Hauling the still groggy Ohanzee up after them the three Rangers begin to search for their friends. The stench from the inhabitants' waste  is debilitating and it's slow going. Scraps of cloth are tied around faces and vision blurs.

After around 80metres they come to a T junction, which with careful thought likely leads to the other two caves with holes in their ceilings. With the Southern tunnel leading to the only other cave that noise came from it's an easy decision to avoid that and take the Northern one.

These tunnels are dark and it's almost impossible to keep quiet due to the dry debris and waves of fleeing vermin. Luckily the noise from further away....Drums, screams and chanting drowns out all but the most serious stumbles.

Another junction is reached, the righthand one leading to what must be another roosting cave, as a shaft of daylight can be seen at it's end and the left, after a short distance opens into a smoke filled cavern. From where they peer from around the corner of the junction several dead Harpies can be made out lying on the ground of the cave.

Henal with his sword and shield readied speaks quietly "Looks like the others must have been here recently. Lets press on to try and catch them".

Ohanzee's ears are still ringing from the resounding crash to the back of his helmet and every now and then he raises his sword arm to his helmet and holds it in place as he pushes his head inside it trying to relieve the pain at the back with pressure in another point.

He twitches his shoulder blades as Henal talks, something tickling his back between them as it crawls up his spine, no doubt some insect that found it's way under his armour as he lay unconscious on the filth. He tries not to linger on that thought and to put the... whatever it is out of his mind.

"What?" he shouts without realising it, his ears not only ringing, but blocked with concealing blood. "Let's move. The others have been this way let's catch them up."

Henal realising that Ohanzee's shout means there is no chance of surprise moves out quickly sword readied.

"For the green" he shouts out so the others will not mistake him for an enemy if they only see him as a dim figure.

Henal, Ohanzee and Amara move cautiously into what turns out to be a large natural cavern, one filled with smoke from a blazing fire, over half a dozen dead Harpies and two of their companions very much alive.

Salen and Tarosh, the latter stark naked and covered in feathers stuck to the blood coating him from head to toe, are both examining a rope tied to the side of a wall, it's other end vanishing up into the smoke filled ceiling.

By the looks of it the cave is used as both living room, butchers and larder for the community of Harpies, the floor littered with bones, flat slabs of blood splattered rock and the ceiling filled with various cuts of meat from both humans and herd beasts, the smoke of the fire curing it no doubt.

One whole wall opens out into the cave of echoes and in the far wall is another exit.

Henal stops and stares briefly at Salen and Tarosh before speaking.

"Better get your armour and weapons we need to find the others down here. How did you get free without becoming Harpy food?"

Tarosh turns and waves at the others, "Hopefully my stuff will be stashed with the rest of the gear they have stolen over the years. I was put in with others and we staged a break out," a look of sadness crosses his face, "only me and one other escaped, speaking of which." he looks up and shouts at the objects hanging from the roof, "Woolly, is that you?" He doesn't seem to be concerned that he is naked and covered in blood and feathers.

"Mmmmm.....Mmmmm...Mmmeeerm..." comes back the reply.

Henal looks up to see what is above on the rope.

"I think we need to keep on moving as soon as we can to meet up again with the others. We can stop that ritual that they are performing before it brings something bad to meet us".

He looks out into the other caves to see if he can spot any signs of movement.

As they meet up with the other two Ohanzee takes a moment to remove his helmet and dig the blood out of his ears with his little finger "Good to see you two alive. Where's the others Salen? Which way then, what's up the rope?"

Other than a cut to his right arm and another to his head, both leaking slowly from under his armour, Salen is fine. He nods to Henal and Ohanzee when they come rushing in.

"I cut my way out of the net they caught me in with my magic knife, before they could react. I did lose my shield in there, but if not for that I would have been held fast. Still, it should be around here somewhere."

He looked around then for his shield, grabbing it if it was there, then turned back to his fellows.

"I was with Kobal, Hoskar and Leaper at the main entrance when we got ambushed, but I was carried off in a net so I couldn't say where they are now.

And if someone gives me a hand with that rope we'll get Tarosh's new friend down from there. Can't leave him hanging around, and he may come in useful."

"If that is Woolly, he was with me earlier, if its not him it could be one of the Red Thorns that was also there." He smiles slyly at Henal, "If its a big chaos nasty, I've got something that should scare it, but I need to be next to it for it to work." He helps Salen lower whoever is hanging above their heads.

What comes down is neither Woolly nor a Red Thorn, but instead is a very scared looking young Harpy. Unlike the others though this one is beautiful, though what's left of her white plumage is covered in soot and blood.

Gagged and bound she can only stare up at the Rangers with terror in her eyes.

Amara approached the harpy carefully "I'm going to cut your free. I do not intend harm. The more you lie still the easier and quicker this will be. We intend to clear out this den." using her knife she quickly cut the harpy free of her bonds.

Tarosh looks shocked as he discovers its not who he was expecting. He quickly moves to untie her and help her up,  making sure Amara doesn't get too close to her with the knife. "Its ok, you're safe now," maybe she doesn't speak Praxian. She is beautiful. lets try earth speech. She is so beautiful. "Its ok, you're safe now, I won't let anything bad happen to you."

Ohanzee stares at the poor creature in surprise for a moment and then smiles warmly at her, his eyes fixed on hers.

"The queen." he says then repeats in Earth tongue "My queen" as he bows.

Amara sighed heavily rolling her eyes as the boys seemed to be enthralled by her, though Tarosh's comment in Earth speech made sense. Amara quickly ran through all of her languages hoping for some kind of acknowledgement from the harpy. She turned quickly to look at Ohanzee "Queen? You fool. She's nothing but a girl."

Henal looks at his fellow Rangers then grins.

"Jealous Amara?"

He looks back towards the cavern entrances.

"We still have a job to do here so lets get rid of the chaos harpies before they come and ambush us".

Amara raised an eyebrow, showing her derision of Henal's comment "Of her?" she sai, her tone making it clear she thought there was no contest "It's possible in a few years she just might possibly be a match for me physically, but until she walks as Tada, and brings the green back, there's no possible way she could be my equal."

Ohanzee looks at Amara and feels a pang of guilt as his cheeks flush with blood masked thank Raven by the grime and darkness Only this morning we wed on the Heroplane and now I have eyes for another and he looks back at the Harpy smiling again.

His head is hammering and he slips the copper axe into his belt and raises a hand to his helmet again and presses his forehead as hard as he can against the front of it as he closes his eyes and groans meekly. He removes the head armour once more and reaches around to the back of his head again feels the blood soaked hair mixed with mashed flesh of the back of his scalp.

He strains to look at his hands in the light of the fire and grimaces before wiping the hand on his breastplate to clear the bulk of it. He looks up again at the Harpy "Please, if I may, the gag." he says to the creature and raises his hands gently towards her to pull down the gag eyes again locked on hers.

"Get back, all of you."

Salen is in no mood for discussion, and shoves back anyone who comes close to the Harpy. He can't stop them from asking questions, though. Still, he helps the Harpy out of her predicament, and offers her a hand.

The young Harpy, now free of her bindings look up at the strange humans crowding about her, flinching at their speech.

Eventually with tears in her eyes she asks "Are you going to eat me?"

For the moment Salen's hand is ignored, more from fear than rudeness.

Henal looks back at the others clustered round the harpy and speaks in an irritated tone. If we don't get on and fight the chaos harpies we will all get eaten.

"You fight the other Harpies?" exclaims the young creature "Then you must save our queen, she is in the temple and will be sacrificed. The ceremony has begun..."