[center][color=green][h3]Lewa[/h3][/color][/center]

Although the situation looked dodgy at the beginning, Lewa knew he could count upon his new allies. Their sheer power quickly turned the tables on those who'd ambushed them. More worrisome was the elusive threat that had crept up from the shadows behind them, unbeknownst to Lewa. Thanks to an unexpected alert from the young fae, though, Anne managed to foil what might have otherwise been an assassination and fend off the other half of the underground pincer maneuver. Once the situation stabilized, with Lewa's summoned winds helping to defend the otherworlders' position and give them some space against their foes, the team's heavy hitters could start going to town.

Unfortunately, the berserker Fran quickly went overboard. Her terrifying, bestial strength proved not just enough to put down the stubborn minotaurs for good, but also to crack and crumble the cavern walls. As the rock's structural integrity plummeted hit by withering hit, the whole area began to shake. The immeasurable weight of earth and stone bore down on the hollow from above, giving forth guttural noises like the creaks of a settling house, but far deeper, louder, and more alarming. Bursts of silicate powder streamed down from the ceiling, soon followed by gravel, pebbles, and fragments of increasingly greater size. Being farther removed from the frontlines of the fight than the others, Lewa balked as he noticed the destruction. Fran had definitively dealt with one problem, but in so doing she'd replaced it with a much bigger one. The cavern was about to collapse.

A choice lay before him: fall back, push further in, or be crushed where he stood. The toa made that choice in an instant--being trapped in this bizarre world was intolerable enough, so he wasn't about to be trapped in some cramped, dingy cave underground. Tunnels were Onua's domain, not his! As for whatever mystery lay at the bottom of this pitch-black underworld, he could care less. Of course, there could very well be an alternative exit farther along, but nothing was certain, except that Lewa needed to be free.

"Everyone!" He shouted, his fear audible in his voice. "Back out the way we came. Hurry!" This time, Lewa couldn't afford to wait to make sure that everyone stood united. He was not the leader here; the others could heed him if they wished or delve deeper into this deathtrap if they so desired. The spirit of air had made his choice clear, so he considered his duty done.

He turned back toward the meandering passage to the shop and broke into a run, his axe held aloft and whirled around to create a spiral wind overhead. That wall of air would shield him -and anyone who fled alongside him- from smaller debris, but it would prove ineffective against bigger, heavier stones. If Anne did not take the initiative to put her incredible speed to use one way or another, Lewa's path would take him right past her, giving her and her young companion the perfect opportunity to join the toa's hasty retreat.