Blitzkrieg: THAT'S NICE, HAVE FUN THERE. [II]

hearts that cry diamond tears;
spirits that walk for a thousand years;
here them calling on that darkest morning;
pulling me under, my thoughts dissapear;

Saphira is an oddity on the fields of Blitzkrieg. She has no weaknesses, or at least where element is concerned. The shard whispers to the wind, drawing it near, and then thrusting it away with the full force of its power. She keeps her vision cleared, the wind all but missing except for a few weak gales that slip past.

She watches Zakr’s approach with a steady and unconcerned manner. She is moving, a collected, and balanced canter eating away the distance. As well as the cold that threatened to seep into their limbs. He comes to her almost head on, but not quite. Saphira can see the rising of his muscles; see the direction his new path is headed. Saphira does not follow him into the air, but rather turns into him, and using Counter shoves off her massive Spanish haunches and rams her chest into the underside of chest and legs. Her neck twisted slightly to the right, to avoid his searching hooves. His hooves find purchase on the left side of her shoulder blade, tearing down the large muscle, and the upper part of her forearm. She feels the blood pool into the wound, feels the cold air bite her flesh for a moment as her elements recoiled around her. The shard snaps back, the wind rushes away, and lust appears in cold sapphire eyes. She knows that by ramming him, she has increased his chance of injury to himself, both from the harsh climate conditions and also because of the needed force in his haunches to keep himself erect. He rises again, this time nowhere near as high. Saphira’s left leg is slightly open to attack. She rears, only about halfway, when she feels the cold slap of his hooves connecting with the outside of her knee. The pain radiates through her leg, and the agony that ensues upon landing is just that. Pain beyond belief. But the Air shard clings to her, tempers the pain. It reaches out for Zakr with tangible hatred. The connection will be felt by both, her air screaming for his earth’s destruction.

Saphira limps further to the left, angling herself away from him. Each step sends a ripple of pain through her left foreleg. However, the air embraces it, holds it. Weakens the pain that against another element might have been much worse. Oh how it pays to be superior. She is moving, but nearly fast enough. She can see Zakr turning away from her, and she knows, only a second too late what is about to happen. She thrusts her hooves deeper into the ground, using every ounce of strength and power to escape him. But she feels his hooves connect with the back of her haunch, just above the stifle. The sound echoes, a wet slap as earth connects with water, lightning and air. She feels the pain begin to spread, but again her air is there to soothe her. Her other elements wrap around her, sparks igniting. Now it was her turn.

She turns, slowly, carefully, and then her stride really begins. It is a balanced, jerky gait. Lifting her uninjured leg slightly higher than the left to lessen impact. The air shard allows her gait to be faster than normal horses, adding her swiftness and agility, even with injury. She powers forward, until she has come around him and is headed for him almost head on but she is placed at about a 25-30 degree angle to his left side. And of course she would maneuver however necessary to stay this way. On the last stride, when it seems she is about to run head-long into him that she rocks back on her haunches and on the downward surge/thrust of her uneven stride, her right foreleg explodes out at the front/side of Zakr’s left foreleg. It is aimed most directly at knee, but given that it is such a small target any part of the lower foreleg would do. There are a lot of small bones that are arranged to make up the front leg, the large metacarpal, the small metacarpal, fetlock joint, first phalanx, proximal sesamoid, and the pastern joint. Not to mention the flexor tendons and suspensory ligaments. Any of these targets would suffice for Saphira. For every one of them is used in the bearing of weight, stability, balance, the extension and compression of the leg as it takes on weight. And anyone who has ever had a horse with a suspensory injury, bowed tendon, fractured bone, knows that it makes them instantly lame and basically useless for months. And even with proper rehab they sometimes never get better. Now combine that with the full force of about 700 pounds as Saphira’s gravity is taken into account. Also taken into consideration the thicker build of Saphira to the lighter, more fragile frame of Zakr, and of course the added power of her air element, to his weaker earth. Not to mention the bone crushing force in which is applied. She calls into effect her use of Comboand rakes down the same leg with her injured left leg, knowing it wont do as much damage, but it will still increase the injury already made with her right foreleg.

Both hooves touch down, and as her hooves meet the ground, she feels her left foreleg begin to throb. She favors it again, feeling the not so subtle tug on the swollen portion of knee.

Her next attack follows suit, making sure that Saphira follows him in whatever defensive maneuver he might execute. Making sure that he never manages to get more than half a stride away from her. Now Saphira and Zakr had been almost facing one another, I don’t know exactly where he is now, depending on how he moved. However, it is safe to say he would make an attempt to move forward and to the right. (Since she attacked the left) it is only logical to move away from a blow such as this, for moving into it will not hinder the power. So it is likely they are close to parallel, with Saphira almost facing his girth, or if he managed to move much faster than that, closer to the end of his ribcage. Now with the understanding that Zakr is injured, he will not be as likely to move as fast, or as nimbly as before. And would need to regain stability before moving off again. Making her second attack slightly easier to pull off. She is out of the way of his hind legs, and his foreleg would only be able to strike her if he kicked it backwards, having no damaging ability at all. She takes only a stride, and angles it so that her haunches are facing him, and it wouldn’t matter if Zakr moved away now. For any movement on his part is only going to aid Saphira. She plants her weight on her forehand (although her left foreleg protests strongly, but the air is always there to soothe it) and slams her hind legs to the underside of his girth. It is called the Deep Caudal Pectoral, a group of muscles used to help pull the front legs towards the haunches while the leg is on the ground. This muscle stretches from the point of elbow to the middle of the ribcage. So even if Zakr had been faster than Saphira predicted she could still severely damage this muscle, and easily bruise of fracture his ribs. Weakening his ability to move his forelegs and breathe properly. It would hinder the ability to extend and compress his stride, and do anything strenuous. His forelegs would not be able to bear as much weight, or move as easily. Think of having a Charlie horse combined with a pulled muscle, bruised ribs, and the added pain and force of the stronger element attacking his earth ruthlessly. And you sort of get the idea.

Even if Zakr had moved amazingly fast given his injured leg, he is still longer than Saphira’s compact body, making her target even longer, and easier to hit. But if he moved like a cheetah she could easily just as strike the internal abdominal oblique, where the organs lie close to the skin. Easily bruising a few, rupturing blood vessels and causing internal bleeding. To buck would not nearly be fast enough, and only add strain to the intended muscle area. To side step either way would increase her chances. Saphira lands, feeling the sting in her haunch as it coils back underneath her, and the thrumming of her pulse in her left foreleg. She limps away from him, breathing uneasily.

the siren;
keeper of the air shard;
water III + lightning III + air III

you can hold the darkness from you;
if the will is very strong;
but that whisper always haunts you;
cannot change the Siren's Song.