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Having led a life of relative peace and quiet up until now, facing only emotionally trying situations, the male was wholly unprepared for the situation playing out before him. Instinct was there to guide him and the need to protect those dear to him fueled him, spurring him into such a quick action he could hardly gather in all the details around him. Surrounded by the dust-filled air and the sounds of creaking old barn standing on its last legs, every second seemed to propel onward with lightning speed. As each moment ticked by, it almost seemed to hover over him and weigh down upon him, making him acutely aware that time was running out. He had no idea how injured his niece would be, but the longer it took to find her, the more dangerous it would be for everyone.
It was only a moment before their niece called out to them, but it felt like an eternity to the Marino as he stumbled through the dust of the collapsing structure. His sibling shushed him and he obediently remained silent, pausing in his hurried steps for the briefest of moments, ears perked forward to determine the origin of Cambria’s cries. He spotted Ghita through the shadows and clouds of dust just as she darted off toward their niece, slipping beneath the platform to take the quickest and clearest path to the girl. The creaking boards of the building let out a mournful cry. Those lighting-fast seconds slowed almost to a standstill as the building wailed, and Ehno’s eyes widened in fear as he saw the platform his headstrong sister had run beneath began to sway dangerously, and with the missing support of the already fallen beams, it simply fell to the ground and buried Ghita without so much as a warning.
“No, no, no, no, Ghita! Ghita!” Loose boards from the remaining portion of the upper platform began to slip down to the ground like some sort of short-lived and dangerous hail. Each echo of the falling planks resounded in his ears, each one somehow managing to sound like his sister’s cut-off cry as she was suddenly smothered. That startled cry seemed to replay over and over within his mind, mixing with the sounds of Cambria’s sobs and the creaking of the building to create a macabre melody that chilled him to the core. Two members of his family were in danger now, and he needed to figure out a way to get to them both. “Non sta accadendo, non sta accadendo.” The frantic whisper was almost like a mantra. Maybe if he said it enough, it really would all be just some horrible nightmare.
But it was no horrific dream, and he needed to act, now. He finally willed motion into his startled limbs, yet before he could reach the mound his sibling was buried beneath, a frantic call from behind seized his attention. When he whirled around to meet its source, he was incredibly relieved to find Jazper hurrying toward the scene. The giant went to tearing through the rubble without hesitation, and Ehno nodded, took a deep breath, and directed all of his focus back to getting Cambria out of there. He trusted that Jazz would get to Ghita in time. They could do this.
Ehno turned from the scene and hurried toward his niece’s cries, hoping desperately that she would be alright as he ran. He soon found himself face to face with the sheet of metal roofing that leaned heavily against more of the fallen debris. Cambria’s scent was strong here, and he could hear her muffled sobs on the other side of it. The uncle hurried forward and peered around the warped metal and through the debris. “Cambria!” he called, a slight touch of relief coloring his voice now that he’d found her. “Stai bene?” He could see that she’d been pinned by a fallen beam, and though he could probably reach her from here, there was no way he would be able to free her and pull her to safety as long as the metal roofing stood in his way.