Fear pulses through her veins when his teeth latch onto her throat, the thick fur there only offering so much protection. The peace she felt when he lunged fractures for a moment, and she can feel herself crumble. She’s backed down from so many fights lately because of this same feeling - pulsing with heat and fury one moment only to be doused in sadness the next. His cry of pain had not been the music she desired and for one damning moment she wonders what she’s doing - hesitation long enough for his teeth to sink into her flesh, for her blood to flow and for him to get a taste of her once more.
The pain of sharp teeth digging into her skin mingles with the fear, threatening to cloud her mind, to make her falter, but she pushes through that fear and just acts. She was a warrior, once, after all. Not a gilded queen who spoke from a throne but a general and a child who’s first idol taught her how to fight.
And this, this sense of calm that washes over her and replaces the fear, is the drug she had sought when she came here for this fight. A high she did not know she could feel again, numbing her to all else. Deeper than that first wave of peace and she hopes it will last longer.
Things seem to happen in flickers in time. Shifting, changing with each blink, with each heartbeat.
One heartbeat and she’s a snow leopard.
The next she’s a snake, sleek and slipping down and through his jaws before they can close completely.
The next she’s a shrieking osprey, rising up and beating at the air - at him - with mighty strokes of her wings as she reaches out with vicious claws to strike and tear at his skin. Her blood does not spurt but oozes, bright red against the white and black feathering. For now she lets it flow, lets the pain ground her.
For a brief moment she feels guilty about shifting, as though she’s cheating, but she chides herself instantly. Why should either of them hold back? She’s seen the souls that flicker like guardians by his side - and she wonders if he’ll show her his new tricks as well.
@[atrox]