Slowly, the illhb calmed, it's breathing slow. Its eyes went heavy-lidded. All of Oru's men gathered close in beside him.
A scrabbling noise came from just below the lattices. Stones splashed in the ravine below. A dark cloud rose over the edge. It was massive, three men tall and a dozen abreast. Within the swirling mass of grit and smoke, subtle and shifting shapes suggested themselves, but never lighting too long or so completely on anything that the mind could grab hold of and understand. But the creature had wings. And teeth and claws the size of children. And though it had no discernible eyes, Oru could tell that it looked at him all the same.
Sinuously, the form slid over the arch of the bridge. First its forelimbs rose high above them, then two sets, four, and finally a half dozen sets of limbs gripped the fallen old road and masonry all about them. The creature loomed above them momentarily, cobalt-colored dust falling on them, and then the head descended through the patchy stonework until it was very nearly on a level with the group of men.
Oru did not move. Of course he said not a word. But his stillness braced his companions, and to their credit, not a soul stirred.
The ifrit paused and surveyed them one by one. Oru prayed that each might blaze his covenant such that there could be no doubt. The ifrit would find no prey; no meager soul to trick with limp promises of magic or wealth.
With a puff of wind, like a snort, the cloudy neck swept back above them, and with a leap, the creature flew from the bridge into the chasm, chased by the last light of the sun into the valley.