Blitzkrieg: BITING THE FLESH FROM YOUR FINGERTIPS: SAPHIRA (I)

Ozymandias moves slowly at first through Blitzkrieg, enjoying the deep, slick mud beneath his feet. Quickly, though, he spots Saphira -- his next opponent -- and his dark ears lace firmly against his skull, the soil solidifying beneath his feet. He makes a point of reverting the soil to mud after each step, keen on ensuring that his advantage does not aid his opponent as well, and lifts himself into a trot. His duo-chromatic opponent, a hairs-breadth taller than him but certainly less massive, could be moving or not; although, if she were still, she would be an easy target.

He comes towards her from behind, the angle irrelevant as he stretches his teeth forward to snap at her haunch. He doesn't want to bite her, simply to drive her forward. Her hindquarters would be stronger than his, and her acceleration crisper: but she is in the mud, and Ozymandias is on solid ground, nullifying this particular advantage. He drops into a canter and follows her, side by side; at the same time, Corpsetouch flows from him like disease, and it will rend her flesh without mercy. The confusion and slow, creeping pain that she feels will probably spur her forward, especially when combined with his herding presence. Saphira's flesh will peel away from her muscles as it decays; the smell is dizzying as the maggots begin to hatch in the gaping holes Corpsetouch leaves.

He will follow her step with ease, his footing easing his progress while the earth beneath Saphira will slow her. With an explosion of power he surges ahead of her, passing her thanks only to the hard, sturdy soil beneath his feet. In one stride he rocks onto his haunches and jerks his knees high, pivoting sharply about ninety degrees so that they are now perpendicular. Saphira has a stride to figure out how, exactly, to avoid the massive stallion, especially with the momentum she has amassed fleeing his Corpsetouch and hulking presence. He has effectively cut her off and given her little option but to stop as fast as she can.

Here, his precious Earth will aid him in more ways than one. Colliding with Ozymandias would not be the brightest idea; not only is he the more solid opponent, but the Earth in his veins whispers cruelly to her lightning, and doubtless it will be screaming for Saphira to avoid contact at all costs. As she brakes, the mud will squelch as she slides atop it, her forelegs most likely braced, and he will sharply extend his legs to drive his near hoof into her knees.

There is little Saphira can do to get away, especially in the deep, squelching mud; twisting away would be imprecise and slow as the mud slowed her, her hind legs scrambling to find her center of gravity, and Ozymandias would still be nearly guaranteed a hit on one foreleg, if not both. His blow, as intended, would force her leg to hyper extend as the joint tried to compensate for his considerable weight. He could even fracture the delicate, unprotected knee joint, if he landed with enough power. Even if he missed, hitting the foreleg or the cannon, the pain would be considerable.

From here the ground becomes firm beneath his hind feet, sitting hard over his hocks as his hind end works to power him forward and past Saphira's chest before he turns so that they become ten degrees shy of parallel, their shoulders side-by-side, his head towards her haunch. He is still in motion, his first attack merely a high-stepping and striking canter step, and it only takes one stride to pull him forward enough for his next attack. His shoulder now in line with the end of her ribcage, Ozymandias lifts his forehand again, the earth solid beneath his feet, and slams his substantial weight into her.

Maggots that crawl through Saphira's necrotic wounds burst as their bodies collide. She would, no doubt, try to shift away, putting a painful amount of weight onto her injured forelegs. She has an important choice to make here: will she exacerbate the injuries in her front legs to save her hind end and, most specifically, her hocks, or will she bite the bullet and take the blow? As he descends Ozymandias flexes his elbow and knee, striking violently forward and down at her near hind leg. He is a dangerous mass of blood red power and cruelty, slashing brutally at what is widely accepted as the largest and most vulnerable joint in the legs. It serves to maneuver a horse in just about any direction, and with one out of commission -- especially in this footing -- Saphira would find it hard to execute anything that involved turning, stopping, or accelerating.

Necrotic tissue may be only slowly painful, but as her muscles begin to die and fall away from her bones, she will find herself significantly lacking in the mobility department. Ozymandias lands and takes two or three strides away and at an angle, forcing her to turn if she wants to follow him. He will not run, as he is not a coward, but he won't make it easy and painless for her to follow.