Upstairs, Ortha had discovered Alya as requested. But with no further instructions from Rilana, aka. [i]The Shiny White Momma with Weird Food[/i], she was content to wander about the perimeter of the room. With one head she kept an eye on her surroundings, and with the other she tried her nasty teeth on various objects to see if they were edible. To Ortha, just about anything was potentially food, and it was a testament to Rilana's constant training that the people (and Echo) in the room fell distinctly into Ortha's [b]'Not Food'[/b] category. 

With her Vilemaw watching somewhat placidly as Drisceya kicked at the door, Ortha stretched up on her hind legs to check out the window. She hadn't been particularly impressed by the snow that melted in her mouth and chilled her belly, but perhaps the long icicles would make a more substantial meal. Her teeth scraped shrilly against the ice as she broke a long one off, her Firefang dribble turning it shiny where it had already begun to wilt and melt. 

Sensing the sudden movement of creatures in the many floors below, Ortha let out a concerned chirruping [i]Grawp![/i], slightly muffled by the ice in her mouth. With her spare set of eyes focused on the stairwell, the otherwordly beast scurried over to Alya and Echo, spitting the icicle out as her tail lashed back and forth. The armour plating on her back had not yet grown in all the way, but the largest pieces rattled together in an almost chitinous sort of way.

Down in the depths, Rilana was bit too busy to focus on the wavering food-motivated double vision of her extraplanar familiar, and nearly threw her longbow at the stony ground in disgust at her shoddy marksmanship. She was nearly out of arrows and had perhaps only made one good shot the entire time. It was maddening and she knew that in this dead air Kona could only swoop and hover about for so long. 

[color=00aeef]"Oh...mammoth balls!"[/color] The moon fey cursed as Kona swerved to avoid another volley of icy shrapnel. The shards were striking the roof behind them, raining a gritty glitter down on everything below.

[color=00aeef]"This is no use. We have to think of something else. Something is happening upstairs but I..."[/color]

[color=fff200][i]The way is blocked. [/i][/color]

Rilana glanced towards the stairs and saw that it was true. Perhaps Svarak could have fought his way through the loitering mass, but Rilana and Kona would die in the attempt. It was only then that a shrill whistle of an ice elemental falling from a height attracted her gaze, and Kona had flown them close enough to the edge of the pit that the Druid could see the flailing creature strike the bottom.

It took the dragon so long to respond that for a moment Rilana feared it was nothing more than a creepy statue like the ones upstairs, but then it lifted its head and Rilana thought she saw pain and despair in its eyes. The druid knew very little about dragons. The only one she'd ever seen before had been at a far distance as it flew against the azure winter sky. This one seemed healthy in stature, but moved as though the life was being drained out of it.

The urge to swoop down and try to help it was powerful, but the fact that it didn't immediately attack them in its weakened state didn't prove that it was to be trusted. It did, however, suggest that there was something far greater than a simple ice dragon to deal with here.

Guiding her Familiar with simple wishes through their mental connection was almost as easy as if she were the one spreading her wings and flying. Kona's feather's thumped the air rather noisily with no currents or updrafts to assist him, though a breeze fluffed along the ground in his wake.

Rilana tucked her bow away, having no use for a weapon that she wasn't skilled enough to bring to bare on these creatures with any kind of results. Kona came to land on one side of the pit, taking a moment to breathe while the elementals scurried around towards them. They seemed endless, but as of yet were not attacking with anything Rilana could recognize as organization. More like a swarm of ants defending a hive.

[i][color=fff200]Bees. Bees have hives,[/color][/i] Kona corrected her.

[color=00aeef]"Oh, right,"[/color] Rilana said thoughtfully, leaning forward to pat the gryphon on the head. The proud black and white creature snarled at the incoming elementals, sides heaving in an attempt to catch his breath, tufted tail lashing back and forth as his claws kneaded at the stone. 

Another creature sailed through the air at the end of the glacial gleam of Svarak's sword. He didn't even seem perturbed by the masses of creatures surrounding him, and Rilana wished the circumstances would have allowed for her to just sit and watch.

[color=00aeef]"I wish I had his courage."[/color]

Kona didn't say anything, but he puffed his chest out a little and fluttered his wings. He didn't have that kind of courage either, but he had to be strong for Rilana.

[color=00aeef]"They're getting close,"[/color] she warned, her legs tightening behind the huge muscles that attached Kona's wings to his back, and his haunches bunched, just the tiniest cat-like wiggle before he launched into the air again. They didn't get far before the gryphon flinched.

[color=fff200]Screeee![/color][i][color=fff200]They hit me! It stings...![/color][/i]

Heart in her throat, Rilana tried to glance down to see where her Familiar was injured, but all she could see was blood dripping, not where it was coming from. She could barely do more than hold on at this point as the gryphon arched to avoid a stalagtite. 

[color=00aeef]"Your wings are still working, at least,"[/color] she said through gritted teeth. Whatever she was going to do, it needed to happen soon.

That was when the dragon spoke. And it had to be the dragon with a voice that sounded so weak but with so much potential for might behind it. There was a brilliant flash and Rilana followed Svarak's arcing progress as he leaped adroitly over the pit, unsure where the light had come from.

But then it happened again and Kona's head turned towards the sudden rush of air, angling his wings to bring them closer.

[i][color=00aeef]I think someone is using the ice dragon to make all that unnatural cold weather we've been suffering through, and those statues...who knows what else.[/color]
[/i]
Her eyes narrowed at the swath of destruction in Svarak's wake, trying to see if any of the elementals struck down by his antimagic sword seemed to be, indeed, reforming.

[color=00aeef]"Svarak! There's some kind of shield over the pit! It's keeping the dragon in. The null shard can pierce it! I..."[/color]

But whatever she was about to say was a mystery. Swooping towards the invisible barrier had unforseen circumstances. With a savage bump, Kona's dangling hindpaws struck the smooth curve of [i]something[/i] and sent them both sprawling gracelessly across the high point of some sort of dome. Rilana saw white as she struck hard and cried out in pain before she lay unmoving at the summit.

Kona on the other hand, continued to roll over, feathers and fur flying as the catbird tried to right himself. He almost slipped down the steep side, scrabbling wildly to climb back up, his pelt mussed like a ruffled chicken as he hurried back to his Mistress's side. She looked terribly small hovering in midair at his feet.

[i][color=fff200]This is weird,[/color][/i] he said to no one, lifting one set of claws and then the other as he peered down through to the dragon below, placing his feet back on the solid but unseen cage.

The elementals, by virtue of being able to move through the barrier, could not climb up to get them, but their flying ammunition was getting closer to the mark. Kona gripped one set of talons harshly into the back of Rilana's vest and then looked for Svarak. He didn't like the huge Charr [i]at all[/i], but this was Important. He shook his feathers out and opened his black beak to let out a shrill, piercing cry like the biggest damn eagle and stared at the lion-man expectantly, his own tail lashing, mostly at the pain in his ribs where blood was staining his flank.

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSGFatM1ktU][color=fff200][b]SCREEEEEEE![/b][/color][/url]