Pain. It burned... oh it hurt so freaking bad. For a moment, Azazel could focus on nothing but it. He'd missed and placed himself in such a vulnerable position. He had given up rastling for the bird's form. Thick sanguine fluid blossomed from his throat, and he could feel his breath hitching as the Ave got closer and closer to his throat through his flesh.

He was so close. The Bone King could not allow it. He bit back a screech of pain, eyes glassy. Azazel screwed them shut, and he felt magicka well up in his being. His stone glowed a eerie blue-white as usual, then he lifted his head bravely and glared a the bird, hoping that he could release a sonic boom powerful enough to force the bird off of him.

But nothing came. He was going to die here. All he did was attempt to fling the pigeon off him one last time.

Oh, why couldn't Lady Luck be in his favor, today?

table code © rasta 2015

I II III

An inch and a quarter deep bite just above his sternum/throat

@Gertrude

*sneaks this post in*

She knew very well what a fight would entail, and honestly she found herself surprised when Ashtoreth had joined her side, encouraging the fight as well by using her magic to amplify the hybrid's voice. Liora was startled at the sudden volume of it, but she could feel magic working all around her. It wove in through the air and vibrated each and every molecule in the atmosphere, and it was coming from her sister. As she called out to the two combatants, Liora turned her eyes to Ashtoreth and parted her beak wider - a smile, albeit somewhat goofy, but a smile none the less. She forgave her sister for her previous transgressions (even though it was completely Liora's fault) and turned her attention back to the fight, shrieking louder than ever.

Before long, the green birb had made the first move. She watched, first enticed, then horrified as he lunged for their father - what, his throat?! No! That wasn't how you fought! That could get somebody killed! And that somebody was namely her father! No no no, that wasn't good! That was what her father was supposed to be doing - if anybody should be killed in this fight, it should be the green bird! ...Of course, Liora didn't quite understand the permanence of death. She only attributed dying to losing. Thusly, the bird straightened and jumped up, flapping her wings from amid the gathering. "GET 'EM DADDY! KILL HIM! KILL KILL KILL! KRAKAWWW!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs, wondering if Ashtoreth's magic was still working to amplify her voice.

HAH! This bird acted like he could get away! Well, he was wrong! Prince Charmbirb Gertrude stayed clamped on tightly, his feathers fluffed for protection, his eyes balanced, and his balance even. He totally had this fight in the bag. No fake prince or king could best him! Denying Prince Gertrude as a real and true figure of royalty was unforgivable treason! Determined to finish this fight, Gertrude aimed to grind his bite down even harder and twist his head simultaneously to finish off his bite and cut with his half gemmed beak. "Blah"

Tears threatened to prick at his eyes. His chest was now covered in his own blood, the wound being torn deeper and deeper. He'd engaged this fight to protect Krakarak and his Bonebound clan. But... he couldn't. Azazel wasn't strong enough to protect his home. His magic was failing with every cast, unable to work properly. Why? Why wasn't it working? He'd practiced it and refined it! He clenched his beak shut and screwed his eyes shut.

He tried to cast one last spell, despite the oncoming weakness. Whatever he had planned would have to wait for another day. Claustrophobia would be his last attempt in this fight.

table code © rasta 2015

I II III

Two inch deep wound just above sternum, jagged and torn

ooc note: fuck you too, azazel

[Origin Cave]

Character: GERTRUDE Age: +6 (6 Cycle) Magic Level: +3 (Brawler Level) ROUND 1 Attempt: +15 Penalties: -- ROUND 2 Attempt: +17 Penalties: -- ROUND 3 Attempt: +14 Penalties: -- Total: 55

Character: AZA'ZEL Age: +7 (7 Cycle) Magic Level: +5 (Master Level) ROUND 1 Attempt: +7 Penalties: -- ROUND 2 Attempt: +3 Penalties: -- ROUND 3 Attempt: +2 Penalties: -- Total: 24

WINNER: GERTRUDE

δεξιά . κέντρο . αριστερά

Kerberos watched the fight, claws deep in Canis' dusty surface. He stood in front of the children, protecting them, guarding them against the danger. As he watched the green bird tear into his leader, he could feel his own sins crawling along his spine. How many had he tried to kill this way? Why now, of all times, was he so afraid to lunge in and save the day?

The guardian of Canis was meant to be a protector, a saivor. Giggle had told him so, when he was too young to listen or care, but the memory clung to his fur and he could not shake it. He was failing the Bonebound and in doing so, he was committing treason. They had took him in, despite what he was, and they gave him love and family. Things he was less and less sure he deserved.

As the air grew choking tight, Aza'zel's blood was being shed in front of his own children's eyes. If Kerberos didn't do something, Aza'zel was going to die... But if he did, if he stepped in between and tried to save his leader... Kerberos could not shake the sensation that he would lay his own paw down against Aza'zel. His interference would mean finishing off Aza'zel. It was a horrible sickness that ran through his mind through the whole of the fight-- but the more it became obvious that Aza'zel could not win, the less Kerberos could hold himself back.

He had to try.

"Stay here," he demanded of the two young ones, glaring back at them with harsh pink eyes. His body surged forward, massive paws breaking through bones like oars through water, and he lunged into Aza'zel's back within seconds. He bit his teeth down on Aza'zel's wing-- perhaps, not the most gentle of things, no, but this was important. He couldn't allow Aza'zel to fall victim to his spell, no matter the cost.

Just behind Gertrude, a pocket of infinite blackness appeared, and immediately bones began to fly into it, crushing into dust before Kerberos' very eyes. The strength of the spell was incredible-- he only had seconds before it would pull him in too. He dug his feet into the earth and leaned back, using his immense weight to keep Aza'zel from being sucked into the fleeting, starving hole. It would be alright. He wouldn't let Aza'zel die-- not now.

i'm ready to start
the conquest of spaces

Honestly, Liora had pretty much missed the majority of the fight. She was so wrapped up in cheering on the fight that she hadn't realized how badly the pigeon was goring her father. She saw splashes of blood, flecks of crimson and feathers as the pair of them toussled, intending to see her great father emerge victorious. A wonderful start to a festival for the unstoppable Bonebound. But when Liora's voice finally faltered and she got a real good look, she saw it was the pigeon who had his beak dug into her father's skin. His shoulder, or his chest; still her heart suddenly wrenched with confusion, then disappointment, then panic. Why was he doing that? Didn't he know how strong her father was? How dare he! And yet... Aza'zel remained indisposed. He was losing.

Anger flared up inside of the lammeraven. She made to advance, but Kerberos was quicker. The big dog had moved ahead and told her and Ashtoreth to stay behind, but she'd be damned if she let that pigeon get away with goring her father!! Liora wrenched her beak open with an angry screech, ignoring Kerberos' words. "GET OFF MY DADDY!!!" She shrieked at the pigeon, flaring her wingspan as she hopped a few times, lunged forward with a thrust of her wings, and soared towards Aza'zel and Gertrude. She landed just next to Aza'zel in time for the cerberus' pinprick of black to open up ahead of them. Liora thrashed her wings towards the pigeon; in conjunction with the churning black hole, she managed to generate enough of a gust that whipped the winds furiously around them.

She stood tall and proud - Liora wasn't very big, but in that moment she felt enormous. And powerful. Her amethyst beak parted in idle threat as she beat her wings, taloned feet digging into the ground. She hadn't realized the pull of the event horizon until it tugged at her feathers and pulled her body forward, and suddenly she found panic. Wait - why was she getting sucked in?!

The final spell cast from the Bone King would result in catastrophe. The air pressure in Canis began to fluctuate rapidly. A deafening CRACK! can be heard as the first stalacite begins to fall from the ceiling, on a crash course towards the Gembound below. Soon, more begin to follow, joined by rocks and dust.

It failed.

It failed.

He failed.

He failed them all.

Azazel closed his eyes, wondering if he could just slip away from all of this. If his mistakes could be forgotten. If everything was just a fantasy, one conjured by his dreams. Perhaps... he was still sound asleep in his chrysalis. Oh... his chrysalis. It felt like it had been forever since he lay in the warm and secure hold of a stone. A deafening crack sounded overhead, and he realized that his spell had backfired horribly. The air pressure was descending into chaos and disharmony. A pair of jaws clamped onto his wing, dragging him away from what seemed to be the event horizon of a black hole.

The vicious pinprick of darkness devoured the falling rocks and stones that threatened to come near it. It was a monster that devoured even light. Surely the dumb gemfaced bird would fall into it. He'd never thought he would hate another so very much in their first meeting. Perhaps it was the fact that he was surely near death. His conciousness flickered, and he went limp for a moment before he realized...

Liora.

His daughter.

She'd mustered her magicka, casting a great gust towards the pigeon. His gaze, however, watched her. The hybrid was slipping away. Liora was being pulled towards the void. "Liora!" He shrieked in a strangled cry, fighting against Kerberos' powerful jaws until he fell on the floor in a heap. His head lifted, feeling only slightly renewed by the power of a father's love. If he'd die, his daughter would not die with him. Blood splattered on the floor as he began to run right towards the event horizon, towards his daughter.

He'd save her. He had to. If anything was his duty, it was to protect his daughter.

Painfully, he spread his wings and felt his feathers threatening to be sucked away into the black hole. His head was filled with nothing but the loud winds of the caverns, falling rocks, and the hungry noises that the event horizon made. Azazel swooped down to pick up his child, using the last of his strength to flap his wings and bring her closer to Kerberos. A crack sounded overhead. He gazed up... and threw his daughter towards Kerberos.

A stalacite crashed down towards him, and the Ave disappeared under a heap of broken stones and dust.

table code © rasta 2015

@Gertrude

Everything happened so fast. The small noodle couldn't see what was going on until it was too late. Kerberos lunged forward and in the split second where his fluffy paws left the ground, she could see under him-- could see the crimson splashed across the bones. The room began to shake, the sound of rocks cracking above.

Ashtoreth watched her sister fly off after the three headed babysitter. She opened her mouth to cry after her, to try and bring her back, but everything was happening so fast. The ceiling cracked and rocks and dust began to fall and spin through the twisting air pressures.

The hybrid tried to move, but the air felt like moving through tar. Kerberos' teeth were snapping, trying to grab her sister, her father, trying to protect them-- the violent, vicious verdant bird was no where to be seen-- and then...

Then the rock fell.

A massive stone, plummeted, right towards her family. It was shaped like an enormous tooth, sharp edge perfect for breaking right through anything that got in its way. She saw her father snatch Liora, the foolish little sister that she should have stopped, should have protected, and toss her towards Kerberos. She saw it-- and that was the last she saw of her father as the tooth-shaped boulder took her father out of the sky.

A high pitched noise echoed up around Ash, sharp, painful. She realized her mouth was open, and that, somehow, she was screaming. Her magic didn't work, no sound came from her jaws, but somehow she could hear her own scream, stinging her own ears. It didn't travel farther than her own ears for the spell had failed, but for a moment, she just stood there, cowering in fear, going deaf to her own abilities.

She was just a child, after all. There was nothing she could do but scream. Even if no one could hear her, even if everything was falling apart around her. What good was she, a child who could do nothing but watch as horrible things happened to those around her.

Listen to me + Hear my thoughts