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 Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:38 pm
Haya felt the breath being knocked out of him when the kalona's tail made contact. It was enough to make him stagger and gasp breathlessly... but not fall. Falling in this situation might mean his death. He knew how important it was to keep his feet.
Looks like I'll have a new set of scars soon enough, some part of his mind mused while the pain pulsed through him.
The kalona was fast. Incredibly fast. Haya had never seen such fleetness in that size a soquili before. The kalona did something with his wings that whipped his entire body back around to face him before Haya even had a chance to remember how to breathe properly. Then the kalona was coming at him again.
Reacting instinctively, Haya leaned forward on his front legs and kicked out his back while lashing out with his own barbed tail at the same time.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:42 pm
Xelloss smirked. Too easy. He skidded to a halt just out of range of the lashing hooves of his newest prey. Once his hooves were back down it would be the perfect time to-
And then the tail caught him.
As he was hit in his face for the second time that day he internally swore curses. A halfbreed! Half kalona! He should have noticed it, but there hadn't been time for that observation. That explained the large size of the gold stallion and perhaps some of his ferocity as well.
Xelloss' head was knocked backwards from the force of the hit. His vision danced with darkness and bright spots. He now knew about the tail and could avoid it in future attacks. That is... he could if he could make it through the follow-up attack.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:47 pm
To Haya's surprise, he felt the tail impact. When his back hooves once more hit the ground he knew that this was his opportunity. He wouldn't surprise the kalona so easily again.
He spun around, though not nearly so gracefully as the kalona's own move had been a moment earlier. His teeth bared. The fangs that he strove not to think about, fangs that he forced himself to forget the intended use of... those fangs were now wide open and going straight for the kalona's neck. Some part of him that had lay dormant for a long time was now screaming. Blood. Yes, soon he would taste blood.
Or so he thought.
His silver eyes widened and his teeth closed on purple mane. He saw the kalona jerking his head back, the kalona's own fangs bared in a twisted mockery of a smile. Haya only had the briefest moment of that sight before he was knocked to the ground.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:52 pm
"HA HA HA HA!" Xelloss could no longer contain his sadistic glee. He cackled as he kicked. His sharp hooves rained blows upon the downed half-kalona. He wasn't playing with him as he had with the blue stallion. He was aiming to hurt, to kill. He would hurt the gold stallion so much that he would never make it to his feet again. He would die and as he did, Xelloss would feast upon his suffering. He would feast and then feast some more upon the crippled blue stallion that still lay bleeding where he had left him!
No semblance of control remained in him. Xelloss let his civilized manners fall away, his restraints. He was truly a monster now.... and it felt glorious.
His tongue snaked out of his mouth to lick up a splatter of blood that had sprayed there. It had been far too long since he had killed another soquili.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 5:56 pm
Pain. Inescapable pain.
No matter what way Haya's pained mind looked at it, he was in deep trouble. He didn't think he was injured past the point of recovery yet... but the kalona was too fast and too strong. He couldn't get to his feet without being knocked down during the time it would take. He couldn't lash out with his tail when the kalona was standing so far away from it.
He tried to curl defensively inwards but the blows falling upon his back would give him no better chance of survival.
Maybe he could catch the kalona with his teeth. Maybe he could spring to his feet as swiftly as a deer. Maybe maybe maybe. Maybe he could do nothing of those things and could die.
The sharp laughter of the kalona ringed in his ears. The dark shadow of the kalona blotted out the sun.
But the kalona was not standing between him and the sun. Realization dawned in an instant along with the sound of beating wings. Someone else had arrived.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:02 pm
An earsplitting shriek tore through the air an instant before another set of hooves collided with Xelloss and sent him rolling in the grass. Again, his lust for torture had drawn his attention away from an approaching foe. Just how many soquili live here?! he mentally snarled to himself.
The blow had knocked him a little ways away from the golden stallion. Xelloss was tired of getting hit. With a snarl, he pushed himself back to his feet. It had been a mare that had struck him, apparently. She was now beside the golden stallion attempting to rouse him.
As far as Xelloss was concerned, her appearance just meant one more meal.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:07 pm
"Haya! Get up!! Get up!! Get up!!" Bodhisattva frantically nudged at his head with her own. He was hurt and hurt badly. Had she been too late? Guilt stabbed through her as she gave him another desperate push. She could have tried to help sooner. She had watched the scene playing out from aloft, first not understanding and then being too afraid to intervene. It was only when she saw the kalona knock Haya over and Haya wasn't getting up that she realized that she had to do something or let him die.
Her throat was still raw from her battle cry. She didn't know where that came from... She had only ever used her voice to sing, never to shriek like that. It almost sounded like one of the birds of prey that she had sometimes seen flying with her...
"Get up! Please, get up!" Her voice took on a more pleading tone. The kalona was back on his feet... and he was mad.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:14 pm
"Can't get up now," Haya wheezed. He wanted to get up... he certainly did. He wanted to get to his feet and stand between his dainty grand-niece and the enraged kalona. He wanted to protect her from being torn apart like he had been, only perhaps with more precision.
"Please," pleaded Bodhisattva in one last desperate whisper.
She was going to die, Haya realized. She had no way of defending herself against the kalona... No way at all...
Defending herself.
"Bodhi!! Fighting stance, now!!" A strength and an urgency that didn't reach his body filled his voice. "Spread wings! Hide your movements! Like we practiced! GO!"
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:21 pm
Though the kalona charging at her must have been going very fast, for Bodhi time seemed to slow. She heard Haya's voice and her body reacted while her mind was still processing. Her wings snapped up, her wide beautiful wings. She flared them around herself. Use your wings to keep your moves ssecret, her mind echoed, words that Haya had told her what seemed like ages ago.
The kalona grew closer and closer still. Hoof beats in front of her... and yet hoof beats behind her as well. Someone else was coming, maybe several someone elses. They could help her. They could save her.
Fear gripped her as the kalona leaped, almost upon her. What was she supposed to do now? Her wings were spread, her legs were planted, what was she supposed to do now?
Oh, right... dodge.
And she did.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:28 pm
Xelloss let loose a scream of frustration. He had missed the wind mare! He would get her the second time around... but things were simply not going his way today.
And it looked like reinforcements were arriving.
Two more soquili, a gold mare and another blue male were cutting quickly over the ground towards him.
Xelloss gritted his teeth. He'd kill them all.... starting with the winged mare.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:35 pm
"Over here!" Bodhi shouted to Glissando and Padma as they ran towards her and Haya. Two more! They could beat off a kalona with all of them together, couldn't they?
Her gaze fell to where her father lay limply on the ground. He was bleeding too. Was he ok? The question would have to wait. The kalona was attacking again.
Flare wings! Step left! Defensive kick! Step back! Wings flap! Her panicked mind shouted the moves as she performed them. She only had to hold off the kalona until Gliss and Padma could arrive.
The kalona's head lashed out and bit a mouthful of feathers out of one wing. Tears of pain but mostly fear sprung to her eyes. Was this it? Was she going to get killed now?
From the ground, Haya called to her. "Fly, Bodhi! Fly!"
She didn't need to be told twice. Bodhi spread her wings and flapped frantically, wavering in the air from her missing feathers. Below her she could see the kalona seething in frustration... but he had two new arrivals to think about instead now.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:46 pm
Glissando hadn't wanted to fight the kalona. It had all been Padma's idea, her nagging and nagging while he bled until he had no choice but to turn around and head back. If it had been his choice he wouldn't be there at all.
It wasn't just that he didn't want to face the kalona again... He hadn't wanted to see his father either. He didn't want to know whether he was dead, lying there disemboweled by a monster because Glissando had to go and provoke it. Gliss could see his father's still form on the cold ground. He might be dead and if it was then it was Gliss' own fault. His fault.... his fault... his fault..
Padmasambhava was also afraid... afraid but almost too disbelieving of the situation to be as afraid as she should be. There was a kalona maybe eating Nirvana and fighting with Haya. That was bad... but she could hardly imagine it. Even when they emerged and she could see the kalona she could hardly believe it.
Was that Bodhi flying away? When had she been there? They were getting closer now. She could see the big webbed wings of the kalona, smell the blood in the air... Haya was lying on the ground. Maybe dead?
"Both of you! Stand together! Defensive stances!" A shout from the golden half-kalona proved otherwise. The kalona looked at them with eyes full of murder... and Padma found herself wondering if coming over to save the day was really such a good idea.
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:53 pm
To Haya's amazement, his pupils responded. Before his eyes Padma and Gliss braced themselves against the kalona's attack. In response to his shouted directions they even managed to block the brunt of it. Had they ever responded so quickly in class? He hadn't even realized they had learned that much. Maybe they had been practicing on their own? The two of them did make a good team...
It could have been the pain making Haya's mind wander, or maybe it was simply astonishment. They had learned. They really had learned.
"No! Duck under! Faster!" he shouted in alarm as it looked like Padma was going to get hit with one of the kalona's wing attacks. She wasn't fast enough and was hit... but she took the hit better than he had ever seen her. He could have smiled in astonishment if he didn't hurt so much. Where was that mare that had cried during their first class? Certainly not this brave warrior he saw!
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Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2010 6:55 pm
Safe in the air again, Bodhi saw her relatives fighting the kalona for their lives below her. She could certainly stay in the air and be safe. She could even rush back to the rest of the herd and get help...
Or she could help right now.
She ducked her wings to her side and dove down, once more shrieking her adopted battle cry. This time she wasn't aiming to attack the kalona but to land beside where Gliss and Padma fought to defend themselves.
"Haya!" she shouted once she had landed. "What do we do?"
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Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 12:37 pm
Xelloss was frustrated, to say the least. What had started out as a simple fight had escalated and complicated beyond measure. Now he had three herdmates obviously fighting in unison against him. He could have easily taken out any one of them, but three soquili against one were obnoxious odds even for a kalona like himself. He wished he had killed at least one of them. The halfbreed kalona was injured but he'd recover. Even the blue fluffy one that he had mauled and left behind would probably be all right in the end.
Nothing about this pleased him very much.
He caught his opponents a couple of times with a swift whip from his tail and managed to get in a few bites that connected, but he was taking hits himself during that time.
It was the halfbreed kalona barking orders at them that really infuriated Xelloss. If only he had simply killed him to begin with instead of just playing with him like he had been.
The fight was obviously one that Xelloss wasn't going to be able to win... but his eyes slid to the injured half-kalona. Perhaps he could take the most annoying one's life as a souvenir of his defeat...
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