Chapter 6: The Avalanche
"Heal is a big word." replied Mortifer, as usual unimpressed by the little one's excitement
He looked at the silken corva whom stayed impassible while facing the gryph's stare. "She seems to know the villagers quite well… it would be a good time to learn about the wealth of this region… it could direct me into choosing which direction to take flight to continue my business once this weather calms down and I can finally sneak away from everyone." thought the injured stryx
"Any way you'd know if there is an hospital around here? Or people with… better medicine than… well this.", Mortifer pointed at his bandages while drifting his sight towards the brew still infusing
"Onlooker! She did a pretty good-…", Victor stopped while remembering the scene he witnessed earlier and started feeling nauseous at the images and smell back in his mind
Mortifer tilted his head slightly at the reaction of the small corva. Although it was a natural expression for other stryxes to have, the gryph had never seen him other than joyful, curious or thoughtful. That is if you exclude the teary face and sniffles he had when they evaded that rhakos after the attack.
Victor was slowly showing him he was capable to express something else than happiness, which for a weird reason, surprised Mortifer.
"This region doesn’t have any hospital, no.", replied Cym. "They have healers and doctors for the humans and hybrids. Otherwise, there is a single veterinarian who takes care of all the domestic animals and windhounds. This person is possibly the only one with great tools and enough knowledge to do a better job than me with your wound. If you wish for better care, you will need to go back south... The people here, they are very secluded from the rest of the world, even with the air access they gained from having their stryxes around.", she continued while removing the pot of medicinal herbs from the fire
"Please have a sip. It will help you all relax after this misfortunate journey."
The silken corva handed over the warm pot to Victor while Mortifer, still thinking about the mention of this veterinarian, took a peek at the outside of the cave: the amount of falling snow had greatly diminished.
Suddenly, the earth underneath them started to vibrate, the rocky walls emitted clics and cracks while a deep low sound was gaining in intensity inside the mine.
"What now?" thought angrily the gryph
- Eulas (412)
"Oh gods..." Cym seemed...nervous. Mortifer was more irritated than anything else, and Victor seemed confused.
"What's happening?" Victor asked. Cym began frantically packing her stuff, worrying Victor slightly. Mortifer seemed to catch on to what was happening, wobbling as he stood up. God, he was sore everywhere...
"We need to get out of here, or we'll be crushed in this cave." Cym instructed, heading for the exit of the cavern. Victor followed automatically, still clueless as to what was going on. Mortifer came to Cym's side as fast as he could.
"Do you think you can fly, Onlooker? It'll be our only chance right now." Cym asked Mortifer, using the nickname for him she'd picked up from Victor. Mortifer nodded apprehensively, flexing his wing muscles and wincing at the ache, but it was manageable. Victor was getting very nervous now.
"Is Shard coming back? What's happening? The rumbling is getting louder..." Victor's questions were ignored as Cym instructed the two to fly, now.
Victor did as he was told, and Mortifer took off unsteadily behind the two corvas. Just as the trio crested over the treeline of the forest, Victor chanced a glanced behind them towards the source of the rumbling.
"Avalanche!" Victor shouted as his blood ran cold. A giant landslide of snow and ice was rapidly making its way down the mountain, straight towards the village at the base. Various other stryx could be seen carrying villagers to safety within the air, others atop windhound-pulled sleighs making a mad dash away from the village, shouting commands and warnings to others nearby. As the avalanche drew closer, Cym led the trio higher and higher, just out of reach of the avalanche's churning motion. The trio watched in horror as the disaster engulfed the village and anyone left within it.
- 6-ft-Demon (301)
"The people…" mumbled Victor devastated
Once the avalanche had finished its course, a heavy silence weighted on the three stryxes. It wasn’t long before cries reached them: some villagers, whom escaped the calamity on their stryx in the sky, were already diving back down into the clouds of snow still standing in the air.
"They could start another avalanche! It's still unstable!" exclaimed Cym worried as the people disappeared from their sight
"We can't do anything about it. They won't listen to you, their families are under the snow and it's a matter of time to rescue them." reasoned Mortifer
He used to know very well what caring for family members was. Although now it was a blurry emotion and his care for it had lowered to a point of no return, Mortifer still knew that nothing would convince the people to wait before taking action.
As the three stryxes were on standby in the sky, yaps, yells and whistles started to be emitted from the mountains behind them.
"The windhounds! They're back from the mines!" exclaimed Victor with delight after taking a peak at the sounds origin
A dozen of stryxes with miners on their backs went past them in a rush towards the engulfed village, while another - big - one stopped by their side.
"Are you alright?" asked the stryx
She had the same morphology as Mortifer, but to Victor wonders, her wings seemed to be made of skin instead of feathers. "Is she an avian or a mammal?" he questioned himself
"It's good to see you Tempest. We are alright, but this gryph was injured by Shard earlier." stated Cym while pointing at Mortifer. "Would you be kind enough to lead us towards a safe spot to land? Also I’m sure the little one would love to help out in any possible way." she added drifting her sight towards Victor who snapped out of his thoughts
As he realized what the silken corva had said, he beamed of joy and flapped slightly faster while making a small tap with his talon on the barrel attached to his neck.
- Eulas (350)
Tempest nodded, motioning for the trio to follow her lead. Mortifer wasn't keen on another face to keep track of, but there was nothing he could do, he was already tiring from the sudden takeoff and hovering in place for so long. Victor was the first to follow, then Mortifer, and finally Cym to keep an eye out behind them.
Tempest led the group over to a building that had been toppled in the avalanche, which was big enough to still stick out of the snow quite a bit. As the four landed, Mortifer made note of its barn-like structure, finding it rather familiar.
"Alright, if you two want to help, come with me. Cym already knows where to start, we've prepared for situations like this, but they've never actually happened. You're free to follow along though, Cym." Tempest instructed. Mortifer groaned inwardly. More of playing the good guy.
"What about this?" Victor unclipped the collar barrel from his neck and held it up to Tempest carefully. The gryph's ears twitched in amusement, taking the barrel and turning towards the windhound crews.
"I suppose they'll need this now more than anything, huh? Thanks friend. Cym, change of plans, you go bring this to them, I'll prepare these guys for a rescue attempt." Tempest handed the collar barrel to Cym, who nodded in affirmation and took off in the direction of the windhound crews.
Once she had reached the crews, Tempest began instructing the two stryx by her side further on what to do and where to look for survivors.
"Listen for sounds. With the avalanche mostly settled now it might be a bit muffled, but people will still cry out. And feel for movements, vibrations in the loose snow. Check near structures, no matter how small. Here, I'll get you guys some supplies to dig around and free people from the collapse." Tempest said, turning to call for supplies. Mortifer rolled his eyes while she wasn't looking, which didn't go unnoticed by Victor.
- 6-ft-Demon (333)
Total: 1396 words
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MORTIFER
LITERATURE: (1396: rounding up to 1400 / 100) * 3 = 42
EVENT [FoF]: +4 = 46
BUDDY BONUS: +4 = 50
FLOCKMATE: +2 = 52
PERSONAL: +3 = 55
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TOTAL AP = 55AP
VICTOR
LITERATURE: (1396: rounding up to 1400 / 100) * 3 = 42
EVENT [FoF]: +4 = 46
BUDDY BONUS: +4 = 50
FLOCKMATE: +2 = 52
PERSONAL: +3 = 55
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TOTAL AP = 55AP
TEMPEST
LITERATURE: (495: rounding up to 500 / 100) * 3 = 12
EVENT [FoF]: +4 = 16
BUDDY BONUS: +4 = 20
FLOCKMATE: +2 = 22
PERSONAL: +3 = 25
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TOTAL AP = 25AP
CYM
LITERATURE: (1396: rounding up to 1400 / 100) * 3 = 42
EVENT [FoF]: +4 = 46
BUDDY BONUS: +4 = 50
FLOCKMATE: +2 = 52
PERSONAL: +3 = 55
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TOTAL AP = 55AP
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