Releasing the First Creature part 2

Jonas hadn't really been sure what to expect. Naturally he'd expected a large creature to appear, but not after maybe a minute or two. Nor without Elin.

It was also one thing to call the bird that stood before him, that pretty much knocked him back because of the air displacement effect of it appearing right in front of him, large. It was another to acknowledge that this bird was at least twice as large as a great white shark.

Maybe it was larger than that, but Jonas didn't have the frame of references in his mind to really work out anything better than that. While it might be around the size of an airplane, he couldn't be sure since he'd only ever seen those in movies and on TV. Nothing in actual real life that would give him a real frame of reference.

That said, as he picked himself up, he noticed the bird pick up the crystal pendant with it's beak, carefully extract it from the branch and fly off.

Jonas felt stunned at what he saw. Not only did the bird come out of the crystal, but it had trapped Elin inside it, as if it was the easiest thing to do. Especially since with how it merely took the crystal pendant like it was there waiting for it. Like a gift.

Though, as it flew off, for a few minutes, it's wingspan completely blocked the sun. Giving them a good amount of shade, like Jonas figured it was possible to use it against the bird if they really needed to get the pendant back, though he wasn't yet convinced of that. Not when he knew how resourceful Elin was.

"That's not what I had planned to happen," Jonas heard Elin remark as the giant bird flew off.

"How'd you get out?" Jonas blurted, unable to filter his questions in a coherent manner.

"Please," Elin scoffed. "After that bird left, I got to the platform to leave and I managed to get out a moment before the bird flew off with the pendant."

Jonas nodded at this. It made sense, though part of him was still screaming that she had to be in the pendant still. Despite everything that he knew about Elin, including the fact that she was standing right in front of him.

"Uh, I hate to break it to you guys, but we still need that pendant," Ember reminded them. "Unless either of you can fly, you're gonna have to move pretty quick to keep up with that bird in this terrain."

Jonas merely looked at Ember, trying to keep from smiling, since he knew that would give away what hew as going to try and attempt.. "Well, you could go and try to convince the bird that we were only there to help it, that we have nothing to do with Douglas."

"Why do I need to do that?" Ember complained. "I'm not the one who took the pendant from Douglas in the first place!"

"Well, you do likely know three of the creatures in the pendant, right? "Elin asked. "So, if you want to get those freed, then you'll have to help us get the crystal back."

"Unless you think that bird will try to rescue them," Jonas added. He wasn't sure what that bird might do, but he was at least confident that Ember didn't either.

Ember sighed, hanging its head down, looking almost defeated. "Look, that bird is a Roc. If it gets upset at me for being too close, there's little that I can do to it. It'll first blast me with strong winds, then while I can't more, it'll finish me off. Just like that."

"So, you're saying that we should try to catch up with it was quickly as we can so to get the pendant back before it gets too far away, right?" Jonas asked, feeling like he already knew the answer even as he asked the question.

Ember nodded. "Yeah. Though, I'm not sure how you'll be able to do that. As that is one of the largest and fastest birds around."

"What if I try and go up to it so we can talk?" Elin asked, looking like she was trying to come up with something, regardless of if it would actually work or not. "I'm sure it'll be willing to listen to reason once I speak to it."

"And how long before it'll land again?" Ember asked. "If I remember correctly, they can stay aloft for two weeks at a time. Longer if they can find something to eat while flying."

"How would they eat while flying?" Elin asked, looking baffled.

"They can, trust me on that," Ember merely replied, her gazed fixed on Jonas.

"Alright, I'll do something, okay?" Jonas replied, not sure how well it'd work. Especially since he hadn't quite done it this way before. Though, he had to admit, climbing the shadow of a moving creature had it's own kind of thrill.

He just hoped his MP would last.

Jonas then looked up to see where the roc was, still spiraling upward to gain height. Though, it was still close enough to have it's entire shadow block out the sun. Except, the sun was starting to peek out every now and then as the bird continued to gain altitude.

Then before he could change his mind, he quickly engulfed himself in the shadows, dropping into them rather than melting. Because he knew time was of the essence and he didn't have time to wait to keep an eye on things in case there were other changes that would be important to be aware of.

Then as he started to climb through the shadows, he felt like he was having to pull himself up. It wasn't the same thing as moving along the shadows on the ground, even if they were going nearly vertically uphill. He wasn't sure exactly what the difference was, just that there was one and it was slowing him down more than he would have expected.

Still, he was able to continue climbing up towards the bird, even as it continued to climb higher in the sky. Though, Jonas couldn't be sure exactly how high the bird was trying to get. As even if he really knew much about the mythology surrounding rocs, he doubted that it'd include such details about their typical flying patterns, what altitude they preferred to fly at, or even their general speed when ascending.

Maybe the mythology detailed how fast it'd go when diving, but he'd rather not be by the roc if it chose to dive at anything. He couldn't be sure if that would be good for him while in the shadows. Especially when it was already difficult enough reaching the closest part of the bird.

Jonas wasn't sure how long it'd been, but eventually he reached it's talons that were hanging behind it. It wasn't anything important, but it was a milestone on the climb that Jonas felt an immense relief about. However, it also affected his climb. In that he now suddenly felt like he wasn't climbing up anymore, but rather as if he was moving along the ground again.

He suspected that it was because he was technically moving along the roc, so he was 'on the ground.' While when it was the shadow of the roc, from the bird to the ground, then it wasn't really attached, so he suspected that if he tried moving along a shadow that wasn't directly connected to where he currently was, such as a rock formation across a canyon or something, then he might have a similar experience as with the roc. Though, if he continued along the ground, he probably wouldn't experience it, but only if he tried to directly go to that rock formation.

Regardless, he now was able to move up to the bird's beak effortlessly. Though, he had to time it correctly, since he knew the bird was always turning, which meant it's beak wasn't always in shadow. And so, wasn't always where he could be.

Still, he didn't know how much MP he'd used up climbing the roc's shadow, since he really hadn't a clue as to how long it'd taken. He had a rough idea of what him MP should have been, since he hadn't used any for a while. Though, he wouldn't be surprised if being sick had eaten up a little of him MP. Which would almost seem par for the course in this world.

Regardless, thinking too much on that wouldn't help him. So, he carefully made his way to the beak as it started to turn towards being in the shade. He knew he wouldn't have much time, but he could see the pendant hanging from the roc's beak. He hoped the rock didn't have a firm grip on it. Otherwise this could prove rather difficult.

He also hoped that the roc wouldn't mind him taking the pendant. If only because he didn't like the idea of a bird of this size landing on him. It didn't sound like it'd be an event that would make any day a good day.

Jonas wasn't sure what happened when he made his move. Everything seemed to blur together. Almost like his desperation to succeed so he could start his descent without worrying about running out of MP partway down had affected his perception of what happened.

All he knew was that he was essentially falling down the roc's shadow with the crystal pendant in his hand. Though, part of him felt like he just woke up. Like he'd fainted or something.

Yet, that didn't matter to Jonas right then. He had what he'd come for, the bird either wasn't the wiser or didn't care. Which meant that he wasn't going to be in any more danger when he came out of the shadows than when he'd started heading up.

The only problem was that he could tell he'd moved a pretty good distance from where he'd been. So he had a feeling that he'd best leave the shadows sooner rather than later so he could start walking back. Especially since he could tell that it was going to take quite a while, if not an entire day to get back to where Elin and Ember were currently waiting for him.