“My Baron, this is unwise.”

The Courser, now calmer and full of that itch to go back adventuring, stood at the mouth of the cavern with a soft tilt of the head, studying the depths. The corridor before him was marked and scratched by generations who have traveled before him. This hall was lined with lanterns, which cast a glow and lit the way further into the dungeon.

“You’re just saying that because you aren’t a hound, Abdel.”

The two of them have bonded a little more than they had before his first dive, and the self-proclaimed Baron was amused by the display. 

“Yes, but I find that being able to service from the air and strike with sharp talons is the same as being able to bite and rend from the ground.” Abdel spoke with a straight manner, no hint of jovial demeanor in his voice.

“Ah, we’ll be okay regardless! This is the safer of the two options for us to go down…but now that you bring things up, I do recall the puddle…but not the hole near the entryway.”

The Osprey perched on top of the Coursers’ majestic head, the stallion bringing himself over to the edge of it. How…intriguing. Abdel ruffled his feathers as he and Mircea both stared the hole down.

“So, do we go down it?” Mircea asked with a hint of mirth in his voice. “It is a VERY tempting jump to go down, and I kind of want to see what it would be like to do it.”

Abdels’ sharp eyes swept across the area. “Safira warned us, my baron, of mimics hibernating in the caves at this time. Do you not find it odd that this hole is near the end of the corridor, and isn’t marked by anything? And…”

Abdels gaze swept to the wall of the cavern corridor as soon as Mirceas’ did, and both of them saw how the hole touched the wall, took over part of the wall…The Coursers’ gaze narrowed.

“My bird of prey.” He states in a manner that is far cooler than his usual jovialness. Mircea has not always been a rather bouncy Courser. Charismatic since his colt days, yes, but theres always been an underlying presence that if needed, he could take control of a situation. Thats how he got to being on his own, after all, eventually how he met Safira and teamed up with her. He made note to invite the Perlino courser with him sometime to run these dungeon dives. It would be fun, he thinks to himself, to do this with someone else that wasn’t his bird.

Although Safira had a goose she was attached to. He…wasn’t sure how that would work.

Abdel hops off Mircea’s head and grabs a stone in his beak. Powerful wings bring him airborne,and he drops the stone onto the hole. He knows, Mircea knows, what they’re listening for, looking for. Its been ingrained into them since the Courser was little and the bird, a mere fledgling.

And they do not hear what they want, or see what they want, so Mirceas’ grin is far too wolfish for a Courser to have, eyes glinting in sheer delight. “My dearest of friends, lets dance!” He whinnies, and charges into the fight with the Mimic.

-

“Ugh, I hate dancing partners like that.” Mircea snorts as he comes out of the cavern entrance with a scrape or two on his sides and his shoulders. Abdel clicks his beak and lands gently back on the Coursers’ back. “Safira is a much better partner than that…that thing!” Back to whining again, it seemed. Abdel did a poor imitation of an eye roll and brushed his face against the exposed section of neck before him. “My baron, you did well, though. Please go talk to Safira, rest. Perhaps you and she could do the next run together.”

Yes. That would be nice.