The squish-squelch sound Wara's boots made as they made their way through the muddy part of the forest made Zola squirm and shift on Wara's shoulder. "Stay still!" she grunted as she pulled her foot out of yet another hole that had been made when the soft earth gave away.
A bird-like creature swooped down from the tallest tree with its beak open, displaying its wonderful set of razor sharp teeth as it gave a loud shrilling cry that had Wara and Zola cringing and itching to cover their ears.
Wara slightly turned her head to face Zola. "Whatever you do, DO NOT STOP MOVING.!"
The creature gave another sharp cry and Wara gulped. If she kept moving slowly, the creature would devour her and if she moved too sharply, the sand would swallow them both.
Frustrated and annoyed, she grabbed the child on her back and threw him as far as her tired arms could throw, hoping that he hit the hard ground without too much of a bad bruise.
He did but his nose was bleeding and a little trail of blood trickled from the side of his head as he rose to tell Wara he landed safely. A big mistake on the innocent boy's part. The creature sensed that he had stopped moving and swooped down for its first attack.
Wara picked up a sludge of mud, aware she was worsening their fate and aimed. As the creature got its beak closer, Wara let loose and the mud went straight into the creature's open beak and lodged itself in its throat.
The creature flapped its thin transparent wings, holding its claws to its throat. Its pale skin bulged as it heaved and its black beaded eyes widened in horror.
Wara immediately ran out of the mud. The newfound strength in her propelling her to run forward and grab the child who kept staring at the creature as it choked on the mud.
"Get going!" she yelled. "That mud would not hold for long!"
They ran as fast as they could though the child lagged behind once in a while due to fatigue. They did not stop and took no notice of when they had crossed the veil until the child dropped to his knees, crying that he could run no more. Wara collapsed on the floor and dared a look behind her to see how far they had run.
It was there and then she took notice. "Zola look!" she gasped in amazement. The veil was in every way amazing. Zola in turn took a look and was stupefied into awe.
Suddenly, Wara noticed she could still see the other side of the veil. The veil was opaque and was supposed to seem like the edge of the world but that was not so this time. The veil was transparent and suddenly, the sharp cry of that creature could be heard.
It was a cry for vengeance as Wara knew and she shot to her feet. Something was horribly wrong.
The creature came into view and was headed straight for the veil. Wara looked to her side and found Zola had passed out. She gulped, cold sweat forming on her forehead and armpits. She dropped all their bags and picked Zola. She could always come back for the bags after they were safe.
The creature showed no signs of slowing down as it neared the veil. It swooped through it like the veil was not even there and Wara's heart sank. She began to run with the little might she had. The creature shook violently in the air and with a shriek, it doubled itself. Both pticas gave another loud shriek and multiplied themselves.
Wara's heart was in her mouth as she ran with an unconscious child on her back.
She ran as fast as her tired legs could take her until they could not anymore. Her legs buckled and with the slight disturbance, she tripped and fell.
She knew not to scream as she could attract other creatures who would kill her perhaps even faster. Wara hoped the pticas would be satisfied with just her and leave the child. As the pticas swooped down Wara closed her eyes and accepted her fate but it never came, instead, there was a bright light and she could suddenly smell burnt flesh.
When she opened her eyes, the pticas had been burnt to a crisp.
The whole area in front of her had been fried and the branches of trees that had been somewhat spared let off huge trails of smoke, ascending to the skies. A twig snapped behind her and she turned, expecting it to be Zola awakened but she found a figure engulfed in flames instead.
He did not seem to be in pain and was rather curious staring at her. Wara reached a hand out to hold him as he drew closer but as soon as her finger made contact with his flaming hand, the boy hissed like he had been burned and fled immediately, the flames on his body flaring wildly and burning any and everything within its reach.
Wara sighed. She was too tired to even marvel at what she had just seen. Every muscle in her body screamed at her to rest where she lay and never get up but the determination and stubbornness in her whispered for her to find Nạk first.
With a grunt, groan and several winces. Wara picked up both herself and Zola and began to head where she saw Nạk go after crossing the veil.
Through blurry vision, pure will-strength and unconscious spell-casting. Wara arrived at the little camp where Nạk and Sica stayed.
Yhra was at the fire, boiling the meat she had no time to touch the previous night when Wara staggered in. Mud caked on her face and the unconscious child she clutched tightly to her back, Yhra gasped at the sight.
She rushed to help but Wara staggered back, completely unsure if it was a villager sent by the chief to bring her back. Or perhaps she was one of the people she had overheard Pax speak about.
Vision completely clouded by tiredness, Wara mumbled out. "I need to find Nạk." Her vision blurred in and out as she felt herself being picked up but had no strength to even lift a finger. She had completely and utterly spent herself. With that thought in mind, she blacked out.