The sun was hot on her back, the grass tickling at the feathers that draped over strong limbs. Spring had come and spring was leaving. The sun was here to stay, unfortunately, and with it came the rising temperatures and the rising angst of some of the fellow citizens that called Novus home.
For too long Katniss had searched for the ones who started the food store fires. For too long her home had gone without answers. And just as she was closing in on a possible intruder, the mare had caught onto her ruse and began to flee. Katniss chased her from Denocte, chased her all the way north through mountains, sand, and now finally the battle field. It was here that Katniss was determined to make her stand. It was here that Katniss would stop this mare and not allow her to take another step.
The ebony mare was charging her, coming at her full force with all the rage of a young child. Such rage was an amateur move. Katniss slowed her speed, coming to a halt as the mare came forward to take her on. Eyes looked to Finnick, the bird ever so loyal to his bonded. The eagle had alerted Katniss to the mare’s intent to flee, showing her that such a move had been rather telling of the mare’s guilt. But until she could confirm, she had to defeat this mare. “That overgrown songbird wants nothing more than to rip your eyes from their sockets.” Finnick had the strong talons of any eagle species. He could easily blind the mare, but Katniss had told him to refrain. This was her fight alone, not his.
As the mare came closer, rising up on her hind limbs, forelimbs reaching out to land a blow. Katniss was quick and nimble without the extra weight of her armor. She easily stepped back with a half-rear, the opponent’s hooves coming close enough that Katniss could feel the way they pushed wind into her face.
But it was then that the mare kept going, past her position and towards Finnick. Immediately she began to feel the rage boil within her. No one touched Finnick. And in a swift motion, Katniss turned on her heals and kicked off the grass, thrusting her body forward. With each step she gained momentum, with each beat of her heart, she honed in on the mare.
The sneer that was painted on the other mare’s face did nothing but anger her further. “No one touches him…” She continued further, her feet pounding the earth and making it vibrate with a thunder that was unmatched. “…and no one touches Denocte!” With each syllable her voice rises. With each thundering step, Katniss fills something building within her.
Magic is brewing inside the mare, a magic that is new and foreign to her. But even as it feel so strange coursing through her veins, it feels so right. As she comes to stand in front of the mare, her feet nearly dancing in place, she locks eyes with the stranger. “You have one chance to confess.” It was only a sneer and a grin that Katniss receives in response. And as she turns to face her rump towards the mare, she tapes into that magic, feeling the way her hooves suddenly grow thicker, stronger, as the keratin grows more layers. They feel more dense, but she also knows that their density will aid in her kick. And with a swift blow, the mare lands the intruder in the center of her forehead. The mare’s body twitches as it hits the ground, her opponent defeated. And just as the keratin made her hooves thicker and stocker, her body seemed to flake it off in no time, leaving her just as she was. This new magic, whatever it was, it was something that Katniss knew could be dangerous.
For now, Denocte was safe. But for how long? When would she be forced to use this magic again? The eagle, patient and obedient, landed upon his bonded’s back, their eyes meet, and all is well within the world again.
@Random Events
