The White Ghost of Hart's Cove

4

.^^ Zzzackara and Joanne ^^

— Teilin —

The barrier shattered just as I reached it, and my sudden roar scattered most of the humanoids, while the glyph in my left hand halted my descent, so I was above them all.

Caesar made himself known by barbecuing all the ones who had attempted to run, while Feras and Canaan charged down the path towards the larger group, and the two humans started firing arrows into their midst, picking off the ones who were still carrying weapons.

I dropped myself onto the Dias, and touched the giant creature's beak, finally recognizing it as a Roc, the rarest of all creatures.

She blinked at me, and then shook herself once, standing up on strong legs, despite the wounds that made her sway a bit. Her wings spread slowly, touching either wall at half-open, and then she screeched, shaking the cave like an earthquake.

Words became known to me, inside her shriek, my gift of languages translating swiftly. "Nevermore shall the Child of the Sky suffer the Earth to Bind her! Release us, little Cursed Ones!!!"

"Us?" I whispered, and looked under her, at what she'd been curled around, protecting from the spears and Corruption.

A small egg, (at least, by comparison to its mother,) sat nestled in a nest of her ripped feathers. It was white with small blue veins, and had shifted a bit with her voice.

The others were making short work of the foul humanoids, though their numbers would prove difficult, if this lasted too much longer.

I surrounded the Roc and her egg in a thin, translucent barrier to clear away any Corruption that had made its way into her, as well as hiding the egg from anyone looking, then started making noxious fog along the ground.

Feras recognized the spell, and dragged Canaan up to where the human brother's were standing, fresh out of arrows.

They'd managed, all together, to wipe out about a third of the 200 or so enemies, and the mist began to send the rest to sleep, where they would either suffocate in the Fog or be eaten by that snake, whichever came first.

I looked at the Roc, done casting. "How came you into this cave, madam Zzzackara? And where is your Companion?"

She cocked her head, peering at me with one massive eye. "Hmm... the Gift of Tongues... I was brought in a few weeks ago, through the roof. The Cursed Ones sealed it afterwards manually. And my Companion is in the White Citadel. Why? Has something happened to my Joanne?" She jammed her beak near my face, smelling me for any sort of sign of her Companion.

"No, no, we assumed she was with you when I was sent to find you, with this." I held out the Amulet cautiously.

She snatched it in her talons swiftly, and hummed, examining the silver chain in her claws, whilst standing on one leg. "Indeed, this was hers... she has no need of it, now, so you may keep it." She tossed it back carelessly, ignoring the precious metal.

I picked it up carefully. "Alright... and how can we get you out of here?"

She ruffled the feathers on her neck slowly, then roared at the roof, shaking the stones again. Caesar flung out a hand, directing the falling debris to the sides, as the others joined me on the Dias. I assisted him as she continued, increasing both volume and pitch until I couldn't actually hear her, though my ears bled enough to tell me what had transpired.

Soon enough, however, the cave roof shattered, and even though we were at the bottom of a pit, it seemed we'd traveled closer to the surface, likely due to an incline on the outside, we now faced the sky.