"Yeah, not t'fight," Tal confirmed, his voice unusually firm on that point. He could be brave if he didn't have time to think too hard about it, but the courier had never really outgrown the instinct to run away from danger. Growing up a scrawny brat who was an easy target for the bluff, hearty sons of hunters and guardsmen had ingrained some things too deeply in his psyche to let go of even now that he'd put on enough muscle to protect himself from most of Caido's common thugs.
"It's th'gettin' out quickly that I haven't figured out yet," he admitted reluctantly, no more eager than Maea to put himself in that much danger without a solid escape plan. "An' Remi mentioned dragons, so we can't even rely on th'Peregrine t'fly us t'safety..." He shook his head, glowering at the twitching vines and grasping roots that tried to wrap around them with life-sucking tendrils.
He might have said more, but the echo ferns took over the conversational heavy lifting and he was too busy swearing to continue. He didn't even see the snake until he heard the weird thunk from behind him and turned to see a squiggly shadow dropping down past Maea's body as the white crow headed up. Tal retreated back against the nearest tree with another curse and stabbed at the Viper from a safe distance. His long-distance Dagger struck true in spite of is camouflage, and he started to relax as it thrashed in its death throes.
But that was only because he didn't see the second snake above him, getting ready to drop down and wrap around his throat.
"It's th'gettin' out quickly that I haven't figured out yet," he admitted reluctantly, no more eager than Maea to put himself in that much danger without a solid escape plan. "An' Remi mentioned dragons, so we can't even rely on th'Peregrine t'fly us t'safety..." He shook his head, glowering at the twitching vines and grasping roots that tried to wrap around them with life-sucking tendrils.
He might have said more, but the echo ferns took over the conversational heavy lifting and he was too busy swearing to continue. He didn't even see the snake until he heard the weird thunk from behind him and turned to see a squiggly shadow dropping down past Maea's body as the white crow headed up. Tal retreated back against the nearest tree with another curse and stabbed at the Viper from a safe distance. His long-distance Dagger struck true in spite of is camouflage, and he started to relax as it thrashed in its death throes.
But that was only because he didn't see the second snake above him, getting ready to drop down and wrap around his throat.
