"Let's move on."

The next section of the path winds up the outside of the island, and includes new enemies: Loud bird-things, miniature versions of that flying monster, that swoop down from above. Gren practically hisses at them.

Tabitha tries to pull them down as they swoop and beat them to death.

This works! In addition to rupees, they occasionally drop very shiny feathers. "We can sell those," insists Nemo. He bags them up.

"I wonder, if me or Tabby dropped dead, would we leave expensive things?"

"Are you made of smoke and evil that coalesces around expensive things? Probably not. Monsters are almost all really dumb, you're not."

"You're such a charmer. And no, we came out of a vampire lady, same way most do."

"So you won't drop expensive things if you die. Unless vampire internal organs are somehow valuable, but that's just gross."

"Eh, maybe you'll live longer if you eat our hearts," she giggles.

"...Is that actually possible? That'd be weird."

"Used to be we could make people like us by making them drink our blood."

"Huh."

"That's not really true anymore, though."

"Good for your ability to keep your blood where it belongs, then, if less people have a reason to get it."

"Be hard for them to catch us..."

"Hey, let's keep going, we still have to rescue Medli."

They do indeed keep going.

There's a goblin waiting at the end of a rickety-looking rope bridge. It shouts insult-sounding nonwords at them. "I don't want to fight on a bridge... Think we could push him back if we went fast enough?"

"Easy peasy."

So they charge and kill the goblin, and move on. More climbing, crossing narrow ledges slightly worryingly near lava flows, another rock to bombfruit up.

"And all the kids here have to do this to get wings?"

"It's probably a lot easier and less monstery when the volcano's not active."

"Hope so."

They come to a room with... "Augh, rats. Watch yourselves. They like to steal things."

Kittens! The natural enemy of rats!

These are big and brave, for rats. They're not mortally afraid of kittens, and swipe back. Gren stomps a couple, they turn into smoke. "Monster rats!"