[i]Shashous-throth cascaded through bushes and weaved through trees, trying to lose the ranger. It would likely be a futile effort, but in fights like these all options had to be tried and exhausted. Poking and prodding at all the little joints until a chink was found. Soon enough it would come upon its lair, but it wouldn't likely be what the elf had been looking for. A rocky, man-sized hole in the ground at the base of a large hill, overgrown with vegetation and trees. It was a hideout, a sanctuary of imagination. The sort of place young boys would hang around when exploring vacant lots in Northern states. Crual might easily miss it, his impeded sight and expectations making him not notice until it was too late. As the Magna Pater neared its dwelling, it would discretely snatch up a stone as it clawed its way forth. At first glance the hole would be too small for the monster to enter, if it were able to reach the opening, however, it would be able to contort its body and squeeze through in a sickening fashion, slipping into the winding little passage with ease. It wouldn't be practical to try and fire an arrow after it, unless the ranger's arrows could curve sharply mid-flight, and attempting to collapse it with explosives would be equally improbable. It was no feeble mineshaft held up by wooden support beams, but a cave system of solid basalt and dolomite. Even a bunker busting missile wouldn't be able to bring the entire place down.

The ranger would be damn right about the importance of preventing his foe from entering. Wise is the man that follows not a mother bear into its abode, and very, very much worse than a bear was the thing that stalked these woods.[/i]