Roleplay--

Ceri made a break for it without looking back, jumping over the rubble in her way as quickly as she could. She could hear the monster shooting out more blasts of fire behind her, but had no idea at who. She didn't even know if her friends were okay at the moment. At any second the creature could turn around, finished with the others and turn onto her.

She pushed these thoughts aside as sh made it the entrance of the cave. Treasures had been pilled up at the back. Everything from intricate paintings and tapesties to golden statues and coins. At the very top of the mountain of riches was a decorative wooden staff, with a large ruby gem set at the top. Ceri began to scurry up the mound as quickly as she could, but kept losing her footing as gold fell from the pile.

After a few moments of struggle Ceri was finally ableto reach the top, and with an outstreached hand was able to grasp the staff. She'd done her job and turned to see if her friends were okay. AS she turned she saw her friends were all still alive, but unfortunately the Salamander had noticed what she was doing, and began charging her.

Tau

He and Akan had managed a decent job of keeping the monster distracted. The hadn't died, but both had been burned here and there. Akan was being chased by the rampaging beast as Tau ran alongside, looking for weaknesses in the creatures scaled armor and trying to come up with a plan.

It was then Lila shou9ted out, catching the creatures attention. Its slit eyes went first to Lila, and then to Ceri, stealing from its horde. With a roar the creature turned and began its furious charge towards Ceri. If she was trapped in the cave with that thing she'd have no chance and Akan had been chased too far to help.

Taking his axe from his back Tau ran back towards the cave alongside the creature as it gained distance on him, each second Tau was falling further behind. Just as it was fully about to overtake him Tau leapt towards the creature, bringing his axe down on the last few feet of its tail, severing it from the Salamander's body.

Ceri slid down the treasure pile as the lizard charged her. She bolted for the entrance of the cave, knowing what would happen if she was trapped in there. Luckily for her it seemed, Akan and Tau had regained the creatures attention just as she made it out.

She wasn't sure the extent of Lila's magical abilities, but from the way things were going it didn't seem likely that the Salamander would just let them leave now. They would have to kill this thing if they wanted to leave. As Ceri approached the fighting she called out to Lila hiding behind some rubble, 'catch!' She tossed the staff high in her direction before running straight at the creature, which was currently occupied by Akan.

She tok a running jump off a sloped piece of rubble and landed straddling the Salamander's back. She took her sword from her belt and plunged it into the creatures back. The monster let out a shrill cry before bucking violently, sending Ceri flying from its back into a wall where she fell to the ground dazed. The sword was still protruding from the creatures back.

Tau

Tau hacked at the creature whenever Akan had it's attention, then would quickly dodge back before it could spin and take a snap at him. Ceri called out to Lila and tossed her the staff before jumping on the creature and stabbing it. She was thrown away in retalition with a great amount of force.

He winced as she hit the wall but knew he didn't have the luxury of checking on her now when his and the others lives were still in danger.

The next thing Ceri remembered was Akan kneeling over her, saying something to her that she couldn't hear. The world had gone fuzzy and she wasn't even sure where they were. She stared blankly at Akan for what felt like minutes before she returned to normal. It was then she remembered being thrown from the lizard's back and into the wall.

Her hand shot up and grabbed at Akan's shirt, 'Are the others okay? What happened to them?' Before he could answer a boom of thunder caught her attention. Without her noticing, the sky had gotten darker as storm clouds swirled above them. She looked out across the debris to see Lila, holding her staf out, her lips moving as if to cast a spell. When her mouth stopped moving, a bolt of lightning shot down from above, striking the Salamander, causing it to die with one last roar of pain.

The clouds slowly disipated and the four of them were left in the ruins with the charred remains of the monster. With a sigh of relief, Ceri let herself fall back down onto her back, her eyes closed.

Everything was black. Ceri looked around frantically in all directions but there was nothing to see except for the void and creeping trendrils of smoke. Strangely, she could see herself, her legs, her torso, even her arms; one of them burning white hot.

Looking down as she walked it was as if she was on water. The surface rippled with ever step she took, yet it seemed to be infinitly deep. Thinking about how far down it went; what could be lurking under the surface made her chest go tight.

At the height of her fear is when the fox appeared. It was taller than the trees she was used to in the forest, with nine long tails and deep purple eyes, fixed on her. She wanted to run. To hide. But where could she go that this creature couldn't follow in this blank expanse. When the Youkiopened its maw, she was sure she was done for. She'd be swallowed whole. She closed her eyes tight.

IT felt like minutes passed until a familiar voice came to her. Aldin. Curiosity got the better of Ceri and she opened her eyes to see the fox so close she could feel her breath. What Aldin said to her made no sense. Was it a riddle? A Prophecy? She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find her voice. Had Aldin snatched it away?

Her final words are what really caught her attention. That she had never belonged above. It was true, Ceri had always felt that in her heart but never put it to words. However, as soon as the words left her lips Aldin's ifgure faded into smoke and nothingness. The scene faded to black, a void empty of light warmth and even Ceri's own body faded to nothing. just her thoughts in the dark. THe last thing to happen to her, and the only part of the dream she would remember, Was a wolfs howl that seemed to peirce her entire existance.

Ceri awoke in a cold sweat.She panicked, her head darting from side to side until she recognised her surroundings. Her whole body ached but especially her head. She saw Aldin beside her at the rivers edge and snatched her up. @aldin what happened, where is everyone?'



He gave Akan a scathing look as he walked off with Ceri. He really didn't like the Fae boy and was finding his behaviour increasinly strange. Still if he wanted to make it back to camp before the sun set, he didn't have time to think about this now.

Tau ran over to Lila to check on her. The spell had taken its toll on her she seemed to be completly unresponsive to him, yet somehow still conscious. Her magic had impressed him and likely saved all of their lives, though he hoped at not too great a cost to her. Once he was sure she was okay he made his way to the Salamander.

Taking his axe he cut free another chunk of the monsters tail. He wouldn't have time to hunt anymore since he and been left to take Lila back. With some difficulty he got the meat over one shoulder and Lila up on the other. He took one last look at the Salamander, knowing wild beasts would devour it during the night, before leaving to head back for camp.

Ceri's head snapped back when Akan spoke. He didn't seem to be in the mood for Aldin's jokes tonight, throwing the sword away from her. Ceri tried to remember what had happened at the battle. She could only recall the charrred corpse of the Salamander, but not what happened to their companions.

'Were Tau and Lila alright? Did they make it? Where are they?' The questions came out one after the other before she could stop herself. While she hadn't known them long she would hate to think they had died helping her. Akan however was only concerned with her well-being though in all honesty Ceri wasn't sure. She didn't hurt particularly badly but something did feel off. She just couldn't put her finger on it.

'I'm okay, but what about the others?' She answered him, her eyes intently staring at him. She slowly sat up so that she wasn't looking up at him as much. The movement was difficult but she did her best to hide it from him.

When Akan asked if she had a flint or lighter, she just looked at him as if he were stupid. Aldin chuckled in the distance.