Cuthbert stopped to catch his breath, surprisingly, life in a cell hadn't been too different from life as a cleric. Sedentary, and void of food most days. He had a habit of getting so transfixed in his work that he'd regularly lose track of time. It was better to say he never actually kept track to begin with but even so he still found the jump from night to day after entering the portal an odd gap in time. He turned around to see he didn't really get too far but this terrain wasn't exactly like the gardens of Alexandretta. He had to avoid multiple spots where the mud was knee deep or impassable unless he wanted to swim and there was no way he was jumping into this water without knowing the type of animals that lived in the area.
'That stupid creature, why couldn't it just hand the egg over. It's probably dead by now if not then at least alive with a few less limbs and on the way out either way.' Relief flooded Cuthbert at the idea that he had one less burden to deal with.
As he stood there, he realized the rampaging noise of the wyvern ceased which for Cuthbert meant it wasn't long before the wyvern came after him. He turned around and from his vantage point he couldn't really see the wyvern on the other side of the tree but to his surprise the trog emerged from underneath the tree, its muddy body streaked with fresh, dark blood—whether its own or the wyvern's, Cuthbert couldn't tell. It moved with a slight hesitation with one claw over its belly, like something inside wasn't quite right.
'Constipated?'
But still, it walked, still, it sought him out.
As far as he could tell it was unscathed with all his limbs still attached. The trog wasted no time locating him and started to make its way towards Cuthbert.
'What the hell? There's no way that wyvern just let it walk away. Is this thing really a Troglodyte?'
'What an interesting underling we've stumbled across Cuthbert. Let's not let it go to waste! Gwhahaha'
"No, no, no! I won't allow you to do as you please!"
Cuthbert watched the trog walk towards him while suppressing the voice as best as he could. As the voice subsided he caught the site of another wyvern dropping talons first towards the trog. This one seemed larger with a darker coloration than the first. Its spine was adorned with spikes running along its back. The wyvern wasted no time reaching the trog and thrusting all of its weight onto the unsuspecting creature. Half of the wyvern's body disappeared underwater as its wings thrashed against the water to keep itself airborne. Water splashed everywhere as the wyvern struggled with the mud attaching itself onto its lower body.
As the wyvern lifted its claws from the water, Cuthbert saw what it clutched—Shakti, no doubt. It dropped its prey onto dry land and started to tear it apart with its deadly fangs. Cuthbert didn't wait.
He ran.
He figured this was his best chance to get away before being noticed as he whipped away vines and splashed about with every footstep.
Everything in the swamp was already watching him.