Duncan leaps towards the space where Xaion was, hoping to perhaps follow along in whatever warp that creature had created.
Duncan runs for where Xaion had disappeared, trying to find if the fold in space was still there. But the air here is just air, time here is just time, and there is no sight or sound or scent of Xaion.
By the way, the grass in this small area is growing backwards very slowly.
Ohm Eleven grabs up the sphere and then heads quickly towards the city gates.
As Ohm Eleven picks up the sphere, for a moment his hands are small, chubby baby's hands, clutching at it tightly in the manner of a child. Between blinks, his hands then look like knobby, arthritic claws spotted with age and covered with parchment-like skin. And then his hands look normal again as Ohm runs for the city gates.
Seregal keeps sneaking along the path, not really noticing that Xaion has been kidnapped! He's too excited by the final approach the city and his chance to scout and explore the road; absently trusting the fine warriors in the party to deal with the situation; thinking that the chronal feeders are already dealt with anyway. He sees the path in the distance and heads towards it for a closer look before returning to the party.
Seregal has Ohm blow right past him, and in Ohm's haste, he triggers something buried in the ground. There's a faint grumble, a small vibration, no more of a warning then that. And suddenly, under their feet, a slender bridge-like structure arises, spires of glittering golden crystal rising up in a pattern, strands of silk-like cable strung between them.
Very abruptly, Ohm and Seregal find themselves clinging to cables dangling sixty feet above the ground, a strand in either hand and one under their feet. They feel warm, almost sticky, and seem to pulse under your hand with electricity.
"Ohm! Wait! It has Xaion!" Echo looked around, trying to find the creature. How far could they go at once? If it reappeared she could try shooting it again.
Abruptly she looked up at the strand of energy.
They were feeding on this. I wonder...
She had no idea if it was wise or not, but it might give her some insight into these creatures, so she reached up to graze her fingertips across that drifting band of flashing light as it descended.
Echo touches the ribbon of light, and hears the chatter of a thousand voices, the moan of a thousand screams, the chant of a thousand tongues, and then it's pulling away from her, pulling, pulling, pulling, trying to pull her away, pull her in, pull all she has from her, because the experiment demands it, because it must complete its cycle, because it must be done, because more power is needed and here it is, here you are, you are to become part of it, join it, give everything to it...
[sblock=OOC]Intellect defense roll, DT 4 please.[/sblock]
Duncan, mavin missed Xaion, rumbles desperately to Echo.
"Can we follow him? Can you... hack the energy string somehow? Or use one of our component parts? Where would they have teleported to? Some lair or nest?"
Duncan speak to Echo, but she seems preoccupied with the energy ribbon she's touching. It's very lovely. It's very compelling...
Out of the corner of his eye, Duncan sees the chronal feeder reappear from the air some hundred feet away. It tosses a humanoid figure away from it, who rolls and comes up, hands raised to guard its body from harm, as you've seen Xaion do. Then the feeder charges again, and both wink out as they collide.
Duncan is immediately reminded of a tame seskii hound he saw once, with its owner, a little boy who would throw dried kresh-mantis legs for it to fetch over and over again.