Rayne's gambit seemed to have worked, at least she didn't feel the Shadow's burning cold touch on her backside while Dixon raced across towards the opposite end of the clearing. There was no clue whether her blindly fired color spray worked. The fungal nymph was chanting another spell in a voice that sounded like wind whistling through dead branches, but without being able to see there was no way to tell what exactly it was doing.<br/><br/>The stars in the half-elf's eyes faded, allowing her to see once more. She was greeted by the sight of the trunks and branches at the opposite end of the clearing coming towards her at an alarming speed! Dixon spread his wings, braking hard, but the wooden limbs kept coming closer, a pair of them swinging like giant arms towards her - no, towards her griffon!<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Incoming!</div><div class="spoiler_body">Dixon is hit by two slam attacks from the tree branches for 32 damage. With a DC 28 Ride check Rayne can negate one attack, reducing the damage to 16.<br/></div></div><br/><br/>Now that Rayne had a chance to get a better look, all of the trees bordering the clearing had awoken, swaying without wind, whispering ancient mouthless murmurs of old earth and forgotten sky, their branches reaching out towards Rayne - the nymph must have awoken them! The trees were still rooted in place, but a hundred grasping, woody limbs were reaching out for Rayne like prisoners stretching their arms through the bars of their cages, skeletal branches for arms and gnarled twigs for fingers, making the edge of the clearing a dangerous place to be.<br/><br/>To make matters worse, she had lost track of the Shadow while she was blinded, and now it could be anywhere - there were too many places for it to hide among the shifting branches...<br/><br/><hr/><br/>...but the twinkling radiance that wreathed the monster from her Starbow's hail gave its position away almost immediately. It was hiding, or failing to hide rather, above in the canopy of the trees. Perhaps it did not see as mortals see, because it did not seem to realize that it was shrouded in light at all, becoming a big literally glowing target that not even the branches could provide cover for!<br/><br/>On the other hand, the outstretched branches had effectively reduced the size of the battlefield, and Dixon's need to keep moving to stay in flight limited Rayne's options. If she flew high, she would be within range of the Shadow, but if she flew low, she would risk the wrath of the corrupted nymph instead...