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[right][i](the moon has gone down behind the mountain)[/i][/right]
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[color=plum]"[i]That's[/i] the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to you?"[/color] The girl darted across the stones after having released the griffin from its restraints; the beast, disheveled and bloody, limped behind her. The girl's hair was afly, her hood shoved down to her shoulders, her bright blue eyes wide and livid as she stared at Elliot. [color=plum]"Is living in sunlight such a comfort, then!"[/color]

[color=tomato]"He's gone."[/color] The boy sat on a rock and shoved back his eagle-hood. [color=tomato]"Thanks for awakening the Wind God, but [i]now[/i] you've pissed him off! I dunno how or why but ya did!"[/color]

[color=plum]"We're all going to die."[/color] The girl struck a hand through her hair in horror. [color=plum]"Fang, we have to appease him. What if he favors the Artificers after this?"[/color]

[color=tomato]"Like hell!"[/color] Fang grinned confidently, though he was shaking. [color=tomato]"Everyone's going to find out sooner or later, right?"[/color]

[color=plum]"Oh, gods..."[/color]

[color=tomato]"Hey, lightborn! Elliot, right?"[/color] Fang gave him a sharp grin. [color=tomato]"You're coming with us."[/color]

[color=plum]"Why, so he can [i]break[/i] something else?!"[/color]

[color=tomato]"Don't listen to Wisp, she's high-strung."[/color]

[color=plum]"I'm not --!!"[/color]

[color=tomato]"This isn't a request."[/color] Fang clambered onto the back of his own griffin and leaned down, offering a hand to Elliot to help him up into the makeshift saddle. [color=tomato]"Where else you gonna go this late at night? Back to the Horror nest?"[/color] His grin turned dangerous.

Wisp jammed her hood over her head again. [color=plum]"I'm walking."[/color] She laid a hand on the injured griffin's beak, and together they turned around and hobbled back to the beach. Wisp's griffin had no chance of being able to fly back -- they would have to risk crossing the mushroom field on foot.


Gale choked on the saltwater in her lungs.

Under Izzy's care she lurched and opened her eyes wide, water spilling from her mouth. She instinctively flung her body to the side -- only to find that she was floating on the wreck of the scythe, which slipped and bobbed under her. Shaking, she clung to the sides and carefully got to her knees with terrible sounds of retching and gagging. The water seethed and roiled around them; Gale squeezed her eyes shut.

For a long moment she didn't speak, too angry to say what she really needed to.

[color=lightseagreen]"Are your friends alive?"[/color] she asked finally; she let the rush of the waves soothe the blame and rage in her salt-scraped chest.

Finally she looked over at Izzy, and stared at her face with an expression of resignation and defeat. [color=lightseagreen]"You really are from another place, aren't you."[/color] She slipped into the water, and pushing the ruined scythe as a float she kicked toward shore, assuming Izzy was alongside her. [color=lightseagreen]"You could have been killed. I'm sorry for bringing you out here."[/color] She glared ahead as her feet found the sand and she waded up onto the shore. [color=lightseagreen]"I have a tendency to show off."[/color]

She looked out toward the place where the obelisk had been, and her eyes went wide.

After a moment, her jaw slackened.

[color=lightseagreen]"... Where is the obelisk? Oh, no ..."[/color] Her mouth closed, her jaw clenched. With tears in her eyes she dropped to her knees and dragged her fingers over her scalp, shaking in distress. [color=lightseagreen]"This isn't happening..."[/color]

The roar of the ocean drowned out her choked breaths.

She pressed her hands into the sand and forced herself to her feet. [color=lightseagreen]"It may be fortunate that we were thrown when we were -- we could've been caught in the god's blast."[/color] She laid a hand on Izzy's shoulder, mostly to steady herself, but the look in her eyes was fearsome. [color=lightseagreen]"Come, we have to warn the city. The Wind God has awakened. I pray for us all."[/color]


The sand-rider tilted his head. [color=lightsteelblue]"Thank you,"[/color] he said honestly, completely missing Ifor's sarcasm. [color=lightsteelblue]"But I really must insist: you appear to be unwell. If I had not arrived, you may have been in danger of drowning."[/color]

He neatly replaced the bottle in a pocket and got to his feet, while the fans of hissing water lapped at Ifor where he lay. The rider stretched down a hand to help him up. [color=lightsteelblue]"My name is Oliver. I'm an investigator for the Pyre search-and-rescue division -- and while I did not happen to be on duty when I found you, I'm very glad I did. I use this windmill as a research station."[/color] He gestured above them, at the shapes of tattered windmill sails that rose above the rocky slope, silhouetted in the moonless dark. [color=lightsteelblue]"You may rest and dry yourself there. I have food as well, if you are hungry."[/color]

The smile he offered was tight and inexperienced; he waited patiently for Ifor to take his hand.