May Syna Smile on the East (Quest/Closed)

[Sahashkalila]

The wait was the worst part, having to watch the rest of the party slowly make their way down, not knowing if they were going to make it. She wasn't crazy about the idea of having to climb down the wall, never having to experience the sheer height of the wall. Her hands felt clammy and there was a sick fluttering in her stomach, causing her to feel restless and pace the wall as each person climbed down. She did risk one glance down and saw that Stigandr had made it safely down along with a few of the rest of the group and she breathed a sigh of relief before she realized it was her turn. She checked her pack to make sure everything was held securely inside, stuffing her cloak in as well before approaching the edge of the ravine.

She took a deep breath and sat down on the edge of the ravine, rubbing her palms on her breeches before she grasped the rope in her hands. "Okay, you can do thisss,"she whispered to herself before sliding over the edge and dangling on the side of the ravine. It was much worse than what she had anticipated, and she forced herself to think of other things, positive things that would take her mind off of the task she was actually having to do. "Jusst one hand after the other Kalila,"she whispered, her muscles straining as she continued to make her way slowly down the side, finding that she was using muscles that were beginning to protest from lack of use. She did not look down the entire time, focusing intently on the rock in front of her face.

She wasn't sure how long she had been climbing, it felt like she was creeping along, but she kept her mind focused. She knew that if she let herself panic that it would not bode well for the others, and she did not want to seem like she was weak, when she was clearly the weakest one there. Just one hand after the other, that was all there was too it.

[Ximal]

Right the purple mountain and the horse-man had both started their descent, Ximal was next, the roped looked somewhat sturdy even though it wasn't at near to thick as he'd hoped. Looking over the edge Xi peered into the black abyss, a long way down...A longer way without anything to hold onto. Xi gripped he rope so tight that he could feel his knuckles turning white with his grip. Noding he as headed to the edge and lowered himself over the side. The loose stones shaking and slipping free under his feet. One hand then the next what ever you do do not look the petch down. He took the descent slowly, letting the soft cracks of light stones rumble against the walls of the canyon, the ravines depths so far below him, he wasn't safe here, not by any means. But he would do what he had to, he would survive. He would make it through this ordeal. The rope shook under the others weight and vibrated every time they took a step. It unnerved him, shook him. he just wanted it to be over, he had no fear of heights, no his fear wasn't of falling either. It was of the landing after the fall. He took a slow breath to clam his nerves and continued his decent after the purple mountain, and the horse-man.

[Xalet]

Xalet gave a quick nod to Shurk, fully prepared to traverse the height. Unlike Xuphim, Xalet had no real distain for heights of any kind, to him it was just another challenge of athleticism and musuclar endurance. Taking a brief moment he ensured that his equipment, pack, pouches, shield, and weapons were securely strapped in, buttoned up, or tied down. His helmet he removed, placing it into his pack in order to increase his field of vision. The tall Akalak rolled and stretched his shoulders as Stigandr moved past the side of the wall and began to lower himself down. Once he was certain a decent amount of distance existed between him and the Kelvic, as well as being sure his muscles were loose and warm, Xalet began to approach the rope. The underside of his finger gauntlets was a course rawhide, relatively standard for anyone whom needed hand protection while still wanting to be able to wield a sword or shield. It also served as a fair padding against the bite of the rope, considering the tight grip he had to maintain. Although not a practiced climber, the various training exercises he had to complete while in the Knighthood did involve climbing, giving him at least the most rudimentary knowledge. The rest would have to be filled in with his overall strength and body conditioning. "Meet you at the bottom." his words were but a simple statement, mixed in with the desire to see the rest of the group make it down without injury. "I cannot believe what you’ve gotten us into. Climbing a chasm with a bunch of strangers. We didn't even get to go just before Kalila, so I don't even have a decent view to take my mind off of this insanity." there was a definite nervousness in Xuphim's thoughts, an uncertainty that was very rarely present, given his overwhelming self assurance that bordered on headless arrogance. Regardless of his own narcissism, Xuphim had to content with the fact that he, just like Xalet, was only half of a whole. His weaknesses were meant to be filled in by his light brother, and vice versa. Hand over hand his palms moved to grip the rope as he continued to lower himself, his weight partly supported by some footwork, ensuring to use the large muscle groups such as his quadriceps. They could absorb the burden of the weight wen his arms needed a short break. Xalet felt it fortunate that his Patron had focused so heavily upon his physical health, leaving him at the very least in a decent position to be able to potentially make to the bottom, so long as there wasn't any problems or interference along the way.

[Creeper]

Stigandr and Xalet had both made it to the bottom of the ravine without incident. The winds at ground level were much stronger than those on the climb had been, and were sending particles of grit and sand stinging at them. The former bridge laid in boulders around them, and now that they were close, it could be seen that sections of it had been cut in one smooth slice, whereas others had broken upon impacting the ground. Syna was beating down upon the pair, when a mild glint had shone right into Stigandr's eyes, then disappeared just as quickly. Looking up at the sky would reveal nothing, but the Kelvic's animal instincts were screaming one thing.

Predator. Run away!

Ximal, Zandelia, and Master Pikkle were about halfway down their climb, Shurk easily holding their weight, even as Centroc and Sahashkalila had begun their own descents. Continuing down slowly, they all heard the shout from Shurk above, "HURRY! GET DOWN! FIND COVER!" Sahashkalila and Centroc would see Shurk looking down the stretch of the ravine, toward the south. And flying within the walls of the ravine, were two massive, silvery black creatures flying toward them at break neck speeds. They watched one of the birds' wings get too close to the ravine wall, and for a moment, all of them thought it would clip it and be crippled. But the wing dipped into the wall, slicing through the stone while it glided along, like a knife through soft butter, rock faces and boulders tumbling down into the ravine in its wake.

"GRAWWWWWK!"

"MOVE MOVE MOVE!"

The bird closer to the west side of the ravine was almost upon the ropes, Stigandr and Xalet down below, forced to watch helplessly. The birds looked to be made purely out of metal, a steel that looked finer than that which adorned Xalet's body, finer than many of them had ever seen. But the worst part was the cold, glowing eyes, eyes that were watching their prey, knowing that nothing could stop them from their meal. The bird's wing tip sliced through the ropes, inches beneath Sahashkalila's feet, the ropes snapping as they were suddenly free of their burdens. Everyone watched as Master Pikkle, Ximal, and Zandelia began falling toward the unforgiving rocks below. Another screech from one of the birds showed one angling toward the falling individuals, it's bladed wing slicing between the gap of Stigandr and Xalet, slicing a deep groove into the ground, kicking up dust and rock particles at the two. It's sharp talons opened up, as it flew parallel to the wall, then sunk down onto the only woman of the three. The talons mostly wrapped around her torso, though one sunk deep into her thigh, eliciting a loud scream of pain as it tightened it's grip, and flew from the scurry prey, Zandelia in tow.

Ximal saw the ground coming up fast, knowing that even if he managed to survive the impact, he wouldn't come out of it without a lot of pain. Then he felt a large hand, bigger than any man's possibly could be wrap around his forearm, gripping tight enough that it would bruise near instantly. The grip jerked up hard, and Ximal felt and heard a loud pop, followed by searing pain in his shoulder, as his body's descent came to a sudden halt. Everyone but Ximal would be able to see that it looked as if the mercenary were just floating in the air, and Master Pikkle was floating above him. Xalet would notice that one of the severed ropes was pulled taut as if supporting a weight.

"Catch him! I can't hold him forever!" Master Pikkle looked to be straining under the effort of his magically supporting himself and Ximal, who he was now swinging back and forth. After getting enough momentum, the Pycon tossed him at Xalet like a bag of grain, and then jumped down himself, stopping a foot before the rocky floor, stepping down as gracefully as if he'd walked down a flight of stairs.

Shurk had pulled Sahashkalila and Centroc back up and over the lip of the ravine, as they saw the bird that hadn't taken a prisoner was coming back in for another attack, the other flying off into the northern wilds. It dropped down into the ravine, nearly hugging the ground, heading straight for Xalet, Ximal, Stigandr, and Master Pikkle. They'd all seen what those wings could do, and there didn't appear to be any cover around. They all watched the glowing blue eyes stare them down as the gap between them shrank with every passing moment.

Back up above, Centroc took over leadership in the crisis, and moved over to a large boulder, "Both of you, push! Let's crush this beast!" Shurk pressed his massive shoulder against the stone, and was straining to press against it, the rock wiggling slightly. "Snake woman, help us! NOW!"

Moderator's Note: Zandelia has been injured and removed from this quest. Should she return to Mizahar, arrangements must be made with me to continue her story.

[Sahashkalila]

Kalila had assumed that everything was going well, her mind still focused on placing one hand after the other on the rope to make it down to the bottom of the ravine. Her hands were starting to get sweaty from the strain, causing her to slip slightly, but she suddenly heard a shout from above and she looked up quickly, noticing Shurk looking down one side of the ravine. She turned her own head in the same direction, her eyes widening with horror. Approaching the group with great speed were two gleaming eagles, much larger than any normal bird. One bird seemed to edge too close to the side of the ravine, and to her horror, the side of its wing seemed to slice into the very rock, rock tumbling in its wake. Fear seized her then, hanging off of the side of a ravine with nowhere else to go, a giant bird aiming to make her its dinner. This was her natural enemy, and she had no intention of letting it get her....but she simply had no where to go.

One bird was getting dangerously close, and all she could do was watch helplessly as it continued its fast approach. It looked as if it was made purely out of metal, its eyes a strange shade of blue, but none less predatory. A choked sound came from her throat as she realized that she would not be able to avoid the bird, and she looked down quickly at the man who had made it down before her, thinking this would be the last time that she would see him, the mark on the left side of her neck a painful reminder of what he meant to her. At the last minute she looked away, expecting the razor wing to slice through her. Instead, she heard the snap of the rope and looked down, watching helplessly as the others fell. No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to be happening! She was then suddenly being yanked up, Shurk pulling on the ropes to haul Kalila and Centroc back over the side of the ravine. As she scrambled over the side a scream of pain rang out and she flinched, looking to see someone caught in the talons of one of the giant birds and carried away.

She turned to look back over the edge of the ravine and saw that the rest of the group had made it without incident, all except for the very person that they were following, Zandelia. The scream of pain she heard must have been hers, and she shook her head, not wish that kind of end on anyone. She caught a glimpse of the other bird coming back and gliding along the bottom of the ravine and heading straight for the others. There was no where for them to hide, and even if there was, the bird's wings would cut right through the rock. She turned quickly at Centroc calling her and saw both him and Shurk straining to push a large boulder, hoping to crush the beast. Kalila knew that she would not have been able to offer any sort of help in her human form....but she could help in Dhani form. Without thinking she tossed her pack from her shoulders and began to strip quickly, tossing her clothes aside as her skin rippled and her body elongated, effortlessly flowing from one form to the other. Soon a Dhani slithered where the small woman once stood, and she slithered over to the rock, pushing with all her might as her coils strained beneath her. The rock seemed to wiggle some more and she hissed in frustration, willing the rock to move. She then slithered back, coiling her tail beneath her before launching herself at the rock, hoping that her momentum would help cause the rock to topple over the side.

[Stigandr]

Stigandr turned his back to the wind that was blowing so much harder at ground level, trying to protect his eyes from the grit that was being kicked up viciously. He turned his eyes to watch as Ximal was making his way down, followed eventually by his beloved bondmate and wife, Sahashkalila. Turning his eyes towards the sky, trying to shield them further from the grit, as well as scanning the sky. Nothing could be seen until he dipped his head back down a bit from the sun, a glint catching his attention. Turning his eyes back towards the blue canopy, he could find nothing in the sky, but that only heightened the feeling in his stomach. It was a feeling he knew well; one that said he should run, flee. There was danger somewhere near. He looked around quickly, a slight panic to his movements, giving of an aura of extreme unrest. "Something is wrong, Xalet." The words were barely out of his mouth when it happened. Two creatures appeared in the ravine, flying fast and hard towards them. They looked like over-sized eagles, but were a silvery-black color instead of brown and white. Their eyes were blue and glowing, looking like something one would expect to see at night. Seeing them in broad daylight was that much more upsetting. Watching as they flew in closer, the Kelvic's hopes were raised as one drifted closer to the ravine wall, appearing as if it would catch the wall and crash down, possibly breaking the wing and killing it. Those fears were shattered as the tip of the wing brushed the rock wall, slicing into the hard surface the same way his hand could cut through water. The worst part of this unfolding scenario thus far was the rope that the remaining party members were on was in the direct path of the wing as it cut through the rock, theirs lives in great danger. Stigandr yelled as he looked up, his mind immediately going to his bondmate, yelling her name even though he knew she could not hear his voice. To his horror, the rope was sliced just below Sahashkalila's feet, sending those below into a tumble. As this all happened, the other eagle made a turn, bringing it's wingtip down and slicing the ground between him and Xalet, sending slivers of rock up into their faces, blinding Stigandr momentarily. In this moment, he heard a loud scream, only to look up and see Zandelia, their strong-willed leader being taken away. He wanted to desperately help her, but he knew she was done for and left it at that, focusing on the others here and now. As his heard turned back to the scene, he saw Sahashkalila being dragged over the top safely as Ximal and Master Pikkel fell. Both of them stopped before the ground, but Ximal did so with a loud pop as his momentum was halted. The noise made Stigandr cringe, his eyes wide as he kept scanning and watching the ravine and eagles, his horizontal pupils well suited to wide-angle views that covered a lot more than human eyes. With Ximal and Pikkel down safely and the others safely on the cliff, Stigandr turned his eyes back to the birds. One was leaving with Zandelia while the other made a circle around and was swooping into the ravine, closing the gap to the ground team rapidly. Stigandr looked around, feeling no chance of survival. There three in good shape and one with an injured arm. Stigandr was no match for this bird in fighting and could only hope to postpone the inevitable. Xalet was a competent fighter, but there was no way he could take this creature down, not with it's size and razor sharp wings. The last of the three in good shape was Master Pikkel. This Pycon knew his stuff, and obviously had some magic training, but would such a thing be enough to take the eagle down? Not waiting to find out with their precious time closing, Stigandr began to move towards the eagle, his bare and calloused feet finding purchase over the ground for a couple steps before he shifted, the adrenaline in his body outweighing the effects of the climb and exhaustion already on him. With the sound of hooves replacing feet, the Kelvic sped his pace up to a full gallop, each hoof fall echoing in the ravine, kicking up small rocks and dust behind the horse, his leg muscles working in beautiful form and hard power to push Stigandr faster. He hoped to gain the bird's attention, to distract it long enough to let Pikkel and Xalet finish it off, maybe with their lives still. If not, to at least give time for his bondmate and the others to escape. Though he had only bonded with her recently and known her but a couple times intimately, he was happy for that much and he would do anything for her survival. The distance closed between him and the bird quickly, and with minimal time to do something, Stigandr began turning to the side of the ravine opposite him, his hooves pounding into the rock floor with thunderous force as his legs worked to slow his forward momentum, redirecting it to the side and thrusting him around. Using what minimal training he had in agility and acrobatics, he pushed his body to obey his mind, his legs working to maintain balance as his hooves slipped on the ground momentarily before he was able to regain his footing. Coming half-circle along the opposite wall of the ravine, Stigandr jumped over any rocks he could in his path, his front legs coming up under his body as his back legs pushed him hard up and over. With his head turned back slightly, he was able to watch both the eagle and path in front of him as he charged back where he came from, towards Xalet and Pikkel, hoping they could do something, hoping he had distracted the bird. Something had to happen soon if it was going to. He could feel his body lathering with exertion, his lungs starting to ache from the output from his body.

[Ximal]

Descending the cliff was slow going, one foot after the other one hand behind the other. Slowly, carefully, just descending that cliff was slow but at least he hadn't fallen yet. Looking up, half to keep his mind off of the length of the decent , the second half to hep his hands and legs move. Though he could see pikkle and zand following him down. Until something caught his eye as he looked up. A small glint, at first he thought of it as nothing until, the scream. Loud, unmistakeable, he didn't know what the flying heck it was but it was loud, piercing, he almost lifted his hands to cover his ears. Birds? But Birds don't shine...Wait what the patch is that doing, whys it flying...PETCH NO! within a few seconds of seeing the eagle he'd seen the angle the eagle was flying at as it's razor-wings sliced through the cliff-face and the rope. Before Xi would react he felt himself falling, he couldn't do anything, if only had had a few more seconds. as he felt himself falling the rope still in his right hand now gripping and panicking all he could do was think. And right now that wasn't helping wither. the few seconds of falling stretched, like suspended animation, every moment of his mind flashed through trying to help his current situation. Until a sudden grip on his arm made him wince visually, but nothing more. His first thought was an eagle had caught him until he snapped back to reality and saw a bruising on his arm but no actual hand, and then the pop firm his left shoulder. Alright ovek you've had your fin, gimmi my luck back. The sudden pop and jolt to a halt stung hugely. A dis located shoulder...again. Fan-petching-tastic. Still pikkle could use magic as well? gods damn it why was he the only incompetent mage. Well if not him his magic was useless. As master pikkle tossed him through the air at xalet, Xi reached around to his left arn and re-placed it. A second pop as it jolted back in followed by a loud grunto of pain. How could a bunch of soldiers without any ranged weapons bring down a big petching bid whose wings could cut through a gods-damned cliffside and not stop. Heck it wasn't like ranged weapons woudl do any good either if those beasts were that formidable. Stig had shifted to animal form and started to leg it. So xalet himself and pikkle would have to deal with this winged-metal-beast. Xi gripped his hand around the rope... What were those three up above going to do? No matter, Xi had a brain and he could think for himself. Glancing around he looked for something anything, but only rocks...ROCKS! The beast cut through the cliff at speed but what about when it had no momentum? Clever boy, Your going to attempt to pin the beast and then yell up for the guys above to try and find something heavy to crush it? Well don't let me stop you even if there is one fault. Look at the size of that beast. It could toss you the purple boy and that figurine way away before you even et close to holding it. You've got a length of rope, three axes and a brain put some kind of plan together. Looking up Xi saw the group at the top trying to push a boulder off. How can i help?...Wait. I know. Looking at the purple mountain, and back at the diminutive statue, Xi thought of something. Xalet, master pikkle, the guys above are trying to drop a bounder on the beast. Lets give them a target to hit. Stigandar has run off, either some animal cowardice or he's trying to lure the eagle after him. I'd like to believe the latter, but it's probably the former. In either case it looks like it's going after him. Right now we dont have much of a choice, that blasted thing could carry one of us off like the other is doing to zandelia. Were at a disadvantage as it has the air, so we need a strong ground position. which means we need to think of something to bring that large petching eagle to the ground. That or the odds are the guys above are going to miss with that boulder. Even then i doubt that will crush the blasted thing. Still it''s our only option so i recommend we run with it. Looping the rope in his hand, tying it off and putting it in his pack, Xi checked his shoulder. It still hurt like all heck but it would do for right now. With zandelia out of commission, someone was going to have to take the reigns, Xi hoped it would fall to someone else, right now though Xi was taking the reigns until someone took them off of him. Clasping his hand tight, Xi needed to think any one action could seal all their fates, and without zand they thinking would need to tread carefully. Not one of them knew what this beast was and all of them were trying to live. Right now Xi was wishing he had reimancy like that gods-damned mage hunter back in Sunberth...Not flux...

[Xalet]

"Told you heights are always a bad thing. If it's not the fall trying to kill you, it's enormous iron birds." Xuphim commented rather matter-of-factly. Xalet couldn't really find any fault at the moment, heights had never really been good to them. Hearing the strained voice of Master Pikkle, Xalet quickly dropped his pack down and slung his heavy crossbow off from over his shoulder, subsequently placing it down atop the oiled leather of the pack. Catch him? Ximal appeared to be a fairly large individual, even if Xalet was inhumanly strong this was probably not going to feel all that great in the morning. For either of them. Ximal would have a lovely cushion of...metal to catch him, and Xalet would enjoy having his skeletal structure stressed by the sudden impact of a bunch of weight. Protect the core, that was his most pressing concern as he watched the man dropped down from the sky. Sucking a deep breath in just as he had learned while performing back stressing exercises, Xalet attempted to prepare his abdomen and lower back for the stress. Then, impact! "Hnngg...." the seven plus foot Syliran did what he could with his knees, trying to use them as a type of shock absorption, but it still put him right on his behind. The clanging sound of metal was compounded by a rough grunt as the Akalak sought to untangle himself from Ximal and get back to his feet. Interestingly even with all of the armor, he didn't have as difficult a time as one would have imagined. Xalet had plenty of practice getting up after being knocked down as a squire, it was part of learning how to utilize armor. Moving to his knees he dragged his heavy crossbow over toward him. Planting the metal stirrup mounted upon the nose of the weapon into the ground, he pushed into it like a cane to aid his rise upward. From that position his foot slid into the stirrup, his gauntlet clad hands gripping the cord tightly as he applied rearward pressure while holding the body of the crossbow steady via the stirrup. Once cocked, he retrieved a crossbow bolt out from his pouch and slid it into the groove, finalizing the loading process. "You really think you're going to hit something moving like that? We're good, but c'mon. That thing is--" trying to get a bearing of his surroundings and the positioning of the rest of the group while Xuphim voiced his concerns, both Souls caught the glance of Kalila disrobing at the cliffs edge, preparing for her transformation, "--oh that's what I'm talking about! Yeah take it off! Oh man, look at that tight HOLY SHIT SHE'S A MONSTER!" Ignoring Xuphim's outbursts came with the territory. "At less than one hundred paces this crossbow can punch through Syliras' finest plate." he mentioned to the male mercenary near him, "We're significantly outmaneuvered however." Raising the butt of his crossbow up to his shoulder Xalet slid a hand beneath the underside of the frame, while his dominant right arm cradled the area near the trigger. He could only hope the folks above had a suitable plan engaged, because his best combat strategy given the positioning at the bottom of the ravine was to take a shot when the opportunity presented itself. Steady the breathing, bend the knees, don't arch the back backward. Lean into the shot, don't hesitate, don't pull the trigger, squeeze it. Watch the target, observe the pattern of movement, anticipate it's direction. Then...take the shot.

[Phoenix]

Swooping and swerving through the ravine, the steel haw dipped close to each individual member of the group that they could hear the rattle of metal as the wind rippled beneath its wings, those strange and bright blue eyes focusing on each face before it was winging away again. The look they all received was one of intelligence, the bird’s movements far too precise and calculated for a normal raptor. Not that any of them really thought it was normal. It was made out of petching steel.

Gliding halfway between the two groups, back and forth back and forth as the bird seemed to consider its next move, it wasn’t until the clatter of hooves echoed throughout the ravine, bouncing off the stone walls and causing an ear splitting ruckus, that the hawk seemed to make up it’s mind. Tilting a wing and banking sharply, the creature propelled itself after the horse.

Though Stig propelled himself along with extraordinary speed, his pursuer seemed to drift lazily after him, riding the thermals that twisted through the steep, rocky cliffs. It was almost as if the hawk had recognized the distraction for what it was and decided to humor the Kelvic anyway; whether the unnatural creature was fooled or not, it nonetheless bought the rest of the group much needed time to gather their wits about them and plan… something.

Inch by painstaking inch, the boulder tipped closer to the edge of the cliff, progress sped up somewhat by the strength that Kalila’s Dhani form leant. They would have to be careful, however, lest the boulder loosen and fall before the intended target was anywhere near. And lets not forget about their fellow companions meandering down below, dangerously close to huge-boulder-bouncing-and-crushing range. Doesn’t matter how big and strong you are, a flat purple Akalak is a flat purple Akalak.

Just as the boulder finally started to loosen, Xi and Xalet solidifying their own plans, the staccato clatter of hooves on rock started to draw ever nearer, accompanied by the occasional avian scream; it was not the sound of a normal hawk, but instead emulated something more of twisted shriek of metal against metal. Not a single individual on or within the ravine escaped the chill the shivered down their spines.

Galloping around an outcropping of rock and into view, Stig barreled through the group, flashing past those who had made it to the bottom of the ravine, continuing on down the other way. As he passed, however, he gave a shrill whinny that could have been nothing other than a signal. Though none of them had planned on one, they all knew what had to happen.

Close on his tail, lower to the ground than before, the metallic bird of prey flashed on by, a stray band of Syna’s light reflecting off the tops of it’s wings as it swooped after the charging horse. They would all only have one shot as the bird passed within bow range, flitting directly towards where the boulder would fall. It was time to act.

OOCHello! I am so sorry this took so long for me to get out. I was greatly intimidated by the quest!

I know I took this a little slow, but it’s been almost a month since anything was posted here so I wanted to give you guys time to get back into the groove. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting faithfully and we’ll get the ball rolling right away.

[Sahashkalila]

"Come on, come on,"she hiss frantically and she strained to get the boulder to move with Shurk and Centroc, her scales bunched beneath her and twisting under the strain. The boulder refused to budge though, and she hissed in anger, feeling despair start to settle in the bottom of her stomach. She glanced and her companions beside her, the big Jamoura's muscles bulging while Centroc strained all of his arms against the boulder. They weren't going to be able to do it, the metal bird coming far to fast for them.

There had to be something that she could do though. She could not bear the thought of her friends dying, especially her bondmate. She had just found him, and she did not plan on losing him....and the thought that she may not ever hear his voice again, or see his face or feel his touch spurned her into action. Slithering backwards quickly, she bunched her scales beneath her, taking a steadying breath before launching herself at the boulder, her shoulder hitting the side of it. She felt it wobble slightly from her effort and she nodded quickly at her companions and slithered back again, launching herself one more time and heaving.

She was then filled with elation as the rock began to move forward, finally giving way to their efforts and tipping over the side. Breathing heavily, Kalila slithered quickly to the side of the ravine, watching anxiously as the bird continued to come at the group. A horrible thought filled her though, realizing that they could be caught underneath the boulder if they were careful. "Move! Move out of the way!"she screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping they could hear her.