Uproarious cheering filled the cramped space, every nook and cranny vibrating with the voices of spectators as they jeered and whooped. The very ceiling above them, the ground for those not aware of the chasms and tunnels twisting and winding beneath the Day Court, was humming with the tension and excitement that thrummed through each and every horse standing in the dirt. A rough circle had been marked out with rocks, misshapen and stained with blood. Hoof prints had churned up the sand within- skids and piles where horses had stood or fallen.
Within the circle stood two opponents. One, a large chestnut stallion with a scar across one side of his face and a pair of sharp fangs descending from between his lips, stamped his hooves and preened to the crowd, raising their ire and thirst for violence. The other, a smaller mare laced in scars, watched with an imperceptible smile.
The White Lion they called her- for the ferocity with which she fought and the pale colour of her fur. It was not far off the title she’d earned in Alanaris- the White Wolf. Each combatant was dubbed with a title if they chose not to reveal their name, and Castalla rather appreciated the anonymity of it all. It felt as though she were a snake shedding her skin, or a demon letting the beast loose. Snapped were the chains that tethered her to humanity, that locked up the wild savagery smouldering like a bushfire within her soul.
Calmly Castalla closed her eyes, relaxing her body with a steadying breath and bowing her head. Slowly the cheering faded into the background until it was just the beat of her opponent’s heart and the air leaving his nares that permeated her enhanced hearing. The stallion, somewhat perplexed for his part, approached her cautiously- smart enough to see the scars and hear the title and know she was worth the precaution. The White Wolf felt his every hoof-fall in the sand, tasted his excitement and anticipation upon her tongue. She didn’t need her eyes to see, not when she’d been trained to fight blind. Castalla was in her element, miring within her own exhilaration, the bloodlust rife within her heart. Should she make this one quick? The first time she’d fought here it had been over in a matter of seconds and the silence had been so thick she could have stabbed with her dagger. Drawing it out might lull her opponent into a false sense of hope, belief that he might stand a chance. There was a darker side of Castalla that enjoyed it, relished the shock and surprise when she triumphed against the odds.
The stallion didn’t want to wait. His intake of breath before launching himself was audible to her, the pause in his step as he shifted his weight to his back legs in preparation. In the same split second her eyes snapped open, shockingly blue and filled with fierce concentration. As sudden as a viper striking she slipped beneath his outstretched mouth and grabbed his neck between her teeth, lashing out with a well-aimed kick to his left foreleg. Taken aback and entirely unprepared, the stallion stumbled and Castalla used the force of his movement to drag him to the ground, pressing one hoof to his neck and smiling a wolf’s smile. Quick it was. She’d seen horses killed during these fights but it showed the ability and restraint of a warrior to keep control. The howls and shouts of victory resumed once more as betting slips were passed around and money changed hooves. With a soft push on his neck, the Wolf released the stallion, eyeing her teeth marks in his neck just quickly enough to ascertain that she’s only barely broken the skin.
A smug smirk played across her lips as she stepped over the ring of stones and melted into the crowd, receiving pats on the back and looks of trepidation as she wove between them.
@Wildthain (/Wolfram) <3
