4th Trial of Saun, Arc 719 - Viden Wilderness
Upon the moment of contact, Crevil's eyes had widened; shock? Or embarrassment, it was a difficult and fine line to discern for the average person and it just so happened to occur swiftly so shrewd eyes were just as likely to have missed it. Passing a curt cough only seconds after the incident, giving him a means to turn on his heel and start shuffling towards the horse. Careful enough to have lifted a cowl that lay at the mantle of the cloak adorned.
"Easy.. Yeah." Wording just loudly for Llyr to hear, and hopeful in his tone it gave way no vulnerability. Pausing at the horse, he lay a gentle hand on the horse's jaw.
"Gonna be a bit heavier'a ride for a bit Shimmy, I'll be sure to treat you after all this is over with." Affixed on the creature's eyes a moment, with a conjured smile the young man gently stroked it's face and cared to look over his shoulder to Llyr upon the comment of another rider.
"Rightly so, I wouldn't intend to make you walk-- As for birds, such can be sometimes tricky out here. And they're not exactly small unless we're lucky." Ending with a constrained shrug, the young man notched his foot into the stirrup and swung himself over the beast of burden. A glance to Llyr indicated him to do the same;
"You'll sit behind me, hold to my waist and avoid kicking the horse if you can help it-- It'll be tough if you're not familiar riding... 'Least for awhile."
Upon their readiness, the two departed posthaste towards the calving of ice. Though the damage of the natural occurrence was immense, the passing of time had granted some ease of travel in the nearby regions with the breakage having had time to re-freeze over all the debris.
Though the two hadn't quite made it to the calving divide; Crevil in passing had noted that they were drawing close- and it had to only be about an hours worth time more. And with the sun streaked in the sky for what would be midday in these frozen times; it left most of the end of the day to begin their search if all went well.
If it went well...
Arriving to a long since frozen over fjord; with cliff-faces of ice on either side of a twenty meter wide pathway. Just above the entry-point of this path an arch of what appeared to be man-made ice was designed to act as a bridge; though things were quiet and the sun was illuminating across the frozen wastes- even though it seemed far off. Atop the two cliff-faces where the land one would figure plateaued was bitterly lain with a light fog. As the horse had slowed to a trot to allow for surveillance of the environment, a choice action by Crevil to guide the horse in doing so.
"It's often rare-- But you sometimes can get jumped by beasts or men in these areas... They use the higher ground to avoid getting caught and target down with ranged weapons- Later they loot you... Smart tactic; but still, a bit of a nuisance; not often did they try when I were serving the Rangers." He had paused a moment, letting the air swallow some silence after his last comment,
"But things seem saf--"
Fate was a fickle lady; and it heard his call into the void. And at that very moment, a ear-shattering screech had echoed the landscape. From above a shadow stretched ominously across the slick blue-ice. At the shrieking harp of the bird once more, the horse started to wobble in its place; it's hooves clamping in anxiety though trained- it was clear the horse was not comfortable with the sound it had heard.
"M-Magpie; we uh- may have some trouble in our hands. Off the horse afore it kicks us off!" With a deft look over his shoulders to catch Llyr's eyes, he too followed his own instruction and swung a leg over and leaped off, his hand immediately reaching to his hip where a blade lay sheathed. Though he was careful not to draw just yet.
In that moment, the shadow passed overhead- and across the frozenscape a slosh of blood had splattered in chaos around the two and the horse. While it wasn't buckets, it certainly wasn't any shortage- suggestive of a large creature above.
Crevil had since drawn his cowl back to reveal his whole head, eyes unsettlingly looking to the skies as the light motes in the distance had begun to dance erratically around his iris'. A stance, though unrefined to that of a master- or even a journeyman had still left an observer to understand he wasn't unpracticed. And the horse, Shimmy; had taken cover in a sight of nearby flora, with a stubby tree and more-or-less dead shrubby from a patch of earth. Frightened eyes lay observing his master.
Seconds passed afore the shadow grew gargantuan. And in a streak of hurricane winds, a monolithic beast of prey had swooped and crash landed where the arch had once stood. It's talons easily larger than a horse or three had found perch on a broken piece of the once stalwart bridge of ice, and the other on a shelf of ice that claimed to once be a cliff-face.
Though something was clearly off; the creature looked enraged, but one of it's thighs and wings were clipped by something- Large gashes oozed pools of blood into it's pristine blue and white feathering. It's attention was unfortunately, drawn to the young-Eidisi; to none's surprise probably due to the fact that though his cloak helped obscure some of his features it was still plain as day to see that his attire was mostly consisting of very illuminating and radiating armor and tools.
"So uhh--- Looks injured Magpie! But it looks mad-- And I'm not so sure it'll let us pass... Just friendly note though-- These things... They usually take a dozen Rangers to take down; don't suppose you have something for the occasion?!" Crevil had called out, eyes locked on the avian beauty... Beast? As it did to Crevil, who's eyes flickered in motes of light as he tried to remain composed in the face of very certain death in any faulty move.
