The two snow leopards circled one another slowly. While both were of the same sub-species, one of them was sporting red glowing eyes instead of the regular icy blue. They were sizing each other up. The blows Azura had collected earlier did nothing but fueling the Phoenix and her own fury. She did not act on it yet as she watched and analyzed her opponent. Azura was vaguely aware of the crowd as she focused entirely on Marric. This fight was not going to be similar in any way to the fight she had with Nathan. Marric was smarter, smaller and faster than Nathan, while she guessed he sported the same strength.

It was all about finding that weakness and exploiting it. Marric snarled and hissed at her several times and made a few fake attacks which she easily avoided. She noticed his tail twitching violently as time passed without anything really happened. Their gazes were upon each other at all times, neither wanting to break the eye contact as it would be a sign of weakness and submission. Azura kept her heart rate as low as possible and tried to show no emotions on the outside that could betray her intentions. His whiskers were trembling, his ears focused solely on her and his pacing got faster.

Impatience.

She wanted to test him. Azura lowered herself so her belly was just touching the floor. For wolves, a sign of submission, for snow leopards, a sign to fight. Her ears flattened against her skull as Marric responded as she intended. He charged. Their bodies clashed, Marric attacking her from above, digging his claws and teeth into her thick fur of her neck as Azura rolled on her side swatting her front paws at his face. She lunged upwards with the front half of her body, and bit down on his fur, hoping to grasp some skin. When she only thing that filled her mouth was fur, she maneuvered her back paws between them and kicked the male snow leopard away with all the strength she had in her.

Both had no injuries as both had only managed to catch fur and not anything essential. Azura did know one thing though, Marric was impatient and would take his chance whenever he saw fit, without overthinking it. Eye contact had been broken by the fast and quick attack as she rolled over again and stood up again on her paws. Marric had gotten up again as well and did not waste time. He attacked again. Any reluctance he had, if he had any at all was gone and he was going for it full force.

They clashed, teeth and claws relentlessly kept coming at each other. Azura dodged, attacked and found Marric to do be doing the same thing. He was not backing down, pushing her to the defense. He had drawn the first blood, but she had managed to bite down on him as well. As the drops of the crimson had filled her mouth it had not given her the high she kinda was hoping it would. It was metallic, foul and distracting. Nothing like how it was it her dreams or when she had attacked Nathan.

Azura found herself pushed back some more and the cliff seemed to be coming ever closer. Her heart was beating fast and loud, the blood rushing around in her body was sounding like a buzz in her head. She was panting by the time Marric finally backed off. She had been holding the Phoenix back, did not want to make a scene in front of everyone but she knew she needed it. She quickly glanced into the crowd and found Killian as he worriedly stared back at her. To win this fight, she needed to step it up.

Loud, deep growls brought her attention back to Marric. His lip was torn and she had managed to do some damage to his tail but that was about it. All minor injuries and he was ready for another round of tiring her out. The fun and games were over. She needed to take control and finish it.

Just say the word and I'm here.

Azura grinned internally as the warmth and flames engulfed her from the inside. Yes, the Phoenix was still something she did not fully grasp, something that truly frightened her at times, but it was also something that belonged to her, comforted her, was part of her.

The heat spread not only inside but she was radiating it. The snow melted where she stood, revealing a grey, rocky bottom layer underneath. Azura felt the shift in the air as she lowered her head and opened her mouth. The flames were in the back of her throat, licking past her canines and finding their way outside as if she was drooling.

She did not notice how silent it had suddenly gotten around her. As if the world was holding its breath, not allowing the people witnessing it to make the slightest bit of noise. Maybe the world had stopped for a moment, maybe she was the only one not frozen for those few seconds that everything had seemed to stop.

The flames out of her mouth grew, covering her body like a second translucent layer of fire and not long after a burst of light emitted from where she was standing and two big fiery wings erupted from the back of the snow leopard. A loud, deep growl followed as she lifted her head and faced Marric.

Confused, wary eyes were fixated on her as he stood frozen in place. Most people around them gasped in surprise and stepped back as the smell of fear filled the air. The flaming snow leopard easily picked up on it but didn't let it distract her. The inhabitants of the village were the least of her concerns.

She moved slowly, circling around Marric while stretching her wings one at a time while growling dangerously at him. He moved with her, always keeping his head turned towards her, moving back when she approached and forward when she retreated. It was a dance where he kept the same distance between them at all times which seemed to go on forever.

It was this behavior Azura was seeking for. He had no idea what to do, though he covered his fear surprisingly well.

Out of the blue she lunged for him. The wings adding to her speed despite them being translucent. Embers were left in her wake as she attacked him straight on. Marric had no time to evade and they clashed yet again. The flames licked at his fur while Marric fought back with all his strength. He was not holding back, pushed to the defense as he tried to get away from Azura's teeth and claws. She slashed at his leg, her nails raking through the fur and opening his skin underneath. The penetrating smell of burning fur filled her nostrils the longer she stayed in contact with him.

Marric was becoming more frantic. He was snarling and managed to get some good hits in himself despite being burned whenever he touched her. His pure strength was showing and he did not hold back any longer as he rolled on his back and used his back paws to push her away.

Azura backed away licking her lips and cleaning the blood that had found it's way on her muzzle. She then shortly tended to her own wounds as Marric did the same. Neither of them lost their focus as they did. Marric had managed to snatch her tail and she had a few gashes on her body as well as bit marks. It was stinging but it was nothing serious. Marric looked far more beaten down. His fur and skin were torn and heavily burned at several places, blood oozed out of wounds Azura had inflicted but he was still standing proud and did not seem to want to back down. He puffed up the fur on his back and glanced between her and some of the people that were still remaining to watch.

He's up to something.

The Phoenix voiced her exact thoughts. She had just shown him a little of her power and she could easily take him down and yet he stood there as if he could still win. The male snow leopard started circling again but now it was him setting the pace instead of Azura.

He moved closer to the edge of the cliff, keeping his back to it while Azura followed him, continuing the dance they had been doing. She had folded in her wings, but the flames surrounding her body still raged. He stopped, only a few meters away from the edge, his puffed-up tail flicking around confidently.

He knows he can't win. He'll try to get you to fall over the edge.

Again, the Phoenix spoke exactly what she was thinking. Did Marric truly think she was that stupid? She would never attack him head-on at full speed if he was that close and she knew him to be smarter than that too.

And just like that, her suspicions were confirmed. He was snarling at her one moment, and the next she saw his head move to the side and he lept away towards the direction of the crowd watching them. He was going to attack his own people.

She didn't think. As Marric started his charge, Azura followed at full speed. She spread her wings, flapping them to give her an extra boost as she aimed to hit Marric just before he could hurt anyone innocent. As she got closer, he glanced her way and she realized he had her exactly where he wanted to. She was full speed, heading directly to the cliff and she would be unable to stop if he managed to get out of her way in time.

He did exactly that. When she was close enough, Marric braced himself and pushed himself off the ground and into the air, using his own momentum to counter his forward motion. It was the strangest move Azura had ever seen, but she was in trouble as she could not pull the same trick he had pulled. She had to think fast.

You're far more agile with me! You can catch him!

With everything it of strength she had within her, Azura jumped up as well. She used the wings to guide her as she swung her body around and extended her paws with razor-sharp claw out as far as possible. She was flying sideways towards the edge where a drop of over sixty meters deep loomed. She would go down, that was inevitable, but she would be damned if she was going alone. Marric had underestimated her... Again... With the half shift of the Phoenix, she was far more agile than even she knew to be possible.

If she had been in her normal shift, she would not have been able to catch him and he would have gotten exactly what he had planned. Azura saw the shock of what was happening take hold in his eyes as her claws connected with his body mid-air. She dug her nails in deep using him as a way to slow down as she dragged his Marric along in her fall.

They plummeted to the ground, Azura desperately trying to cling to Marric as they rolled on and finally, over the edge down the cliff.

Azura had no idea how many hits they both took as gravity did what it did best. Azura bit down on Marric's neck as they fell, using her wings to try and stay on top as she tried to turn their bodies so that he would absorb most of the hit against the rocks. They rolled, fell down some more, hit the sides and kept coming down.

She could no longer tell up from down as she hit rock after rock after rock. Pain erupted from everywhere in her body, the flames doused as she was no longer able to keep up the half shifted state with the Phoenix. The only thing she knew was to desperately cling to Marric in the hope he would break their fall. She had no idea how long their tumble down the cliff was. It felt like forever but in the back of her mind, she knew it probably only lasted a few seconds before they both crashed on the ground and the world turned black.

It hurt... Every part of her body was screaming in agony. Azura slowly managed to open her eyes and tried to focus on what was in front of her. She was still a snow leopard... that was the first thing she noticed.

That almost was one life wasted... Welcome back.

Ok, so she hadn't died... Azura growled softly at the Phoenix but she actually felt relieved she was still here and had not lost another life. The fact that there was nobody down here with her told her she had not been knocked out cold for long which was another plus. And seeing as it was deadly quiet around her, Azura concluded Marric was either still knocked out cold or had not survived.

She had stayed still, on her side for a while, allowing her body to recover some before she attempted to get up. The female snow leopard fell flat on her face again as soon as she applied pressure to her left front paw. She might have been a fast healer, but not everything could be fixed in mere minutes. Azura scowled as she realized it was broken. She got up again, ignoring the flaming pain in her ribcage and back and once she was upright on three paws she finally dared to look around.

Just two meters away lay a still body of a snow leopard. His eyes were opened, tongue spralwed out of what was left of his beak as his head had taken quite an impact. Blood covered the ground around him as his misshapen body lay in shambles. Marric had not survived and apparently had indeed broken her fall.