ORIGIN

Proud that he had managed to perform his spell with such ease, accuracy and power, his physiology couldn't hide his excitement as his heart pounded and the blood roared in his ears. Running his tongue over his coal black nose, he watched as the twinkling Spire metamorphosed into the beast which appeared too merged into the surroundings to truly be the dragon creature. This imagery was shattered by the break of white in Raheerah's jaws as he snarled and Louie felt himself froze. Realization hit him over what this would mean, what this meant to everyone within the cave and he could only think of one thing.

'Run'.

Not opting to slip through the rocks to avoid being spotted, he was blinded by fear as he bolted straight out over flat, open ground. Instead of wanting to kill the other beasts, now he wanted to join them. Behind him, the sound of waves of lava crashing down the spire towards him made him shriek. Blobs were sent flying, just as Raheerah had intended and without knowing exactly where each spot would land he changed his strategy to one of erratic zig-zagging to try and reduce the chance of being hit. Humiliated that it had ended this way, he debated whether or not to pull out all the stocks to really get this dragon beast out of Polaris. Though he had little rehearsal in that particular area, desperate times called for desperate measures but now he was focused on reaching the safety of the water in which the others dwelt...

... The occasional speck singed his fur, but it was an ill-fated glance over his shoulder that would cause him to question why he even set foot within Polaris. A golf ball sized ball of liquid fire smacked him on his left ear, the pain was too much for him, his body had no normal signals firing to react properly. Instead he gurgled in the back of his throat as he could feel the lava softening his skin. The heat was eating away at his flesh, melting it into nothing but meat sludge as his eye socket hollowed out. Disorientated, Louie vigorously shook his head from side to side trying to eradicate the lava, it was through luck he made it to the water and avoided the rest of his face being eaten away.

Immediately, what was left had hardened into rock upon his face, acting as a barrier to the pink tissue and muscle behind that had begun to cauterize already. Fear gripped him, as his eyes... his one eye came back into focus all he could see was the terror of the Core as his creation of lava oozed outwards, incinerating anything it touched. There were muffled cries of Dark as he requested help, but his self centered personality had only heightened with his own injury. Thankfully, it hadn't damaged any of his limbs so that he would be crippled, but with his right eye gone, his ear and his cheek partially damaged, Louie was genuinely terrified.

Unaware that he had infected those who lay within the river, as he had been too focused on getting away from Raheerah's tsunami of death, he floundered towards the edge of the water, trying his best to get a feeling of depth perception when he clearly couldn't. That voice though, "Dark? Dark is that you?" Voice nothing more than a hoarse whisper, he kept his head tilted since entering the river so the left side of his face was constantly submerged.

Bones hesitated. The owl croaked for helped and that's when he realised the owl was blind - he had no pupils. He scuttled forwards quickly and went to pick up Dark by the mouth, holding him in a surprisingly gentle grip; flinching a little as he began flailing.

"Ehh'ss urrhaay!" the wild dog tried to reassure the owl - and it seemed to work as Dark calmed down. He nodded, slightly.


He looked to the horse, and then moved to scuttle out of the dragon's sight, not quite hearing Louie. He dove behind a rock and turned to face the river once more, waiting for the sickly horse. He crinkled his nose just a little and twisted his head back over his shoulder to gently place Dark on his back.



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Khloros watched in numb horror as the dragon turned, blasting the fox that lurked in the darkness below. Of course, the plague horse had no idea that Louie had nefarious intentions; he only knew that another Gembound had crept up to the Spire, and was now suffering immensely for it.

Why?!

He froze. Did they run? If they ran now, they could make it, the dragon might chase the fox-thing and they'd escape. Surely it was the only option--they could hardly fight the thing. Yet a moment later the fox was streaking toward them with glowing melting stone searing into its face, and Khloros recoiled in horror and pity.

If we're going to run, we have to run now.

The realization hit him like a knife. The dragon would any moment unfurl those wings and launch after the fox, and they'd be right in its path. The fox was coming straight at them. He flared his nostrils.

"...Run," he snorted to the dog and to the owl, but when Louie came, he lurched out of the water and tried to guide him in. He'd been an instant off simply seizing the fox's pelt in his teeth and dragging him in, but Louie's survival instinct was sharp and the fox tumbled into the water without any help required. The fox's injuries were horrific, and terror thrilled through the horse, but the stranger was alive, and so all he could do was push that thought down and focus on survival.

Khloros turned, glancing only briefly at Bones and at the strange owl he held, hanging limp from his teeth. These were all strangers to him but if they were going to get out it had to be now.

He looked ahead for an instant, time seeming to slow. He could see a path--a winding path--through the fire to the cave's exit; he could make it, he thought, so long as the dragon didn't come for them. Glancing at Bones, eyeing his nimble body, he knew that the dog could likely make it, too. The fox could follow their lead. He hoped.

"Come on," he snorted, and then broke into a swift all-out gallop, racing at full speed over the still-smoking rock floor of the cave, streaking for the exit. He was a blur of black and rotted green, a spray of vapor washing out behind him.

He ran much of the gauntlet without harm, his hooves finding solid purchase on rough rock, his twisting and leaping avoiding the worst of the flames. He'd try to make it to the far side, then turn to be sure the rest had followed safely--if he even made it that far.

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BRING OUT YOUR DEAD

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He'd been caught! He was caught, and he kicked out taloned legs into thin air and--no, no this was the stranger lifting him. Helping him, as he'd asked. He tried to go limp, to let himself be carried, but the wretched illness filling him made him shiver and squeal softly in pain. His skin was burning beneath his feathers, and a trickle of blood emerged from his nares, slowly drifting down his beak. He trembled.

He didn't know what was going on, he only knew that there were sounds of running, fire, soft words. He closed his gem eyes and decided to just trust the stranger who'd picked him up--and hope that it would all end somewhere safe and quiet.

For now, he was in Bones's hands. Well. Jaws.

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Soon as the torrent of fire had washed over the impudent Gembounds below, Raheerah watched the chaos unfold. The collection of Gembounds clamoring in the water suddenly fumbled over one another in an attempt to escape all the fire and lava that would rage around them, and the fox - the unfortunate recipient of his attack - had received a nice lump of steaming sludge on the side of his skull. Raheerah watched as smoke billowed out from his burning scalp and the fox fled, desperate to escape the fire. The dragon sneered, leaning back on the spire and belting out a wicked, villainous laugh, doing nothing more as he observed the chaos.

In immense pain, he simply continued to let the water lap at his face. The smirk that usually occupied his maw was wiped as he murmured incomprehensible things under his breath. There was a weird sensation coming from his gemstone, and through concentration he got it to stop unaware it was his body attempting to re-chrysalise to make his healing progress faster. One by one each gembound left the water. Pride extremely hurt, he moped in shallows as Khloros made a successful dash for the exit. Bones and Dark still remained in the water, the bird within the jaws of Bones and he wondered if Bones had the same thought as him. Eat the dang bird while he was incapacitated.

Above him, the terrifying roar of the dragon beast made his skin prickle and the great witch doctor himself whimpered slightly. Louie was losing all his man points right now and he would need to pull off something insane to regain them. Not wanting to follow their lead as he was called to follow them, he considered slinking into the depths of the river and wading out through wherever this thing lead. But he would still be in the cavern with the creature while the others would be free. FREEEE.

An instinctual trigger was fired in his brain by the word "free" and he found himself shaking and quivering with energy. Lifting his head from the water, his depth perception was gone and the added weight of the stone lump on his face made him lopsided. But he had to get out and following Khloros' lead, he dashed after the plague pony in an attempt to escape...

...Wobbly and definitely not in a straight line, he weaved towards the exit before he managed to breach the tunnel. Relief washed over him, but his eyes set on the skeletal horse... his one eye set on the skeletal horse and he clenched his teeth. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

Bones watched the two escape Polaris. He knew he could do the same - he was fast, afterall. Briefly he glanced at the dragon before he bolted, with the sick owl in his maw.

He was tripping. He didn't usually run this fast with a small animal (especially when it's still alive, barely) but he still went. He could hear it wheezing ever so slightly, and he wasn't sure what was wrong with it.

He suddenly felt a little bad. He hadn't even asked it's name.

Eventually he managed to flee Polaris, following after the fox and horse.


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