Well, of all the things to have been causing him headaches and to have put him out of commission in the raid, he would not have expected what it had turned out to be. Sharp, hard growths had torn through the skin of his brow and were now, twisting as they grew in an arch back above his head, two inch long horns-to-be. They were still growing, they still hurt, his head still ached, his body still ached. But he had his eyesight, so things could be worse. The witch had not lied to him - she had said her sorcery would require an unknown sacrifice for what he gained. He just couldn't quite decide whether the pain was the sacrifice, or the horns themselves. The bases where they had torn flesh so violently with their initial eruption were still plastered in some form of... plant-matter-based concoction or other, but despite the awkwardness of having what amounted baby horns sticking out of his head he was capable of patrolling, so he was doing so rather than sitting around "resting" and "healing", of which his body could just go right on healing while he got things done. He paused to lift his nose to the wind and was chagrined and more than a little annoyed that with the proximity to his nose, the herbal matter on his face was making it harder to sift out scents. It didn't mask them, not completely, but it did make it slower and more difficult to sort them all and classify them. As he approached closer and closer to the border with Valhalla it would matter a little less, as they had that pack as a buffer to that side, but Eligos was too cautious to rely on Valhalla's continued good will. Even if Aurielle herself didn't turn devious, it would only take a moment for leadership to change paw by gift or by force, and a new leader might well seek to test Aerie in a less friendly manner. He snorted out the astringent scent of plant plaster and drew in another breath, seeking for scents that didn't belong.

'Don't. Leave the skin alone. Amend the ar-'

"I know."

'Be CAREFUL. It's delicate you swine... pick it up.'

"I said, I KNOW."

I growled a bit louder than I intended.

The tips of my teeth pulled the entrails of the flaccid waterfowl over the grainy dirt a few inches, leaving just enough space between it and the lines drawn in the ground around it.

'Well done. You still have the rest to consider.'
My head rose and tilted slightly, I held still as I regarded the position of the small ducks form to the outline I had made with it's innards. The heart being held out of the drawn ring for later, the liver nestled in a shallow ditch above it's head and the stomach right below it's feet. I hummed softly, clicking my teeth habitually as I thought.

"No.. I don't have time. I dont know this area enough to know WHEN it's looked after and I can't be disturbed now. The rest will have to wait, it's not important anyway."

'EVERYTHING. Is. Important. Do it right. Or don't do it at all.'
It laughed - screeched was more like it.
'I wouldn't mind either way.

I groaned. It was right. But the knot forming in my stomach still couldn't be helped. The sound of those words echoed in my mind over and over as if there was a cavern in there for the vibrations to ricochet off the walls. It was becoming... forming into a much more precise sound now. Not as scattered and pitchy as it was before. Suddenly my thoughts swarmed into one another like gnats in a frenzy. Trampling over one another and fighting for my attention as if it were their lifeforce. Battling against my rationale that as long as I had what I needed, I was fine and I would be able to finally get some sleep tonight. The fact that it happened at all was a moot point in my genetics, and I was helpless to stop it too. You know what it was? It was his voice. The sounds and pitches all had their individual personas but his was the loudest. I knew this would happen, and this ritual was the only way to appease him to get it all to stop.

Tonight was a full moon. It had to be. I had been tracking the night skies now for over a week and it was getting closer and closer every day. This ritual was going to be my one chance at getting some peace for the next moon cycle and I damn sure wasn't going to let any distractions get in my way. My only complaint? I was in a FUCKING pack...claimed... shit. The land. Being marked and all. You get what I'm trying to say. But there wasn't any prey coming to me within a mile from here and I had to wait an hour or so JUST to get this sad excuse for a bird. So I'm working with what the universe gave me, and it wasn't much.

"Bene... I can do the bare minimum. I still have to wait for another one..."

I huffed, swearing under my breath.

"Ad astra per aspera..."

It was in the gods paws now.

I lifted a paw to my teeth, regarded it for a moment before pushing it against my mouth, taking a sliver of the gentle flesh in between my teeth and tearing at it swiftly. It took a couple of pulls but I got it to tear enough to let blood begin to flow out of the wound. My eyes closed tightly as the pain momentarily radiated out from my paw and through my arm, causing me to whine softly. I hated that part. My paw then pressed up against my face, smothering it in light streaks of my own blood. Then I quickly dipped that paw in the entrails of the bird and wiped it over my face as well. It wasn't neat, but it would do.

"Alea iacta est."

My voice came out in a mutter while I wiped, blinking away bits that had lodged themselves in the corners of my eye. My rump fell into a sit while I took a moment to stretch. The sun was just going down over the trees and I casted a pair of reddish eyes to the water, waiting for another source of prey to show up. One of the most infuriating parts of this was having to wait until it came to you...

"Please hurry..."

I whispered.  

"Speech"

If Eligos had known what kind of weird ritualistic nonsense was being performed at that moment in his pack, it probably wouldn't have changed his course, which the path of his patrol had pointing only a little off from where the intruder was. He had dealt with the idea of gods and demons and spirits in his life from the time he was young, and while he'd never been as comfortable with expressing his spirituality it was very much a part of him. Besides, he'd just been cursed by one witch with blindness and cured by another one that had caused horns to sprout from his head, so a little duck blood wouldn't have scared him off. The idea that he was doing precisely as they wanted by approaching would have rankled, though, had he known.

But he didn't know, so when he snorted out the scent of herbs and breathed in the scent of a stranger - and blood - his hackles rose and he dropped into a crouch, turning towards where the scent was coming to him from. He stalked it like stalking a hare, until he could see the odd tableaux before him, and study it a moment. He was naturally reserved, so walking in without a reconnoiter wouldn't have sit well for him. When he was sure that the intruder was alone, he rose out of the lakeland brush and leaped forward to close the distance.

He didn't stop to give warning - the stranger's theft was plain in the form of the oddly arranged waterfowl, and their trespass equally plain in the distance the stood within the borders. Nor did he stop to call for reinforcements, because he didn't want to simply give away the element of surprise. Instead he bounded in as silently as he could.

He sought to crash into the stranger in the hopes of his greater weight throwing the trespasser off his paws, his jaws snapping for the side of the male's face in an attempt to lay it open to the bone, from the corner of his mouth to his ear. It was only then, when he'd made his move, that behind him Cypher let out a doggish howl, calling for any nearby pack members in case things got uglier.

Eligos Abraxas vs Ciel for Maim (facial scarring - half a "glasgow smile")
Round 1/?
Age: Over 1 year
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Medium
Offensive Battle Accessory: Centurion Helmet
Defensive Battle Accessory: Leather Armor
Companion 1: Malinos, Male - Battle
Companion 2: Malinois, Female - Battle
Mutation 1: Eland horns - Defensive
Skills: Advanced Fighter & Intermediate Intellectual
Specialty: N/A

With my eyes closed, I prayed silently with Latin lyrics. This act was out of necessity - not because I had some sick fascination with appeasing whoever sat up in the skies watching me from below. But because it was key to keeping me level and clear-headed enough to continue along with my studies and figure out how to resolve this curse. What curse may you ask? If I were to go into detail, I fear I'd be subjecting you to the same punishment that I was living through in my mind just the same.

The sound of the water lightly pushing up against the dirt in small waves made by the wind wafting it around was the only thing that I could hear in the moment. I took a deep breath and continued trying to silence my mind's chatter, emptying it of all the babble going on until it was only me and him left. My eyes opened again to the sight of the scattered organs that were layed at my paws and took note of how tinted they were becoming due to the lack of light. Hm...It was getting close to evening. I looked up and could see the light fading behind the clouds that blanketed over the skies, leaving patches of holes open for some of the last rays to be filtered through their masses.

'Ciel.'
I felt something hard sink down in my gut.

The sound of rhythmic thumps against the ground could be heard off to my right and incoming fast.
' This was no hare. '
It was too late though - my body felt like it was crashed into by the force of a bear. Naturally, my body wanted to brace for myself to hit the ground however my childhood training had to override that instinct by keeping myself limp to allow the blow to radiate through me instead of just at the point of impact. Dark forms swirled around my vision and I struggled to take a breath in as I had landed on my side, the hit momentarily knocking the wind right from my rib cage.

My chest was burning. My ears flooded with a steady hum as if my head had hit something when I fell. Slowly, my body began to feel certain pains coming into realization while I mentally scanned my body for what was immediate aches and what I could bear through. I wasn't sure what just happened or who was around me, so I just laid there motionless. Quiet, except the slight wheezing sound being emitted from my maw. After a moment or so I allowed my eyes to open and take in my surroundings. Grass. Something was wet...Oh. My head was partly laying in a pool of water. It shallowly encircled the form of my skull while my maw was up against the dirt, free from breathing water into my lungs. I blinked. Off to the side and above me was another wolf. Wait...

I studied his form carefully and this was no regular wolf.
'Dire wolves...' Siruis' voice rang into my head.
This one looked just about or taller than Sirius himself...from my vantage point, it hardly mattered. Everything was going to be taller than a wolf splayed out on the ground. I opened my mouth to speak and instantly retracted it as I suddenly felt a sharp pain radiate through my skull. 'Huh?' I sorely lifted my head up, wincing as my torso came up as well. A howl rang in the distance while I let the water drain off of my face. I could taste iron in my mouth and this wasn't from the waterfowl that I had killed earlier. This was a taste I was all too familiar with. This was the taste of my own blood.

'I guess...did he tear me open?'
Appeared so. I felt a laceration along the side of my cheek, stopping only a mere inch from my ear. I rubbed the side of my face with my paw and like a confirmation of my thoughts, I watched as my blood soak through the thin white fur. It was so warm as it melted through the thin layer of fur on my wrist and bathed over my skin...so warm indeed. I wiped my face again to get the feeling of it on my paw, my whole paw this time. This was nice. I wiped it again. And again. And again. Again. Each time I could feel the excitement bubbling through my veins and lighting up my mind like the morning sun. It was the smell... the taste... It was so familiar and almost sorely missed. I couldn't put a claw on it but just the feeling of being saturated in my own blood aroused something deep inside of me that I couldn't quite explain.
It's almost like I wanted more.
This time, when I smeared it though I must have pushed too hard. I felt my skin tear more and it was ripping up along the side of my face. My excitement suddenly stopped when I realized what had happened. Looking over at my reflection in the pool of water, I barely recognized me. My whole face was soaked in blood and I couldn't even tell where it was coming from anymore.

My gaze moved to the wolf that towered over my form and I looked up at him. He looked like he was poised for a fight - He was going to be disappointed.

"You interrupted the ceremony."

My words were contorted by the blood flowing over my tongue. I opened my mouth to allow some to drool out and fall to the floor. My eyes fell to the ducks' organs that were now out of place and I sighed in dismay.

"It'll just give him what he wants...I was trying to stop it."

I said quite plainly. It was what it was. I still had time if I could find another willing sacrifice. But looking back up at this wolf and at the two other canines that were around his perimeter as well, it didn't seem like I was going to be able to explain my situation and still have enough time to carry it out.
This guy was probably from the packs' area and I knew it was only a matter of time before someone came about. I was putting myself at risk by being here and there was no use in fighting this guy. Logic says I would lose. Then who would have the cure for this curse then? It would just be passed onto another unwilling and weak participant. I wanted to end it for good.

I shakily got to my paws and coughed a few times in discomfort.

"I won't fight you."

If that's what he was looking for me to do. I wasn't a fighter anymore... At least not in this sense. I closed my eyes having a few images play through my mind of how this would go.

"But I will one way or another finish what I started."

Even if that final sacrifice that I had to come up with, would be me.

"Speech"

"Thoughts"
Notes;; Im still lost on fight stats, haha. Ciel will probably submit, but let me know if I should include any in this post? :S