[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/D9OBI9j.png[/img][/center]

She stood between Joji and Adam, looking at the place that could only be what Adam had described, this morning, as The Mazy Hillocks.  [color=Pink]"Sacre bleu,"[/color] she muttered in unison with the curse of the massive swordsman next to her.  Mazy Hillocks was an apt name.  It looked mind-boggling.

“[color=a36209]Is there a way we can get around this thing?[/color]”

MacKensie looked hopefully at Adam, who would know best.  The young Druid's answer was deflating.  She turned her head sharply back at the maze below, angry at it.  Ready.  [color=Pink][i]We can do this,[/i][/color] she told herself, standing still a moment longer to steel herself as the two men beside her went down the hill, then walked after them.  When Zell inquired about her grapplehook, it reignited the thought she had after she'd finished scouting:  [color=Pink][i]What in the world have I become?[/i][/color]

[color=Pink]"I have a magical gauntlet,"[/color] she replied.  [color=Pink]"See?"[/color] she showed him her arm.  [color=Pink]"It is a grapple hook.  I have had little practice, but I seem to be getting the hang of it okay."[/color] A humble understatement.  She'd tried it out for a total of ten minutes and then - perhaps irresponsibly - took to the skies where she could've died for a second time had she made a single mistake.  Zell's compliment warmed her insides but she tried to play it off with a cocky comeback.  [color=Pink]"I am full of surprises,"[/color] she smirked as she shared his gaze.

Walking through the open-air corridors of cliff and boulders, MacKensie had her crossbow drawn and loaded to make herself feel better about the spooky atmosphere.  She constantly checked behind her, above her and ahead - making sure the team stayed together and nothing was sneaking up on them.  The place felt haunted with ghosts and magic.  In her head, she imagined the last moments of unfortunate travellers who'd tried to come through here.  It was all she could do not to strangle Zell, who's moaning was doing nothing to help matters. As if he was only one who was feeling the burn.  [color=Pink][i]Such an idiot.[/i][/color]

At the gorge, she gasped when Adam casted the biggest spell he'd done yet.  She was not the only one getting more and more familiar with these new abilities they'd been gifted.  She looked at the trees he'd created, then at him.  "Okay, so we can get across this way..." And he just carried on like it was nothing!  MacKensie almost missed what he was saying, her gaze moving slowly back to the trees as she marvelled. "...I feel repetitive saying this, but please be careful."

She ended up going across with Zell, putting away her crossbow and giving him a curt nod before stepping onto the tree-trunks in tandem with him.  [color=Pink][i]Easy does it, Mac.  Careful.  Careful.[/i][/color]  Each footfall was precise, her graceful poise and posture drilled into her from a childhood of ballet.  One step at a time.  The rough sound of Zell's booted feet gave him away as soon as he lost his footing and she shot a glare his way, horrified to see him flailing.  She threw herself at him, left hand firing her gauntlet behind her to secure herself and the swordsman as she wrapped her right arm around his back, holding him tight.

Yet another gasp, her breathing elevated from the difibrilation of fear that jolted her into action.  For a moment they were frozen - a few seconds to gather herself, to make sure they were secure, to be relieved that he wasn't lost to them - then her gauntlet wire wound them both back into the safety of the middle of the tree-trunk platform.  The magical blue beam disappeared and there they stood, before she realised with a blush that she was still holding him as tight as possible.  With a knee-jerk reaction she let go and stepped slightly away from him, hiding her embaressment with anger.  [color=Pink]"Will you [i]kindly[/i] watch your step, Zell Brooks?"[/color] it wasn't a question, but a command.  [color=Pink]"Hmph."[/color]

Paranoid that she was still blushing, she turned away and started moving, making sure to be slightly ahead of him to hide her face, but not so much that she couldn't save his rear end again if need be.  When they were off the bridge, she walked straight past the others without delaying a step. [color=Pink]"I will scout ahead a little."[/color]

Once she was alone, she rubbed her eyes with one stroke of her hand, to regain focus (although it looked suspiciously like a face-palm) then redrew her crossbow and followed the zig-zagging passage, eventually coming to a junction with three different ways to go from there.  She took the right-side passage and made it less than fifty paces before the narrow passage opened up into a clearing that made heart palpitate.

[color=Pink]"What in the world...!?"[/color] she whispered to stop herself shouting.

In front of her was a clearing littered with skeletal remains and what looked like half-eaten corpses too!  Not only could she hear the loud buzzing of flies, but she could even see them, overgrown to the size of pebbles.  The sight and smell made her want to vomit.  She could only be happy that there was nothing else alive in there, no predator in sight.  She backed away slowly, then turned and fled. Deciding against scouting any further and potentially getting lost, she retread her way back to the rest of them, informing the group of what she saw and advising that they should expect trouble ahead.