Backdated to Cycle 125
Anyone is free to observe this Deathmatch, but please note the backdate.

Azrael returned to the forum, still feeling the aching sting of his wounded pride, feeling heat blazing in his chest for the upcoming battle. It would not go the same way as the wrestling. It would NOT. He had nothing to hold back, now. He had no limits. He should have won that fight, but he had been SHACKLED. He would NOT be shackled any longer!!

Snarling, he stepped out to the same place that he had been during the wrestling tournament and waited. If she didn't show up...then he would make a sport out of hunting her. He would find her. And she would wish she'd never hatched.

A part of him hoped that she wouldn't show up. To let all forms of honor die sounded ideal to him. He very much desired to peel her apart form the inside out, if only for the satisfaction of revenge. But he was better then that. If she showed up, he would give her the fight he promised and demanded.

@Relic

Relic's path back to Orion was meandering. It'd been a whole cycle after all, maybe he'd forgotten. That's what part of her was hoping was the case.

But as she approached the forum, she made out the familiar, imposing figure standing proudly, patiently inside the circle. Her response was animal. Her hackles rose, her heart began to hammer in her chest. This was were Relic would become Ver'kahn, or she'd be nothing at all - literally.

It took some recollection, but she finally knew his name. She had to ask around a little to find it, but if she was going to kill him, or if he was going to kill her, they should at least be on first name basis. Relic wasn't sure if he'd extended the same courtesy - whatever, she was happy be the bigger person there.

She strode into the ring, hoping to exude the grave stoicism she was trying desperately to channel here. She was not a brave animal. She wasn't even supposed to be good at fighting. She was a scrap-picker, an opportunist - was there even a chance of survival?

"I got the first move last time, I think. So you go first now." That made sense to her, and she didn't trust her legs to work if he didn't attack her first.

@Azrael LETS FUCKING GOOOO

Manic joy rose in his chest as Relic appeared and stepped out onto the forum. A part of him was disappointed - he would miss out on the hunt after all. But no, this was better. He was better then a rabid animal. He was not a child that had been robbed of his favorite toy. He was simply a beast starved of blood, that which sated his restlessness.

He would crush her in this ancient place of combat. No rules this time. No limits. He was going to enjoy this.

And oh, how kind of her to give him the first move. His arms lifted as he called his magic - yes, he had never said it would be a fight without it - and his chest gleamed powerfully for a moment. And then the glowing in his heart went dark as all of the lights in the cave shut off at once, leaving the two of them in utter black darkness.

Which, for Azrael, was exactly what he liked. Darkness was no hindrance for him.

@Relic

ROUND 1/?

ATTEMPT: turning the lights off
DEFENSE: none
INJURIES: none

And meant it they apparently did. One cycle later—no more, no less—the Forum had visitors. Well, at first it was just one. Azrael, with Audland in the stands, not saying a word. Watching. He probably wouldn't care. From what Audland had gathered from watching the man fight, he seemed to only care for one thing: tasteless, boring victory. Watching him snarl and fume to himself, Audland really could not tell whether he found Azrael's whole... thing to be attractive or not. I mean, he for sure wasn't fun to go up against. But was it... entertaining, to witness this? His rippling, muscular form; his self-destructive pride? It was funny. It was laughable!

Was Audland into that?

In the middle of asking the real questions, Audland spotted the hyena's approach. Something in him fluttered; something that struck him with a boiling heat. It wasn't his magic—he checked—and so it had to be something within. When she strolled up so casually—and then, the words she had the audacity to say when she spoke...! Something in Audland snapped. He might have been the only bystander in the Forum—he might have been drawing a lot of ugly attention to himself—but something in him had to scream: "ARE YOU—"

Lights out.

Audland blinked. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust... to almost blindingly perfect vision. Oh no. His eyes darted to the ceiling, and the glittering, gleaming, loathsome Orion stars that usually drew some amount of his ire every time he entered this room. Nothing. Ohhh no. No, Audland did not like this. Was it the whole room? He'd never seen anything like it. And he could actually see what was going on. Could she?

It made his blood boil. This much power—did she know what she was doing?!

Audland is watching. He almost yelled at Relic but got cut off by the lights going out.

Oh god. He knew magic.

The weight of the spell was more powerful than its actual effect on her. He could probably set her on fire, or something - he looked the type. It tipped the scales massively in his favour - what use is running when you have a range so long you can't even see it?

That sudden wave of dread kept her from handily pointing out that no, darkness didn't blind her, not totally. It'd make precision harder, sure, but with a target that stupid big it'd be on her own dumb fault if she missed. Relic just had to make sure not to trip on anything on the way there.

Easier said than done. Her old strategy was sabotaged some by the terrain, but she managed to come at him with some speed still. Would it be enough?

ROUND 1/?

ATTEMPT: tripping him up again
DEFENSE: armour, enchanted helmet
INJURIES: none (YET)

OOC note: helmet is enchanted with failed timeline, redirecting some damage relic takes to itself. it is a little scuffed from the wrestling, im not expecting it to survive this fight intact lol. here so i dont forget about it

@Azrael

His own eyes, adapted better for darkness then light, saw her coming and knew what she was gonna do. She'd done it in the wrestling match, and that was what had given her an edge. But this time he was going to let it happen and make her regret it.

So excited that he got while she was racing forward, though, that he let himself lose control. All of this was just Azrael losing control. So when he allowed her to slam into his leg again and tumble to the ground, the magic he was supposed to cast to rip the ground up around her, just ended up ripping it up around him.

The ground shook, yes, but he was the epicenter and the rocks beneath shattered and roughly cut into him as he fell on top of them. His eyes widened with shock. What is going on?!

@Relic

ROUND 2/?

ATTEMPT: hitting the ground really hard
DEFENSE: none
INJURIES: cut up by rocks :(

The ground splintered under her feet as she went under and past, but the spell's epicentre had been miscalculated. She whipped around again to see Azrael in the centre of his own earthquake.

Relic would have winced, if every nerve in her body wasn't spitting electricity - but this was a deathmatch, so they were, so she didn't. But she didn't blame Azrael for the failure. Magic was unpredictable. She would've blown herself up by now.

She couldn't feel guilty for what she planned to next, though. Not if she wanted to win.

Relic was being ambitious here. She wanted to wrap her jaws around whatever part of the leg she could, and pull, using the muscles in her jaw and neck to rip the flesh from bone. Make it hurt for him to move.

But the lean meat of his leg was different from the soft underbellies of hares and rodents, no matter how powerful her jaw strength was on her home turf. Even if she trapped the limb in her teeth, the amount of damage done was limited.

If Azrael did lose, somehow, it'd be a death of a thousand cuts.

ROUND 2/?

ATTEMPT: mauling your leg
DEFENSE: armour, enchanted helmet
INJURIES: none (YET)(SOMEHOW)

@Azrael

Embarrassing though the failure was, this was not a limited-time fight. This was not a caged match, where he had to listen to rules or only use his fists. One failure would not lose him this. HE WOULD NOT LOSE THIS!! He heaved up from the ground just as Relic fell upon his leg, teeth sinking into the more vulnerable parts to try and...what, tear his leg off? Damage the ligament? She tore at the skin, sure, perhaps damaged a bit of the muscle, and it was enough for Azrael to want to get her off immediately.

She probably could do more damage if he let it continue. But instead of ripping her off, he opened his jaws. The glow reignited in his chest for a moment and Relic would have only a couple seconds to react as the glow burned red-hot from the fire traveling up his throat. A single, large gout of flame erupted from his mouth, just high enough that he didn't singe his own leg, but Relic would be caught right in the crosshairs.

@Relic

ROUND 3/?

ATTEMPT: fire blast to get you off
DEFENSE: none
INJURIES: cut up by rocks :(, leg torn up

We've established that Relic is much faster than Azrael. But is she faster than a flamethrower?

Her eyes caught the sudden warm glow from inside his chest, the pitch dark making the buildup just obvious enough for her to drop the leg she was holding and scramble away. She felt the burning heat plume behind her as she scratched and scrabbled against the dirt.

She smelt the burning hair before she really felt it, the skin on her haunches raw and pink from the heat. Annoying, distracting, but far better than the alternative.

ROUND 3/?

ATTEMPT: bravely running away
DEFENSE: armour, enchanted helmet
INJURIES: YOU BURNT MY ASS....

@Azrael

It worked, and although the fires didn't burn her to a crisp, she released his leg and back off, which gave him the opening to lunge forward. He didn't even bother standing all the way up, just rolled onto his hands and knees and lunged forward like an animal.

Claws and teeth bared, he threw himself forward to swipe and snap at the hyena. This was no wrestling match - he did not strike with fists. It was not nearly as effective here on the ground, he couldn't quite reach with the lower set of arms, but the upper set, well, they were sharp enough to strike.

@Relic

ROUND 4/?

ATTEMPT: one thousand cuts
DEFENSE: none
INJURIES: cut up by rocks :(, leg torn up