Welcome to Gaia! ::

Adahy had made a dead run to the surface totally missing out on any help he could have been for group. He had little ones to think of and even though they could have helped the group, Adahy would have been crushed emotionally if one of those creatures had hurt his charges.

As he waited at the mouth of cave, he was not sure if anyone else was going to make it out. Just as he was about to charge head long back in to the cave the first of the group came racing out. "Oh thank the Great Tree." he breath out a sigh of relief. "I was really starting worry." He had not been sure his choice had been the right one but now that he saw the group and the Wanderlust coming to the surface to he knew he had made the right call for the safety of the kids.

Form the cave an echo of cries, knocking, and slashing sound booms form the mouth. Calls of "Let go!" and "Run!" follow the hoofs falls of the last of the group running to the surface. Adahy hoped whatever followed them was not able to exit the cave with them. "This is hard then anything have ever done." Adahy thought as he learned that wait was not he best feature. He pasted back and forth over and over wearing a rut in the sand.

"Ada they will make it. And they will understand. You where only make sure we were save like an Papa would do." Furry Tail tried to reassure Adahy but honestly if anything happened Adahy would never forgive himself. Adahy just wished they would all hurry causes his mind was make up images based on the sounds he could hear and he was sure they were a lot worse then what was really going on down there.

As the last of the group made their way through the mouth of the cave, Adahy frantically searched to make sure everyone was ok. Then he started counting heads "1...2...3..." They were all there thank the Great Tree yet again. Some looked better then others but they had made it out of that nightmare. They still had a long journey back to the Homewood but hard part for now was over. "Ada are will leavening for home now." Furry Tail asked as the group was still clearly trying to catch their breath form the battle they had faced. "We will wait for Viltalta's instructions, then yes we will go home." He explained to the clearly exhausted jack hop.

“You’re very kind,” Wanderlust mumbled to Draven. With Isra’s help, they managed to clamber onto Draven’s back, tucking their wings close to keep them out of the way.

Isra kept near to them as they ran, with Viltalta leading the charge until she met up with those awaiting further down the tunnel. Together, the noulicorns raced for the exit, the tunnel shaking and snarling all around them as blue light burst from the earth in angry rays.

The last of their party clambered through the hole and the shaking stopped. The growling slowed to a quiet mutter then disappeared all together, taking the waning blue light with it.

Night greeted the group. The moon hung fat and full above them, surrounded by glittering stars.

Wanderlust slid off Draven’s back and stood on shaky, tired legs. They surveyed the battered, bruised group of noulicorns around them and smiled. “You all came to rescue me?”

Viltalta nodded with a sharp snap of her wings. “Hopefully you’ll be more careful on your next adventure. How did this happen?”

“My darling Traveller-” Wanderlust tucked their head against Isra’s shoulder. “Brought me gifts and maps from this place, but what stood out most to be was a rock carving of a strange beast and a v-shaped symbol. I assumed this was one of the creatures that lived before the Others, and I wanted to find out more about them.

“My party and I followed Isra’s instructions, but we were attacked by a savage group of dire rats shortly after leaving homewood.”

“My old colony,” said the dire rat, nodding along to Wanderlust’s story. “A lot of us are changing and that colony is trying to hold on to what we were, instead of what we are, now.”

“Yes, indeed,” agreed Wanderlust. “We met this young rat when we entered the forest of faces. She was collecting crystals. It seems that something about these crystals affects the creatures that interact with them.”

“Some of us have magic too,” said the rat.

“I think those trees are like Grandfather tree, and these blue crystals are similar to the pink ones we find near Grandfather that causes it to bloom.” Wanderlust continued. “They can affect noulicorns poorly, but they seem to be only beneficial to the dire rats. I wonder if they granted magic to those three horned beasts, too.”

“That thing was a crystal!” Viltalta exclaimed.

“I think those crystal animals were what was left of the race that lived here before us, before the Others. Maybe that was the last of their magic, trying to protect Vykeli from an enemy they don’t realize is gone. After all, we found most of the crystals after the forest of faces. I believe the Others might have mined the rest of them, stripped the forest bare, as they did with all the others. But this one place…” Wanderlust looked longingly at the cave entrance. “This one place was left untouched by them, because of the magic. I wish we’d had more time to explore the caves. I’m sure there were more answers there.”

“You’re not going back!” Isra reared away, wild eyed and worried.

Wanderlust chuckled, soft and sad. “I think it would take an army of noulicorns to get passed all those beasts.”

“We should return to Homewood,” Viltalta announced. Everyone was tired and bedraggled. It would be a long journey home, but at least they were all together now.

Their mission was complete and Homewood was calling.