Izori leaps out into the darkening sky of the Obsidian Mountain, Nauxha close behind him, trying his best to ignore the colourful language the grey-gold bundle of fur grasped in his arms is snarling at him.

"Let me go, birdbrain! Put me down! I'll kill you! I will! I'll tear your face off!"

He winces. At first Izori had been grateful when Nauxha took pity on his three-legged walk and grabbed the egg from him with a sigh and a, "hand that here before you drop it," but that was before they had encountered a forgotten whelp on their way out of the Crimson Inferno. With the world shaking and shuddering around them, Izori hadn't been left with much choice other than to grab the hissing child and run from those cramped, smoke-choked passages as fast as he could.

If the whelp was glad for that, they certainly didn't know how to show it. They squirm and struggle in Izori's arms, and then—

Needle sharp teeth find purchase on his shoulder. He hisses and practically throws the whelp to the ground; the little beast wastes no time at all, rolling back to their feet and snapping at Izori's toes.

"I—hey, hey—ow! Stop that! Stop!"

The whelp just laughs in a nasty sort of tone and bares their teeth. Izori's stomach quivers at the sight of them; he might have almost thought them an aerobic, were it not for the soft, fleshy face and their complete lack of wings. Whatever this was, it wasn't one of his own kind. It couldn't be.

"Peace," Nauxha pushes between them. "We mean no harm, little warrior. Izori only wished to bring you to safety before the mountain collapsed."

The whelp hesitates, eyes darting past Nauxha and towards where they had come; the bunker exit is gone, in its place only a rolling cloud of smoke and rock dust, billowing up like a black flag unfurling against the red-violet sky. But what gleams beyond it is worse yet. Like a great red-gold eye opening on the mountain, the high summit of the long dormant volcano glows with fresh flame. The wind that rustles Izori's fur and feathers carries the stench of ash and smoke and sulfur, and is almost uncomfortably warm.

"...Okay. Fine." The whelp steps back a pace, squinting up at him and Nauxha. "That still doesn't mean I trust you."

No kidding, Izori thinks. He stares down at them for a moment, then says, "you bit me."

"Did it hurt?"

"Yes."

They laugh again, that same sharp sound. "Good."

Nauxha, and then begins to walk past them. "If you two hadn't noticed," she says, tone flat and unimpressed, "that volcano is erupting. I'd like to be out of here before it buries us."

"Oh!" Izori startles and begins to trot after her. He hesitates when he sees the whelp isn't following. "Do you have somewhere to go?"

They narrow their eyes at him. Now that he's looking more closely at them, he's surprised by how big they are. They still have the lankiness of youth, but they're obviously not a young whelp.

"Because I don't want to leave you behind on the side of a volcano," he snuffles, "even if you bite."

"Yeah, well—ugh. Alright, fine. I don't."

They still do not move. Nauxha has stopped again, staring back at the two of them, and makes a hurry up gesture with her head. On cue, a shower of small stones clatters around them, one bonking into the whelp's nose. They yelp, shake their head, and begin to bound after tsabhua.

Izori sighs and follows after the others. Before them the snow-capped mountains of Rekes spread out in an inviting canvas of cool colours and shapes; behind them the skies over the Obsidian Mountain shines crimson from growing flame. High up, here and there he can see the air beginning to shimmer with heat, a sure warning sign that Nauxha is right to insist they flee.

"Hurry up, birdbrain! You're falling behind!" Sneers the whelp in a nasty, sing-song tone.

Izori sighs and begins to run, before kicking off the ground in a shower of loose stones and dry earth to take to the sky.

He will be glad they are away from this place and back at the colony. When they are home.

Coming here had been a mistake.