The Green Witch

Chapter Twenty Four

     "Why were your hands tied?" asked Gareth as Tala helped him limp through the forest.

     Tala didn't answer, She was too busy talking to the starlings, telling them how much she loved them and how clever they were. The birds were loving the compliments and more were flocking in from every direction to join in the conversation, which was what Tala wanted. She would need a lot of them to drive away the crow.

     "We put you in manacles," said Gareth. "Why would they take off your manacles and tie your hands instead? Manacles are better."

     Tala continued to ignore him. She wasn't going to give him any information he might use against her one day. Unfortunately, though, he guessed all by himself.

     "You were able to remove the manacles with witch magic, weren't you?" said the Knight. "But a tightly knotted strip of leather is a lot harder to undo. Is that right?"

     "You should save your strength," Tala advised him, gasping with the effort of supporting most of his weight. Fortunately the road couldn't be much further.

     <You're such brave birds,"> she said to the starlings. <And there are so many of you. I bet that crow wouldn't dare steal one of your chicks now.>

     <What crow?> cried the starlings in alarm. She heard alarm calls coming from the trees all around. A cacophony of sound that made Gareth stare around in surprise.

     <The crow in that tree over there,> said Tala, pointing.

     The birds didn't know what a pointing finger meant but with hundreds of eyes searching they soon found it. <Better not try to get my chicks!> she heard one of them declare angrily.

     <You haven't got any chicks,> another told it. <None of us do. They all left the nest ages ago.>

     <Oh yeah,> said the first starling, sounding embarrassed.

     <Lucky for the crow,> said Tala. <I bet if you all ganged up on it you'd make short work of it.>

     <You betcha!> a starling told her. <Any crow around here knows better than to mess with us.>

     <What's it like when you all go into battle?> asked Tala. <I bet it's a fearsome sight.>

     <It is!> they assured her joyfully. <The most fearsome sight in the whole forest!>

     <Could you show me? I would love to see something so glorious and magnificent.>

     <Sure!> one of them replied happily. <Come on, lads, let's show her.>

     Tala searched around for the crow and found it sitting in a high branch, safely out of reach of her Eyes that Bite. <I've done for you!> she told it triumphantly. <You may serve the Crone but the starlings serve me. I've told them to kill you.>

     <They wouldn't dare!> cried the crow in disbelief. It was staring around in agitation, though, and must have been able to see the masses of starlings taking to the air all around it. The air was filled with their angry war cries as the birds assembled into a large swarm that circled and swept through the air like a single giant flying creature.

     <You're history!> laughed Tala, staring at the crow. <I can't wait to see them tear you to pieces.>

     <My Mistress will hear of this,> said the Crow defiantly. <Then you'll be sorry.> It took to the air and sped away in great haste, heading back to the Crone's temporary home behind them.