It's Written In Gold [PACK CHALLENGE FOR TALIS]

Ashiel was breathing slow and deep, easing his nerves as one by one the audience arrived. He grinned at Malleus and dipped his head in greeting as the older man moved to take a seat. Ashiel owed him for the fight lessons and he hoped to make his tutor proud. Next to arrive was Zinnia. Ashiel wasn't quite sure how to address her. What would she think of him challenging for her pack?  "Hello Zinnia. It is good to see you again despite the circumstances." He wanted to be cordial. After all he was hoping one or two of the members of Talis might stay with him as new leader, however unlikely that was. She'd been curious about his religion when she'd caught him offering sacrifice to the fallen god. He did hope his family would leave her be and that went for most of Talis. He didn't want any potential members maimed before this was all said and done.

Next to arrive was Amon, Ashiel smiled at his uncle, his chest swelling with pride as he caught the approval in his uncle's eyes. Yes! Now he just needed to make sure the man's pride was not misplaced. Ashiel had to win this fight. He felt the pressure mounting and fought it back down again as Razi arrived. "Thank you Razi, I will do my best."  Archon was the next to arrive and Ashiel nodded respectfully toward the older male. Grateful to see yet another member of his family. The Abraxas were out in full force it would seem.

Then the alpha arrived. By this time Dragon was indeed completely blind and escorted by his jaguars. Ashiel carefully took in their movements, watching the way those bodies moved. He had a healthy respect of mountain lions and the same would hold for the cats. They were not something to mess with lightly and Ashiel knew their presence would make up for Dragon's handicap. Sooner or later he'd get caught by the jaws or claws of these creatures but he had long since made himself comfortable with pain. His battle with Inverno had been the catalyst to clear that obstacle. He would let his spilled blood being an offering to his god.

"Ashiel, why am I not surprised?"

Ashiel grinned. "Because it was logical. Obviously, this is nothing personal. Just a matter of simple math. I am expected to expand our empire by conquering one of the mortal packs. I wish to establish another strong hold in Auster, your pack is in Auster. You lead us into the heart of your pack and I learned much. Now I am using that knowledge to my advantage." He continued to grin certain that this was destiny. Fate had led him to Talis which was ripe for the picking. Win or lose this was meant to be.

Ashiel winced though as Valdís arrived and began to screech at him like a cat in heat. He couldn't even pretend to be surprised by her reaction though he did find himself wondering about her. She was such a strong and intelligent woman. Why would she fall submissively behind a blind alpha and allow him to lead her? Goodness, was this a case of the blind leading the blind? Thankfully, his mother stepped in. Ashiel had a battle to fight. He didn't really care to get into a verbal argument with anyone right now. "Valdís, we can talk about this after the fact." Dangerous, he knew. She probably wanted to maul him. "Besides, if you've ever fought a mountain lion you know there's more to this than picking on a blind man. Who knows, maybe your precious leader has learned to compensate. How generous of me to allow everyone present to find out." Further more his mother was right. Dragon could've stepped down or appointed a second at any point since his injury and he didn't. Ashiel believed it was overconfidence and now that pride would be his downfall if the godling had his way.

Ashiel was surprised to see Iskra arrive. He hadn't caught the scent of Talis when they'd met but it seemed she worked fast and had already gotten in good with the alpha. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at their romantic gushing and coddling. He did let out a chuckle though. She could ignore him if she wanted but that wasn't going to make him go away.  "I'm glad the spirit of fun has joined us. Now, dear Iskra, I can show you my idea of fun." Astaroth arrived then and he grinned and dipped his head in greeting as she stated that his family was indeed proud. Yes, it was all coming to fruition! This battle would mark his passing from child to man. He also greeted Seth as the other arrived, stifling a chuckle at the win from the young male. He appreciated the dwarf's sharp wit and in his opinion there was no one cleverer. Even his mother agreed despite her enjoyment of harassing the shorter Abraxas. Another male from Talis would arrive and again Ashiel would dip his head in greeting. This was the first stranger to enter his midst in this challenge.

Ashiel was ready to start when Asharya entered and for a moment the mask of cold, calculating, leader-to-be fell. His eyes lit up, his tail wagging just slightly at the sight of her sister. Spirits it had seemed like forever since he'd seen her! Now she was here, witnessing what he hoped would be his triumph. Having all of his family around supporting him, he felt like he could burst with happiness! "Asharya, it is so good to see you! I will make you proud sister. When this is over we should catch up. It seems like it's been ages." Asharya was followed by Apollo and again Ashiel would nod in greeting to the man. It was important for him to feel like he'd acknowledged everyone present. Soon enough it would be time to duel.

——— (OOC: FIGHT STARTS HERE)———

Ashiel waited a few more moments for anyone else to arrive before he moved to face Dragon, leaving a space of ten feet between them. "Well now, I think it's time we begin."  Griff, his companion, took off into the air and began to circle overhead. Excitement sparked through Ashiel's limbs as he prepared himself for this battle. Ashiel's head and tail lowered to align with his spine. His chin would tuck slightly as his neck scrunched back and his shoulders rolled smoothly forward, pushing fur and flesh over his vitals. Ashiel's hackles rose sharply as his limbs spread just a bit more than shoulder and hips width apart. He shifted his weight evenly over them, his limbs bending slightly to lower his center of gravity as well as to prepare him to spring.  His toes splayed as his claws dug into the earth. His jaws parted, eyes narrowed. His ears would pin tightly to his head. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. For a moment he felt as though the whole world had stopped breathing…

Ashiel kicked off suddenly, powerful limbs sending dirt flinging into the air as he attempted to close the distance between himself and Dragon. Ashiel sought to approach the other man nearly head on, but slightly to his own right so that the front of his left shoulder lined up with the crease where Dragon's right shoulder connected to the right side of his chest. Ashiel attempted to jut his left shoulder forward into the crease and hoped to build up enough momentum that the force of the impact would strain the ligaments and partially dislocate his opponents shoulder.

Hoping to capitalize on his momentum, Ashiel simultaneously attempted to drive the front of his chest wholly into the front of Dragon's chest (though slightly off to Dragon's left due to Ashiel's earlier shift to his own right). He hoped to collide with enough force to knock the breath from his opponents lungs and cause a reasonable amount of bruising. Ashiel hoped to time his own breathing so that he could exhale before impact so he wouldn't knock the wind out of himself as well. In addition, Ashiel also sought to shift his weight to his left foreleg and his hindlegs when he threw his left shoulder forward so that he could raise his right forepaw and attempt to slam it down onto the outermost toes of Dragon's left forepaw. He hoped his weight and momentum would enable him to sprain Dragon's toes and further aid him against his opponent.

Ashiel sought to coordinate his movements and at the same time he tried to crash his shoulder into his opponent his head would rotate to his left and tuck slightly as he attempted to bury his fangs into Dragon's face. Ashiel's upper fangs sought to pierce Dragon's left eye. While it was true the man was already blind and such a move would not cost him his sight it would still be painful and cause significant bleeding. Ashiel's lower fangs would seek to dig into the lower portion of Dragon's left cheek in a snapping motion meant to shred the masseter, one of the key muscles that aided in opening the lower jaw. His hope was to leave severe lacerations while partially crippling his opponents jaw.

Ashiel vs Dragon for Talis [pack challenge]
Rd. 1/4
Height: 42"
Build: Heavy

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