The shriek of a mad dragoness startled Baddock into consciousness … the remnant of a troubled dream … but upon awakening, his ears report that the sound is indeed real. Occasionally, a crackle of blue energy can be seen arcing across the sky, and a rumble of thunder echoes off of the mountain slopes, though the sky is free from any clouds. A six-winged silhouette limned in silver passes in front of the stars and Procession, and a shadow briefly falls across Baddock and his surroundings in the wake of the flying terror.

Baddock's body aches all over, and there is dried blood on his head and hands. His legs and gut ache severely from tripping over and falling on the shovel, and there are tears in his gi. About him is the wreckage of the Eeee airship, most of it scorched from the burning of the hydrogen-filled envelope that had kept it suspended in the air … that is, until it had been touched by the breath of that dragon. Nothing is left of the envelope itself aside from ashen fragments, though the broken timbers don't look much better. Part of a wooden Eeee figurehead smiles blindly from its shattered perch, now lying on its side at the base of a broken tree. One of the mounted ballistas points vainly at the surrounding forest, still attached to a fragment of the deck.

There is no sign of Baddock's sword or staff … though the chitin shovel sticks blade-first into the earth nearby. Many trees have been knocked down or burnt in the catastrophe, but enough are still standing to make it clear that Baddock hasn't landed in the Sacred Orchard, but rather one of the wooded areas on one of the other mountains in the area.

Baddock's body is weak from his ordeal, but so far it doesn't seem that any bones have been broken – That isn't to say that the bruises and cuts don't hurt a great deal regardless.

From what can be seen through the trees from Baddock's vantage point up on the slopes, there are signs of damage elsewhere in the valley as well. Wisps of smoke rise from a crater on a slope opposite Baddock's position, in the area where it looked like the three-headed dragon (the first one, anyway) was going to crash. Down in the valley, there are more signs of fire damage, both to the orchards, as well as to some of the thatched-roof Aelfin cottages.

Every once in a while, there is a glimpse of a light, or a few lights, or several, in amongst the trees, far away … and sometimes not so far away. Lantern or torch lights bob along, hinting at parties of short persons (Aelfin, no doubt) heading this way and that through the forests. Searching, perhaps?

Baddock's mind has all but completely shut down. He's conscious, but that seems to be doing more harm than good at the moment. All the young boy can feel is pain and shock as he remains motionless on the ground. The only thing capable of holding his attention right now seems to be the burning pains that flare up in his chest every time he takes another slow, shallow breath.

The dragon continues to circle overhead, although there's no sign that it's noticed the boy. The smell of smoke is light on the breeze, but still there. It's somewhat reminiscent of the smell of burnt candy.

After what felt like an eternity, Baddock's senses finally begin to return to him. Slowly, he feels one arm beginning to move, then the other. Despite being in such pain, he finally manages to turn himself over. Wincing as a sharp pain shoots through his arm, he pushes himself off the ground and pulls himself up into a sitting position. Still badly shaken, he turns his head to look around him.

There's plenty to see. Sections of the forest are aflame, including parts of the Sacred Grove. Wooden debris and ash litter the area around the human, although one of the ballistas appears to have survived in some small manner. A few feet away is the shovel spearing the ground like a gravedigger's tool awaiting use, and the screams of the dragon echo overhead. In the parts of the forest that aren't burning, dancing lights can be seen.

With a great deal of effort, and not without a fair share of pain, Baddock slowly staggers carefully to his feet. He half expects to collapse to the ground the moment he puts any decent amount of his weight on them.

The human's muscles scream in protest, but they hold his weight for now. Thunder echoes overhead as the dragon makes another pass and a chill wind whips through Baddock's torn clothing. Thankfully though, it carries that burnt smell away for a few moments as well.

Whistling noises echo across the valley … or, that is, it sounds like someone is blowing a whistle in one part of the forest, and someone else is answering with a different pitch from elsewhere. This pattern repeats itself several times.

Panting quietly, Baddock squints at the small spots of light that are dancing about, some distance away. The pain in his legs becomes too much to bear, as he drops to his hands and knees. Slowly, he begins to crawl along the ground as he drags himself toward the lights.

The ballista brushes against the human as he crawls along. It might be somewhat of a problem going downhill at a crawl, but perhaps no more dangerous than walking it. The lights continue to slowly sweep through the forest as the whistles call back and forth amidst the trees.

More lightning dances across the sky, echoed by the thundering screams of the dragoness. Still, no rain falls, and the sky is clear except for the smoke rising slowly from the forest.

Baddock crawls about a meter or so, then stops and lays there for a moment to catch his breath and look up at the lights. The burning pain in his legs seems to have subsided a little. With a deep breath, the boy slowly pulls himself back up to his feet. Slowly, cautiously, Baddock holds his breath and winces reflexively as he takes a step.

The legs are probably bruised in every place imaginable, but no bones have been broken. Not in his legs at least. For now they hold up.

Baddock grits his teeth as a wave of pain shoots through both of his legs. The impulse to fall back to the ground is indeed strong, but he resists and staggers slowly onward.

A half-dozen lights emerge from the trees, each of them emanating from a different tiny lantern in turn held by the tiny four-eared Aelfin. Upon spotting the human, one of them blows a high pitched note on a whistle, followed by two deeper sounding ones.

Two low notes followed by a high one answer back from several spots in the forest.

Realizing that his presence has finally been detected, Baddock drops to his knees, propping himself up on his arms. His energy is almost completely gone, and he's incapable of defending himself in any physical manner. Whatever happens, he knows he's entirely at the Aelfins' mercy.

More white figures emerge from the tree and circle the human. A few of them seem poised to defend themselves, but none of them are rushing in to attack the human. They seem to be appraising his damages and waiting to see what he does next. A few of them whisper to one another.

Baddock looks up, the bright light from the lanterns making him flinch a bit. He slowly twists his head about, looking at a few of the Aelfins' faces before once again letting his head hang in utter exhaustion.

A few of the Aelfin set down their lanterns and approach the boy. One particularly brave one kneels down and looks to be inspecting a few of Baddock's scrapes. He pulls a vial of some bluish-looking liquid from his pocket as well as a few scraps of cloth that might be for bandaging his wounds – or which might be for trussing the human up.

Baddock barely seems to notice the Aelfin's approach as it kneels down before him. He's simply too tired, too weak and in too much pain to care. His breathing continues to come in slow, labored gasps and wheezes.

A few more of the Aelfin move in, bandaging and applying stinging medication to the human's wounds. Their faces are grim, and several of them have a few wounds themselves.

Three deep whistles call out from the trees and a rickety something – probably a cart – starts to approach.

The shock of Baddock's injuries finally goes away. The boy quietly tries to use the meditation techniques he learned long ago, in an attempt to push some of the pain and weariness out of his mind, if only for a short time.

A hay-laden carriage emerges from the trees. Inside are a few of the Eeee from the airship, several of them sporting bandages as well… and also wearing ropes. It looks like Baddock is going to get similarly tied up before ending up on the cart as well.

Despite all the damage done to his body, Baddock's mind still seems intact, and it brings him a small measure of relief to be able to turn his attentions away from all the pain. That's about all he can do, right now. He watches the Aelfin go about their business, but the distant, lethargic expression on his face clearly indicates his tired indifference to the whole mess. The boy is in no condition to worry about any of it at the moment. It's enough for him just to be alive.

And with that, the human is bound up in ropes and shuffled off onto a cart. The final destination is anyone's guess.