Oh, it hurt alright. The entire leg felt like a red-hot pillar of fire that pulsated painfully for every rapid heartbeat, every pulse that sent blood pouring out onto the sand from the deep gashes in her skin. But it had been satisfying to feel her hooves connect with the solid bone of the mutt's skull, and the fact that fangs no longer dug into the joint of her fetlock was soothing. The rise of her neck held a new confidence as the shadow hoisted herself up on her feet again, wings held outstretched on each side in a display meant to enhance her stature as she made a limping turn, intent on staring the laughing maniac that once had been a horned one in the face.

"You ruined yourself the moment you decided to turn on the Tuuli" she retorted with icy coldness in the voice, a cool that did nothing to calm the purple flare that burned down on the mongrel shapeshifter. "Don't blame your own mistakes on me, you hornless excuse for a unicorn!"

Skuggi flattened the ears against the neck and snapped at the intruder with yellow ivories, wings flapping to whirl up sand into the wounds of the loser who thought she could catch a shadow. Passing the broken piece of the Lady's horn as she started forward, in passing the inky spy reached out and grabbed the gnarled keratin between her teeth, frowning at the unusual taste upon her tongue.

"Leave this land or die by the hands of this Shadow Hornsnatcher" she spat around the horn, trying to erase every trace of pain, hesitation or fear from the voice. Would she really be able to kill the other if it came down to it? Was the black unicorn going to take her seriously, would she have given up now, since her greatest weapon had been taken from her? Shadow had no answers, but she prayed - probably for the first time in her life - that whatever ruler this land had would grant the other enough sense to admit defeat.

A contemptuous snort was the only reply the black bitch was given, delivered along with a long, cold look from violet eyes. Ivories clamped down on the horn in her mouth, lips shifting and adjusting to the foreign shape and weight of it - was this why the Basiners were stupid enough to think they could take on an alliance of horses twice the size of themselves while splitting their own forces? Because their horns were so heavy that all sense were squeezed out of the brains? It seemed quite the plausible theory, and almost as an afterthought she pondered whether this meant that all horn bearing creatures were generally dumb. The theory had holes, granted. Hector had two quite massive ones, and he was intelligent enough for her...

"Don't let your stupidity shine through like that" she sneered at the black mutt as she noticed how it remained on the same spot, eyes greedily following the horn. "Look around you, groundling. Your forces are being pushed back, you've lost your horn, I kicked you in the head. You've lost, nameless bitch, and this is my prize for letting you live."

It was amazing how much her confidence was growing. Even though blood dripped from the cut under her chest, even though the leg felt like a pillar of all consuming flame pounded by continuous hammers she didn't hesitate to press forward, wings spread threateningly as she made a second lash towards the intruder - this time with the horn, using it as a makeshift dagger to extend the reach. What an irony indeed if it would hit its mark and draw blood - to be cut by your own weapon would be the ultimate shame for any fighter, and certainly it would be mortifying for someone so full of herself as this shapeshifter.

"This is your last warning; leave or die!" The exclamation was followed by a quick rear, more unbalanced than it looked for the pain in the rear leg but sufficient in bringing her forward in a leap, hard black front feet aiming to smack down on the head or back of the mutt, to crush bone and break pride. Did the shade know who she was making an enemy of? Most certainly not, or she might have been more careful. Maybe. It was hard to tell now, as the taste of victory enveloped the mind of the crow and made her feel strong, condifent - invincible.

For a moment she was afraid that she would have to drive the invader all the way back to the border before she gave up. Both her attacks missed to the great displeasure of the raven, and she found herself snorting in irritation at the retreating words of the mutt once it finally turned tail and ran off. Pet? Who was the pet of whom, anyway? She wasn't the one who turned to a dog in a pinch, it wasn't Skuggi who barged into another herd land spouting nonsense only to get her butt kicked.

Suspicious and concerned about the intentions of the jackal the informant followed behind the enemy until it was clear beyond doubt that she indeed had left the Throat. Then, and only then did she finally allow herself to relax, the stride turning slow and sore as she turned and began the long walk home. She had to find out how the rest of the battle had fared, how her herd-mates had managed. The raven felt a desperate need to see Hector again, hear his voice and lean into his side... Silly thoughts, of course. She hadn't seen him in forever, not since she was stolen. It worried her; not even her own informants could find him, which meant that he either had left Helovia or were trapped in such a place that he couldn't be found. At least... At least that was what she hoped. The thought of him lying dead somewhere like a feast for the predators was painful, and the mare quickly pushed it aside.

With the horn of her enemy between the teeth she kept padding back, feeling how adrenaline and euphoria slowly dissipated from the system. At one point she was forced to stop; the pain in the leg was too great, and as she tried to keep going she stumbled over something on the ground, feeling her hooves become tangled in something long, cold, that glittered faintly in the moonlight. Puzzled she reached down and nuzzled it, realizing that it was a small gemstone attached to a fine lacing of metal string. Even in the dark she could see the stone gleam in yellow and red, and transfixed she picked it up, nuzzling the chain around the horn. Perhaps it was fluke, or maybe a sign; this was a good day for Shadow, and a very, very bad day for the poor idiot who had gaped over more than she could chew.