Paradox braced herself as best she could. From above, she could feel the rocks raining down upon them. They pounded her back and shoulders, the hard stone banging loudly off the metal armor. Sometimes the pieces would hit her flesh and she couldn't help but grind her teeth and wince. It was like being pelted with rocks. Beneath her, she saw Caius move and extend his hand, creating a spell. Around them a portal opened up, sucking in the largest of the stones and saving them from being thoroughly flattened into the ground. Large chunks from higher up the building rained down, some of which were larger than her, these were promptly sucked into Caius's portal before they could reach them.
In no time, she felt bruises and welts from across her hide as the fragments continued to fall and at last slowed to a stop. She waited a moment before unfurling herself, careful in case any remainders were above them and hadn't yet decided to fall. After a bit of time, she stood upright, stretching her stiff muscles as Caius's portal disappeared around them. Slowly and painfully she turned her human torso to look at the damage on her back. The portions of her back where the croupiere and criniere didn't protect were covered in various bruises and knicks, some of which were starting to bleed. She gave a sigh as she made her way gingerly over Caius and turned around to look at him. He hadn't moved from they were, even though the shaking had stopped.
"It's okay, Caius," she said, trying to reassure him. "The earthquake's over, we're okay." She stretched her back legs, noticing stinging cuts along her thighs and shoulders too. No matter, she could fix herself up at camp. She turned back to Caius, growing concerned now that he wasn't moving. "Caius?" She walked towards him, standing over him and bending at the waist to look at him better. She was shocked to see his eyes go white and his body become tense. She felt a chill go through her as she reached out to touch him. He didn't respond. "Caius?" she asked again. When it was still nothing, her concern heightened. Was he hit by a stone? Was he having a stroke or seizure of some kind? Was he dying?
She hoped he wasn't suffering from any of the previous. Unsure of what to do, she carefully picked him and his belongings up in her arms and made her way slowly back to her camp. The going was difficult, the earthquake had severely damaged what was left of the city, the streets were now littered with rocks and other debris. She had to be careful, with each step, she could easily twist her leg between some heavy stones or get caught on the wreckage. By the time she'd gotten to her side of the city, she could hardly recognize it. What remained of her camp were only a scattering of supplies, some blankets, and some of her research and samples she'd collected over the course of her stay. As gently as she could, she laid Caius on the blankets and searched quickly through the remains of her supplies.
At last, she found what she was looking for, a round metal orb, about the size of a small ball. It fit easily in her palm and she could wrap her fingers around it. Pulling out her small notebook out of her saddlebag, she flipped it open to a page she had dog eared. Scanning the text, she found what she was looking for, and glancing at Caius, whispered it into the small metal orb. After a second, she threw it as hard into the air as she could. It flew high above them and disappeared in a green light. The scientists, when they had everything set in motion for her trip, decided to have an emergency beacon put with her supplies, knowing that the island was dangerous. If she needed help, she only needed to speak the spell in her booklet into the orb and it would send a message back to the mainland. With any luck, a ship would come for them in the morning. She felt they weren't welcome here anymore and the sooner they got off this cloud the better. She'd explain it all to Caius when he woke up.