Another voice called out to the beast, momentarily drawing its attention away from Talion. The owl was grateful for whoever was stupid enough to take his place, but he didn't waste any time looking around to see who it was. Instead, he pulled both of his feet under him, and then pushed with them as hard as he could. His talons finally found purchase in the packed snow, allowing him to shove himself into the air.

The monster roared behind him as Talion beat his wings downward in strong, sure strokes. What snow had collected on the melanistic owl showered down as he slowly ascended through the blankets of still falling flakes. Once he was mostly certain that he was at least over the beast's head, Talion angled himself so that he would swoop in a wide circle around it. He needed some distance, as much as he could gain, and he needed to see what the hell was going on.

Any hope, or desire, of escaping this situation had disappeared the moment Talion was hit. Now that he was back in control, he realized that being struck had been the sign he'd been waiting for. This was his destiny, and could very well be his big moment. If it wasn't that, then it was, at the very least, a stepping stone to his greater purpose. All the owl had to do was survive this encounter, and figure out what the filly had done to summon the beast. Or more importantly, why she had done it.

@Llamrei

The young eagle was just barely learning his wings. He fluttered unevenly in the air, desperately trying to keep himself from falling. His soft white feathers were puffed out with anxiety (not fear, definitely not fear) and he panted as he shakily flew through the air.

All of a sudden, the air temperature began to drop, drastically. Chill seeped into his soft, young body and he shivered, dropping a few more inches with surprise. What was causing this sudden blizzard?

Unable to keep himself in the air any longer, he dropped to the ground and continued on foot, determined to see whatever monster was in the snow. He eventually had to jump from rock to rock to keep himself above the piles of snow that were getting larger and larger. He heard cries and roars up ahead and his stomach lurched. A fight! Someone was in trouble!

With a loud cry, he sped up his pace and eventually jumped back into the air, his weak little wings beating stronger then ever. He found himself in front of a scene of many different creatures desperately trying to run away from a huge creature.

Obviously, they needed his help! With another cry, he dived towards the monster and opened his beak, expelling a blast of hot air towards its head. He turned towards the others, unaware that they had a purpose here besides getting away. "I will distract! You run!"

_______________________________________________________

"I speak!"
I think.

tags:
notes:

The filly squealed in fear as the giant thing dropped its jaw, revealing terrifyingly sharp teeth, ice breath nipping at her heels. She tripped, and almost fell, but caught herself, wheeling around to face the big thing. It was a struggle to see through the falling white stuff, but she could make out something struggling in the white stuff in front of the monster.

And then there was a yelling. The thing...? THE STATUE PIECE! She reared, and moved to circle around, using her tracks from before to head towards the kitten. Without thinking, as she passed a stone, she focused in on it, launching it through the air towards the monster's eyes.

Thankfully, it seemed, back up had arrived. A pair of birds were flying over head, although one looked fairly young, and that worried her. Could it fight? Would it be safe?

"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

Just as he began to recover, a wave of hot air tore through the blizzard that swirled around his presence. Svarog rumbled deeply, beady eyes catching sight of the eagle in a moment before he inhaled to release a powerful gust of freezing air in retaliation. But a sharp pain shot through his temple where he had been hit before—and at the same moment, something attacked his eye but he could not see what had hit it. Instead, he was left cupping his squinty eye with both hands, roaring downward and releasing powerful gusts of freezing wind toward the ground. These creatures were an annoyance he had not expected and were here for his magic rock. Perhaps it was not worth it?

No! He was Svarog! Holding his hurt eye with one grubby hand and balling the other into a fist, he peered around to see what was left of them: the fly was fleeing, the eagle was here, and the black shadow from before was somewhere in the distance. Hmph! He would get them yet!

@Llamrei @Talion @Glory

Glory didn't notice the monster trying to attack him, as he was zooming away on his stubby little wings. He tried to bank and turn, but it was clumsy and weak and he barely kept himself in the air before he turned back around to face the thing. Where would he attack next? What would distract it the most?

Then he noticed the thing on its chest. There! A gem! He would target that next. Perfect! With a squeak that he interpreted as a very loud, proudful cry, he shot forward as fast as he could go. As he got closer, he aimed his beak towards the gem and collected saliva, heating it as fast and as hot as he could go. His throat burned from the heat but he was almost there. Wait a moment, a little longer.....now!

He opened his beak and expelled the blazing saliva straight towards the yeti's gem before giving his strongest wings flaps, aiming to fly right over the beast's shoulders to get away.

_______________________________________________________

"I speak!"
I think.

tags:
notes:

The kitten's cry was lost to the owl in the snow drifts and icy gusts of wind. He was too focused on trying to keep the beast, and the filly, in sight to look for anyone else. Which is why he didn't see the young bird until it was literally blasting some sort of magic at the monster.

The young equine followed up with another rock thrown at the beast's head. Whenever the goliath clutched his cranium, obviously hit and hurting, Talion opened his beak to let out a hoot of triumph. The monster beat him to it though, letting loose another air shaking roar. Snow flurries seemed to stream out of its mouth, down to the ground, making the owl finally wonder if it was this thing causing the snow.

Talion considered himself to have an erudite nature, but as of late, he hadn't taken much time to study what was happening around him. He decided on the spot that that needed to change.

The barn own reached for his magic, attempting to lighten his feathers so that he would blend in with the sheets of snow falling around him. However, the moment he sought the power within himself, pain erupted through his breast. It seemed to radiate from his stone throughout his entire body, a painful jolt that sent him careening off course.

He tried to pull up, and flare his wings to slow his descent, but his skin seemed to crawl and itch all over. The sensations distracted the Gembound so much that he could barely focus on motor functions. He was plummeting, and, for the moment, there was nothing he could do about it.

@Llamrei

There was an awful, bellowing sound, and then freezing air whipped at her fur. Llamrei stumbled, squealing in fear, looking up to see the monster bending double, clutching at his eye. So she had managed to hit it?

The filly danced away, attempting to run out of the beast's reach. But she couldn't just abandon the others to its rage, she was the one who had drawn it out, after all. So she reared up, before bringing her hooves down on the ground several times, making a loud clattering noise. "Over here!" she squealed, before whirling and skittering away.

@Aurora
"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

(thanks Willow!)

Still holding his hurt eye, Svarog glanced from the eagle to the fly—who hooted in triumph! How dare!—and then to the shadow, which taunted him; he rumbled again, like thunder in his chest, preparing for a large attack to hopefully take them all. It was the eagle who tried to best him next, hurling hot spit toward his chest. But Svarog was watching them! He hissed quickly and threw up his knobby hand, trying desperately to block the boiling saliva.

post-roll edit
However, he was a slow and bulky creature, and just missed his mark. The blazing fluid smacked against his chest and grubby fingertips, slowly oozing down toward his gem—while it did not damage his gem, it burned his skin! Svarog howled in pain as his skin sizzled, quickly creating ice to cover the burning-hot areas.

Then he was really angry. His hand dropped from his squinted eye and he slammed both fists to the ground, his good eye focusing on the eagle.

He had not noticed the fly plummeting to the ground nor the shadow's movements.

Is was this fire-summoning nuisance he had to get rid of now. Svarog quickly forgot he was fighting them for his magic rock. This creature could burn him and he did not like it.

@Llamrei @Talion @Glory

Glory heard the beast shriek and his eyes glimmered with triumph. So his magic would work on this creature. Good! Then he would do more to help! Fight the beast more and let the others get away!

"Go! I've got it distracted, but I can't hold him forever!" Glory shrieked down at the other gembounds, hoping his young voice was loud enough to reach them. He had no idea what they were doing, but they had to have a purpose here to arouse this beast, and he was guessing it wasn't to kill it.

He fluttered around and swung himself so that he was flying back to the front of the beast. He beat harder to gain altitude until he was flying over the monster and opened his beak for another attack. Saliva coated the inside of his beak and he heated it up, not quite as hot as before, but definitely enough to burn. He aimed for the monster's right eye and then released the little flaming spit as forcefully as he could.

Talion's large, dark orbs widened in panic as he watched the ground rush up to meet him.

For a moment, he let himself believe that he would actually fall. The owl imagined the crunch he'd make upon impact, and how he'd probably tumble and roll through the dirt. It would be embarrassing if anyone was actually watching, but he figured no one would be. All attention would be on the fire-spitting bird that was facing off against the beast.

The owl was a mere few feet above the ground whenever his wings finally snapped open. They trembled from the pressure, but they managed to slow him down enough that he hit the cavern floor with a soft thump instead of a crunch. The impact from the fall drove the breath out him though, leaving him in a coughing fit for a few moments.

Just as Talion expected though, no one bothered to look his way. He was able to catch his breath, just in time to lose it again whenever he looked up and saw the other bird spit another firey glob at the beast. Part of him envied the other Gembound, and their bravery, and part of him despised them.
He had assumed that he found the filly and the beast because he was supposed to help. He'd even go so far as to say he was destined too. However, this other bird's appearance made him doubt his part in this. Could he be mistaken about his destiny, again?

The fact that he could continue to help didn't seem to occur to the avian Gembound at all. Instead, he continued entertaining his suspicious notions while blankly staring at the unfolding battle.

@Llamrei