Silver was enjoying this rain, to be honest. It was warm and good for his feathers, clean and slick now, where once they'd been ruined by Aquarian's saliva and stomach juices. He felt confident enough to fly again, and since taking those first tentative flights around the lake's edge, it had become impossible to keep Silver on the ground very long. The rain weighed him down, though, so today, he took shelter beneath an evergreen's tapering branches. There, protected from the worst of the rain, he watched his kingdom in silence- the mist was clearer than usual thanks to the constant downpour- so when a newcomer arrived in his kingdom, the bird took notice immediately. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before- a hind end like a bird, but a front end like a deer. He cocked his head to one side, than the other, in contemplation. He watched from his hiding place in total silence as the creature, strange hybrid of parts, hoisted himself onto a tree and began trying to peel away the stone-hard bark. It was then Silver gave up his secrecy to have a good laugh. He lifted from the ground and with a few flaps of his wet wings, landed on the branches above the deer thing.

"The bark's no good for eating, deer-bird. It's more like stone than plant. Try the ferns. They're safe." He offered, friendly enough with his words, but his tone of voice mocked the creature's efforts. He perched happily on the high branches, well out of the creature's reach. There, he stood on stilt legs and took a moment to preen. "You're not from around here, are you?"

The deer-bird continued despite the advice and Silver watched with a shake of his head. Really? This creature must've forgotten to develop any brains while inside its crystal. Then, it lost its grip and threw a tantrum of sorts. Silver lost it, crowing with laughter at the thing. Such laughter only doubled when it shot him a look and screech. Such a stupid creature this one was! After a moment, he wiped his beak and the laughter faded. He remained in his place on the tree branch, but his thoughts were elsewhere.

He could show off, if he wanted to. Let's see...

...Silver focused on his feet. He stared down at the branch he stood on, and a second later, his gemstone beak began to glow a deeper gold. As it brightened, the branch he stood on began to crackle and pop from the inside. He focused harder, and then, with a mighty stroke of his wings, lifted from the branch and took his built-up pressure with him, bursting the branch into splintered pieces as he left it.

"Ah! See? That's how it's done! Forget that stone bark!" He crowed, circling to land on another branch as his magic and glow faded back to nothing. He landed on a similar branch on the same tree and examined the remains with curious delight. "There. You want to eat stone-bark so badly, have at it." He would've grinned if not for his solid beak. His eyes narrowed, though, showing off his morbid delight. "Eat up, idiot. I can't wait to see you try to poop it out later!" And thus, more laughter followed, cackling and obnoxious.

Silver all but wailed when the deer-bird suddenly took flight. He hadn't expected such an oddly shaped animal to be able to fly, so when he suddenly took to the air in front of him, Silver pushed off of his branch backwards in retreat. He shrieked in protest at the creature's advances, and when he saw the creature roll into a ball with violent screaming, Silver knew things had turned sour quickly. The bird shook his head as he stroked his wings, flying backwards and upwards away from the beast. Then, when nothing came of its defensive position, Silver became angry. Very angry. He ruffled the feathers around his back and chest and dove in, topaz beak gleaming brightly as he summoned his magic once more.

This time, as he swung his legs forward, the bird aimed a powerful jolt of energy out from himself, but only once he felt the brush of antler fuzz and fur across the bottoms of his feet. A loud POP snapped in the air, the mist flew away from him like disturbed clouds, and he used the force of it to propell himself backwards in turn. He'd aimed for the deer-bird's head, in hopes of getting rid of those antlers at the very least- or else knock the thing out cold- or for good.

"Back on the ground, dirt-beast! The air of Cetus is MINE!" He snapped as he worked backwards again, away from the beast with heavy back-strokes of his wide wings, legs stretched out defensively, beak held open in warning. The air of Cetus was all he'd managed to keep for himself so far- with Aquarian in the water, and travellers invading the land. He'd not let some shrieking mutant steal the only possession he had left!

Round: 1/5

Attempt: Swoops in, very briefly runs a foot across Raf's head, then uses the force of his spell to shoot back and away again in the same motion. Vacuum is cast between Raf's antlers and against his forehead.

Defense: After attacking, legs are extended to ward off any advances.

Injuries: None

Silver crowed in delight as the deer-bird fell backwards, horns splintering and trees breaking from the impact. The heron hovered in place a moment, curious to see if he'd continue the assault. He did indeed. Silver watched with increasing interest as the creature soared up high. When it turned to come back down on him, Silver squawked in protest and alarm- wrenching his wings to try and evade, but to no avail! Those talons raked across his face and he shrieked bloody murder as feathers and gold-tinted blood flew from his cheeks, just barely missing his eyes by a stroke of luck. He allowed himself to flutter downwards, away from the attacker, but caught himself again before reaching the ground.

He shot off and upwards as soon as he regained his bearings, circling to swoop at the deer-bird again, this time without using magic. He dove in, snapping his wings together, and aimed that sharp spear-like beak for Raf's exposed back, dropping from above...

...but to his incredible horror, the beast's wing happened to move into a down-stroke at just the wrong moment, and instead of piercing soft flesh and feathers, Silver found himself being knocked from the sky completely. That larger wing came down across his face before he could make contact, and he was sent into a tumbling mess of wings and legs, plummeting towards the ground. He was okay so far... but the bird barely had a moment to brace himself before the ground suddenly caught up with him.

He landed with a sickening crunch of fragile bones. The sound that came from him next was shrill, loud and unforgettable. He floundered about for a moment, fighting off the invisible attacker causing him pain, senseless in his agony, before the bird realized his plight and settled amongst the torn and folded grass and fern leaves. His leg bent at a terrible angle, in a place it shouldn't have bent at all. Likewise, something now clicked when he breathed- it would be a miracle if he survived long enough to heal from this... and he'd never have both legs to walk on again either way.

Round: 2/5

Attempt: Tried to stab him but that didn't work, now he's just trying to right himself on the ground.

Defense: N/A

Injuries: Very broken left leg, a few broken ribs, bloodied scratches across his eyes- can still see, eyes are undamaged.

Silver watched with mild horror as the deer thing came to land beside him. He approached, with bark in his mouth- stupid thing- but when it lowered a talon onto his face, Silver made another horrible, garbled screaming sound and tugged against it, trying to break free. The deer thing lowered the bark to his face and he shook away from it, revolted. No no, that's a bad idea! He'd choke! He'd die! This thing was trying to kill him! Why not just snap his neck!? Oh, it hurts! Oh, no no no--

Oh.

The talon moved away and so did the creature's face. Silver dragged his head across the dirt, beak-heavy, and lifted his head just slightly. He glared up at the creature, then snorted.

"Stop. Please." He croaked. "Enough." Dethroned from his place on high, Silver did something stupid now. He pushed with his wings and head, and one good leg, to try and stand. If he could just get his balance under him...

...but the effort was painful. Too painful. He cried out in pain as his weight collapsed, and he landed on the ground with a thud. Golden eye looked up at the deer-bird, head sideways, right eye shut against the ground. The look he gave him was meaningful- and simple- end me. Stop this. Please. He'd never hunt again with this leg... and he'd never fly again with those ribs. The second fall now had his breathing even more labored, even more audible. He clicked with every breath, lung deflated, pierced by his own broken bones. He'd been eaten, spat up, smacked down, clawed apart... this was it. This was his final moment. He could only hope the beast would make it quick and understand...

Round: 3/5

Attempt: Stand, and fail- just ends up aggravating his injuries further.

Defense: N/A

Injuries: Broken left leg, Broken ribs, collapsed lung, bloodied face scratches.