The ground felt weaker here, as if it was soft. And yet it was not like sand; it did not have the same consistency and texture as sand. The dirt was fine, and it reminded Tesla of a freshly dug grave, the smell of earth recently turned assaulting his nostrils. He started to pay a bit more attention to the ground there in the night, in the dark, as Gwyntaan hissed at the dozens of eyes blinking there in the midnight gloom.<br/><br/>He grimaced and fingered his gun; he was getting nervous...as well he should, because soon after that, an undulation in the very ground revealed one of the giant rat nests! Three hulking forms issued forth, their bright eyes greener than grass twinged with lightning, and they scuttled to attack Tesla and his draconic friend. With one shot from his pistol, he hit one of the large fiends between the eyes, but he leaped back to help defend Gwyntaan.<br/><br/>He'd been right, though, these creatures were too numerous and close to the ship to just leave like this. And who knew....someone might pay well later knowing that these little wretches had been dealt with, thus keeping any people that might live in the wasteland-like place safer. He twirled his weapon and hit a glancing wound on another of the dark rats—the leg, if he was right. He hoped that would be enough to give Gwyn more of an edge.<br/><br/>But they didn't have a whole hell of a lot of time—a few more suspicious sinkholes seemed to be forming...and more rats where that came from would soon spill out.