She hunched desperately over the cloudwing's back, her own wings held at a hellish angle as she moved with the beast in a shadow of memory from her youth spent clinging to the leggy striders bred for mounts. Pain burned through her as she cursed it for its slowness, but she knew at a sprint it was still far faster than anything she could manage herself and the best she could do was try not to hinder it. The lines of energy burned into her skin glowed with the intensity of her need to get there faster.
As the familiar stones marking the cavern's entry came into view, desperation took over and she let herself slide off its feathered back as it banked, kicking free of the straps and stirrups that normally held a flier secure and trusting the beast to recover. As well trained as it was, it would go straight to its handler and its bed of soft grasses, and there was no time for procedure. No time!
Her leathery wings snapped open into an ugly, fast glide aimed directly for the entrance. Compared to her task, what was the risk of a few scrapes and bruises? The precious vials were secured and nothing else mattered but getting them where they were so desperately needed, safely. The ground rose to meet her at a pace still not fast enough, and stumbling gracelessly from a three point landing into an awkward sprint thrown off balance by momentum, she barely furled her wings in time to avoid scraping the narrow edges of rock. A blaze of emerald flame and desperation, she pounded down the corridor into the main chamber, looking around frantically to see how much damage the delays had caused.
Above her rose the eerie, beautiful form of the land's hope, unfinished but so full of promise for those who lived in its strange arcane shadow. Before her, under its spindly limbs, a cowled woman huddled, shivering and blank eyed.
A few seconds passed before the gaunt figure was able to shake herself from her stupor enough to recognize the new arrival. The desperation of hunger, of raw need, froze her mind at the edge of shattering, but even as she stood on the abyss of madness and rage tearing at her soul, one thought soaked through the agony. The glowing lines of verdant fire meant relief. Respite. Sanity for another few hours, another day.
No matter the hideous wings, the blind eyes that somehow saw from blazing pits of fel. No matter the tattoos of energy seared into flesh, merging demon and woman. Relief. Safety. Sanity.
In the instant that it took for the trickle of realization to sink in past the hunger and fury, she was surrounded, held, comforted. Clawed hands fumbled a vial to her lips, leathery wings wrapped protectively around her. As the vial's contents slid down her throat, she let herself collapse into the embrace, clinging to the feeling of the liquid's glow expanding from her stomach throughout her being, bringing with it warmth, sanity, life. The screaming, tearing hunger that pried at her very mind faded and full awareness returned slowly. Shame at being seen in such a state and fear of the final fall into the abyss from which no one returned warred with gratitude for another day.
As the effects flowed through her, she composed herself as best as she could. The others! The others would need help as well. She pulled away slightly, and the winged form holding her knew instinctively why. With her mind stable enough to retain reason, and with it hope, she would be able to work through the last vestiges of the discomfort. The others were still trapped with the madness gnawing at them, threatening to take them should they slip for even a moment.
The being spoke quietly "I've got enough arcwine for everyone, Thalyssra.".