Wizardland

Aiden smiled slightly at her.

He eyed her, but did not question further. Cole always considered himself a trusting sort, and Esther had not let him down thus far.

As she watched him go, Al allowed her smile to dissolve for the briefest of moments before her expression took on its usual concerned traits. "I'm right behind y'all!"

Esther smiled and saw a light at the end. "Looks like we're almost there!" She started picking up her pace. "Come on Cole!"

Raine stopped a bit and looked around. "I think they went somewhere else." She looked down to see areas of parted grass. "They definitely went a different way."

Erik growled, lowering his head to sniff the ground. "We better find out where then. I'm losing their scent faster than before."

"Well...that's just great," Aiden muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

Cole sighed. "I'm coming!" He stumbled over something, but managed to right himself and continue on, walking just a few steps behind Esther.

Al groaned as she stopped, leaning on her knees and panting to catch her breath. "Man, y'all are fast."

Esther reached the end of the tunnel. "Be careful coming out! It's a narrow ledge out here." She looked around and tried to see if she can see a griffin's nest from here.

"You go ahead, Erik. I'll follow where the grass." Raine smiled and continued to follow the path of the parted grass.

Erik nodded and ran ahead, nose in the air as he attempted to sniff out the others' scents.

"Can't be helped," Aiden told Al as he looked around.

Cole followed her out, and made the mistake of looking down. The depths greeted him. "Oh, yeah, that's scary, and this ledge is narrow." He swallowed, trying to stay balanced on the ledge.

Al pouted. "I'm not slow, if that's what you're sayin'. Y'all are just superhuman fast."

"Let's keep going further. Remember to don't look down." Esther slowly moved along the ledge. "Hopefully the griffin is close by. I'm not sure if all of this is really worth it . . ."

Raine turned around to look at Al. "We're not superhuman fast. You're just younger so your body hasn't developed to handle long runs." She smiled and turned back to the path. "We'll go slowly. How does that sound?"

Erik continued to go ahead, sniffing the ground for any traces of Cole and Esther. When he finally caught hint of their scent, he bolted toward that direction.

Aiden nodded. "Sounds fine with me."

"I don't think it's worth it at all." Cole let out a breath of air. "There was probably a non-magical way to solve the problem but humans never bother to think things through."

"Tell him that," Al muttered, watching Erik speed off.

"Then shall we go back inside a cave and think of another way? Honestly, I really don't want to be out here." Esther laughed lightly but there was a hint of fear as well. "It's probably stupid to mention this now, but I'm a little afraid of heights."

Raine laughed lightly and walked in the direction where Erik ran. "He can scout for us. Make sure that there's nothing ahead that can endanger us."

Eventually, the wolf skidded to a stop, nose high in the air and he sniffed again. "Really...it wasn't that long that we were separated but those two made good distance."

Aiden snickered quietly, following after Raine.

Cole frowned, leading her back into the cave. "Yeah. We can figure something out."

"They're faster walkers, I guess," Al mumbled.

Esther made it back into the cave and sat down. "Ok . . . so far we found one way, but it's too dangerous. However, if we backtrack then it'll take us longer to get it." She rubbed his chin lightly. "Any suggestions, Cole?"

"At least they actually thought of going after their item. We just quit halfway and regrouped." Raine laughed lightly and kept walking.

Erik turned to look back at the others, shaking his head slightly before going on ahead.