Laraelra stood her ground, launching two quicksilver bolts at the images. An illusoty Nameless Haunt dissipated under the assault, and the other roared as the silver colored missile slammed into his wide feline snout.
Meloon ran forward, leaped into the air, and swung his axe with a roar. The blades passed cleanly through two more images, popping them like soap bubbles. Meloon landed and rolled along the ground, coming back up in a crouch behind the creature, his axe at the ready.
Vharem carried Vajra back to the trees as quickly as he could, preceded only by Osco running full out. Renaer held up a long sword and backed away, trying to provide cover for them to get their vulnerable friend away from danger.
The claws of the four remaining Nameless Haunts all glowed silver-blue. They raised their arms and wings in unison, and then snapped all sixteen limbs straight out. Shadowy webs shot out of eight pairs of wings and claws to entangle Osco, Meloon, Vharem, and Laraelra.
Meloon whirled with his axe and stumbled out of the dark patch. He encountered no resistance. "Hey! It's nothing!"
Laraelra stepped to one side, her hands cupped together. She finished her spell and unleashed a dazzling display of colored lights over the cat-man and his shadow web. Her magic wiped those images away.
Osco jogged forward, a slight whistling at his side, and whipped his sling upward. The stone bullet easily pierced the head of his feline attacker, and the mirage dissolved.
Renaer stepped forward to help Vharem and Vajra, but yelled, "Hey!" as he found the shadow webs solid, unlike the others. The dark cocoon containing Vharem and Vajra quivered and large batlike wings unfurled from its surface and flapped the cocoon skyward. The sole remaining Haunt flapped its wings and hovered over the clearing, chilling everyone with the cold downdraft of his huge wings. While the dark cocoon flapped off to the east, the Nameless Haunt looped high skyward and then dived toward Laraelra.
Quicksilver bolts flashed from her fingers and streaked straight for his wings, stunning him and turning his glide into a tumble. Laraelra turned and ran, but the Haunt rolled out of his fall and pursued, loping along on his arms and legs like a cat. She reached the trees just ahead of the Haunt, who shoved her into a large tree.
Laraelra vanished.
"No!" Renaer and Meloon yelled, and they broke into a run, brandishing sword and axe.
The Nameless Haunt turned toward the roaring warriors. He gestured, a slight glow of magic on his claws, and a large pit groaned open in their path. Renaer, unable to check his speed, fell in. Meloon leaped, swinging his axe, and landed on the far edge of the pit. He sank his axe into the frozen turf, his weapon holding him up at the edge of the pit. "Climb up me, Ren!" he yelled, but Renaer lay stunned at the bottom of the pit. Meloon shifted around, using his free hand to grab at frozen grass and turf at the edge to pull himself out.
The area went dark around Meloon as the Nameless Haunt glided down to crouch over where Meloon scrambled out of the pit. The cat-man sniffed, growled low, and extended one claw at Meloon's axe. His touch turned the axe's wooden haft to dust, and Meloon yelled as he fell backward into the pit.
Sniffing ahd growling, the Nameless Haunt looked down into the pit. He called down to the men. "Nameless shall take wizards to talk. You and your friends stay here."
His head twitched to one side, as if he caught a scent, and he lashed his wings back, slamming Osco Salibuck on both chest and back, driving the wind out of him. The Nameless Haunt stepped over to the gasping halfling and picked him up by his cloak and collar, sniffing at him more intently. Osco struggled for breath, made even harder as his cloak pulled taut, pressing the clasp against his windpipe. The cat-man's yellow eyes widened, and he smiled.
Osco winced. "Stop! Don't eat-"
"HappylittlemanPikar! Nameless joyous!" The cat-man pulled the halfling into an embrace and licked his face, then pulled back with a growl. "You are not Pikar, though your scents are similar. Who are you?"
Osco, finally breathing normally, struggled against the creature's greater strength, and said, "Pikar? You've got me confused, saer. I'm Osco Salibuck."
"Osco did not have this." Osco shuddered as the cat-man's claw popped out in front of the halfling's left eye. "He also had a beard and stank of bad pipeweed."
"Sounds like me great-gradam. Hey-you knew him? And Pikar was me great-gradam! Say, how old are ye?"
The Nameless Haunt cocked his head, considering Osco's words, and the lightly furred face held a quizzical look. "You are a friend of the Blackstaff?"
"Aye!" Osco nodded, still squirming to break the creature's grip. "At least until you made off with her! Where'd you take her?"
"Home." He carried Osco over to the pit's edge, holding him over the edge as he looked down on the two men. "You are friends with the Blackstaff, too?"
Meloon nodded. He seemed awkward and insecure without his axe.
Renaer rubbed the back of his head and said, "Yes, and if you've-"
The Haunt gestured, and the pit filled up from below, raising the two humans back up to stand even with him. Renaer still held his sword, but he dropped it when the Haunt tossed Osco at him. The cat-man held up his hands and said, "Peace, then. We too are friends of the Blackstaff. We shall go to my home. We carry you, yes?"
"I can walk on my own," Meloon huffed.
The Nameless chuckled, shaking his head. "You cannot reach our home by walking. You need wings."
"Do you vow on the Blackstaff not to harm us? Or those you captured?" Renaer asked.
"Aye. All are safe. We go now."
The Nameless Haunt spread his arms, but Meloon shook his head. "I'm not going with that thing. Not flying."
The cat-man seemed puzzled as he looked to Renaer, Osco, and then back at the cross-armed Meloon.
"Meloon, come," Renaer said. "We know we can't fight him, and he's offered us hospitality. Let's go."
"You go. I'll follow on foot." Meloon picked up Renaer's sword and looked at the cat-man. "Which way do I need to go?"
One claw extended to the northeast. Meloon nodded, then turned and started walking that way. The Nameless Haunt launched a quick spell at his back, which froze Meloon in mid-stride. He swept his left arm back to hold Renaer back, and said, "He is scared to fly, we think. We go now. Easier. Come."
The cat-man wrapped his left arm around Renaer's shoulders, and Renaer threw his right arm around the Haunt's massive shoulders, above the joints where his wings sprouted from his back. The Haunt shrugged Renaer off the ground and walked to collect the frozen Meloon, wrapping his right arm around Meloon's waist and carrying the paralyzed warrior like he would a large log. He then flapped his wings and took to the air.
Renaer had only ever been this high in the air with a solid tower beneath his feet, and his stomach watred with him as he saw the ground drop away. He gulped and breathed deeply, and the cat-man snorted. "It's easier to not look down. Look up, groundling. Look up."
The Nameless Haunt flew high into the air, and Renaer looked up. The clouds had parted and he could see Sehlne brighter and closer than ever before. The Haunt swooped up and over, and Renaer let out a slight gasp of surprise that became a deep laugh as they rushed to the ground. "I never knew flying felt so free! So alive!"
"Hey!" Osco yelled. "What about me?"
The Nameless Haunt snatched Osco by the shoulders with his foot claws. after a moment of wailing and howling, Osco started laughing.
Renaer called down to him, "What's so funny, Osco?"
"You ever have such a view, Ren?"
"Never."
Renaer's worries about the others faded as he focused on the experience of flying. The Nameless Haunt's strange combination of feathers and fur and strong scent mattered little, though Renaer was glad the creature's hard muscles held them aloft rather than fought them. He looked down and around and smiled. Osco was right-to see the world from on high was breathtaking. The moonlit trees were silver and white, and they flew high enough that Renaer could make out the entire southern half of the Pellamcopse. They passed over a small clearing, and Renaer saw a six-legged bear with a white mane leap upon what looked like a deer with two heads. Nearby, a tall collection of conifers stood out above the bare deciduous treetops, though their needles were a blazing red and glowing slightly in the moonlight.