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Speaking of weak-willed stallions...

Belenus was quite done with the Shadow herd for the day. He had informed the people who needed to know that he would be stepping out for a time and that was that. He was out. Done. Finished. Helias was a failure. Melitta was difficult to wrangle. Taranis and Blake, hah! They were no where to be found. Akane was mouthing off to him and quite frankly, he had most definitely had enough.

He needed to blow off some steam.
It was at that moment that he spotted a rather large, beautiful mare not to far ahead. The stallion licked his lips, his white eyes locking onto her. Her long, flowing black hair. Her large, powerful wings. Her tail and ears were something of interest and he cocked his head to the side as he inspected them. My, my, my...she was something special, wasn't she?

Belenus but his bottom lip for just a second before he called out to her.

"My lady, do you know where you are? You are treading into the territory of the Shadow herd. Now, I do not mind your company but my herd...is not so friendly. Are you lost?" he called out, a smirk on his lips, his voice deep but playful. Something about this mare gave off a...different vibe. He liked it.

She was a bold mare, that was for certain. She obviously had no knowledge of the sort of herd she was treading into if she simply did not care. They were not friendly, that was for certain. Dangerous to a fault. Most stallions on patrol would have easily already attacked her and yet...Belenus was not quite in the mood. Still, he could not quite get a good look at her. She seemed backed into the shadows and reluctant to move. She seemed much larger than he was as well.

Interesting.

While she certainly did not sound like a Sunflare flunky, Belenus was still reluctant to come much closer until he was certain she was alone. After all, she was very...outspoken.

He took just a few steps closer before flashing his most winning grin her way.

"Why don't you come meet me out here in the sunlight so I can get a better look at your lovely face?"

She was breath taking.

And trying to take away his breath.

Belenus shifted back a ways at her sudden movement, unwilling to be within reach of whatever she had planned. It was clear now that she was a predator and he was the intended prey. This made him laugh as her fangs came forward but rather than move away, the arcturus aimed his sharp horn towards her open mouth and jabbed upwards in an attempt to cut her open. She was much larger than he was, yes, but he was Belenus of the Shadow. He had no fear of the things that lurked in the dark.

He was one of them.

"I do love a good game," he shot back, laughing still, "but what prize goes to the winner, hm?"

This mare was bizarre and yet he found himself intrigued and thankful that he had not had to mar her pretty face with his horn. Still, she did not seem to be done with her game of cat and mouse and he would not let her distract him with her feathery, dark wings. He was used to dealing with stars like this; his entire heard was full of self-serving, manipulative personalities that would do anything to get what they wanted. When he did not bow to her show of force, she merely chose another method to get what she wanted.

Belenus did not forget those fangs.

Still, for a moment he was distracted by the...what were they? Tiny shadows. They had eyes. Were they some sort of spirit creature?

This caught him off guard but he maintained his posture so as not to show his sudden concern. Blod was a thing from hell but she did not work with spirits. Perhaps this mare was something more than a mere predator.

The stallion pulled away from her gentle caresses and charged to the side, out of the ring formed by the creatures, paying no heed as to whether or not he went by one or through one. Whatever they were, he would not be caught in their trap.

"Now, now, that is not fair play," he purred, biting back the minute speck of concern growing in the back of his mind.

Just what sort of mare was he toying with here?

Belenus stomped his hoof on the ground in a challenge and smirked at her, "Unless you can only play when the odds are stacked in your favor," the insult was clear from his tone.

Her words made Belenus consider the…spirits around her. Gods and demi-gods? Either she was insane or…No. She was insane. Perhaps he could have gathered that a little sooner, couldn’t he? The only god Belenus had ever seen was one of death and it was locked up on an island, never to be heard from again. A monster so terrible his own mother seemed to fear it…And yet she could not stop it from breeding before she hid it away.
Still, if his mother could handle such a creature, so too could he handle this mare.

“If you truly were a goddess, you would not need the odds in your favor to win. Victory is only sweet when it is hard earned, nothing merely given is truly satisfying,” he responded in kind, his tail flicking lazily now that he was out of range of whatever bizarre thing she had tried to do to him before. What he did notice was that the things he ran by seemed to be…sentient, somehow. They were disturbed by his passing. Just what was this mare, exactly?

“I have no fear of false gods, my dear. I have seen true death and you do not wear its face,” he cooed back at her before charging, horn down. He did not put his full speed or strength into it, however. This was merely a test to see how she responded. Belenus prepared himself to change course at any moment, his pale eyes never leaving her for a moment.