Maila couldn't stop looking either, pieces of the pillar were breaking off near the top! Underneath the stone was a tangle of brown/beige roots, wrapping around a hidden figure. Maila tapped Oouger on the shoulder quickly and repeatedly until he looked, as well. His jaw dropped open as soon as he saw it. A thin, brown, twisted creature, was creeping out of the cracks in the pillar. Brown roots tangled out of the pillar, and wrapped around everything in sight. Silvics was just begging to open her eyes again, when one of the roots curled around her neck. Airibone seized it as hard as she could, trying to tug it off. Her efforts failed, and silvics was lifted off of the ground once more. She let out a small gagging sound, as she was set up on top of the rock pillar. The creature soon had a visible form. Everyone was screaming as it hoisted it's way up to Silvics. Maila and Tarska were the first to run to the pillar, and begin to climb up. They were followed by Obalie and Airibone. Oouger stayed back, looking for a smarter way up. Maila knew that she had to be fast though! Get there as fast as she could! Save Silvics from the slender, brown creature, getting closer and closer to Silvics by the second.

"Ahh!" Silvics screamed at top of her lungs as soon as she could catch her breath. Maila forced herself to climb faster.

"We're coming!" she called to Silvics, who was dangerously close to it now. Airibone screamed from somewhere below her, she looked down to see Airibone being pulled down by a root. Maila called down to her friend, but with no response. She had to keep going.

When she reach the top of the pillar, she could see Silvics in front of her. Maila attempted to race over to her, but couldn't seem to move! She glanced down at herself, and gave it another shot. Nothing happened. She was paralyzed, unable to save her near-death friend. When Maila could finally see through her eyes, past the overflow of tears, she realized that she recognized Silvics's captor; It was the figure in the forest who summoned the timberwolves to hurt Airibone! This is my fault! Maila realized even stronger than before. And on so many levels! Oh, poor Silvics, I'm so sorry! She wasn't listening to the speech that was coming out of Silvics earlier, she was too concerned to care. The words finally sunk in...

They were nose to nose now, and Silvics was taking dangerously shallow breaths; it seemed that Maila was doing all the breathing for her. The creature didn't hurt her though, once they made eye contact, the roots stopped growing abruptly, the leaves in the trees took a break from shaking in the wind, and all living creatures within a thousand feet stood still, some in mid air. Time froze still as they stared deep into one another's eyes. Malia couldn't believe what she was seeing! Silvics however, wasn't frozen. She glanced down at herself quickly, and then at her surroundings. Silvics realized that everything was suspended in time except for her, and whatever was doing it. Her eyes widened as she whipped her head back to face the creature. They remade eye contact, and Silvics slowly began to lift her arm in it's direction. It copied and did the same. When their hands were about to touch, they simultaneously flinched, pulling their arms back again. It blinked slowly, and sympathetically, still not looking away. A brief smile flashed across Silvics's face, but faded as quickly as it came. They tried again, reaching much slower this time...

The moment they touched, blinding rays of light exploded from their chests, filling up the whole forest with white beams, shooting through the air in all directions. Time didn't only unfreeze, it sped up! Or perhaps they were just in slow motion. Maila gasped for air as soon as she could, sprawling herself out, on top of the cold, hard, stone pillar. Roots retreated immediately, dropping Airibone to the ground still holding her neck. Silvics fell exhausted into Maila's arms. The creature was lying on its side a mere couple feet away. Silvics tried to grab it's arm and hoist it in, but she was too weak, and still recovering. Maila backed away while holding Silvics for both of their safety. Silvics didn't like this, she rolled out of Maila's arms, and onto the stone with the creature.

"NO!" Maila squeaked, picking her back up. Silvics groaned and thrashed her tail, but Maila remained firm. I'm not letting you get hurt,! She mentally promised, taking a side step towards the edge of the pillar. Silvics's eyes snapped open at this, she raised her head up, and bit Maila in the shoulder. This is did nothing, for she was too limp.

"Oh!" she gasped. "I'm so sorry!" Silvics whispered, before biting her once more, and starting to squirm. Maila rolled her shoulder to signify no pain, relief flooded Silvics's face. Silvics suddenly let out a cry for help to the brown creature across from them. It scrunched up it's face, and slowly lifted itself up with it's arms. Silvics made eye contact with it briefly again, before it's gaze shifted over to Maila. It grunted at her furiously before throwing itself towards them. Maila tightened her grip on Silvics, but she couldn't run because they were trapped at the edge of the pillar. I'll have to jump! There's no other option. Maila's instincts kicked in in a split second, and she leaped off of the edge! Fear raced and twisted way through her stomach as they fell. Silvics attempted to scream, but nothing came out. Maila slammed her eyes shut. Silvics's voice cracked, and her scream was finally heard.

Maila was preparing herself to hit the ground, she readied herself to painfully thud and brake most of her bones on the canyon floor. But it didn't happen. She wasn't falling anymore, but she never hit the ground! She slowly opened her eyes, but kept her grip on Silvics. They were suspended in mid air, only a few feet from the ground! What? Maila could feel tight constrictions around her chest and legs. The creature had caught them with it's roots! They were suspended, dangling in mid air, face to face with the cold hard ground. Maila let go of Silvics, and let her drop the rest of they way down. It didn't even make a sound, because it was only a few feet to fall. Maila slowly craned her neck around to see it's head peeking over the edge with a worried and suspenseful expression. She tried smiling at it, thinking that it would lower her gently down with Silvics, but no. It's made an angry face again, and slammed her down hard, before contracting it's roots back into nothingness.

"Oh my GOSH Silvics, are you alright!" Airibone yelped, rushing to her aid. Silvics nodded her head in bewilderment, and Airibone sighed with relief. Maila cleared her throat loudly, as she struggled to stand up. Obalie ran over and put Maila's arm around her shoulder for support. Tarska scoffed, and came over to help. Always have to be 'cool'. Maila mocked Tarska in her head. Oops, wait... but she is helping me.

"Oh, thanks guys. I-" she started. But she was interrupted by Orkijace, who barreled through them to get to Silvics. Maila was knocked over again, but this time it didn't hurt very much.

Her vision was still blurry from getting slammed into the ground, but she could make out the shapes of her friends. A long high pitched sound rang in her head. Obalie and Tarska were calling Orkijace off knocking them over, their fur blowing softly in the wind. And for a moment, it just seemed like a perfectly normal day, back at home. Far away from all of this. She sniffed the dirt beside her face. It didn't smell the same though, it smelled much different than the dirt that was back at home. This kind of dirt had a strongness to it that seemed unpleasant enough to put a bit of pressure on her sinuses. She scrunched up her face, and returned to reality. Reality was where the world was different, challenging, and the ones she loved got hurt. She got hurt! Maila sat up, and peered at her injuries. Before bending over to tend to her wounds, she glanced around, realizing that she couldn't see Oouger anymore!

"Oouger!" she yelled, pulling her arms back in from reaching to her leg. She no longer cared that blood was staining her fur, all that she cared about was Oouger's where abouts after he didn't respond. She called again, looking around frantically. She had to do a double take after her eyes caught movement from high above. When she looked back, she saw him perched in a tree above the creature's head. He was waving to her in big motions with one arm, but with the other, he had one claw up to his mouth, making a 'be quiet' and 'Don't give my hiding spot away!' symbol. She let out a breath that she didn't realize that she was holding, and gave him a thumbs up.

"NO!" Silvics screamed, pointing at him moments later. Oh no, Maila flinched as she figured out that Silvics had seen Maila communicate with him, and was now warning it. "WATCH OUT!" The creature stopped smiling down at Silvics, and spun it's head around to see Oouger. He frowned at Silvics over it's shoulder, and decided to act right away. Oouger let out a challenging rawer, as he leapt from the tree like a spark, pouncing onto it furiously. The creature let out a sharp whimper of dismay, and was sent crashing down to the bottom of the canyon with Oouger clawing at it's back ruthlessly. They fell remarkably fast, but Maila saw it in slow motion as they hit the ground with a sickening series of cracks.

Silvics raced to their side, and tore Oouger away from it with the rage of a thousand suns. He snarled loudly as it lifted it's head to look at him. Vengeance however, wasn't present in it's eyes. It only had sorrow. Silvics shuttered when she saw the damage that had been done to it's body. Maila limped over to comfort Silvics, and also to thank the creature for saving her. She -after looking closely at it- saw that it didn't have legs. It's bottom half was a long skirt like shape that was formed out of whatever it was standing on. It use to be black boulders and rocks, but when Oouger smashed into it, the structure collapsed and sent rocks flying everywhere. Now the creature was lying on the ground with a couple of black rocks around it, and it's bottom half was slowly forming again, but this time out of dirt. She also realized that the dirt was turning brown around it.

"Uh," she started. "Th- thank you?" Silvics eyed her with an unreadable expression through her tears. "Yes." Maila corrected herself. "Thank you very much. Y-you know, for saving Silvics and I." Maila shot Silvics a look that said 'how was that?' She could see a smile creeping up onto Silvia's face.

Everything was quiet for a moment, as the creature slowly repaired itself. Maila turned around quickly when she thought she heard something, but it was just Airibone whispering to Obalie. She could hear it, but very faintly.

"Sooo" Airibone asked. "Are we just gonna trust it now? Or..." Obalie's eyes widened immediately.

"Well" she answered. "I'm definitely not." Airibone nodded gazing off into space, and slowly brought her head away from Obalie's.

"Ergh," someone grunted behind her. Maila didn't recognize the voice though. It's speaking! Maila wiped her head around to see the creature gradually standing up. It let out a few average coughs, and used Silvics as a temporary support. "H- hi." It breathed. Everyone looked up. "I-I- I'm r- Regadean." It fell a few feet and caught itself. It gently pushed Silvics away, no longer wanting a support. "And I'm on- a mission to-" Regadean sighed before continuing. "To tell you all something. But, but I'm deciding to abandon that mission now that I've been freed. The- the" Silvics had to catch Regadean in her arms again. "Oh, thank you." it gasped, hoisting itself upright. Maila assumed that Regadean was female from the pitch of her voice. "The mission" she continued. "Was to kill you all if you ever found out the truth, but I don't have to do that anymore. I'm free now."

A thousand thoughts were racing through Maila's head. What! Kill us! She was a prisoner or captive at some recent point in time, what! Who was controlling her? And why do they want us dead. Wait, what truth? What does she think we know? How was Regadean freed? What's going ON?

"Wait," Maila blurted. "WHAT!" Oouger sidestepped in front of Obalie again. She however, did not need protecting. Obalie fake-smiled and shoved him aside for the second time. Regadean winced, and turned to face Maila. "And,"she continued. "Who's the one who sent you on this mission? Also, what about that 'learning the truth' thing. What is the truth?" Regadean shifted her gaze to the ground.

"The truth is that this planet is under a curse. . ."