Ruby watched with a resigned expression as the torch soared through the air. [color=red]There's no way I'm catching that.[/color] To her surprise, she [i]did[/i] catch it, albeit after a brief fumble and whispered curse. With her other arm, she picked up the kite and ran behind Walker as fast as her legs could carry her. Keepa's last words haunted her, and she wished (not for the last time) that she had the power to beat him. Fantasies of magic powers, martial arts, and hi-tech suits danced in her head until a few things occurred to her:

1. She had none of these things.
2. She had allies who [i]did[/i] have these things.
3. Getting away safely was more important at the moment.

How narrow had been her brush with hell. If Keepa hadn't chosen to monologue, she would have been eaten, and then... she didn't even want to think about it. Twice she'd faced her end at the maw, and twice she'd been saved by the skin of her teeth. When Violet woke up, that girl deserved a hearty thanks.

That is, [i]if[/i] she woke up. The poor girl had gotten a face-full of goo, giving her nightmares such as curled her in fetal agony. Her blood-curdling screams and bitter sobs made Ruby want to curl up herself. How Walker managed to carry her with a straight face, and with an arrow embedded in his shoulder no less, she'd never know. Dude was a walking hero.

The creature under her arm, however, was an enigma. His bird mask reminded her of a plague mask, but for some reason, the word "kite" came to mind when she looked at it. Why? While she knew "kite" was a type of bird, the mask didn't look like a kite's face. Perhaps it had been the vision from earlier.

She recalled the image of birds making nests in a tree. The birds tore into kites of fabric stuck in the tree, and used the material to build their nests. Even the sticks and strings of the kites seemed to become part of the tree. [color=red]Assuming the content of the vision is symbolic, what if...what if birdface was the kite? That would make Keepa the bird. Fantasy fiction writers like to think of dungeons as being like living creatures, so if it's like that, this place could be the nest, or the tree, and it's sustaining itself by eating adventurers.[/color]

Ruby mulled it over.

She looked at birdface.

[color=red]Using [i]ths[/i] little guy to build a massive dungeon? Preposterous. Stupid theory.[/color]

Ruby lifted her eyes and scanned for possible exits. If they were to escape Keepa's grasp, they'd need to lose him somehow, whether through tricky maneuvering or locating a strong door.

[color=red]Please guide us out of here...[/color] she prayed.