Toffet walked up the mountainside a bit from the dead car and called Captain Tkarro. "Tkarro--important?" Toffet said,"We're broken down twenty minutes from Shalmiraine. I just saw a flight of DRAGONS heading from west, STOP, then they dispersed in confusion, and headed back in disarray! That isn't the really remarkable thing. The River King was among them." Dokka Tkarro said,"Last I heard was he was in human form and being baby-sat by Toxic IN Taru City! Go on." "River King cast about for something like he was searching for something. He then gained altitude and made a bee-line for the top of Shalmiraine! I think you have incoming!" Toffet looked off in the distance at the tiny speck flying up toward the top of Shalmiraine,twenty miles up. Dokka said,"You have no idea. Why are you out there?" "My mother died. We were coming back from the funeral when the ATV died." Toffet was interrupted by Kella's yell. "It DIDN'T DIE! YOU KILLED IT! I said put some PETROL in it! You topped off the tank with DIESEL FUEL!" She waved her wrench at him angrily. Tavi Delgado said from the open door,"Hold it! Beside you and a vanishingly small handful of archeologists, no one knows the difference any more. Petroleum is petroleum, isn't it?" A shadow passed over them, causing Kella to flinch. She shouted,"I just fixed this, and you just wrecked it, Toffet!" A loud thud on the roof of the ATV, followed by a gust of hot wind shocked them all as an eagle of gigantic proportions with flaming wings landed on the ATV. Kella shrieked and threw her wrench with deadly aim into it's forehead. She then scrambled under the ATV. The big bird fell off the roof to land with a thud on the pavement. It shook it's head and jumped back up on top with a loud ,"AAAAAKKKK!" It looked around in irritation. Tavi said to his son,"Call your captain back LATER!" Toffet looked over his shoulder at the towering bird and said into the phone,"Captain, there is a HUGE mutant flaming bird on the car. Six meter wing-span and it's about three meters tall. Must be one of Leviathan's offspring. We're in trouble. Weapons IN the vehicle. We are NOT!" The Bird seemed to follow what he was saying. It shook it's head and made a laughing ,"Akakakakak" sound. It picked up the wrench with one talon and flicked it at him. He dodged. Dokka thought furiously and finally said,"Do NOT hang up. Talk to it. If it is from the River King and Leviathan, it IS intelligent. Try reasoning with it. Better than tossing rocks at it and pissing it off." It puffed up big as Toffet came over towards it. It strutted for the length of the roof and fell off of it again. The huge bird fussed and leaped up onto the roof again. Toffet looked agog at it. "IT seems to be a greater threat to it's safety than we are!" Toffet said in a low tone as his father rushed over while the bird was picking itself off the ground again. "Dokka! This is Tavi Delgado, Knight of Kaylee! It has the appearance of the Firebird from the city of Smoke in the book of Dao. There is a statue of one in Trashtown, down on the river, if you need a visual. My cell-phone won't picture it for some reason!" Toffet said,"Mine either. The cameras simply go out when focused on it..." Dokka said,"I'm going to try something. Put me on speaker,full volume." Toffet said,"You're on!" "TOXIC PANCHETTA! TURN BACK HUMAN RIGHT NOW!" The bird looked shocked and fell off the roof again. This time it was Toxic who climbed up to her feet, not a large bird. Toffet and Kella and Dokka on the phone fussed at Toxic for a couple of minutes until she shouted,"SHUT UP! Sunny called me! I had to go, then she stopped! I don't know where she is! Is she alright?" Dokka responded,"She's fine. THAT explains a lot! Stay there! Lime will teleport you three back. Tavi can stay with the vehicle. We'll send help,later." He rang off. Toffets looked to the skies and yelled "EXPLAINS? Like hell!" --Continued!--