Asimona watched the monkey but didn't hear any response. She frowned and looked away instead focusing on the golem. It's sudden change of movement surprised her and a moment later she realized that it was changing directions. It was heading back towards the chrysalis. Asimona growled with frusteration, leaning back so that she could back out a bit until she was in front and above the golem again. She inhaled deeply, preparing to blast the golem to the ground when the monkey suddenly went flying out of the tree and grabbing onto the golem's body (?). She released her breath with a snarl. She couldn't attack the thing now and risk the monkey getting hurt!

Instead, she recklessly pulled her wings close and dove down towards the mud, pulling them out just in time to cushion her landing and keep mud from going everywhere again. She touched down between the golem and the chrysalis and opened her jaws, letting out a loud challenging roar. Not that the golem could hear it, of course, but she could at least try and slow it down until she found another opportunity to attack.

Asimona gathered her breath again immediately after the roar, preparing for something, whether a breath of ice or another attempt at a blast. And as the golem bore down on her she had to make a choice. Would she save the monkey as he fell? Or would she stop the golem from hitting her? She couldn't hesitate - she had to be fast. And, of course, she then immediately hesitated.

That hesitation was the wrong decision. Before she could react, the golem was slamming into her. She only barely had the time to pull her head away. With a loud grunt, she was thrown back and she felt, and heard, a loud crack as one of the scales on her chest broke. She cried out in pain, which was quickly muffled by mud as she splashed into the dark murk again. She was paralyzed there, for a moment, her brain still trying to process before she tried to struggle to her feet. Her chest was sore and she wondered if it had broken a rib as well. She was standing right over the chrysalis now. She couldn't hesitate anymore. If the golem was going to keep charging forward, she had to do everything she could to protect it and the hybrid inside.

Asimona wasn't sure what the monkey was doing. All she saw was movement and the flash of a glowing gem as he reached forward. She tried to do something, anything, a blasting breath, ice to stop it, but magic wasn't flowing through her. She couldn't do anything. So she stood in front of the gem, a protective shield between her and the creature inside, and prepared for the golem's strike.