Shapeless Hero

3 - Crows

Somewhere in a vast forest, inhabited by magical creatures and plants, two crows share a tiny, well furnished tree house. Hidden in one of the many treetops, it makes for a great retreat. 

Usually.

Karl covers his amused expression with both black wings, looking at his deflated, fellow on the floor. "You did not expect the gods to grant your wish like that, did you?" His soft chuckles escape and echo within the tree house. Seeing his life-long companion's attitude change from a brave challenger to a defeated husk on the floor within mere minutes, due to whatever happened outside, is a cute thing to witness. "You were so confident before leaving, telling me how you would 'scare off the noisy newcomers' with your 'mighty magic' so we could relax in our homestead undisturbed. And now you look like you have been swatted away by a titan."

August - the sulking, dark pile of feathers on the ground - rolls over to look at Karl. "I wish! At least I could take on a damn titan or two! When I bitched to the gods about being bored with hunting down the same dire wolves over and over again, I did not expect humanoids of that caliber to arrive as their response!"

Head cocked, Karl narrows his eyes. "...and what kind of humanoids does it take, that my dear, titan-defeating battlemage actually had to retreat for once?"

August thinks for a moment trying to remember the details of the short but intense encounter he just had. "The kind of humanoids with shields, swords, staffs, tomes, plate armor and a uniform color scheme. I think teal, blue and gold were the main colors."

"Oh dear. " mutters Karl, rubbing the bottom of his beak with his wing.

"You look like you actually had read about them. How bad is it, bookbird?"

"...you might have just encountered and survived one of the highest ranking forces of the Imperium. Your combat intuition probably saved you, where my spellcrafting would have not been enough. Consider yourself lucky that they didn't catch you."

August scowls hearing that. "Oh we're in deep shit then..."

Karl sighs. "Yes, they will flatten the whole area, if they can't find and kill you first."

"So we gotta move again? How long has it been? Three months?"

"Two months and twenty days. And perhaps we should consider living in a humanoid settlement, instead of moving to another part of the forest. We could settle down in—"

"Focus, big-brain! Escape first, vacation plans later!"

"...right." Karl starts an arcane chant to pack away their belongings into a pocket dimension. Few seconds later, the miniature house is empty. The two crows sail away, staying close to the tree tops, hoping none of the humanoid spellcasters decide to randomly scan birds for magical signatures.

August scans the area beneath with his eyes. "So, how's the plan?", he asks.

"Ah, we should probably warn the jackdaw-clan first, before the humanoids start their destruction. I'm sure we can earn some favors, since we could save their—"

"How about we just tell'em out of the goodness of our heart?", August interrupts. This is not the time for diplomatic schemes. After a heartbeat of silence, August jerks his head in search of something. "Wait. You sensed that too, right?"

"Indeed. It was teleportation magic, but... not humanoid?"

#

August lands next to Karl in the glade's grass. "You're getting us killed, Karl! If we noticed the teleportation, then the humanoids did too!"

Karl can't help himself. A new mystery to solve for him showed itself, when they flew over this glade: A creature that was hunted to extinction, because their impersonation skills were used for ill too many times. A shapeshifter.

August takes just a short glance at the creature. It's hunched over and repeats the phrase "Kill me." over and over again. "Looks just like a depressed puddle to me. Could be a trap. How about we just kill it?"

But Karl is already lost in thought. Shapeshifters were described to possess the intelligence of a non-magical critter, which was enough for their hunting strategies, but not sufficient for speech or a higher level of self-recognition. This specimen here on the other hand, not only talks, but also seems to be very aware of its own existence—it clearly wishes for the latter to end. Assuming he's not on some mind altering substance, he could reinvigorate and expand the research of those creatures, earning some academic credit in the process.

August sighs, seeing the excitement in his fellow crow's sparkling eyes. It's hard to break the determination of that well-known scholar. Trying to speed up the process of getting-the-hell-out-of-here, he asks: "You got a plan, mister doctor?"

"No! Not at all!" Karl happily proclaims, spreading his wings to underline his joy.

"The tone didn't match ya words there, buddy..."

Karls' voice shakes from excitement. "Dear, do you not realize? We probably just found a completely unknown subtype of the shapeshifter species!"

"Why unknown? Does it have some fancy color patterns, your scholar-friends haven't written down in excruciating detail yet?" August asks, hardly interested.

"What? No! Activate your magic detection and take a closer look for yourself!"

August does as he was told, as to not accidentally extend the conversation. He then directs his now mana-perceiving eyes back at the creature in front of them. A "Woah!" escapes him and his eyes flare open in understanding.

Karl notices the surprise, of course. "See?! Isn't that something?"

"The energy flow in that shapeshifters' body is insane. Its mana-density rivals sages - or dragons even! Something's off with the energy-patterns though." 

August's profession requires proficiency in finding the weak-spots in an enemy creatures' mana-flow. Knowing the right places to hit is essential for efficient takedowns of spellcasters. The shapeshifter has hundreds of such weaknesses. "Wow, this one really got crippled on an arcane level... was it hit by an inner disruption spell?"

"Maybe, but its patterns were kept quite intact. If the intention was to cripple it, they wouldn't just cut the circuits here and there." An idea enters Karls' mind. He wants to be the first one to try it on a shapeshifter and brag about it to the other scholars later. "It's now or never! Let's reconnect the mana-lanes in that creature!"

"You. Are. Insane!" The complexity of a full mana-flow restoration can not be understated. It is only done for royalty and their court mages for a reason. "We're running out of time! How do you plan to do this all by yourself?!"

"With the assistance of the shapeshifter itself, of course!"

August blinks twice, then sighs in resignation once he processed the response. Karl can't be saved from his own curiosity anymore. "Fine! Do as you please, but if I see the shapeshifter make a wrong move, I'll blast it with fire and drag you out of this place. I can't play your damn guardian all the time, you know?"

Karl chuckles. "I expected no less from you, my dear. I'm in your care then." He starts to weave a spell for temporary telepathy as a prerequisite for what is next to come.