We hadn't been home for long, my beloved cloud and I. The sand was beneath our feet, between my padded toes and surrounding my bonded's neat hooves, the wind stirring around us, lifting the indigo tendrils of her mane off the sleek curve of her nape. I smiled a canine's smile at her as her cerulean gaze drifted to meet my own. We had been travelling a lot lately, but had finally settled back in our southern home. I had worries that my beloved cloud kept far too much to herself, restricting the friends she made - it was true, that she could call very few souls a true friend. When I voiced my concerns to her, in that peculiar way that our bond allowed, she simply said that she had all she needed to survive in this world, why should she seek out any more? To survive is one thing, to live, another. The words were all I offered on the matter, before I permitted her to change the subject.

Friendships were one thing; family was another. The entire herd was our family, and our loyalty was firmly secured with them. We healed them when they became hurt, and we protected them when threats were made to their security. Cirrus did miss her mother, it had been far too long since she had seen her elegant presence. And the rambunctious, electric personality of her sister was also sought after, though to no avail. My sensitive nostrils could not catch their scent amongst those of our herdmates, even as we wandered along the incomplete wall.

What my nostrils did detect, was a whole other boardgame.

Enemy, it wasn't even a word, more of an alert, an alarm that rung along our shared bond. I felt the ripple of tenseness travel up her spine, as her ears pricked and her eyes scouted forward. Wings burst from her sides, and an instant later she had surged forward and into the air. My limber legs travelled across the sands at speed in her wake, and I growl as I recognise a canine scent alongside that of the unicorn enemy. I could tell it was one who was the same as I, though the absence of magic had stripped us of our usual magical attributes. I warn my beloved, by sharing through our bond the scent I had detected. Her breathing quickens, as without a second thought, she plucks the spear that was tucked into her right wing out, holding the wooden shaft in her mouth, the sharp, silver end pointing to her left. She was inexperienced in true warfare, but she was the daughter of the fallen General, raised with a strict fitness regime.

Don't think, I murmur to her as we travel, just do, I add, feeling the waves of nerves roll through her, watching them dissipate somewhat against the force of my voice sounding in her soul. As the shapes of our enemies took form beneath the silver, muted light of the Moon above, a growl began in my chest - my eyes clung to the crimson streaked beast, while Cirrus' gaze traced the outline of the unicorn. I stopped several strides away from them, panting, but not worn out - warmed up more like. Meanwhile my beloved had taken a higher altitude, and then descended, picking up speed all the while. I growled louder, feeling rather than seeing exactly what she was doing. Her coat was roan, dark against the midnight sky, a shadow amongst a world of shadows. Her wings were silent, for they did not beat as she descended, they merely held their position, and pointed her bodice like an arrow towards this enemy.

The time came when an impact would be made. Barely two strides to the right of the unicorn who made this challenge, and facing in the same direction as he, she touched upon the sandy ground, which absorbed some of the impact, preserving her legs. Her momentum carried her onwards in a jaunty canter, her father's spear stuck out to her left. She aimed the spear towards the right side of d'Artagnan, hoping to stick it into the area half-way up the scapula, at the base of his neck, and open the skin and muscle all along said neck. He was taller than her, it was more likely that the spear would divert below his nape than drift above it, if it struck at all. My beloved was not a bloodthirsty creature, but she was a healer, and she knew what injuries best immobilised her patients - she could apply the same principles here, only in reverse. Little did she know that she was facing the healer of the Basin, who also had that much more experience in battle too.

[ 796 words.
1/4 attack posts.
0/1 closing defence.
0/2 magic/companion uses. ]