Warrior flinched back, breaking into a swift, frantic gallop to avoid the worm's first pass. It was thrashing, then, and suddenly its wounds were pouring blue blood, and-

-the blind Gembound came flying in from behind, screeching?? and immediately vanished into the cloud of snow and rock. What is WRONG with these people?! he thought--but there wasn't time to ponder. Warrior shifted his gaze back to the battle. Some of the Gembound had fled--which was wise. Others were fighting, and the magic of the knife seemed to have enhanced the damage they'd dealt to it, somehow. So that's what that was for, he thought.

"IT'S HURT!" he called, but his voice was likely lost in the din. He flinched back, prancing, ears flattening against the cascade of tumbling rocks. He leapt to the side, barely avoiding one, and then broke into a gallop toward the worm again. He felt almost bad for it--the beast clearly was in pain--but it was also likely to kill them if they did not finish it off quickly.

Blood thundered in his ears; his hooves thundered across the snowy rock. And then came the spray of ice, and Warrior flailed, pulling back and up, near-skidding over the stone in an effort to avoid it.

Distracting the worm with vibration was pointless. The beast's body was shaking the canyon so hard that his pebble-shaking would be nothing in comparison. So he tried, again--doing his best at dodging falling stone and spraying ice--to rush in close, to raise his slashing shards of glass.

Somehow... hearing that worm shriek was enough to keep her eyes peeled open.

Sweet retribution! was most of it.

Virgil spun in place, stumbling forwards a few steps and bowing her head again. Her tail swished to and fro, though it was mostly raised and kinked at the base. The bellow she let out was weak, but it was empowering to herself, a driving force for her hooves beneath her.

Even while the beast thrashed and spat ice all around, Virgil plowed on, horns bared for another goring slice, to find some blue decoration for her left side now.

Instead... ice dove harshly into her flank, smacking against it with the familiar feeling of the blizzard. It spread immediately, locking her leg into place with sheer, crystalline strength. Virgil skidded around the frozen limb, twisting it at that unfortunate angle until it started to pop out of socket. It...

It hurt.

Attempting to gore the Ice Worm physically had probably been unwise.

Ivory did not see much of what happened next: her horn had caught in thick-plated hide, and then yanked her bodily off her feet and thrown her clear. She'd bounced off the Ice Worm, tossed like a ragdoll across the rock--and thank the Caves there was snow, there, or her own hide would have flayed. As it was, perhaps only her thick, spined skin saved her from the protruding ice and rock, and even so there were scrapes across her ribs and flanks as she at last, shaking, pushed back up.

She was dazed. Sound was muffled, a ringing in her ears, and she couldn't quite catch her breath. Frantic eyes sought out Shida--safe, at first at least, higher up.

Then a brown blur plowed for the Ice Worm's side. Virgil- Ivory thought, fear spiking, and then Virgil's bulk was lost to sight by a boulder that fell between them, sending up a plume of powdery snow. Ivory broke back into a charge, gasping for air, dropping her head and rhino horns for another go--her fear for her sister, and for her new friend, driving her battered body onward.

His breath came a little bit faster, and the sounds came ever closer. "C'mon, let's... Go in a little more," he muttered under his breath to Mirage, nudging her in to the protection of the back of the hole. He had to keep her safe, and his eyes closed as he rubbed his head against her feathers, trying to keep that physical combat to be aware of where she was.

They could just stay in here while everyone leaves- they wouldn't be thrust into even more danger that way, after all.

The light was blinding and Hargrave screwed her eyes shut against it. Even then, it seemed like it seared through the blinds, burning brighter than any flame she'd witnessed (maybe even brighter than Raheerahs!) But, even as her own blood continued to coat her tongue, she didn't falter as far as her grip.

When the worm started thrashing and throwing her completely off-kilter? She slipped a little, raking her burnt paws down its hide to find purchase and hunker down against icing-over flesh. At a point where she felt level enough, Hargrave adjusted her grip, trying to find a better one. It seemed like as long as this knife was in this beast, they could wound it greatly, kill it, destroy it.

Growling, the canine dredged up her magic, however exhausted she was of this specific sort, placing her front paws dangerously close to the knife's edges, hoping to burn the hide around it so it was embedded. Just as a fun permanent fixture for this rat, even if it would inevitably throw her off.

“

i will refuse to break

···

She dodged back in a wince as a rock tumbled before her. Come on! She has to beg for Hargrave to survive, eyes pleading for her success over Null's own. Come on...

A squeal lept from her muzzle as another rock tumbled in front of her, first blocking her view, then more, and- the den was crashing around her. Ice slammed into her side, tumbling her into the covered entrance, and she scrabbled frantically with one paw to free herself amidst the bruising flourishing over freshly-healed scars and ribs.

Kalama clucked in fear as Imp paused, the ground approaching way too fast for her liking. "Imp, pull up!" She screeched. He did, but what came after wasn't welcome. She strained to hear his voice over the roaring.

Kalama had never been so insulted. So outraged. Some of what Imp had said was lost into the wind, but she could hear enough to get her angry. More than enough. The rage was the kind that left her speechless. A short calm before the storm."What!?" She yelled, spittle flying into the air. "Yeah i'm a dumbass! I'm a better dumbass than you--you stupid, stupid. Fuck dumb,stupid, weak." She continued to string words like this, unable to form coherent sentences in her rage. "I could walk with my two strong legs if I wanted to! I'd down us both if I didn't want to win! And I'm not heavy, it--it's muscle! You would know that if you were half as buff as me!"

"Put me dumb WIMP," she said, feeling proud of her speck of wit. "I dont need a coward," she hissed that last word, "carrying me around! I can do much better on my own. "

And then, Imp actually did put her down. She cawed in anger. She'd have her revenge. Kalama activated her magicka, feeling heat spread from her flint. She redirected the heat, towards a patch of feathers near her ruff. She'd give Imp a blast of smoke, right in his big, dumb face. The thought filled her with crooked glee.

"Imp, get back here! You stupid, backstabbing, dumb...stupid" She fumed, literally, trying to remember more insults. But before she could continue yelling, Imp was on the ground. Going to fight the ice worm by hisself. Imp was trying to steal the glory from her! "That's my ice worm! My glory! You wimpy, dumb, hairy bird!"

She screeched in rage, swiping the snow around her with her tail. Having a full out tantrum. Kalama scanned the ledge Imp placed her on, spotting another trialgoer. It clicked a bit of her memory into place. He was one of the first trial goers, the champions in chrysalises! They would understand her bravery. "You! Put me down there! I need to kill that worm!"

She watched the brutal battle going on beneath and clicked her tongue. Perhaps it was foolish to think she could help, especially from up here, but she wasn't going to regret her actions. She was safe up here, free from the beast's brutal thrashing, although its echoing roars made even her little hiding hole tremble. She could try to get its attention so the others could wail away at it, claw until it was dead but...

Nah.

That would only put herself in unnecessary danger. They could kill it, probably. And if they couldn't, well, she'd escape. She'd survive, she'd find a way. After all, that was the whole point of this Trial, right?

For now, she stepped back into the den, hoping that the ice worm wouldn't come her way and that her temporary shelter wouldn't collapse on top of her.

Shida grit her teeth in a wild smile as the iceworm turned on her, ready to turn and run, try get its attention elsewhere when the screech rolled through the whole valley. The wounds on its body suddenly caught her attention - where nothing had pierced its hide before, suddenly there was blood and scourges in its flesh, even from the lighter touches.

Then it wasn't hopeless!

Well, she wasn't going to just sit here and watch. Hell no, she'd fight too! Even if she didn't have the offensive weapons of Ivory or the magic of Warrior, she still had a perfectly good set of hooves and teeth. Letting out a screeching cry, she raced forward, kicking out with her front hooves to do something to the iceworm, however much damage she could inflict.

Lyra didn't look out from her shelter, terrified as she was of the screeching sound coming from outside of her den. She trembled, pressing more snow against her eye socket to cool the pain that still throbbed there. Her teeth grit and she curled up, trying to block out the sounds of the battle from outside, but nothing could stop her from feeling the earth tremoring beneath her body.