Editing Antiva - Bringer of Life (section)

==The Surprisingly Unnecessary Fight==

The next day, as we were still traveling through the forest, Xlotl warned of Kobolds up ahead, quite close, and we could hear the sound of yapping and hollering from our right. Most of us took cover, but Antinniera just kept wandering forwards. There was at least one Saloroc with the Kobolds, directing them as usual.

The Saloroc was wary of Antinniera, but seemed happy when he found out that she served Lord Admir. In fact, the whole patrol were going to pass peacefully, but Antinneria had to have the last word. I can't even remember what was said, but she was basically insisting that they were only "allowed" to pass with her permission. The Saloroc was wound up by this, and it was all starting to kick off! I tried rustling some leaves nearby to distract her, which did seem to de-escalate the situation slightly. Xlotl also reported that he had noticed a pale-skinned short humanoid (not the same as the tall ones we had seen before) stroking one of the worms that had taken the gem shard, and that it was on the hillside to our right.

At that moment, though, Antinniera dropped to the ground without a sound! Alarmed, I ran over to see if she needed help. This startled the Saloroc, though, and he ordered me to stay still. I explained that I was just trying to help my companion, but he kept threatening me if I didn't stay still. Frustrated, and not knowing whether Antinniera was in danger, I Ran forward and punched him instead!

This caused the Kobolds to go into a frenzy, rushing to attack. Xlotl sent an ice bolt shooting into one of them, although it didn't seem to do much damage. Pi leapt into air, transforming into an eagle and soaring into flight! I punched one unconscious, and then was surprised to see Antinniera jump up (apparently unhurt), grab the Saloroc and kiss it on the head! She told him to stop fighting, but he tried to headbutt her, apparently not convinced.

There was lots of shouting between us and the Saloroc, but we did at least seem to agree that we should back off as fighting wasn't helping anyone. Unfortunately the Kobolds didn't get the message and one stabbed me, causing me to pass out with blood loss. Xlotl rushed forwards, terrifying all of the foe, and bit deeply into the one that had attacked me, killing it outright.

Pi, as an eagle, soared over the hillside and spotted the pale, short figure and the worm. As he watched they both sank into the ground out of sight. He banked back towards the forest, screeching. Despite what had just happened, both sides on the ground were starting to back away from each other. That was until the eagle dived onto the Saloroc and its talons left one lying on the floor bleeding.

Antinniera managed to force some of the healing liquid down my throat, and I woke up spluttering. I saw the majestic eagle flaring its wings as it turned to climb, so I jumped up and rushed towards it, crying: "Are you the emissary? Are you here to take me away?" As it flew off, I heard it say "I might be"... but then Xlotl stilled my excitement by telling me it was just Pi in a new form.

The moment was well and truely lost when the other Saloroc loosed an arrow that pierced eagle Pi right through his body. He tumbled to the ground, turning back into human form as he fell. The Saloroc was overjoyed, asking if we had seen what a shot that was! To be fair, it was a good shot. Unfortunately, Antinniera lost her patience and ran behind the growling Kobolds, flames suddenly shooting from her hands and engulfing the unsuspecting creatures. One died at once, and one looked a little charred but still standing.

I ran to look at Pi's body; I had never seen a body so broken, with all the bits smashed and caved it, but somehow there was still some sign of life, with blood still spurting from some of the wounds. I tried healing him, which didn't do much, but I did feel some transfer of energy so it might still be possible to save him. I had no idea how much power it would take, though.

I jogged back to the others, explaining that his body was broken but somehow still had some life. Xlotl intimidated the last of the foe, and they wisely chose to leave in a hurry. There was just one left, which had reanimated after being killed. We fought badly, but eventually I was able to cut it down from behind as the others kept it busy.

Alone at last, we all moved to Pi's side, noticing a figure sinking into the earth near him as we approached. Could we try the stone of life, we though? I noticed that the air was particularly chaotic around the stone, and it seemed to have spread to Antinniera as well, and she certainly wasn't happy to part with the stone when Xlotl asked for it. I let Xlotl know my suspicions, and between us we were able to trick her; Xlotl whipped it out of her hands with his mental powers, throwing it at me as he did so. I was able to catch it, but it wouldn't respond to me either and then Xlotl had to force it out of my hands too!

Finally, Xlotl tried to use it himself and had more luck. The stone responded to him, and we saw Pi's body knitting back together before our eyes! After a minute he was whole and awoke with a start.

I was overjoyed to see him live, giving him a hug and excitedly asking about his flight and how it felt. To soar through the air with your own wings must be incredible. The others seemed more interested in how the stone had worked, and the effect it had on some of us. Pi ended up giving Xlotl a turban which he could wear with the stone nestled inside atop his head.

We continued to travel what we reckoned was west, and came across a cart track towards the end of the day. The track crossed our path, running from north to south, and Antinniera got quite excited that it was one she recognised - apparently it linked her temple with a nearby town. We crossed over, as the compass was still directing us west, and found a spot in the forest to rest for the night.

Most of the night passed uneventfully, but in the early morning Pi heard something close by and woke me. I stood with him, listening, but could not heard anything out of the ordinary. I did sense that he air was moving slightly, though - the first hint of a breeze, however faint, was very welcome! With nothing else happening, though, I returned to my feathered mat to rest and left Pi as sentinel as usual.

About half an hour later, Pi's leg was grabbed from within the earth - not by a worm, but by a hand! Pi managed to stomp on it with his other foot, crushing it slightly before it sank into the ground again. He hurriedly moved back to the tree we were resting against, standing on a root to stop any hands from grabbing him again, but nothing returned. He did spend the rest of the night watching nervously, though.

The next day was quite pleasant, and we traveled through the forest whilst deciding to avoid any patrols (which we could hear some way off due to the yapping of Kobolds). It was a relief to pass peacefully, even if our progress was slowed slightly. Towards the end of the day, we reached a body of water with a structure projecting into the water from the shoreline. Antinniera recognised it as an abandoned moathouse that once guarded the waterway here. It seemed the water was flowing slowly from our left to right.