ORIGIN

The peryton spotted the hyena crashing into the pile of bones and proceed to inch around the boulder. His sharp eyes noted her defense, and she would not escape so easily. As she sneaked around so did he, making a large arc from above air as he pondered over what to do with her – end it with magic or with the shredding of his talons? Then, he inhaled her invisible spores and his vision went red.

He heard a loud screech coming from the Western wall. It was a huge rat, and it reeked of blood but the smell was the smell of the pores the hyena had cast though 10,000 times amplified over. It reeked, and the stench overwhelmed him. Screeching, he thrashed his upper body and swooped away from the hyena far towards the west wall and brought his hoof – he could see it now, sharpened, no longer the cumbersome, smooth calcium or bone of the weak herbivore – ready to stab the target to death. With a wild screech, he flew down towards the target at speeds that he never imagined and then, brought his sharpened hoof down upon the offending animal. It disappeared at the last moment though and with a shriek, his bone crashed and splintered against the ground and then he was falling through, wings uselessly flapping behind him as the wind and adrenaline gushed through his veins.

The next scene that he entered was the room itself with a pile of bones. Blood fell from the top and a large behemoth sat upon it. The red crimson liquid flowed down like a waterfall and the bloodlusting animal shrieked and shook his headful of antlers, eyes wide in fear and panic as he envisioned himself going to drown in blood. Rafael reared and kicked out with his elk limbs, then charged straight towards the behemoth, intending to spear him with his antlers.

Thud! The peryton crashed into the wall by the bone of piles, not too far from where Giggle had perched herself previously. He staggered backwards with a bellow, dazed, and swung his head around. The vision was clearing but the sensation of blood drenching him to the neck and the threat of drowning clung to him, although it was already fading away. It had been 5 minutes. The peryton was enraged, for looking around the room, this thing which was so real had not happened – hence, he had lunged into a wall instead. A migraine began in his brain. Having remembered where Giggle was, he dashed towards where she was, hidden by the boulder, and then unleashed forth his spell, dispel, a short distance away from her, hoping to fling her back with the impact. Antlers lowered and shoulders squared as he performed this.

Round: 4/5

Attempt: Dispel energy blast aimed at Giggle, intention to cause her to be flung back

Defense: Horns down, shoulders squared

Injuries: Migraine

The hyena was flung back and she careened off the sides of the rock then regained her balance. She was quiet and so was he, conserving his energy, slender elk body shivering while feet trembled from the exertion. Meanwhile the pounding had remained in his head and refused to go away. His hallucination (to him, a vision) had now entirely cleared and he stood clear-eyed, squarely facing the hyena post-blast. Then it began – fungi crept around him, ombre red-brown in colour, latching onto his skin onto his shoulders and withers. His skin started to itch as the dead skin shed off first and Rafael stared at it in confusion then back at the hyena. Then, he looked to the floor and saw that it contained the same stuff. Was she the one who gave him that vision then? Nasty thing manipulating the spores! With a screech, he flapped his wings and violently took to the air, to hurl himself towards her with talons outstretched and body kept back, intending to rip out her eyes with his talons.

Post-roll edit:
He did not wait too long to see what had happened but attempted to disengage, very much like a hawk that had swooped in, grabbed its prey and then taken flight without any hesitation (BLANK SPACE FOR GIGGLE’S ATTACK IF NEEDED) Then the fungi made its way past the surface of his skin and the pain began. Itch turned into burning pain and as the fungi broke past the skin, sucking out the blood from within which spilled over his sides warmly. Rafael screamed and thrashed in agony, flapping his wings furiously and bringing up his talons to rend his own flesh but to no avail. The fungi chose not to pierce too deep to scar but crept along the entity of his back, eating away at his flesh. Red hot iron sparks fled through his skin and raw sinew – shoulders, neck, back and vitals. He convulsed and bellowed, legs flailing wildly, thin, fragile chest heaving in and out as sweat and blood mingled in salty mixture along his fur and dripped down onto (the pile of bones?). He screeched and the shock and sudden pain manifested as a strike to his mind, sending him into a mental state where his mind shut down from his body. He was “over the rainbow” on his own accord (OOC: Wikipedia project monarch to understand).

And it felt good.

He shivered and started to laugh – a youthful peal of tinkling bells like a fawn that continuously accelerated, a maniac tone striking higher and higher notes as the pain got more and more pleasurable. He felt immense gratification strike his heart, blood and energy rushing to his core in a weird mechanic of self-preservation. The peryton swooped thrashed out his legs and twisted his neck, shivering and convulsing in sadistic delight. The pain…it was good. Tongue lolling out from his tongue, the peryton cast a feral grey eye upon the hyena and continued laughing as his body wretchedly twisted in the air, feet thrashing about.

Note: at any time, any segment of this may be disrupted by giggle’s next roll if she wills an attack in between the sequence.

Round: 5/5

Attempt: Rip out Giggle’s eyes (disclaimer: just his intention)

Defense: Body curved back

Injuries: Migraine, flesh being eaten along shoulders and back

She ran away. Head lowered, blood oozing from the lacerations upon her face. He screeched loudly, flapping his wings towards her in gusts of wind that followed the direction of the fleeing hyena but which would never reach her. Slowly, the fungi disappeared along with her exit but raw wounds coated his shoulders and back. Flying hurt, and his back naturally hurt. The adrenaline which fuelled him during the battle had worn out. Slowly, Rafael diminished the intensity of his flaps and landed, moving vertically downwards with left limb lifted to his chest while his right limb hung down to touch the earth like a graceful angel. Once on the ground, he shook his head and snorted, then shook his entire pelt. Hawk wings automatically pressed against his sides, protecting his flesh and keeping his slender body protected. Blood oozed down his sides as well but he didn’t mind. Rafael was going to enjoy the victor’s spoils for a while.

He moved towards the already messy pile of bones and decided to toss a couple around with his hooves. A dull clatter could be heard in the tunnel as he kicked the bones about with his hooves. Rafael then moved in to investigate the dropped fungi from a safe distance, a sneer caressing his features. "Think she’s smart aye settin traps. But not us, Rafael, we won’t get caught.” Utterly bored and triumphant with his victory, the peryton sorted, pawed the ground and walked away from the entire scene, leaving scattered, destroyed fungi and scattered bones behind.

-Exit Rafael-