Catastrophic Failure

What started off as a low rumble quickly avalanched into a deafening roar. Animals of all sizes poured from the lid of the basket-like prison to escape the incoming doom.

Although the walls that the Harpies had built were thick and interwoven, something had disrupted that balance.

Whatever the others had done to free Mairwen and Eira had instead compromised the whole structure.

Mairwen could already imagine Alaron yelling at Renat for not knowing more about architecture, and the scientist responding that it was not his area of expertise.

But that musing would have to wait. She was on the wall and about to fall.

Fast.

"Go!" Mairwen urged the other two into a run.

The Harpies were suddenly the least of their concerns. Not dying in the avalanche became priority number one.

Thinking quickly, Mairwen looked for any tree close enough and tall enough to cushion their fall. While the ground meant certain death, perhaps the raised foliage would be more forgiving.

If only they had a rope, perhaps they could rope a Harpy and swing part of the way. But the only ropes in the basket had been made and used by the Sprites.

And they must not have been too strong, for too many of the creatures had broken free in the chaos. A cord snapping in mid air might have been worse than no rope at all.

The uneven ledge made their running more of a stumbling scramble. Behind them, the falling rim chased them like a fox after a hare.

It would catch them in only a few moments.

"Look!" Eira screamed.

Above them, the wyvern along with another flying creature were tackling two of the Harpies who had hold of the basket's lid. The others, unable to compensate and utterly overwhelmed by the battle, released their hold on the suspended roof.

The massive wooden structure plummeted toward the ground.

"Jump!" Uri pulled both women forward as he leapt from the edge.

And not a moment too soon.

The collision between the wooden pieces shook the ground and sent a shockwave through the air. Uri, Eira, and Mairwen all lost thier hold on one another as they were forced apart by the pressure of the sound.

A large chunk of a log hit the back of Mairwen's head. Her eyesight dimmed.

Her body was pelted with debris, further pushing her off course.

'No!' The princess pushed against the pain.

Focusing on the last bit of light, the woman pulled back from the darkness that threatened to render her unconscious.

The ground was quickly coming to claim the princess. Her dark hair streaked behind her like a midnight comet. Fighting the urge to close her eyes, Mairwen stared forward.

She would face her death head-on.

Just as the earth and her body were about to become one, the earth suddenly changed direction and flew away from her. 

Or rather, she went flying away from it! 

'What?' Mairwen felt four sets of tiny arms come around her, lifting her back into the air.

Astonished, she turned her head to see the crimson Sprite grinning mischievously at her. 

"We...may not be...with you," the creature said in labored human-speak, "But we are... against... the harpies. If..saving..you hurts... them...we do it." 

The princess laughed in spite of herself. So that was it! The monsters had not broken the bonds, the Sprites had cut them. The mischief-makers were selfish and spiteful, but not evil. 

"Thank you," the princess tried the word in the ancient tongue. The four Sprites spit in the air. "Thank you," she repeated in her normal way.

The winged imps set her down a short distance from the chaos. "Will never...help...again." 

 "Understood." Mairwen curtsied. The action flooded her mind with a new wave of pain. She remembered the flying branch that had struck her midair. 'I'll deal with it later.' 

The Sprites flew off, unaware of the dizziness plaguing the dark-haired woman. 

"Your Highness!" Eira came barreling from the trees, hugging the princess in an effusive gesture. Realizing her misconduct, she quickly released her mistress and bowed. "I did not think we would survive! Did the Sprites save you as well?" 

"They did," Mairwen answered, blinking and trying to focus on the guard. "Did you see Uri?" 

"Over here!" the elf cried. 

The elf was half buried under a huge piece of lumber. "Those blasted Sprites set me down too close to the wall! I couldn't get away from this beam!" 

Although Uri was strong, having half his body pinned meant he had no leverage. He struggled in vain to get himself out from under the trap. 

"Are you... are you hurt?" Mairwen stared at the elf, trying to ascertain what to do. 

"I'm...wait are you hurt?" Uri turned the question back on her. 

"Neither of you are allowed to be hurt until we get out of here, understand?" Eira snipped. She reached for a branch to use as leverage. It took the full weight of both ladies before the elf was able to escape from the clamp. 

"Can you walk?" Eira helped the elf to stand. 

Uri shifted his weight from side to side. "I think so. The metal plates on my legs saved them from being crushed but also pinned me into the slushy snow-mud. I am bruised, but I don't think anything is broken." 

Uri looked at what was left of his lightweight armor. The pieces on his legs and arms were the only things which still remained. But he was alive and well.

"Good, we need to get a move on!" The graceful soldier hurried them along. "The horses were this way. If we hurry, we may catch the others before they have to flee."

It was safer to run from the danger, but that might mean being separated from the others for days or longer. That was time they didn't have. So with the battle still raging overhead, they picked their way through the tree-line in search of their friends. 

The harpies had made no friends by imprisoning so many creatures in their wooden prison. Even though the monsters and other folk were all now free, they were not quick to forget and flee. Most stayed to exact their collective revenge on their jailers. 

Creatures and debris continued to crash into the trees overhead. Mairwen looked up, dazed by the sounds of the collisions in the branches. 

"Come on, Your Highness!" Eira winced. She ran back and took the woman's hand to force Mairwen into a run. 

Leaves and evergreen needles tumbled down with the last of the treed snow. It would have been pretty if not for the danger it represented. 

They ran until they were winded and then walked for the same amount of time. At last they came to a stop. 

"The horses were here, I'm sure of it!" Eira tried to account for the extra distance they had run around the rim as well as the Sprites' flight. But her calculations seemed imperfect. 

"There!" Uri pointed through the trees. "Is that them?"

"Yes!" Eria tugged the princess like a child into the copse of trees. There, away from the fighting, five horses were waiting, munching idly on grass. 

There was only one problem. 

There were no people in sight. 

"You have to be kidding me," Eira looked toward the mess of broken wood and debris. 

"What?" Uri followed her gaze. 

Eira sighed. "I think we are going to have to go rescue our rescuers...They think our escape was a catastrophic failure…"