A Spar With The Half God (Private w/ Artemise)

Zaroc was a little nervous.

Scratch that, he was VERY nervous.

He was going to spar with Artemise, the semi-goddess of the IceWing Tribe. He knew he was going to get his tail kicked, but the real reason he was nervous was because he was scared of embarrassing himself. Zaroc had always been one to hold his head high when it came to his self-esteem. Of course, he wasn't arrogant, he just liked to take pride in his self-confidence. Artemise would PROBABLY destroy him, but oh well.

The royal advisor laid in the meadow, the mountain looming behind him like a slumbering giant, and the forest buzzing and humming with the cries of birds and chatting of bugs. Zaroc sighed softly and glanced up and around, not knowing wether Artemise would make herself known.. or take him by surprise. He wasn't sure of Artemise's level of slyness, so this would be interesting, as he was yet to find out her battle strategy. He knew she was extremely powerful, after all, she was the semi-goddess. But what was she like as an actual fighter? With fang and claw and wit? She was smart, but Zaroc was making guesses and trying to figure out how to go down with dignity at the same time, a rather confusing matter.

As he waited, his tail came sliding over the grass and came to rest at his flanks, tucking into his body rather comfortably. Patiently, Zaroc awaited Artemise's appearance, humming an old celtic tune to himself.

[Zaroc... Note that I won't be posting daily. I'm going to be busy...studying of course xD]

Artemise had always been a silent walker. It had helped her in many different situations, combat being most of them. She made use of her silent tread to approach her opponent, Zaroc. Though she held her head high, trying to look nonchalant, nervousness was raging through her. What if she lost? Oh, it would be so humiliating -- losing to a Royal Advisor! She knew Zaroc would not laugh and taunt her, but she still did not want to get her ego beaten up in this...spar, Zaroc had called it.

The spar would take place in a large circular space of around...400 feet, maybe, with rocky mountains of all shapes and sizes randomly scattered around their would-be combat arena. Zaroc came into view, his back turned towards her. The Semi-Goddess couldn't help a slight smirk, for he was in the perfect position for her to strike. As she shook her body, ridding herself of the tension that stiffened her body, she prepared herself. To fight. As friendly as the so-called spar was meant to be, she had no doubt that she would fight brutally, if it meant that she would triumph. She would deal with the consequences later.

Artemise took into the air, her wings stirring the air, but barely. Hopefully Zaroc wouldn't feel anything. Her wingbeats were silent as she neared her opponent, making sure that she was high enough to see any long-ranged attacks Zaroc aimed at her, and hopefully evade it in time. Then she flicked her tail, making sure that her tail spikes landed in front of him in a small circle.

It was a sign that she was here, and that the battle would commence. Would he fight her in the air, where she would be able to dart around him? Or would he fight on the ground, where Artemise was more hesitant in her movements?

(That's no problem at all )

Zaroc tapped the ground with the tip of his tail as he awaited a sign of Artemise's approach. He couldn't help the nervousness. Who wouldn't be nervous? She was a semi-god, halfling, whatever you wish to call it. She had god's blood in her veins. Him? He was a middle aged ice wing, enduring a mid-life crisis and trying to figure out what to do with himself now he was a royal advisor. He wanted to help out Virgo and he would obey her orders without question, but still, he wanted to attend to other things in his life. He was lost at the moment.

Deep in thought, Zaroc didn't hear or see Artemise, not even glimpse her shadow, as she took to the air above him. Which was what caused him to jump when the tail spikes landed in front of him. Unsheathing his claws, Zaroc examined the spikes with his eyes, and then he smiled.

It was her.

"So you did decide tosneak up on me," Zaroc said to himself quietly, before standing. Turning around to look up at Artemise, for a moment he was dazzled by the way her wings blocked out the early morning sun, and then he stretched his own wings. Unfolding the giant limbs that gifted him with flight, Zaroc flapped them once, then twice, before jumping into the air, feeling the anxiety building up inside him.

He wouldn't go for strong attacks yet. He would test her reactions, strength and speed, then go in for the fancy stuff.

Curling his neck back into an S shaped position, Zaroc unleashed a blast of ice at Artemise as he charged up at her, wanting to see how she reacted.

Artemise watched Zaroc bend his head to peer at her tail spikes. He was probably figuring out whether the tail spikes belonged to her. A moment passed, before Zaroc stood up and turned his elegant head to look at her. She gave him a slight smile, but tensed as he unfurled his wings and rose into the air. He neared, and his face came into clearer view. That was when she actually registered his handsomeness. Before, when she'd met him, she hadn't paid attention to his looks, for her mind was on other things; but now that all her attention was focused on him...

Suddenly, he curved his neck into an s shape, and ice blasted from his maw. Artemise  swerved aside just in time, narrowly avoiding getting her face frozen, but her foreleg took the hit. She could feel her foreleg getting colder and colder, and she cursed herself for it. How careless she had been! She retaliated with a swing of her tail, flinging her tail spikes at him again. At the same time, she folded her wings and zoomed down, towards Zaroc, at a speed that stole her breath from her lungs. Fast, but not too fast; she would be able to stop herself if needed. She tilted her folded wings and zoomed past Zaroc, at the same time grabbing at his tail with her maw, avoiding the spikes on his tail, trying to yank him down.

Zaroc watched, eyes narrowed, as Artemise swerved out of the way just in the nick of time, but her foreleg took the hit. He watched her, ready for any attacks, but he wasn't quick enough to fly out of the way of her tail spikes that now zoomed towards him at an incredible speed.

Quickly, Zaroc folded a wing in front of him, and the ice spikes stabbed into the hardened scales, three of them finding there way beneath the layer of protection and into his skin. After a moment, blood started trickling down his wing.

Hissing softly in pain, Zaroc was already off balance due to briefly folding one wing, but as he unfolded it again, he had to swerve out of Artemise's way as she dove towards him. She was fast.

Eyes wide, Zaroc felt her jaws clamp down on his tail. Despite his strength and weight, being already unbalanced sealed his fate, and he was suddenly yanked down.

Reacting quickly, Zaroc snapped at Artemise's leg, the one he had hit, and tried to drag her down with him, but after he got his maw around her leg, he lost his grip.

For a moment, Zaroc felt nothing but the wind against his body and the shock of having being yanked so easily, and then the ground slammed into him from behind.

Dust rose around him as Zaroc rolled onto his stomach, panting. He glanced at his bleeding wing, before bringing it towards him and using his teeth to yank out the spikes, wincing as he did so.

Whipping around, Zaroc gazed at Artemise for a moment, this powerful dragoness, before stretching his wings again and smirking. "That almost hurt," he chuckled, before flapping his wings. Okay, it had hurt. A lot. His ageing back was aching, and he knew he wasn't going to be able to stand many hits on his spinal area.

"Well? Attack me," he said, giving her a smile that had a very low-key flirtatious edge to it.

A slight groan escaped Artemise as she crashed into the ground, Zaroc landing beside her. Maybe that move wasn't too smart of me... she thought, dazed, but snapped back to attention when Zaroc rolled onto his stomach. Her response was to spring onto her feet, tense and ready to deflect or dodge, her eyes watching Zaroc warily. But Zaroc did none of that, but instead started to pull her tail spikes out of his wings. She felt a little guilty when she saw scarlet blood trickling down his wing.

But this was combat.

At Zaroc's remark about her attacks almost hurting, she smirked. "Attacks are meant to hurt," she said, and then flashed forward like a cobra, wings tight against her side as she hurtled towards him. Then she gave him a grin that displayed her white, pointed fangs before launching herself into the air, sailing right over Zaroc's head.

She landed on the ground behind him and whirled around, as her foreleg came up and kicked his leg hard, making sure that her claws did not sink into his haunch but graze it lightly. Her kick was followed by an attempt to bite his tail with her fangs as her tail wrapped around once of his legs, and yanked hard, hoping to pull his leg out from under him and make him fall.

Zaroc watched, intrigued, as Artemise quickly rose to her feet, prepared for an attack. She was fast, too fast, and that was what made her attacks so hard to deflect. He chuckled at her words, but even that short laugh was cut off when she dashed directly at him like a snake, and he stepped back as he watched with wide eyes, unable to react fast enough as she grinned, then leapt over his head.

Zaroc tried to turn, but a blow to the leg sent his back knee bending, unbalancing him, and a moment later Artemise's fangs sunk into his tail, and before he could even snarl in pain, her leg wrapped around his and he was yanked to the ground.

Ignoring the pain, he started to raise his tail, before suddenly slamming it onto the ground, hoping to mske her pull away due to the fact her head was getting repeatedly yanked over and over again.

He tried to stand up with his three good legs, growling softly. It was a lot harder then it looked.

Giving up on that, Zaroc stretched his wing and sliced at Artemise, aiming for her general body in the hopes of gettting her off. His wings had sharp edges, so it would feel like the end of a sharp sword slicing on your skin, scales, feathers, whatever.

He kicked out at her leg a moment later, a rather predictable move on his part, hoping to send her off balance.

Artemise found her head repeatedly getting yanked, and with a slight snarl, she clawed at Zaroc's tail with her curved claws until he released her. Then, she would attempt to evade Zaroc's attack with his wing; though she was fast, she was not fast enough, and a slight wince was the only sign of pain she showed as the sharpened tips of Zaroc's wings sliced across her chest, drawing blood. The blood trickled down her skin, and she hastily wiped it off, only to succeed in smearing it across her chest. Artemise sighed, but her exhale of breath was quickly cut off when Zaroc kicked out his leg, and she dodged him successfully this time, quickly lifting her tail to wrap it around Zaroc's leg before yanking it, hard.

Like Zaroc's kick, her attack with her tail was predictable. She had to stop using that move.

Artemise had pulled hard enough, and Zaroc flew forward; Artemise instinctively brought her wings up to shield her body as Zaroc slammed into her and sent both of them sprawling to the ground for the second time that day. Artemise was landed on by Zaroc, and she wriggled, struggling to get away before he could attack her. But Zaroc was made of solid muscle, and was extremely heavy; she couldn't breathe properly, much less wriggle away. "Zaroc..." she gasped, eyes bulging slightly. "You're...choking...me..."

See how foolish that move was? a venomous voice hissed in her brain, and she growled at the voice, immediately shutting it up. Outside she continued gasping for breath, the weight of Zaroc crushing her.

The feeling of sharp claws digging into his scales and clawing down his tail forced Zaroc to let go of Artemise with a soft hiss. His eyes widened when he saw the soon-smeared blood on Artemise's chest, and that distraction made it easy for Artemise to wrap her tail around his leg and yank.

Colliding with Artemise, Zaroc suddenly found himself on top of her. For a moment or two, he was dazed from the sudden change in position, but Artemise's choked pleas forced him to regain his senses.

He was choking her! Quickly, Zaroc scrambled off her, standing two feet away from her to give her all the space she needed. The Royal Advisor had gone quite pale in the face.

"I-I apologize, Artemise, I'm so so sorry," he proceeded to apologize profusely, eyes wide as he prayed for her to be okay. He cared for her.. a lot.

The idea of her being hurt made him shiver, even though he knew she was more then capable of handling herself in a real battle.

Artemise took in great lungfuls of the cold air, grateful that Zaroc was no longer pressed against her. Then, when she finally recomposed herself, she sat up and told the pale-faced Royal Advisor, "Don't apologise, Zaroc. It's not your fault. It's mine, actually, for not seeing that coming in the first place." Artemise gave him a shaky smile, the memories of his weight pressing against her and choking her still fresh in her mind. "Shall we continue?" she asked. Though it was a question, she didn't wait for Zaroc's answer, and with several flaps of her wings, she was airborne. Artemise circled in the sky above Zaroc, and with each circle she made in the sky, she dipped lower and lower. In one of her circles, she flicked her tail at Zaroc, sending spikes of midnight blue shooting straight towards him. Then she stopped circling and tilted her wings up, flying higher and higher until the clouds shrouded her. There she slowed to a hover, and summoned her frostbreath in her maw, forming it into a large, heavy ball; once it was formed, she opened her maw wide, and the ball shot out. Aiming for Zaroc's cherst.

Hopefully it would strike home, and knock Zaroc unconscious. Of course, there was a high chance of it missing its target, for it moved rather slowly, giving Zaroc plenty of time to dodge. So Artemise folded her wings to her sides and dove down after the ball, once again summoning her frostbreath, ready to fire. Artemise watched Zaroc tensely as she neared him, ready to spread her wings and dodge any attacks coming.

The sound of Artemise taking in great gulps of air was music to Zaroc's ears. He lowered his head, letting out a breath he himself had not noticed he'd been holding.

He raised it when Artemise told him not to apologize, offering a weak smile which he returned gratefully. Thank Arkhor she's alright, he thought. She had given him a real fright. Zaroc was heavier then many dragons..

Zaroc didn't register Artemise's next three words until she was up in the air and circling around him. He readied himself, stretching his wings slightly and stepping back, digging his back leg into the icy snow for more purchase on it's surface, enabling him to leap forward or to the sides if he needed to.

He saw Artemise flick her tail and raised his wing, sharply turning his head, but as he did so one grazed one of his head fins, taking the very tip off with it.

Zaroc barely felt it, but he cursed inwardly and turned his head as Artemise tilted her wings and went up into the clouds.

Zaroc watched her, eyes narrowing as he tried to make out what she was doing.

His eyes widened when he saw a huge icy ball shooting towards his chest, slower then what he would have expected, but still quite fast in his opinion. Startled, Zaroc jumped to the side, and the ball exploded onto the ground beside him, sending the male stumbling and off balance. And therefore, open to attack.