Durathror hissed, jaws opening wider and wider- only to have them slammed violently shut by Dawn's well-timed strike, teeth clamping down so hard that her whole head ached. The Oilstone underneath thrummed with rage. Denying her of purpose. Denying her of destruction.

But when it tried to lunge again, it was yanked backward by the huge tendrils glued to its spine plates, burning through the skin, breaking down as much as it could in the time it had. It would burn for this.

Reaching for her innate magic, she willed for fire to sprout on and amidst the sundew, for it to burn to ash for daring to exist, let alone inconveniencing her on her holy crusade.

@Scorch

ROUND 4/?

ATTEMPT: Setting the sundew on fire
DEFENSE: the power of incredible violence
INJURIES: even MORE bruised, various bleeding cuts around her neck and chest, stuck to a sundew and being slowly digested

Scorch flinched as the deer-with-too-many-teeth yelled at him. When he was the one trying to help! Were his efforts really that useless!? He... he... he didn't know how else to be useful! If his plants weren't stopping the attacker, then did that mean-

He circled above the pair, still not doing anything useful. He didn't WANT to engage physically! He was SCARED! That thing was way bigger than him! But- if he really really had to-

He dove downward with a terrified screech, talons reaching out for Durathror's face.

round 5/5?
attempt: claw durathror's face
defense: none (how tempting...)
injuries: none (you should change that..)

Her injuries really really hurt. Dawn didn't know how much longer she could hold out against this rebel alone--if she held back for fear of its acidic blood, she would never defeat it, but if she bit it again she feared it might burn through her mouth and throat and she would die of agony, if not of the chemical burns.

Hit and run was her strategy of choice. As soon as she felt her hooves strike home she whirled around and made a break for it. This was a situation that called for backup, or an evacuation. She was held back by her ripped-into shoulder, every hoofstep straining at the mangled tissue there, but maybe the owl would finally do something useful and help her out.

round 5/5?
attempt: run away
defense: trying to run away
injuries: chemical burns to mouth, chomped in the shoulder

@Durathror

We've reached a fork in the road, folks.

On the one - Finally getting the message, Dawn had begun to take her leave. But Durathror knew that if she tried just hard enough, strained against the iron grip the plant underneath had on her back, she could absolutely get another bite in. Maybe even drag her back for round two, and burn her with her wretched lawns...

But someone else was swooping in, the guy who'd been yelling at them. She hadn't gotten a look at him until now, and she noticed how small he was. He was bite-sized, even. And he was flying directly at her face.

It's like the choice was being made for her. Sure! she'd like a snack.

@Scorch

ROUND 5/?

ATTEMPT: chomp scorch
DEFENSE: the power of incredible violence
INJURIES: even MORE bruised, various bleeding cuts around her neck and chest, still stuck and definitely being digested now

Scorch really hadn't expected his attack to work at all. So he was a bit shocked when his talons hit home, raking deep scratches down that glowing orange face and hooking into an eye. He was even more shocked when the deer just... turned and ran. "WAIT!" he shouted after her desperately. Did she expect him to fight this monster alone!? He was going to die!

His feet began to sting with an odd burning sensation. Scorch panicked and tried to fly after the deer. His claws, still hooked into the flesh of Durathror's face, jerked away with him.

@Durathror i respect you for your lawn hate. my comrade in arms
round 6/6?
attempt: tear his claws up and away
defense: not really
injuries: burned feet

[permission granted over discord to maul and in durathror's case kill each other]

gore

She kept on getting intercepted the second she tried to take a bite. It was like the universe itself hated her, which would be wrong, because didn't it make her in the first place? Wasn't its will borne in her flesh? Shouldn't it be helping her out here?

Existential quandary paused. Eye gone. Eye gone? Wait-

It was like the light above was being smashed into one side of Durathror's face repeatedly, the soft tissue pierced with around the same effort it took to burst a grape open in your teeth. The blood was immediate, spilling outward with enthusiasm. Eye gone! Eye gone! Freedom!

Scorch's wings caught the air again and wrenched the hooked claw upwards, tearing a jagged and permanent hole in her cornea as the nerves in her face began to shriek, muffled only by the heat of the moment. But, y'know. Eye's gone. That's obvious no matter the amount of adrenaline.

Desperate for a single win, Durathror snapped her jaws open again, pleading for them to meet flesh, feathers - literally anything.

If only the world were kinder they couldve bonded over their love for diverse ecosystems

@Scorch

ROUND 6/?

ATTEMPT: CHOMPING! HIM!!
DEFENSE: the power of incredible violence
INJURIES: even MORE bruised, various bleeding cuts around her neck and chest, still stuck and definitely being digested now. EYEGONE!

It took more force than he thought to yank his claws out of Durathror's face. Scorch felt something hot and wet spill onto his feet as they pulled away, followed by a now-familiar burning, but did not look back even as teeth snapped shut so close he could feel their wind ruffle his feathers. The shock and thrill of such an escape was like plunging into cold water.

His wingbeats faltered as he took in the scene around him. Chaos everywhere, shattered pots and splashes of blood and worst of all the still-burning plants. Scorch had to do something to help them. He tried to bend and move their stems with his own magic, to make them beat at the flames and put themselves out. If there was even enough water in their charred stems to make them move.

@Durathror round 7/7?
Attempt: make the plants put themselves out
Defense: flying
Injuries: chemically burned feet

for the love of god PLEASE succeed we're begging you

Air, again, nothing but air. This was getting pathetic. Durathror was desperate, not to live or escape, just to get this FUCKING guy RIGHT NOW. She was praying that this desperation could manifest physically, imbue her with the strength needed to come out on top.

It strained against the sundew, as hard as possible, the tendrils beginning to strain as she leveraged her full strength to free herself. He was going to get away soon. He could not get away.

With one final push, she tried to lunge out of the plant's grip and catch the bird in her teeth.

CRUNCH. The bones in his wings were reduced to a fine powder, and Scorch was swimming in glowing orange acid. The entirely innocent bird was sent directly to Christian hell (Durathror's mouth) in all of its burning, fiery glory. There was no coming back - but she began to shake him around anyways, ending his suffering in seconds.

@Scorch

ROUND 7/?

ATTEMPT: kill.
DEFENSE: the power of incredible violence
INJURIES: even MORE bruised, various bleeding cuts around her neck and chest, still stuck and definitely being digested now. EYEGONE!

was given permission by cicada to pp scorch eatig shit and dying

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

gore

death

He shouldn't have stopped to put out the fire.

Scorch had a split second to screech in terror before Durathror's jaws caught him. The first bite crushed his bones in a cacophony of crisps snaps. The next bites tore him to pieces of flying feathers, blood, and flesh. After the first few seconds of violent dismemberment, he did not have a coherent body to feel, struggle, or scream with anymore. He was reduced to what was probably a delicious snack, albeit a small mouthful, for his murderer.

Hope you liked your acid marinated poultry.

exit @Durathror

Character: Dawn & Scorch Age: +25 (60th and 96th Cycle) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) + 3 (Pupil) ROUND 1 Attempt: +16 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +3 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +14 +17 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +4 +9 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +9 + 6 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +8 Penalties: - ROUND 7 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - Total: 121

Character: Durathror Age: +1 (1st Cycle) Magic Level: +1 (Fledgling) ROUND 1 Attempt: +19 Penalties: - ROUND 2 Attempt: +4 Penalties: - ROUND 3 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 4 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 5 Attempt: +1 Penalties: - ROUND 6 Attempt: +6 Penalties: - ROUND 7 Attempt: +11 Penalties: - Total: 55

WINNER: Dawn and Scorch

Note: scoring method was discussed in advance. As a reminder, IC and OOC winners may not always be the same character(s). Activity logs & magicka rewards will be awarded shortly.

She didn't run. She rarely ran. It was undignified. But the sounds, and worse the stench, outside caused an alarm within the palace quite quickly.

Isra emerged--with a dignified but very fast stride--and quickly pinpointed the origin of the scorching stink. She made her way quickly for it, taking note with an ironically smoldering gaze of the damage done to the gardens. Her narrowed flame eyes settled on the combatants (and bundle of bloodied feathers) just as the fight ended, her pace drawing up short. Her voice rang out with angered authority.

"What is going on, here?" she demanded.

"WHAT!"
"WHAT IS!?"
"HERE?" her serpentine tails echoed.

@Dawn @Durathror