The scorching suns drained his strength away, the merciless desert spreading out before him while the cruel heat played tricks on his mind, sending dancing illusions of water bodies to give him the slightest hope, only to realize they were but vanishing ghosts of something that he sought so desperately. He tried to pull his cloak and hood further in an attempt to protect his scales from the multiplied heat and UV rays coming from three suns, but it offered little shade in this hell.
He continued to stare at the black beast, the once prideful animal reduced to a dying, pitiful creature. The polished blackness of its scales had turned to dark gray due to both the dust and its own state. Its breathing was slow and tired, its eyes once filled of spirit now showed only suffering; every time it inhaled, it coughed seconds later in an attempt to expel the sand and dust out of its respiratory track. There was a large, deep wound on its chest, it would forever ruin him if they got out of this one, but judging by the situation it didn't have long to live, and the injury was making the animal's last minutes an agony. He had removed its saddle to try and make its breathing a bit easier, but it was no use.
The young Sangheili knew what had to be do, even if it cost him everything.
The most honorable thing he could do was to end his mount's suffering, and to endure the sentence of participating in this Race and failing. The Sangheili, barely a teen, had never killed an Hundara before, but he had seen how the oldest or the ones beyond repair were put out of their misery. He had to do it quickly. Trembling, the young Sangheili took his hand to his waist, grabbing the only weapon he could bring, an energy sword. Activating it, he noticed the animal flinched when it realized what he was going to do.
"I'm sorry..." the young Sangheili whispered, holding the sword just over the animal's large head, almost sobbing. "Die with honor, my friend..."
He brought the sword down...