrown balance from the earthquake, but hopefully he would smash into Lace.







[PC: 4/4 | WC: 799 | M&C: 2/2 | BBs: Swift and Dance | Archibald's magic only lasts about 5-7 seconds, but it is all focused in one powerful wave. It is also broken between paragraphs because it is delayed, another effect of the SWP.]