"If we do not try then he is surely dead. That dragon is more than strong enough to dislodge those rocks ere long."
As she speaks she pulls off Beast's bridle. She kisses Beast on the forehead.
"Give that creature hell Beast."
And she whacks Beast as hard as she can. "Hya!!"
She grabs the guard by the arm and hauls him into the bushes after her. "Get down!!"
[OoC: I will assume that your, Hya!!' was more of a whisper and you're not actually yelling it which would attract the big bad dragon to your location.
]
The prodding of the spear forces Beast to scurry toward the angry creature. The monster hears the mule and charges after the easier prey. Beast freaks when it spots the creature and starts running which at first the mule manages to put some distance between the two. But then the Monster takes to the air and lands on Beast, ripping him to shreds in seconds.
Over the next ten minutes the group has to listen to the snorting, ravenous, creature tearing at flesh and snapping bones in its terrible jaws. When it has had its fill, the monster takes to the air again and flies off into the night.
"I'm sorry for your loss," the guard quietly says to Betimi. "I know it might be just a mule to some but obviously it was more to you. The worst part is, he will likely learn nothing from his folly."
Jonath can only stand and watch helplessly as events unfold. He wracked his brain for an alternative, but there was nothing he could come up with that would have a better chance of drawing the dragon away than Betimi's beloved mule. When the creature finally has its fill, and flies off, he approaches Betimi as well.
"That was a very noble gesture, it was clear the animal was special to you. Let us hope Mardak survives after such a sacrifice, and proves to be in some way at least as valuable as the mule," he says earnestly, "...as unlikely as that may seem at the moment," he finishes quietly as he walks away.
He moves to Selina's side then, ready to accompany her to find Mardak and watch over her while she attempts to aid whatever is left of the man.
Betimi simply sobs.
"Go see to him. We... I.. need to be left alone."
She crawls into her tent, pulling the flap shut.
The guard follows Selina and Jonath to where the creature was trying to get at Mardak. Out of the three of them, only Jonath can see more than shadowy moonlit rocks. The Gnome with his Low Light vision can see as well as day time and soon finds the scratch marks in the stone where the monster was desperately trying to snag hold of his meal. The large crack in the rock is too deep and black for his low light vision to see into so he easily slips into the crack that would be too small for a regular person to get into without squeezing through. Jonath thinks it's a miracle that Mardak slid into the crevasse far enough to be out of reach of the beast's talons. Once Jonath reaches the limit of where the moonlight pours into the crack, his Darkvision kicks in, allowing him to finally see Mardak but the grisly sight makes him suck a breath between clenched teeth. The creature sliced open the Hexblade's armor in three wicked gashes which tore diagonally across his chest. Surprisingly there is less blood then he would expect which might have been because of how tightly he's wedged into the crevasse.
In a flurry of activity, Selina is left out of the loop of the group's decisions and they are down one mule. Gritting her teeth, she follows and watches Jonath spot Mardak. She fixes her face in an impassive manner as they find him, not daring to speak as she silently appraises his wounds. Multiple deep lacerations across the torso...deep punctures and the appearance of several crushed and broken bones. Mardak would surely be in for one hell of a recovery, provided they could get him to town in time. Selina is singularly unable to conceal a look of anger matched with her concern as the fool truly acted like a fool and was granted the most likely result. Still and all, he was immensely fortunate to have escaped with his life.
"Getting him out of here could prove something of a challenge. Even I barely fit - I'm not entirely sure how he even got down this far. I certainly can't lift him out alone, and there is no room for any others to join me down here. Perhaps, Selina, if you can reach him enough to heal him back to consciousness we can help him climb out.," Jonath says, shrugging and shaking his head. He still couldn't imagine what had spurred the man to behave in such a way, but what was done was done, so all they could do now was move forward.
[OOC - seems I'm back and will try to post regularly. Guys you had a busy several weeks with 10+ posts a day on average...]
Nacesh watches the events with apparent passivity though his brain is storming around. "Maelstrych" or something like that the fool said before he ran off. May he know this wyvern by heart? If that was a wyvern that is. And then there's the other fool, the fool of heart who sacrificed one love for the other. I don't have summoning spells but it's a bit of a surprise that nobody here has. Thinking of which, I do have other spells on that scroll from school. Not that the fool deserves it, but--
As Jonath contemplates on the possibilities he walks closer, scratching his temple.
"What if he were smaller and the surface were slippery?"
"Him being smaller would certainly help. The slippery surface...I'm not so sure. That may just make it harder for we rescuers to find any traction ourselves. We can always add the lubrication later if it seems like it will help. I can try attaching some ropes to his belt, and perhaps a shoulder, then once he's been shrunk we can haul him out without causing too much further harm.
"My specialities are healing and protection, and travel. I cannot assist him until we have retrieved him." Selina whispers in response. Inside, her anger only grows. Only questions from this point, no answers. And she will not utter any of them yet. At the very least this will delay them all at least one day.
"I would exercise extreme caution in removing him from the crevasse. It appears that it is applying some pressure to his wounds. This is both good and bad. It staunches blood flow, but it is likely to cause him extreme pain once he is revived."
She ponders things for a moment before trying to see if she can reach him.