Path (Day 144)

Whew, alright, entry #2 here. Might as well go ahead and get this one of the way as well since I'm probably not going to be awake until the evening sometime.

--

The creature behind her was wheezing hungrily as it scurried through the underbrush, its thick tail thunking against the tree trunks. It seemed to be possessed with boundless purpose, although it was unlikely it recognized the futility of its task. Casnie imagined she would have little issue maintaining a lead on the strange creature indefinitely, although the way in which she was being tirelessly pursued was disconcerting, to say the least.

Equally concerning was the fact that she was increasingly unsure as to where she should head. Although she didn't dare stop to survey her surroundings, she did try to get her bearings on her general location while moving as quickly as possible. Her eyes flicked wildly from side to side as she weaved in between trees and through densely tangled brush. She imagined for a moment that the reptile might be similarly confused. It was clear to her that it had been deposited into a strange and unfamiliar land much as she herself had. Seemed to be a lot of that going around lately.

Seeing no obvious landmarks that might guide her way, Casnie risked calling out a few times. She was somewhat concerned that more of these alien creatures might be lurking nearby, but she was growing more than a little panicked. The forest was vast and unforgiving. As slow and plodding as that thing was, it was obviously still quite fearsome. She might well tire long before it did. What would happen then?

The twisted trees of Lakara seemed to have a way of tricking the eye. She found it difficult to get a proper perspective on her surroundings--and being in constant motion certainly didn't help in that regard. At present she was hard pressed to tell the difference between left and right. It was ludicrous. She should have been able to see a silhouette of the mountains looming in the distance in one of those directions, but everywhere she looked she saw only endless green. She glimped the diamond-shaped head of her pursuer perhaps a dozen yards behind her. Unfortunately for her, it had not seemed to lose interest in its would-be prey.

Casnie grimaced. It was unlikely she'd be able to find her way back to her companions if she kept running further and further off course fleeing from a wild animal. She had been hoping it would eventually lose interest and give up, but this hunter seemed particularly tenacious. Although she didn't relish the thought of taking its life, she was willing to do what was necessary--but she would have to be quick about it.

As swiftly as she could manage while still following the proper procedure, Casnie reached out to the Strand. For the briefest of moments, she felt herself drift outside of her physical body. As quickly as the sensation was felt was it banished--and the trickle of energy entered her veins. She stared intently at the lowered reptilian head crashing through the brush and loosed a stream of fire from her outstretched palm. The white hot tongue of flame streaked its way toward the creature and collided with it with a load roar.

The stout, bulky creature emitted a guttural grunt but continued to move, albeit more slowly. It seemed at most to be mildly inconvenienced by the flames now engulfing its head. The Strander regarded this result with a not insignificant amount of surprise, her large brown eyes open particularly wide.

"Whoa."

If she tried to hit it with anything more powerful than that she might set the whole forest ablaze. It seemed her best course of action at that point might just be to run. Very quickly. She did so, redoubling her pace.