Flying high above the treetops, a pair of van-sized Nevermore circled lazily on thermals, searching for an easy target to pick off. They'd been watching the manthings from afar earlier, knowing that like every year, humans would enter the forest and leave themselves open for attack. The pair were an old one, experienced beyond the level their size would suggest, and had managed to severely wound and in one or two cases many years ago, kill the unwary. Not the large one and the one with metal skin, too heavy to carry off swiftly...the others...yes, especially that small one.
Silently, they dove, swooping down as one to blast through the treetops directly in front of the female they'd seen climbing the cliffside earlier. The first screamed and flared its wings wide, peppering the entire area with foot-long darts, while its companion slipped around behind and dove for the small male, aiming to snatch him up in its talons and ascend, stabbing away with its beak all the while.
The King Taijitu had been following the metalskin at a distance for some time now, watching ever-patient as she made her way through the trees. Even when she was joined by the large male, it had given no indication of its intent. Soundlessly, its body, easily the thickness of a subway car, slid in between the trees, taking advantage of the areas with less underbrush to avoid any unwanted noise. They were getting closer, closer to where it needed them to be...
Siegfried landed gently near where the young boy had fallen. As he had feared, the lad's leg was most likely broken, and the pain was making him fade...only one thing for it, then. "Fear not, I am here to get you safely home. Hold still, please." As the soft-eyed student stared up at him in awe, he extended a hand, clenched it, and froze the ice dust he'd scattered into a solid block around the injured leg. "That should numb the pain a bit, too. Hold steady, stiff upper lip, you know."
He walked over quickly, and helping the boy up, readied himself to depart. That was, at least until an impressive Beowulf Apha crashed into the clearing, snarling bloody murder and rattling its bone spines. Its charge tore several young trees out of the ground, and its slavering jaws could easily tear a man in two.
"Oh, come off it..." Siegfried muttered, reaching out and flicking a small condensed bit of impact dust at the beast, right at its center of mass. The resulting explosion sent it hurtling backward through the trunk of a large tree, killing it before its body even struck the trunk. A click of his heels had him rocketing skyward by way of fire and impact dust, the now fainted boy in his arms.