[hr][hr][center][h1][u]B[/u] [color=D9FAF0][u]E[/u][/color] [color=B3FFE0][u]N[/u][/color] [color=7FFFD4][u]E[/u][/color] [color=66CDAA][u]D[/u][/color] [color=00a99d][u]E[/u][/color] [color=008B8B][u]T[/u][/color] [color=00746b][u]T[/u][/color] [color=135852][u]O[/u][/color][/h1][/center][hr][hr]
Benedetto pulled up at the last second possible, but the concussive force still sent Zarina flying. To her credit, she landed easily enough. The Wyrm, meanwhile, seemed well and truly pacified. It rose slowly from the sand, serpentine but for the small, streamlined limbs currently tucked into its sides. The scale of it was truly breathtaking. [color=00a99d]"Just because we don't need to blow it up doesn't mean we're taming a fucking Sand Wyrm,[/color] Benny announced, very much not about to be ordered around by some noble girl like he was a common servant. 

The rangers were being ushered through a portal by Escarra as he spoke. It seemed to be something of a standoff now. The colossal dragon towered overhead, and the Revidian could tell that this was perhaps but a third of its total length. Great saurian eyes flicked about the group of tiny humans and he thought to reach out and sense what else was in the area. [color=00a99d][i]Dirt, critters, and... temporal ripples.[/i][/color] They weren't his and it occurred to him that they were probably Jocasta's but... they had a lack of finesse to them that did not match her skill level. Then, he felt a surge, and the creature clearly felt it too. It rose up in a threat display before a pair of halassa materialized out of thin air in front of it and dropped roughly to the ground. 

The desert titan swept in immediately and the the big tortoises had no chance. They thrashed and spat and steamed, but the crack of their shells and the sight of the sand wyrm rearing back and swallowing them was one that burned itself into more than one memory. It eyed the group of youths for a moment and then, with a ground-shaking twist, turned on the spot and sank beneath the sands, leaving hardly a ripple in its wake. Benedetto's eyes narrowed. [color=00a99d]"Anyone else feel that temporal fuckery?"[/color] he asked, not singling Jocasta out for sole praise. [color=00a99d]"Looks like someone put big n' beautiful there up to this little stunt."[/color] Jocasta's portal was still up and she regarded him evaluatively. [color=ffdead]"Benny's not wrong, for once,"[/color] she replied. [color=ffdead]"We should group up with Yalen and Izzy and figure this out."[/color]

[color=00a99d]"Trail's gonna go grow cold,"[/color] Benny spat.

[color=ffdead]"Trail's gonna begin back at the rangers' camp,"[/color] came the reply, and they fairly [i]glared[/i] at each other. She could never resist an opportunity to insult him and, before they were back at the school, she would be given cause to regret it.

Then, came a new voice. [color=a36209]"Actually, it begins some ways before that."[/color] It was Manuel Escarra. [color=a36209]"And it's... strange. Now, I think we should step through this young woman's portal."[/color]
[hr][hr]