SYRONO

Chapter Eleven - A Compound Threat

Streaming through the atmosphere, she approximates the distance to the ground trying to decide when to fire the thruster with only a limited burn time and no clear idea of how long it might take to stop.

Based on pure intuition she picks a time that seems about right and pulls the sword skyward with both hands to activate the field jet.

Starting low power to gauge the deceleration before realizing the ground is coming up faster than anticipated and overcompensating, now sent momentarily upwards.

Falling back down with a jerky cadence as the thrust ramps back up and then shuts off leaving her to fall the last couple of meters, fatigued from overdraw.

Syr - "Hphhh..!"

Not long after her landing..

Nyr - "Watch oouutt!"

Syr - "Waooh!"

The other half of the duo comes sailing in with significant horizontal velocity.

Syr manages to sidestep the human wrecking ball before a perceived fatal collision.

Nyr - "Wahhh..! Ooof! Ahh.. Bwehhh..!"

Various cries ring out while Syr watches her partner crash and burn, wincing as they reach her ears.

The momentum eventually halted by that of a firmly rooted tree.

Nyr - "Gwhhhhhh.."

She takes Syr's hand reached down to assist and is pulled upright, now covered in a spattering of dirt and leaves.

Nyr - "You.. You didn't see that, did you..?"

Syr - "Heh.. I was going to get mad at you, but after your rough landing, let's just call it even."

Nyr - "Sheeeesh.."

Syr - "What the hell was that anyway?"

Nyr - "Portable glider.. Everyone gets one.."

Syr - "Tch, 'everyone'.."

Syr - "How much experience do you have with that thing?"

Nyr - "Hwahh.. Not enough.."

She stretches out, trying to mend the dents in her body.

Syr - "[Sighs] Where are we now..?"

Nyr - "Somewhere in one of the valleys by the looks of it, thankfully. Navigating a mountain doesn't sound like the most fun right now.."

Nyr - "[Yawns] Man, I'm tired.. I'd say we should camp out until morning but that'd be a lot of risk. This whole situation is one big evolving wildcard, so let's just get it done as soon as possible."

Syr - "Right.."

Nyr - "Now what to do..?"

Syr - "This place is massive, how do we find one big-bad in this entire zone? And how do we even know which one it is?"

Nyr - "Ahh.. Well, we know it isn't an ordinary beast so.. It should be obvious if we see it, right..?"

Syr - "..Reassuring as ever.."

Nyr - "Ah c'mon, where's your sense of adventure?! At the end of the day, we're just out here, having a good time together, eh?"

Syr - "Hmm.."