Winged snakes flew from the ground as if the ground had spewed them from a volcano. Taryn drew on her military training to not running screaming the other direction. As it was, her skin crawled and involuntary creeped out shivers ran down her spine. At Raschen's signal, she shifted to water, covering the distance in record time. She was looking for a way in. Possibly an interior chamber that was heavily guarded. No leader, no matter how deadly, would be exposed to danger. Not that he/she was afraid on the contrary, he/she would be crafty and wise, smart enough to let the pawns die before the real war began.<br/>~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br/><br/><br/>Lily huddled next to Jax, both looking like two Hase stupidly nibbling on a plant. Her eyes were so large and dilated that Jax inquired,<br/>"Lily? Are you okay? Do I need to move you back away from the front?"<br/><br/>She frantically shook her head and then kept shaking it, out fear or shock.<br/>"I want this to be over. I want this madness to stop. I want my bunnies to live in peace. I will stay."<br/><br/>Jax laid his chin across her back.<br/>"You are brave, Lily Hase. When this is over, I would be honored to make bunnies with you."<br/><br/>Before she could reply, a winged serpent flew low over their heads. His black tongue flicked their way and his dead black eyes gleamed at them, as if marking them for a future meal but he flew on, banking to the right.<br/><br/>~~~~~~~~~~~<br/>Ludwig had set the charges and retreated to an outcropping of boulders. Just as the explosives shook the ground, a viper popped up out of the rock and set its fangs into his boot, nicking his leg. In a nanosecond his leg went numb and that numbness spread up his hip, to his back and the last thing he remembered was how hard it was to breath and how he wished he could blink his eyes against the sun. The Hyane's body convulsed once and the viper slid past, recognizing that once again he had been successful in his hunt.