So sorry for my slow, Bri. Looks like it's just you and me - May as well try and wrap this up, ASAP?
He was aware of contact being made around him - Those who belonged to him were engaging with the intruders. Their successfulness was yet to be determined, and Sirius had only eyes for the man he had targeted. He had been torn by the beast's lunge from his saddle, and while his mount shrieked it's terror, the man - clearly trained for such battle - had managed to roll out of his landing.
The two faced each other, now; One bearing a short-bladed sword and a small dagger, and the other a bloodied grimace full of huge yellowed teeth.
They lunged simultaneously, neither desired to wait for the other to make the first move. The deadly dance was almost poetic; But the large two-legged male was too slow, Sirius thought contemptuously, too burdened by his own weight and the weight of his clothing, his weapons, his inability to adapt to this sudden turn of events. Surely, the trio had expected to hold some manner of surprise over the defendants - Perhaps, they had expected creatures weaker than the Salsolans, creatures that would crumble in immediate defeat and relent their land and their lives to these would-be conquerors.
He was fueled with rage by the thought. Lithe body twisted, barely evading a dangerous dagger-lunge, as jaws found purchase on the wrist of the man's sword-hand. There was a crunch of little bones, as the steel traps clamped shut, and a pained howl came from the invader. Warm blood rolled, rusty, on his tongue, but the vicious joy was stolen away by a sharp pain of his own; The dagger sliced at his underside, scoring a long laceration just behind one foreleg. A furious snarl bubbled from the full maw of the wicked King, and he released his hold and staggered back. Instantly, the man was back at his horse, clumsily remounting as he held his ravaged, bleeding arm. "Retreat!" Came the hoarse cry, almost drowned out by the maddened growl of Sirius, who had come again to snap at the heels of his fleeing mount.
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