Bird of Many Feathers (The World of Mythcron)

Chapter 9

Westley pov~

I felt bad for leaving my son and making him worried about me. I am the only family he has, I guess Steven's parents would take him in if something went wrong...

"Hey," Sera whispered to me as she put her hand on my shoulder and shook it. We were currently taking a break after walking for a few hours. "Stop over thinking. It will be alright," she assured me, giving me a small smile. I relaxed a bit, then remembered what I was thinking earlier.

"I've been wondering... where did this Wendigo come from," I wondered aloud and looked at her for her thoughts. She paused for a moment, thinking.

"I didn't actually.. think of that. Well, maybe some cannibalistic fool wanted more strength and turned himself into a monster," she replied, looking at the sky in thought. She looked back down at me. "Why do you ask," she questioned, tilting her head, I looked away with a grim face.

"I can't help but feel that something is.. wrong," I slowly answered, blankly watching the sky. She randomly punched me hard in the shoulder. I winced and glared at her. "What was that for," I huffed in annoyance as I rubbed my sore shoulder.

"For overthinking. Obviously, this Wendigo has you on edge," she stated, her eyes serious. Then she patted me on my hand, that was on my shoulder, and got up. She smirked and held out a hand to help me up. I begrudgingly accepted her hand, and she helped me up. "Rest time is over, LET'S GO," Sera shouted to all the surrounding people, "we still have a ways to go." I watched as the flying warriors took off in their bird forms from their perches, and the people on the ground began their walk again. I sighed and started walking at the front beside Sera. I still felt that something was wrong. I shook it off and focused on the task at hand.

Felix pov~

It was a lot more quiet around the village now that most of the warriors had left. I continued to stare down at the village from my perch high in a tree. I was in bird form. It only took me some small flying to get up here. The sun was already halfway through the sky, shining down through the thick jungle leaves. A cloud began to cover the sun, and I frowned. I hadn't sensed any rain coming, I continued to watch as the sky grew darker as the clouds grew thicker above the village. I was now beginning to get nervous and decided to head back home.

I glided down to a tree house roof and looked towards my house. I squinted down at my house using my better vision to see a figure sneaking through the window of my home. I quietly hissed to myself, ruffling my feathers and gliding the rest of the way to my house.

I quietly landed in front of my door and shifted to my half form. I slammed open my door, catching the intruder off guard, and slammed him to the ground. I looked down, angry at the creature below me a-. "AH," I groaned as someone hit me in the head. I quickly backed away to see five more of them that had entered through my door. I screeched and fanned  my tail feathers out while getting in a fighting stance.

Westley pov~

We were finally nearing the area where the creature was spotted sleeping. It was now past mid day. We quietly sneaked along the ground in our half forms. I heard a low chirp above us as a falcon flew overhead, signaling we are approaching the cave it is in.

Sera looked to her left and right and motioned for the two groups beside ours to circle it. Our plan is to make a circle around it so it can't escape, and then surpriseattack it while it is sleeping, then finish it off in the open.

Sera and I were at the very front of the group and soon saw the cave. I could just barely make out the shape of its skull mask. Sera put her hand in the air and made a signal to the archers in the trees. They pulled back their bows, and once Sera closed her fist, they released the arrows. The arrows flew overhead at a blinding speed and hit their target. The creature within the cave roared out and came out of the cave. It had 10 arrows sticking out of it. It really did look like an 8 foot shadow with long, sharp claws and a skull mask.

As it took in the number of people on the ground, the flight warriors quickly shot down in their bird forms and slashed it on the arms and back. They flew back into the air before it could swat them out of the air. Sera quickly jumped forward now that it was distracted and sliced its lower leg. It jerked its head down at her retreating figure and shot forward, but I quickly intervened and cut low into its leg. It tripped landing on all fours, just out of reach of Sera. It quickly turned on me and sliced towards my head. I ducked and sliced at its other leg. As it took a moment to hiss in pain, Sera went behind it and made a long slash down its back. It roared louder, and we took that chance to back off. It was now staying on all fours because it couldn't walk well on its back legs.

The fly-fighters took this moment, as it was glaring at us, and swooped back down. Cutting more into its back, but before they could get away, one was caught as the Wendigo quickly flashed its arm into the sky. It growled menacingly and began to slowly crush and break the bird's bones. Sera went in and sliced the arm, holding the bird. It let go of it with a hiss, and the bird landed on the ground. I jumped back in and cut into its back in the same spot that Sera had. It roared, then suddenly leaped onto me.

Sera quickly grabbed the bird and tossed it to someone. I quickly moved my head to the side as it tried to bite it off. Then I kicked it in the stomach, just in time for Sera to take another cut into its back. Once it jerked its head in her direction, I quickly rolled out from under it and tried to cut into its leg again, but it jumped into the air. I rolled once more out of the way as it landed where i once was. The Wendigo then went for Sera again, and she dodged its attacks. I came up behind it to cut its back once more, but before I could, it clawed me and knocked me into a tree. It had learned our routine. I gasped in pain at the three long scratches running down my chest and after having my breath knocked out of me.

Sera glared angrily at the monster and managed to cut off one of its back legs. After that, the others grouped up on it in its weakest state. It slowly collapsed to the ground. Sera ran over to me, making sure I was ok.

Just as the Wendigo was about to take its last breath, it gurgled out one word, "vampires," then died, it turned into ash only the skull left behind. My heart skipped a beat, "WHAT," I screamed and stood up fast, instantly regretting it as pain shot through me and my vision darkening, seeing stars. Sera quickly held me up, and i leaned heavily onto her. I looked at Sera, panting, and she looked panicked, too. "We need to GO... NOW," I huffed, trying to steady myself on my feet as my vision cleared some. Sera sat me back down on the ground and just let her, no energy to keep standing. Oscar flew down and shifted in front of me.

"Calm down, what is wrong," he asked, confused by my behavior, as was everyone else around me.

"The.. village is not... safe," I huffed out breathlessly. "Those -" I began to pant, and Sera finished for me.

"The vampires are attacking the village," she finished frantically, waving a hand around in front of her.

"It was a... trap," I panted out, finding it harder to breathe. Everyone began to rush to leave, some helping to carry the wounded. I tried to get up again but couldn't. Sera held me down and motioned for two  people to carry me. I heard her say something like shift, so I went to peacock form. After that everything went black.