Like a hunting falcon, Gwyntaan dove again and again at the rat-creatures, raking them with his claws or simply using his momentum to try to break their spines.  This wasn't a hunt for food, so the fact that some of the corpses fell back into the sinkholes they'd emerged from didn't affect him at all.  For a while, it seemed to be a reasonably sound strategy.  Even the ones that weren't killed immediately were often in no shape to continue fighting, and some were even fallen on by their uninjured fellows as helpless meat.<br/><br/>As more sinkholes started to open up, however, Gwyntaan's higher vantage point gave him the ability to see what Captain couldn't:  the holes weren't opening randomly, but in a strategic formation, gradually fencing the human in.  Now, as he wheeled for another pass, he saw one of the glowing plants start to quiver behind his earth-bound companion.