The sound of choking lifted and retreated, as if the orc had been lifted into the air and pulled away from Landa.  The sound shifted to a gurgle, then silence followed by a thud.  In the darkness, the sound of flowing sand grew louder.  Landa felt something bump into her leg, a scaly, hard, surface like the side of a snake.  As it found her ankle it began to slowly coil around it.  Not so quickly that she couldn't pull away, but whatever it was it wasn't an orc.<br/><br/>Alcina began to hear the sound of flowing sand ahead of her, then the sound of her friend crying out the words.  "What?"  Twice in succession.  She wasn't far from the sound, but in the darkness it was impossible to tell what was making the sound between them.