Closed What Happens When You Leave the Gate Open

[Alea Davenport]

Alea kept very still, partly because the blood flowed less quickly that way, but also because it might just make her harder to see. Obviously the Zith knew where she was; she wasn't going anywhere. But even with the Zith ability to see in the dark, the branch might provide just enough cover to obscure Alea's most vital areas. She tried to stay quiet and still, which to be fair was not difficult, since she was already feeling like she couldn't move.

The flapping sounds had long since ceased to have any meaning other than to drive her insane, so she tried to ignore them. She should never have let the Zith have the advantage of flight so easily. What had she been thinking? When the screeching stopped, she couldn't help but be confused. Has the Zith given up? Had Alea succeeded? Or...

Just as the more likely possibility occurred to Alea--that the Zith had stopped screeching because it was finally making its move--something heavy crashed through the branch and hit her lower back, just to the right of her spine. The impact knocked the breath out of Alea, and she experienced the distinctly uncomfortable sensation of not being able to make her lungs work.

She before a quarter chime had passed, she began to feel her diaphragm working again, but between the blood loss and the lack of oxygen, she was not doing too well on the consciousness front. The last thing she saw was a sort of amber glow coming toward her, before she slipped into blackness.

~*~*~*~

Contrary to Alea's assumptions, Beast had not run from cowardice; he had run to get help. Now, he returned bearing Jakobi on his back. Jakobi was armed with a spear, and he brandished it at the Zith, working with Beast to keep Deadfang from harming Alea.

[Deadfang]

Deadfang flapped hard to a stop when she saw her opponent fall to the ground after the rock hit her in the back. She wanted to finish her opponent off, as she passed out, but something in her couldn't do it. She could hear her dead mother's voice in the back of her mind. She's unconscious, your life is no longer in danger. Remember the alliance, protect the colony by preserving the agreement. Deadfang floated down and landed next to the woman and her dead deer, when the woman's own glow deer showed up, with a man atop it, thrusting a spear at her. She leapt over the dead deer, hissing at the man. The man yelled at her in the common tongue, "Get away from her, you will not eat her filthy Zith!" Deadfang was tired, needed to eat, to not fight anymore. She held her arms up, as she'd seen many slaves back in her colony do, "I'm not eating her. I tried to eat that deer there, and she attacked me first." "That's not a deer, that's one of the horses in our care, they aren't for food!" Deadfang shrugged, "Horse, deer, it was an animal wandering the forest by itself. It is my prey, I hunted it, it belongs to me, law of the forest and of the Spires." Jakobi knew this to be true, and the Zith hadn't killed Alea. It burned him up inside that one of the horses he cared for was dead, but there was nothing he could do other than bring his groom back with him. He hopped off Beast, picked up his owner, and slumped her on the back of him. "If you must eat Zith, then eat. Leave the remains for Caiyha, so she may make it useful for the rest of her realm. If you truly are a citizen of the Spires, then this request isn't too much for you. And if you don't, I'll make it my personal mission to find you outside of the city, and you will disappear from the face of Mizahar, understand me?" Deadfang simply nodded, surprised at the ferocity of these people that cared for these... horses. Did owning a horse slave make you more ferocious? She'd have to ask someone one day. The man jumped up into the saddle, pointed his spear at her, followed by a much deadlier glare. Then he turned, and rode back toward the camp, leaving Deadfang to finally eat. She made sure to not tear the fur too much, at the man's request. When she was done, she found the part of her ear that got ripped off, and stuck it in one of her pouches, and began the flight home.

[Alric Wilmot]

Grades Alea Davenport Running +1 Riding +2 Brawling +5 Observation +1 Animal Husbandry (horses) +1 Lores: Jumping from a horse, fighting a zith, losing the foal. Notes Secret : I did not include injuries in this grade because it went so long without grading. I believe that they would have healed by the current date. Sorry about that, next time things won't be so back-logged. Otherwise, quite a fun read.