Rion touched the wall where Kara had fled. She had obeyed her brother-- who wouldn't?-- but had she really gone? He'd honed in on her frequency before, felt her strong emotions. It was those that drew him. He felt inside for their connection. One hand rose to the living stone and he recalled her startled beauty, as she'd entered this pool, auburn hair glinting like molten lava in the reflection of the flowers. How easy it was now to see her in his mind.

At first his own interested and confused emotions about the duel with Galantyne assailed him. But slowly he began to feel something else, a long, air-filled void.

"Kara." 

Terror washed over him, as he felt her free-falling, weightless, out of control. The image came of crushed feathers and broken wings, honey hair wrapped around jagged rocks and bloody sharp pinnacles.

With a sickening lurch, he knew where she was.

Rion ran to the pond and dove straight into the center whirlpool, feeling his heart pound furiously, and his thoughts about Galantyne disappeared. Kara was hurt. He had to get to her.

******

Galantyne met Korlon racing down the hall to the council chambers. Galantyne could tell right away that Korlon was furious. He stopped mid-stride, as Korlon kept coming.

"Why, Gal? Why didn't you tell me?" He shoved Galantyne with all his might. Galantyne was a large man, and he'd expected the blow, still he stumbled. He straightened, feeling six vertebrae pop, then barreled down in building rage and rammed his head into Korlon's gut.

"What was I supposed to tell you?" He snarled, shoving the younger man backward. 

"Why didn't you tell me she'd gone?"

"You were gone to the practice field to work with the young hot heads, very noble of you to volunteer your services. You might have checked her whereabouts first!" Korlon punched his jaw and Galantyne reeled backward, then bent and head butted the Valdemarian in the chest. He followed that up with a swift knee to the kidneys and Korlon doubled over.

"Taan was with her!" Korlon gritted bloody spit.

"Evidently he wasn't. Face it, Kor, you didn't check her." Galantyne rubbed his jaw, backing away, knowing as he had just moments before, that the fight was over.

Korlon rolled onto his knees and hung his head. "Where is she? Did you find her? Did you bring her back?" His voice was ragged, and the depth of his despair was evident, causing Galantyne to realize the connection between his sister and his best friend.

His voice softened and he stuck a hand out for Korlon to grip. "She was in the Mountain again."

Confirming his worst fears, Korlon patted Galantyne on the back, examined his face, and rubbed a thumb along the purplish mark on his jaw. "Sorry." He met Galantyne's partially swollen eye with derisive humor. "You got her back?"

"She was in a lotica room on one of the lower levels, being attacked by one of the Captain Foemen. He almost had her, but I engaged him and would have killed him, but I decided I could send Quildor a message, so I let him go after I got Kara free."

"So she's here?" Korlon was ready to battle the little wretch and started along the hallway that led to her rooms. "You will tell me about this engagement later?" He started running down the hall. "I have a lesson to teach!"

"Yes, you do!" Galantyne agreed, wishing he could be a spectator at this confrontation but decided he'd rather let Feniece take care of his swelling jaw.

*****

Kara first felt her toes. They were cold and there was a whooshing feeling as if she was sleeping in water. It was running in freezing mayhem over her feet. The cold seeped into her legs as she became aware of them.

She wanted to move off her hip that throbbed in seething pain. Her senses were awakening. Try as she might, she couldn't move her legs. The pain of her hip was excruciating. Where were her arms? 

Sound; the hum of wind through the tunnels of Sentinel. Long exposure to the pressure inside Sentinel would cause her cells to implode. The warning sign that this phenomenon was imminent was the sound of the mountain wind. She'd learned it was caused by the crystals that surrounded the mountain. 

Why couldn't she see? Was it that dark? Where was she?

Panic began to assail her, she felt her insides quivering, her neck began to spasm. And then a warm rush filled her, and the overpowering urge to sleep overcame her. Sleep. I need to sleep.

*****

Goggles off, not wanting to attract any undue attention, Rion felt the walls of the tunnel going further into the depths of the mountain. His hands were raw, from the sword fight without gloves. 

He honed in completely on Kara's frequency. He was more agile in human form-- but less protected. He jogged along, ducking, low, waving a hand before him, hoping to avoid any low hanging outcrops. 

The bioluminescence of underwater organisms drew his vision opening into a major cavern, the base of which glowed with an eerie glow. Rion smelled it before he came to it, and felt the urge to gag so great was the sulfur stench. A crevice coated in ash as water trickled down from above this entry way wicked away from the walls as if they were oiled. Rion was on a ledge that protruded along the rounded convex, heading steeply down to where the light originated. He almost lost his balance as vertigo claimed him. Up and down the circular staircase the wetness flowed in slippery rivulets. On another ledge, about half way down, a body.

He assessed the situation. Light emanated from the body of a large bird, a Harpyiae? He tried to project into the echoing chamber. He heard the cavern wind-- a fohen or lonely wail caused by the outer perimeter crystals. He became aware of pain filling his senses. The Harpyiae was in agony. Was it Kara? He couldn't tell over the inner wails. There was only one instinctive thing he could do.

"I'm coming." He projected with all the force of his mind, seeking the link with Kara. It wasn't a matter of wondering if he should go down. He was compelled to go. "Give me your pain, little one." He stepped onto the ledge and felt the slippery downhill spiral giving way. If he wasn't careful he'd join her, flat on his back and broken.

He projected a cessation of pain as he produced a climbing hook and rope and secured it. He'd climbed a thousand times in Sentinel, for a thousand different reasons, but none perhaps as important as this. Carefully he lowered himself over the ledge, gripping the damp face of the wall with his feet.

He'd gone maybe fifteen feet, when a scurrying on the spiral staircase nearby alerted him to the presence of someone else. In the pit, that dim orange light revealed a pair of glowing red eyes that blinked in his direction. Rion cursed his luck. The Shadow Eaters had found her as well. As he swung away from the moisture laden stone that seemed to suck at his finger and toe holds with angry snarls of invasion, he got another look at the spiral staircase. Three Shadow Eaters with long claw-toed feet that clung to the slippery surface regardless of its wetness. 

If the Shadow Eaters on the spiral staircase arrived at Kara's body before he did, it was likely they could assimilate her in seconds. And now, because of the frequency he had honed in on through their connection, Rion was sure the fallen winged woman was Kara.

He could hear the scraping scurries as the Shadow Eaters made their sure-footed way across the slippery ledge ahead of him. If he wanted to reach the ground before them he would have to repel faster. The rope became as liquid in his determined fingers, and his body flew down, an entire level, coming to rest against the stone face like a bird on a tree trunk. He could see the jagged outcrops of stone pointing skyward from the depths of the liquid molten orange beneath. He hadn't been completely aware that this mountain housed an active volcano, but it made sense to him now. The occasional bursts of unwarranted heat, the oily feel of the walls. Now he could see the three eaters clearly and hear their own scoffs and snorts at each other, as they snatched and slipped their way down. There was no way, without a free fall he could make it before them.

His heart raced with panic. He had to get there first and get out first! He might not be able to repel that distance, but he could take out the closest creature. Rion kicked off, swinging far out over the deep abyss, checking for his getaway plan as well. This was going to be hard. And he had to do it fast! The pit was deep, no discernible bottom, the stone walls formidable, and the spiral staircase taken. He landed against the wall again, having only gained a few feet, but a considerable perspective. 

The Shadow Eaters had noticed him, but felt he was inconsequential, as they weren't deterred from their course. He positioned himself directly over the head of the closest Shadow Eater. Both feet surged forward and connected with the black thorny helmet layer, right as the beast sensed what was coming and tried to turn. It teetered, grappling for a hand hold in the slimy rock as Rion sailed by again, knocked around the two closest creatures by his own momentum. Rion pushed off the wall, struck the swaying Shadow Eater with his closed fist, and watched as it tumbled down the stone face, just missing the ledge where Kara lay. The other two Eaters crouched, claws bared, looking for the threat through slitted eyes. 

Rion only had a few seconds to marshal his next attack, and he pushed off again. The impact of his second volley slammed the next Shadow Eater back so forcefully, its head cracked against the wall, and it went down hard, breaking through the crumbly ledge and falling after the first. Rion slammed and twirled against the wall above the ledge where his goal lay unmoving, and he took only a moment to glance at the last Shadow Eater, now the closest to Kara as it snarled viciously and slithered ever closer to its quarry.

His arms ached, his ribs were pulled taut, his legs scraped and bruised, but Rion took another breath and projected as much calm into the air around them as he could. One more obstacle. Repel, jump.

No time to change his mind. It was now or never. Rion repelled out from the mountain, leaped over the moving Shadow Eater, and landed nimbly with one foot on either side of the girl-bird. An eerie light was actually emanating from her feathers, as he braced for impact with the vicious Shadow Eater he'd hoped to out-maneuver. He couldn't let it get close to Kara and risk it assimilating her. He had to stand and fight it in this two-foot arena. The ledge barely had enough room for her broken body clad in amazingly huge wings. He drew his sword as the Shadow Eater approached, traversing the side of the cliff as if it was born to do so. He was prepared for its deadly poisonous darts to zing their way at him in the darkness. As the first volley of stinging darts glanced off his sword he parried and thrust. Taking his eyes off the creature for a full second to suddenly see Kara's transformation from pure bird to human. He held the creature off long enough to ascertain if this meant she was dead, or still alive. The grayish light began to fade. Kara moaned.

*******