Completed Fallen from Grace II

[Matthew]

17th of Summer The two travelers trudged their way through the forest, tired limbs having trouble holding their worn bodies up, hot summer sun beating down through the thick treeline. They had only been toiling away for perhaps an hour now since leaving the ruins, but they were both out of their elements. Sagitta had fallen from the sky, and had no recollection of who or what she was. She had landed in the ocean, and had been too worn to swim to shore. Matthew had instinctively tried to be a hero, jumping in to save her... but had been washed away, both of them only barely surviving the whims of the wild ocean. And now, here they were, hand-in-hand on their adventure to find life. Matthew would settle for almost any sign of civilization at this point. As long as it wasn't any of the wild bandit groups he heard so very much about. Grimacing, the harlot glanced around, absentmindedly running long fingertips down the shining sweat on his tanned chest. It was getting annoyingly hot, which was expected in the sweltering Syliras summers. Every now and then a cool breeze would run through the tree branches, but it was always a brief delight. Every now and then he would glance eyes toward Sagitta, making sure she was okay, squeezing her hand to get her to meet his gaze. He was slightly worried about her, after the outburst she had shown hours earlier. He didn't bring it up again though, merely kept an eye on her and monitored the condition she appeared to be in. They had ran across a few more of the bloodied feathers that they had found back at the ruins. Each one Matthew had quietly examined before pocketing, not wishing to allow his imagination a chance to run wild. The blood was fresh on each one though, making him wonder if they were accidently tracking something that they would soon regret. His teeth took ahold of his lower lip as he mulled the idea over, not so sure how to handle the thought. What kind of bird would provide a threat, really? Best not to get too worried about the feathers. His imagination was likely his worst enemy here, so as long as he continued to stop it from getting started, he should be fine. And then the stench hit his nose, and Matthew had to pause a step. Leaned against a tree a few paces ahead, there was a massive and majestic stag. It would be a gorgeous thing, if the throat was not ripped clean open. It looked like it had been slitted, and then somehow had been gored. The slits were obvious, but the rough hole torn into it's neck muscle was the most eye-drawing part of the corpse. Another odd thing was the marks on its body. It looked like some sort of thick barbs or thorns had tugged and torn at the flesh near the chest area. Matthew quickly glanced around, blue eyes scanning. There were no visible thorn bushes. Nothing else visible at all really, besides trees. The forest was deathly silent. What had happened here, then? Instinctively, Matthew drew his partner closer, tugging her hand to bring him against his side. It was both for her comfort, and his own. "Are you okay? We should ignore this and keep going." He turned his head away from the carcass, having to clench his jaw to hold down the urge to dry heave. The smell was putrid. It penetrated through him. It scared him.

[Sagitta]

After her little breakdown, they had spent most of their time in silence - as silent as one can be crashing through the woods anyhow. Sagitta made no attempts in explaining the things she had spurted out. Honestly, she could not even believe she had spurt them out. What was she thinking? Telling someone that? Who knew what's running through Matthew's head now? She wondered if he thought she was crazy. It seemed very likely.

For some reason, they were continuing their way through a path of strewn feathers. The Ethaefal didn't have the chance to look at any of it before Matthew shoved it down his pocket. She didn't ask, because partly, she didn't want to know. More than once, she was tempted to sound her worry - before swallowing it back down. There was no sense in it. And she had sounded her thoughts on all this, just a little while ago. No point of pressuring him into fulfilling his promise. Admittedly, it did make her feel better, but she could not help doubting it. They will try their best, sure, but would that be enough?

The whole time, she held on to the golden necklace she found. It was nothing, just a piece of jewelry. But it made her feel like maybe, someone was watching out for them. She wasn't sure how, but she could hope. Maybe it was Leth. Leth. She was not going to start brooding about her fall. She fell. That's that. It's nonsensical to mourn about it. Besides, if they don't find a way out of this wilderness quick, she had a feeling she would be going back faster than she would've expected.

The smell hit her first. The corpse came later. Sagitta did not know what to make of it. A body of what resembled a deer lay mangled and bloody. Holes were everywhere on its body. And the dark, drying blood was everywhere. Her breath hitched at the sight of such a ruined creature. Instinctively, she retreated away from it. The rotting scent seemed to be thick around her, drowning her. She forced herself to breathe through her mouth, but it was almost like she could taste it on her tongue. "I . . . What happened to it?" Hastily, she added, "No, don't answer that." Her mind tried to wrap itself around the scene in front of her. She looked away, but the image would not leave her head. "Let's go!"

Something uneasy torn her insides. It seemed like their luck will run out soon. Very soon.

[Matthew]

Matthew was all too happy to nod his agreement, glancing around warily before making eye contact with Sagitta. He waited for her to step forward, offering out his hand for her to take, finding comfort in the two of them staying linked together instead of a few steps apart. A flurry of movement and a loud hissing noise suddenly broke the silence, and Matthew jolted, retreating from the corpse in a few quick steps. Blue eyes briefly widened as a fat bird waddled from around the side of the tree, revealing himself from his resting place. The plump waddle of the bird would almost be amusing, if not for his appearance. Spurs were attached to folded wings, and a sharp beak was glistening. Black feathers were shining as well, and a red neck extended from a white collar of feathers. The bird wasn't that incredibly huge, but it was soaked. Soaked in blood and gore, bits and pieces of skin and intestines hanging from various parts of its body. It was obviously the murderer of the stag, and from the look of it, had clearly feasted on it quite recently. If the barbs on the end of its wings and that sharp beak could gore through such a large stag... The harlot had his back facing Sagitta, but quickly reached out a hand behind himself to try and find her again. Feeling around, he spoke in a harsh whisper, as if that would help them avoid the anger of the glaring bird. "It looks gorged. Slow. He can simply keep going, though quickly. I don't even know what it is." It was a Kriital, even though Matthew didn't know it. A young one too, luckily enough for him. It didn't have the bony plate that all of the adults have. That gave the two lost adventurers something of a chance. Attacked and terrified by a bird. Briefly, Matthew felt pathetic. Then, the bird gurgled. Gurgled? The harlot barely had time to react before the bird shivered and pulsed, and then shot projectile vomit. Matthew didn't even have time to be completely taken aback by the absurdness of the tactic. Logically, it made sense. The predator had just stuffed himself, and would need to rid himself of the extra weight. Moving in a blur, he threw himself towards Sagitta, planning on tackling her to the ground if she wasn't already leaping away herself. The bile shot over him, splashing against a nearby bush with a hissing sound. That wasn't good. Dragging himself to his hands and knees, he checked for Sagitta, already feeling his breath start to hitch. He was already worn out, and now this. "We need to run, before it loses all of its weight. Or kill it. Somehow." There were various rocks around, they could use those. He didn't want to end up like the stag, he knew that for sure.

OOCFeel free to control the birdie however you like.

[Sagitta]

They never did have the chance to leave. Moments before they took off, something snarled. Sagitta swallowed the lump in her throat before turning, dreading what she might see. Her heart thumped loudly, each thud sending a rush of adrenaline through her veins. Her muscles tensed, preparing her for flight.

It was a bird. Big. Black. Red. Bloody. Dangerous. It all came in short bursts of words inside her mind. As odd as it was, it made everything seemed less terrifying. For a second anyway. Sagitta could barely move, somewhat shocked at whatever it was.

And then, everything was happening so fast. Matthew's body slammed into her and they were both on the ground. He was saying something. Something urgent. Something desperate. Discerning his words took longer.

She knew the answer to that: run. Definitely run. How was they supposed to kill an giant acid-spitting bird? At the corner of her eyes, she noticed Matthew eyeing the small rocks around them. Personally, she thought it was not a great idea. Most of her attention was still drawn to the liquid the creature has spurted out. The plant beneath it seemed to sizzle and slowly eaten away. Sagitta never had seen anything like it and she certainly didn't want to see what else the bird might do. And if they stayed here, the bird's next aim probably wouldn't miss.

That shook her out of her frozen state. Rather roughly, she pushed away from Matthew, trying to get her footing. She did not need to think. Her body was taking care of it. Once she was up, she grabbed for his arm, having no problem if it comes to dragging him away from this fast. She doesn't fight. She ran. That's all she had ever done. It was how she had kept herself alive for years. Not that it worked out well in the end. Even if they couldn't outrun this monster, Sagitta would at least put them somewhere out of its spitting distance. "Run. Let's just run."

Her eyes scanned their surroundings hastily, trying to find a path with the easiest terrain. If she was alone, she would've picked anyone of it - she was trained in traversing through obstacle-filled locations. Matthew was probably not. A part of her wondered if she should leave him. It would be a lie if she said the thought did not cross her mind. A long, long time ago, she probably would've, without a second thought. But not now. She had promised to be better and she was going to keep it. Even when she did not who she promised to. In her torn mind, she was Arivia and they were one.

She was going to survive this. And she was not going to do it alone.

[Radiant]

OOCSurprise! Thread has been Balicani-jacked! Mwa ha ha!

The Harlot and The Ethaefal kept running and running, chased by the young Kriital. The bird was not old enough to grow the bony protective cover on its head was rather sluggish due to it having just ate a stag, but it saw Matthew and Sagitta as a thread to its territory, these two-legged creatures could be plotting to steal its kill, it couldn't allow that.

It gurgled again and spew another acidic bile, this time, Sagitta noticed first and ducked, pulling Matthew with her, the bile flying over their head and hit a tree trunk, sickening hissing sounds emitted as the poor tree was slowly dissolved, who knows what could happen if those foul bile touched their flesh?

The Kriital squawked in anger and wanted to launch another bile when...

*ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!*

A terrifying roar shook everything in the area, mortal fear crept into the large black bird and it squawked in panic and flew away from the location. The Harlot and The Ethaefal could only wonder on what kind of being managed to scare even the giant bird. They would find the answer soon enough...

*BAAAAM!!*

The ground shook and trembled at the terrorizing visage of a snake-like creature with some of the strangest looking characteristics that Mizahar has to offer. It has long sinuous bodies that are muscled and scaled with four legs, slightly reptilian in appearance, and have large strong jaws with wide set eyes characteristic of predators. Beautiful membrane-bound pair of wings spreading majestically as it landed at about thirty feet behind Matthew and Sagitta.

The twelve feet length Balicani eyed the pair of two-legged tiny creatures and it slowly opened its mouth and roared again, sending leaves flying and clothes fluttering. Both of them need to use their wits if they want to survive this ordeal. The monster of a flying serpent was rarely active in the day... but this was the very same Balicani that had been terrorizing the Kabrin Road, this creature seemed to be more active than its usual siblings... and that did not bode well for Matthew and Sagitta right now.

It flew up again and roared, circling the sky, obviously seeing the human and eth as "play things", it would suddenly dive-bomb and play around with them both... "playing" as in tearing them apart with its powerful talons.

OOCFeel free to control the serpent-bird-monster as well!

And oh, if you guys don't approve of me jacking the thread, PM me and I'll remove it.

[Matthew]

Matthew barely had time to realize how incredibly stupid this all was. He was running, tumbling, stumbling over a rock or a limb, dodging vomit and dashing off in another direction. Sagitta was leading him, oddly graceful in her movements through the forest, though he had no idea where she was leading him. All he knew was that they had nearly been defeated by a tiny little cliff, and now they were going to get killed by a fat little bird that had gore dripping from his wings. And it was spitting bile that apparently could eat through wood. Not only that, it wasn't even giving them the dignity of being able to claim that it had swooped down out of nowhere. The thing was running after them, squawking and hissing like an overgrown sadistic chicken. Then, as if Lhex had noticed Matthew was upset with the way he was about to die, an ear-splitting roar echoed through the forest. Matthew felt his bare skin ripple from the force of the air blowing around him, and he grimaced, almost at a point where he was too fed up with every little twist to even feel fear. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that things were much worse. The creature was massive, and seemed to be a lizard, snake, and bat all combined into one. There were jaws that could crunch Matthew in half, a horn that could gore him in half, and wings that would no doubt be able to keep the beast on their tails as long as it wished. Would there really be a way to get away from this one? Matthew didn't know, but he was going to try. Setting his jaw, he summoned up his magic, swirling Djed within his stomach to prepare something. Anything. He didn't have anything. Not a single thing in his arsenal could deal with this sort of menace, could it? He felt the fear crawling up the innards of his stomach, and had to swallow in order to force down the bile. The stench of the stag was a sudden memory, and his stomach twisted again, threatening to overcome him with terror and sickness. Even as they ran, the Balicani almost casually rose into the air, keeping up with them at what looked to be an easy pace. Matthew turned, glancing around, desperate to find something. Anything. There was forest. He briefly summoned enough Djed to his eyes to flicker surrounding auras to life, and all his Auristics revealed were trees. Trees, trees, and more trees. He didn't really have the level of skill required to see any sort of distance, but he had at least tried. Glancing to Sagitta, if she hadn't come up with any better ideas, he soon yanked at her hand to send them running in another direction. "We need cover! Anything! Water, ruins, trees, whatever!" He shouted the words at Sagitta, finding himself hard to hear over the sound of flapping wings above them. Another cry echoed out in the sky, and a sound of the monster shifting his flight path could be heard. Matthew didn't even turn to look, automatically assuming the thing was about to dive at them. Instead, he ran toward the thickest gathering of trees he could find. He led them close to tree trunks and under branches the entire way, making sure that there was always something the creature would have to deal with in order to fully snatch him. His legs were burning. His breath was already coming much too quickly. They had to figure out a way to get out of the creature's sight. A lake, a cave, the Kabrin road... he would take almost anything at this point. Hopefully Lhex wouldn't have fun with that.

[Sagitta]

The ground itself had shuddered, sending vibrations to her bare feet. When she turned, Sagitta saw that the spitting bird had flapped away in fear of something. In its place, not too far behind her, was a serpent thing, twice as long as she was tall. Her eyes widened, somewhat finding the sight unbelievable. It took her another moment to see the membranes spreading on its sides.

A flying snake? Excellent, just excellent. The bird had freaked her out, but this thing - whatever it was - had sent her legs shaking. For one, it was gigantic. Sagitta doubted she had seen an animal that big. And it could shyking fly. Not only that, it could roar. A roaring, flying snake. Their luck had ran out indeed. As if to do their marvelous luck earlier justice, the universe had sent them something awful. Was it hungry? Was it looking for a meal? Panicked thoughts filled her mind, threatening to cloud her common sense.

The Ethaefal found herself muttering a hoarse prayer under her breath, begging for some protection from any god who might hear. Earlier, she had barely hoped that they would escape the fat bird and now this. Is there even a chance that they can come out of this alive?

There was no time to think. Matthew was already dragging her along through the woods, keeping them close to the dense group of trees. He screamed something at her. They couldn't keep running, she knew. It was playing around for now and it'll overtake them any moment.

An idea struck her. It was a long shot. A very long shot. "The ruins! It's not far is it? Is it?!" Every word sounded hysterical. She was hysterical. Her nerves could feel the doom closing in, the fear choking her. The ruins should offer them protection, something, a cover. But now that they had ran to god-knows-where, she had no idea where she should go. There must be a landmark, anything that she might identify. Other than that, she wasn't sure they'll find another cover. Even they did reach the ruins, they would need to run past an open space before arriving at the crumbling structure. They probably won't be able to reach it. Cheery thought.

Sagitta ran, trying her best not to look back. As fast as she could - which was not very fast at the moment. Her body still haven't forgotten its strain earlier, from the swimming and climbing and walking. They had not acquired any moment to truly rest. She was wrecked.

It wasn't such a surprise when she tumbled, tripping over a gnarled root, ripping away from Matthew. Her elbows braced as it hit the ground. She could hear the roar behind her, finally daring to turn her head. Everything went slow from there. The monster snarled and reeled back the slightest. It was going to attack. The massive head took a dive, crashing through the branches, its wide jaw open, revealing rows of sharp teeth.

She rolled out of the way, missing the creature by a hairsbreadth - only to slam against something hard. Just as fast, Sagitta vaulted back onto her feet, using the ground to propel her faster. All the acrobatics tricks she had ever learned coming back to her. Much to her surprise, her body moved fluidly, settling into a familiar combination of ducking and jumping and evading. In the flurry of actions, the girl did not notice that the creature's horn had caught her skin, tearing up a long laceration. Didn't notice the blood flowing down her arm.

The soles of her feet slammed against the uneven ground, her legs straining to its limits. All the while her head whipped in order to find a glimpse of the prostitute, the man who had saved her life. She couldn't see him. They were separated, somehow. Not good. Really not good. And the thing was following her - she was the weaker one, the smaller one.

By the gods. She didn't want to die.

[Radiant]

The creature roared, it felt warm red juice trickling from its horns, Sagitta's blood only goaded the Balicani to "play" more. Finally, two preys that offered a good challenge, capturing deers and cows were just too boring. The preys were separated now, it roared in annoyance; but no matter, it would find the other prey. For now, it would have some fun with the female two-legged being.

It flew forward and dive-bombed, landing directly in front of Sagitta, it opened its mouth and some kind of greenish foul liquid could be seen forming inside its mouth and... *SPURT!!* it launched, Sagitta instinctively dodged by diving to the ground. The acidic venom then hit a tree. Sickening hissing sound could be heard as the tree literally melted from its venom, an entirely different amount than the young Kriital earlier.

It missed and now, it couldn't find the prey, the Balicani roared in anger as it turned its head side to side, trying to find Sagitta. Little did it know that Sagitta was actually hiding under its massive body. It flew upwards and circled again, giving the Eth enough time to move away, but the smell of her blood tricking from her wound would attract it again...

[Matthew]

Gods, where had she gone. There were only trees, shaking, roaring, and a blurring girl. Oh, there she was. Matthew whipped around, his hand aching from where she had left it. The Balicani had took to the sky again, and to the harlot, that meant more time. Darting over to her, amazingly not tripping over anything himself, he grabbed at her hand or her sleeve and tried to get her to go in the direction he was aiming for. The direction they had been going in all along, or at least he hoped. "I can't find my way back there! I have no idea where it is! We just need to pick a direction and go! Do you know how to get to it?!" The words were a shout, and then hopefully, they were off again. By all means, if she could make it back, he would follow. He let go of her hand the minute they started running together, not wanting it to get in her way like last time. He tried his best to keep an eye on her as they ran, but it proved difficult to make sure he didn't run into a tree or trip while watching her, so the former took a bit more importance than the later. He had to figure out something though. They couldn't just keep running. Breathing, he sucked magic into his veins. He didn't stop there though, swirling more and more Djed, more than he had before. Both Auristics and Hypnotism were summoned, his eyes sparkling with the Djed taint. He only used the Auristics to keep aware of the Auras around him, trying desperately to keep track of where the Balicani was without actually turning to look at it. He didn't need to know anything else about the Aura, just where the monster was. The real strain came from expanding his own Hypnotic aura, pushing it outwards, trying his very best to extend the range of it just by a little bit. Just by enough so that if the Balicani came swooping down again, Matthew would have time to use his magic before the two of them were gored through. Or dissolved. Or eaten. His eyes strained as he tried to keep the magic swirling, tried to keep the Djed moving and powering his magic. A single vein throbbed in his head, pushing to the surface, and the rim of one eye grew red. Blood red. A line of blood dripped from it, and then the other eye, and then the nose. Oddly enough, he didn't feel pain. He felt euphoria. Like he could see. In a desperate attempt, if the monster came within range, he would strike at the only thing he could. The mind. He struck at the basic instincts of the thing, wanting to make it doubt, make it retreat, make it pause. The monster couldn't be incredibly comfortable doing this in broad daylight, so maybe... The minute it touched within his aura, he lashed out, sending a single piercing thought into the Balicani's mind. If this didn't work, he hoped Sagitta would be able to get him out of the petching way if the thing tried to eat him. The thought would flood out, practically shouted within the mind of the beast. Hopefully he would understand it, in his own tongue. Matthew made sure to send emotion along with it, emotion that he was very familiar with at the moment. Danger!

[Sagitta]

Alive! By some miracle she was still alive! Escaping death twice! The serpent seemed to be at lost when she kept herself under it, unseen by its searching eyes. The Ethaefal held her breath, praying that it would simply leave. It did. Sort of. It flew up higher, removing its attention from her, circling high above the trees. The next thing she knew, Matthew was grabbing her hand, leading her into some direction.

Again, they ran.

Sagitta looked back, unable to stop herself. Her steps faltered considerably. Something had changed. The creature had reared back for a moment, hesitating. For a second, she had believed it would retreat and simply disappear. That didn't seem to be the case. It was hovering, eyeing them carefully for some reason. Like it had considered that they might be a danger. Insane thought. Even a monster knew two worn-out humans were no threat.

Grateful for the small chance, she have herself a burst of speed, overtaking Matthew for a moment. When she glanced at him, she felt like she was about to faint. Dark red drops were coming out of his eyes, his nose. Blood. He was bleeding. What had happened? They were only running. What happened to him? However, her question went unspoken. There was no time. She could ask about it when they were somehow safe. Worried by her companion's condition, Sagitta decided to take the lead, her eyes still in search for an escape. The monster was still hesitating, bothered by an unknown fear.

A tree. A massive tree. It was a distance away, but it had caught her eyes. Even from afar, she could see just how big it was. But she was not marveling at the size of it, but rather the opening beneath it. Between the crisscrossing of thick roots, was a small cranny. She wondered if it was possible for them to slip through it. And then what? Hide there? It could still spit acid! Internally, she cursed. There was no way she could figure something out in times like this. Yet, her mind get grinding, searching for some solution. If they did slip through, will the monster be stupid enough to slam right into the thick trunks? What were the chances of that happening?

Unfortunately, her scattered thought was interrupted by a loud roar. It had started pursuing them again.