Something restless quickened the blood that pumped through the stallion's veins. The dampness of the ground beneath his hooves encouraged soft squelching noises to come from nearly every step. The dark bay, nearly black now in the cover of night, continued to move forward as quietly as he could. Eventually, his path left the mud, in favor of only slightly drier ground.
Carthage was still learning the terrain of Paradise. Rainforests were new to him, compared to the rocky scrub and stands of trees of the land that had been his foalhood home. Dutifully, the stallion had patrolled each section of land with restrained fervor. Tonight was no exception. It had been like any other night. Yet the path he took set him on edge. His crimson eyes narrowed; something wasn't right. Dark ears twisted, displacing strands of his mane as they did so.
It was too quiet.
Ahead through the trees, a scream sounded, splitting the night like a thunderstrike. Carthage surged forward, darting between the trees with the light of the moon to guide him. He did not pause upon breaking through the verge and onto the scene. The painted form of Snapdragon is registered, and the night shifted, or rather, something just as dark shifted. The Friesian Mutt did not pause and instead launched himself directly at the towering shadow, his own crimson eyes flashing the promise of retribution. Dark hooves strike wildly, cutting through the darkness. Teeth bare forward ferally from beneath blackened lips, seeking to catch anything and rip at whatever they found.
Carthage would do his best to rip the nameless thing to shreds. He was eager to do such a thing anyway, but the fact that someone had come in the dead of night to attack Snapdragon lit an inferno inside of him. There would be no escaping the force of his untapped fury.