Nahiri - Lithoform core key

Nahiri turned toward him and went still, her whole expression and her posture becoming as hard as stone. For one terrible moment, Akiri thought she was going to attack Zareth. She instinctively coiled, about to move into action.

But Nahiri was quicker.

With one blur of a movement, Nahiri withdrew the shining key from her pocket, held it up toward Zareth, and spoke a word Akiri didn't understand. Akiri rushed forward but was halted by a flash so bright that she needed to shield her eyes.

"Zareth!" she shouted, panicked.

It took one, long, agonizing second for her vision to clear.

When it did, Akiri noticed two things.

First, Zareth was standing in the same place, unharmed and blinking, too. Akiri exhaled, relief flooding through her.

Second, there was a large, angry stomper hovering mid-leap behind Zareth, frozen in place. Its mouth was open, exposing its long fangs, and two of its six legs were inches from him, ready to pounce. It was clear that the ferocious beast was hunting to kill, and it was stopped at the last possible moment.

Akiri reached for her ropes, ready to lasso that beast and tie it down.

But before she could, the stomper began to melt away into sand. Within moments, there was no trace left of the creature except a handful of black grains.

"That," said Nahiri, tucking the key away, "is just a taste of the Core's power."

***

EPISODE 2: RACE TO THE MURASA SKYCLAVE