He wasn't back at his home right now, but rather wandering through Canis looking for that damn chicken. He remembered seeing it a while ago, straight up challenging the Bonebound's King in front of the entire Bonebound and had laughed as she was beaten. But he knew her to be a Champion as well, a title he coveted and oh so wished he could have for himself, but that was a thought for another day. Whether the Trial of Hydra was worth it to put Banshy and Forgraves through that much stress wasn't on his mind at the moment.

It had been too long since he'd had a good fight. And he knew exactly the opponent he'd wanted.

He already knew not to underestimate someone based on size or appearance - not that the chicken was exactly failing in that regard, with the monstrous mutations and the strong kick and claws to boot - and despite his desire to fight someone his own size, or even larger then him, he still had it on his mind to challenge the bird - might as well do it now.

He stopped at one point and sucked in a breath. "KALAMA," he roared, voice echoing along the walls. "I CHALLENGE YOU!!"

Azrael snarled with pleasure at the sight of Kalama running into view. He was bigger then her - almost hilariously so - but he knew that her spirit burned as hot as the flames within him and she was not one to be underestimated. He rolled his shoulders back and stood taller, tensing as he readied for a fight. "GOOD. I saw you, fighting the Bone King! I am AZRAEL! I am the DARKNESS!!" He punctuated this title with a short, intimidating roar.

He prepared himself for his first move, crouching, readying himself to make everything dark when Kalama spat out that vile, disgraceful, disgusting comment and his eyes widened. He stood back up, lip curling and claws forming fists. "I would have thought you had more RESPECT as a powerful warrior. Magic is STRENGTH as much as claws! It takes SKILL and PRACTICE and it is NOT CHEATING!!" His voice had grown dangerous, a snarl deep in his chest and dancing on the edge of purely feral. Anger was rolling in his gut because how dare she accuse magic of cheating. How dare she, in turn, accuse Azrael of cheating.

He raised a claw and pointed at her. "If you think magic is CHEATING then I will fight you WITHOUT IT to prove that I could beat you ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!" He let out one final roar before launching himself forward, head down as he charged straight for his opponent.

His lip curled with anger. "Your disdain for magic only shows your weakness. You are beaten by magic and instead of accepting your defeat and working to OVERCOME, you only speak of CHEATING." A despicable, disgusting attitude that sent blood boiling through Azrael's veins. If he had not already agreed not to use magic and had already cemented Kalama in his head as a worthy opponent - one to fight and not kill - he would have sent a burst of fire blazing her way already or covered the world in darkness so that she lost her eyes. But no - he charged instead.

And she met his charge with the kind of fury he expected. Wings and feet battered at his chest, sending strokes of force across his skin, but not drawing blood or causing physical damage. It would bruise, probably, but she was a chicken and he was an eight foot tall four-armed demon.

But still, her attack was more ferocious then he thought, and when he went to throw her to the ground with his momentum, he found himself falling short, stumbling instead of a firm shove and a topple to the ground. He stepped back, growling, against her rain of blows.

Azrael's eyes flashed. She was just...totally out of it. Screaming and raging over a single word he'd said, taken so wildly out of context he didn't think she'd even heard anything else. "NO!!" he roared, voice rattling the bones at their feet. "You are STRONG. But even the STRONGEST have WEAKNESSES. But I will not speak to you like some CHILD that needs a lesson. Figure it out yourself or NOT AT ALL!!" She was not one of his children - she would never be. So he wasn't going to waste his time and energy trying to make her see things his way. Especially not while they were fighting.

She was running at his legs now, strong enough that he actively stumbled back a bit, the power behind her blow enough to get him slightly off balance. But...she was still a bird. And he was still about five feet taller then her.

He tried to send a kick her way, but it was only at the last moment that he remembered that he had rather large claws on his foot and the action of curling them in so that he didn't impale the chicken was enough to put him far enough off balance to throw off his aim. The kick missed and he stumbled further back, spending too long trying to right himself.