Timely rescue

SUMMARY: Silverwing and Murder save Rak from a stony trap! 

Silverwing has become a common sight in and around the Aerie, even when she is unaccompanied by Rak, as she is now. But this is not a common sight: she seems decidedly anxious, yowling and cawing in distress as she approaches the Aerie.

Along a path below the Aerie, a large Worg lopes alone, and astride his back is a Goblin in leather armor. She is all decked out for war, bearing her large sword and newly acquired bow. Giving sharp commands, which Wilfred seems to obey, the two cover a lot of ground in a short period of time. The cries from above get their attention soon enough, and Murder calls up to her. "Silverwing!", she shouts, waving with both hands.

The griffon's head whirls around at Murder's voice, and she leaps off the path and dives, her wings pressed tight against her sides, snapping them out at the last minute to arrest her fall into a glide that ends right at the gobber's feet. She cries out LOUDLY, demanding attention, pawing her front talons against the rock.

Murder pulls the Worg up short so that they don't barrel headlong into the griffon, and she slips from Wilfred's back to approach Silverwing. With outstretched hands, she makes a shhhing sound. "It's okay... what is wrong?", she says quietly. She looks around. "Erakirak?", she wonders, eyeing the griffon. "Are you hurt?", the Goblin asks as she reaches out to stroke the birdcat's side. "Wilfred. Follow." She moves to try climbing up onto the griffon.

The griffon does not relax in the slightest, but responds excitedly to Rak's name, and crouches down willingly to let Murder mount her.

The Gobbo settles into a spot on the griffon's back, her legs squeezing tight in preparation for the ground falling away. "Wilfred. Follow!", she says, looking to the Worg. "Go, Silverwing!"

Silverwing dives off the mountain path again, but this time with her wings spread wide, gliding rapidly over the ground. She catches thermal updrafts skillfully to maintain altitude. It doesn't take long before the pair arrive outside a cave in the Redridge mountains.

Trusting that Wilfred will follow and eventually find them again, Murder clings tightly with her legs as the griffon takes to the air. Despite the feeling that something may have gone wrong, that 'Rak may be wounded, dying or even dead, the Goblin can't help but smile at the feeling of being aloft again. She marvels at how the griffon moves, how effortless she makes flying seem. As Silverwing comes in to land, Murder will stand suddenly, and leap from the griffon's back, dropping several feet before she shouts a word in Goblin, floating down and into the cave. Her pupils dilate widely, the black eating up the red, and she glances around. "Erakirak? It's Murder. Are... are you in here?"

Silence. The cave opens into a narrow crevasse -- large enough for a human, but too narrow for the griffon to enter, though the scratch-marks on the rock suggest she tried. The crevasse is pitch-black, and even Murder's sharp eyes can't see very far into it, as it seems to bend after just a few dozen feet.

The Gobbo looks back to Silverwing. "Down here, girl?", she asks, gesturing to the crevasse. After a moment, she simply leaps down it, using up the last of her featherfall. And another, if need be. "'RAAAAK!", she calls out, not quite a shout, but louder than a conversational tone.

The spell isn't necessary, as the crevasse's rate of decline is not steep... Murder can climb, or in most cases simply walk. It goes on for a while, bending and winding, and eventually opens out into a large cavern, marked by colorful stalagtites. In the distance an oscillating light can be seen.

Murder goes silent after the first call, not hearing a reply. Once her first spell runs out, she continues along on foot, her feet making scarcely a sound. The light draws her attention, and she moves towards it, using what cover she can.

As Murder approaches the light, it resolves itself into a small burning gem travelling in small circles around something... which turns out to be Rak's head. Conveniently attached to his body, which is largely tangled up in grey, stoneline protrusions, against which he is struggling ineffectually. Nearby, half a dozen small creatures, similar to porcupines but with a stony texture, lie on the cave floor, with arrows protruding from them.

GAME: Murder rolls knowledge/arcana: (17)+7: 24

"ERAKIRAK!", she shrieks, her hands forming a fan, with fingers outstretched. Another shouted word in Goblin-talk, and flames gout from her outstretched fingertips, covering the critters on the ground with fire. She approaches the rock where Erakirak is tangled up, and reaches to grab at one of the stone 'tendrils'. Where she pulls with all of her might, even planting her feet against the rock, putting all of her into the effort.

Erakirak seems startled by Murder's appearance, and watches her incredulously. His beak is caught in a tendril, so he can't say anything intelligable. He attempts to coordinate his struggles with hers.

GAME: Murder rolls strength: (17)+2: 19

GAME: Erakirak rolls str: (17)+str: 17

GAME: Erakirak rolls strength: (8)+3: 11

The first time one of the stone tendrils gives way, Murder is caught completely offguard, and grunts as she falls to the ground. But moments later, she's up again, and applying her strength to the next tendril of stone. She makes a point of removing the one that keeps Erakirak from speaking, before moving onto others. "Are you okay?", she wonders, her voice tremulous. "What happened?"

"Murder!" Rak shouts excitedly. "How on Ea did you GET here? I'm fine... well, mostly fine. Just... trapped." He seems literally crestfallen.

Murder huffs and sniffles, working at breaking Erakirak's stony bonds. "Silverwing was flying around, squawking and making a lot of noise. I was riding back to the aerie when we heard her and I called out. She flew right down and wanted me to climb onto her back. Since you were not with her and she was agitated, I had a sinking feeling something bad had happened." She snuffles, rubbing at one of her eyes. "Are you hurt at all?" The Goblin stops then and hugs him, clinging tightly.

GAME: Murder rolls survival: (3)+7: 10

"I'm fine," Rak repeats, returning her hug as soon as he gets a limb free to return it with. It's clear that he isn't, quite, as there are numerous small cuts over his body where he's been pierced by stone quills, and a fair amount of blood. But nothing flowing freely, and he seems healthy enough. "Silverwing... went and got you?" he echoes, astonished. "And you came!" Less astonished, that, than delighted.

Murder cries then, curling up on him and sobbing freely. "I thought you might be dead. Silverwing was frantic. She couldn't get into the hole, the crevasse, you came down. She tried though."

Erakirak is crying as well, though is clearly trying not to. "I know... I heard her, for a while... then she left, and... well, that was it, I figured... I was done for. I'd killed the things, whatever they are... nothing natural, that's for sure, but these days I guess that shouldn't surprise me, the wild is full of aberrations lately... and they had some kind of stone shaping trap thing that kept working even after they died, and I didn't avoid it fast enough, and... I couldn't get free, and the miners had run away long before, and... well, I figured this would be my tomb. And then you saved me!"

"That's what I do. Save people.", she says, with another snuffle. "Let's get you out of here, yes?" Murder dries her eyes, and works at getting the remaining tendrils removed, offering Erakirak a hand up at the end. "Can you walk? You can lean on me if you have to."

"Yes, I can walk," Rak replies. Which apparently he can... though that doesn't stop him from keeping an arm around Murder's waist and a wing around her shoulders as they walk.