The dark shaped thumped down as the last of Ashtoreth's words faded into echoes. Massive claws slowly tightened over the stone underfoot as the glowing green eyes narrowed. What had been a pulsing shimmer of hot air around Emuh changed, after a moment--adjusted from heat to a strange sensation as though wind were constantly shifting around the owl-beast's black form.
"WHO-WHO? YOU--I remember you, and here, eyes narrowed.
Emuh leapt back and away, winging into the gymnasium-sized cave--which seemed to twist and warp at his passage. Suddenly what had been plain rock was turning into tall and crooked spires, deep chasms, and platforms, here and there: treacherous terrain, with much room for falling and failure... at least, if Ashtoreth could not fly. Surely, wings would be an advantage, here-?
A howl began, then: something low and roaring, that switched pitch into a whistling screech. Wind-! Wind sheared along the outcrops, churning through the gullies. Traversing this would be treacherous, at the least. At last the sound died down: but the wind did not, hurtling here and there and occasionally hissing as it brushed a few grains of sand to fall dozens of yards down into the black depths of the pits.
"COME, little thing, TEST YOURSELF!" Emuh crowed--and then began to cackle.
@Ashtoreth
If Ashtoreth looked back now, she would find the exit... gone? Covered by stone, indistinguishable from the rest.
The test had begun.
In the near-quiet, the wind now whispering softly over stone--but with ominous, impossible drops below--a new sound became audible.
It was a twittering, a squeaking, and slowly the ceiling began to spread with darkness--not shadow, but the skittering wings and limbs of dozens of Batcat, Jr's. Ears twitched at very rapid speed, fangs bared as a few snapped at one another. It wasn't clear how they'd gotten here, or even where Emuh had gone, but Ashtoreth was now in a cave of holes and sucking wind and dozens of Batcats, seemingly alone.
One of them sniffed.
As did another.
In seconds they were all smelling, and then their high-pitched supersonic chittering filled the air as they tried to locate their prey by sound alone.
@Ashtoreth
The batcats were certainly momentarily confused: their chattering rose up, screeching at one another, looking this way then that. It might buy time for Ashtoreth to further investigate her surroundings safely.
Emuh's cackle came from somewhere farther in. "Not strong enough..." was all it said, mockingly--and, indeed, the first of the Batcats were already clearing their heads from the sound.
Ashtoreth would need to move fast--or find another way to stop them.
@Ashtoreth
The thundrous crack that resonated throughout the cave eclipsed the hiss of pain that came from Emuh's hidden location. It did nothing to hide the agonized screech of the batcats, however, who swept out into the open in panicked streaks of black trajectory, striking walls and, in some cases, careening into the abyss below.
It did nothing, too, to hide the reverberation that came with it: a ringing chime, like some deep gong had been struck. And indeed, if Ashtoreth peered upward, toward the noise that echoed even past the sonic boom's fading, she would find a brassy disc still swinging overhead.
Beyond, however, lay only the crevasses and sweeping winds, and the shadows hidden within each. It seemed she would need to explore further to uncover her goal, here.
1/3
@Ashtoreth
It was an unfortunate accident--the thud of which prompted a few quiet screeches, a series of clicks, farther back.
A timer had been set ticking by this fall.
On the plus side, however: a distant glint of dusty brass in the distance, high upon the rock wall; and nearby, lower down, a door. Upon this door lay three small, brass seals, and one had sunken in, rotating as if triggered.
Locks, perhaps? It would be up to Ashtoreth to find out.
@Ashtoreth