14a Against the Insects
Chitter CheEeEeE!
The vibrating sound of the clicking mandibles screeches about the air around him, and even as he concentrates on his spell, Finn sees more of the black giants popping into existence all around him - four, five, seven! his fingers fly with haste as he murmurs words of power, his lips and tongue caking with dryness borne from the fear of the outcome of even the slightest slip of his spell work.
But the horror is for naught, it is a moment longer and Finn is rising up into the air, out of the reach of the small animals, though it not with a renewed relief of the danger he has just escaped. From the mound, several more of the things have swarmed, and now a small swarm of a dozen or more are swarming the spot he had just left, the late comers climbing over the backs of the others, reaching desperate legs skyward to take Finn from his floating roost.
Finn breathes a nervous sigh of relief, taking a moment to reorient himself after having risen several yards into the air, looking for a larger of the cactus trees where it might be possible to land himself for a moment on a branch to watch the insects cluster below for long enough for the others to make their clean escape.
Quick enough he finds a target that meets his needs - a large tree a stones throw into the wood whose bark is mostly clear of the prickly spikes that cluster all about the smaller trees. As he moves, Finn watches the small crowd of ants pile below him, reaching, clawing skyward. Smiling despite himself, Finn hovers easily forward, thinking himself out of reach of the impish attacks that scuttle along below him. Finn is about to alight on his target when he realizes that he is not entirely correct...
Out from behind the trunk, one of the insects pops up on a limb nearly level with Finn, and a swift look towards the roots show that several more are following in trail. Finn concentrates hard in reversing his course, but not before the thing flings itself from the branch straight towards Finn's face!
Chitter CheEeEeE!
Horrified, Finn spasms away from the attack, barely evading as the cat-sized monster flies past, hitting the ground some feet farther on before turning and glaring back up towards the floating mage...
Well, in any case, it seemed climbing was out...
OOC: You are floating about six feet over the ground, which is high enough to stay out of their grasp even when they climb three high upon each others backs. However, it seems that the ants have no problems climbing the odd trees. You have clearly gotten the attention of the colony and most of the ants around you (totaling about twenty) are swarming underneath you or on nearby trees waiting to pounce. Don't worry about taking too long, no one is waiting on you yet.