Blitzkrieg: THEIR ONLY ATTIRE IS A TYPICAL VICE [JUDGES]

|| A R T A X X A S ||
When the world has turned;
Paralyzed and wrong..

The grunt bodies colliding, the hiss and sizzle of elements clashing – and the unyielding, oppressing heat.

Half-way into the battle, Artaxxas could not argue with her fatigue. It crept slowly through her body. Sweat dripped into her eyes, stinging them – sweat dripped from her panting body like rain.

But her attacks had gone mostly as planned – her opponent now had to use her injured areas to attack. Artaxxas allowed a sly smile to engulf her ugly features.

She felt emotional tear through her body like fire. Well, water. Her fire flared in wrath, but Artaxxas, of a weaker element, could do little to battle it. Her emotions ran unchecked – a choked cry escaped her lips as she thought of all of the anguish the past weeks. Her finding of the shard. Her loss of old friends. She could tell the mare was getting closer by the screaming of her element. Wrath boiled in her, and with a grunt she pinned her ears and rose to duck stiffly, blinded, enraged. Her instinct told her to flee – a scared horse’s neck is stiff and upright. Her half-rear and attempt at spinning away (you’ve seen scared horses do it – half-rearing to spin away). It was, despite her fatigue and the draining power of water, surprisingly easy. She had the breed advantage of being superbly faster, and the added benefit of being uninjured.

Even with the height distance, striking the cervical vertebrae (the vertebrae nestled deep within the muscled neck, you cant actually feel the bones, unlike the vertebrae in the back) is quite an endeavor. Even if Aquila’s hooves had struck there, the remarkable thing about the neck is there’s more muscle than bone – breaking would be out of the option. Thankfully, Artaxxas’ disorientation caused her to bow to instinct and shy. Her near-blindness made her especially flighty, her rising anger made her retaliatory. Aquila would have to rear straight up, diminishing her power significantly. Artaxxas’ blind duck to the side caused her hooves to rip unceremoniously down her shoulder, the force nearly knocking the half-blind mare off balance. The suprascapular muscle in her shoulder roared with agony, and the brutal shove sent her staggering to the side as Aquila collided into her. Her hooves had caused a mighty chain reaction – Artaxxas’ muscle instantly stiffened and a scream of agony hissed from her black lips.

Staggering, Artaxxas limped, her muscles stiffening already by the bruising blow. She felt the mare’s super Emotional ebb away, and her sight was suddenly regained. But then all too soon she saw Aquila rise again – despite the water, the heat, the injuries, Artaxxas did her best to escape another onslaught of agony. She continued her previous duck, aided by the staggering push of the other. Overwhelming equine instinct told her to flee, but her muscles screamed as she coiled and flexed them in her defense. She could not move as swiftly as hoped and once more Aquila’s hooves struck right behind her elbow, where the girth is usually placed. The staggering blow caused her to trip as Aquila’s hooves tangled with her legs in the combo. Luckily the ribs are strongest there – thickly lashed with strands of powerful muscle. Unfortunately, these muscles were the chief muscles for movement. Artaxxas’ side had just been rescinded by the attack. The added trip sent an acidic rush of pure pain coursing up Artaxxas’ leg and side. Her fire loathed the contact, and another hiss of agony tore from her lips as she disentangled from the water-mare. Her movement was jarring, each step causing her face to contort in wincing pain.

Dripping with sweat, blood, and the jagged edge of pain, the mare stumbled off – the fruits of her labor evident by the slick sheen of sweat and the haggard abruptness of her breath.

Another fight lost or won – it did not matter. The days spent in the blistering ‘Krieg would roll on uninterrupted, much like the casual swell of the ocean.

Waiting to pick up the pieces
That make it out all right.
But pieces of what? Pieces of what?
Pieces of what doesn't matter anymore..