A few marbles short

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Tiring at a much quicker rate than her companion (because she had undergone no training, and had no previous experience in situations like these) Maea was struggling just to keep up. If she had expected a reply at all to her whining, it was certainly not kind words. Nor sympathy. Not after all that she'd said to him. And perhaps it was the weariness after her outburst, or the bleeding wound in her soul laid bare for him to see, or maybe it was just the right words from the right mouth at the right moment, but she felt them sink deep, and strike a chord. Like a soothing balm on sunburned skin, a quiet touch on a shoulder, a hand offered after a stumble. Looking up from under a tangle of milky hair, cheeks flushed and lips parted in gasps for air, her eyes sough his and found them waiting. Not soft, or warm, or gentle, but that wasn't what she needed either. Just the consideration. The thought. The notion that perhaps she wasn't in the wrong. Her reply was a tentative smile. Pulling herself together somewhat, Maea drew herself up and made her legs keep moving as Loren urged her to follow. She saw him leap and shift, body a blinding shimmer of light that shrank and altered. From man to goose, and up he went with flapping wings. Her scream mingled with his bugling cry when the thorns began to hail down upon them. Rushing forward, Maea dropped the few remaining rocks and lashed out with her mind at the thorns to swat them out of the air before they could hit Loren, wincing as several burrowed deep into her own arms instead, drawing blood. Sweeping a hand towards the attacking animals, she lashed out again, grabbing one of them with the telekinesis and hurled it onto the ground with all her strength, it's body breaking from the force of the impact. "Go higher!" she urged Loren, upon seeing him try to land. "So high they can't reach you! I'll follow."