Where her knife slashed, feathers and blood were torn free, and trapped beneath the creature as she was there was was no avoiding such carnage from staining her body. The foulness of it clung to her clothes and smeared across her face. She tried not to gag at the smell or the taste of it; she was unable to clamp her mouth shut with her lips furiously laying the words and tinder for flame. She was terrified, the feeling greater than any she'd ever felt before, disorienting all its own. The creature was so large she could not even see her companion when he assisted; nothing more than wisps of white hair catching the moonlight.

Its scream caught her off guard, but the collapse was worse. It weighed so much, more than she could have guessed. It seemed impossible that something this heavy should be able to fly. It was crushing her ribs, her arms where she tried pushing against it. She was not strong enough to push it off her, or even dislodge it. She couldn't breathe. Between the feathers, the blood, the foul stench, the cold snow--

For that reason, it was a blessing that the second still desired her death. Its grab was successful, tearing into what fabric it could reach, and with a sharp tug and a tearing of her jacket it pulled her to freedom.

The knife, slick and dark from the fight, slipped from her hand. But it was alright. She could see the sky and the stars, and more importantly, she could see the bird. The blood of its mate was thick and dark on her face, in her hair, around her mouth. Within her grimace her teeth were a startling white.

"Fire!" was her unsteady shout, and once more the bright spell burst to life, seeking to consume the bird with as much hunger and ferocity as it desired her.