Eight of Sparrows

prologue

There was something sinister hiding in the shadows. Something strong enough to tear down whole villages and civilizations. Joost was here to find it. He moved around the forest, leaves crunching under his feet. He cursed silently, trying not to make so much noise. If he wanted to catch this thing, he had to be totally silent and aware. He closed his mouth, closed his eyes, and listened.

Rustling, in the branches. His eyes darted open, looking around, sword poised in front of him. "You got this, Joost. It can't be more than a mere animal, right? Yeah..yeah.. Just an animal." Joost took a deep breath in his mouth and out his nose. Just as the rustling started up again. He whipped around, sword heavy in his hands and swinging around in front of him.

"Come out! Whoever - whatever - you are! I'm not scared of you!" He raised his sword again, having it poised straight in front of him. There was more rustling then as he whipped around to find the source of the noise. "I mean it! Come out!" Joost was scared shitless but he couldn't make that known with his body language. He had to keep up the strong monster hunter persona.

He circled around the small forest clearing, swords outstretched, ready and waiting for this thing to attack. He was shitting himself internally but had to kill this thing or else he wouldn't get his pay. And he really needed the money, life was difficult these days.

Then, there it was. A flash of light. And then Joost was down on the ground, a large body of something pressed down on top of him. Claws were gripping his arm, threatening to break the skin beneath. Joost starting wrestling the thing, rolling over and finally catching a glimpse of what tackled him down.

It was human.. But not quite. It had large, long black claws that could maul him easily, sharp canines that would be good for tearing up meat and nibbling on bones, and a large pair of black wings suspended and outstretched on its back. "What the hell are you?" The monster clearly didn't have an answer but it switched their positions again.

Joost was pressed down into the forest floor, his backpack groaning underneath the pressure of his body. He was sure that his lunch was crushed by now. Nevermind his sword was flung out of his hands and out of his reach when the thing tackled him.

The person-thing outstretched one of its clawed hands towards Joost's face and he had to do his best not to flinch away. The person-thing was actually very gentle as it caressed Joost's face. It hopped off of Joost's body and turned around, grabbing his sword for him and then helping him upright. "Thank you," Joost suddenly had a question, "Hey, Can you even speak?"

The monster, for a better choice of words as saying person-thing was quite a lot and rude (even though calling it a monster was even ruder), turned back to Joost, shaking it's head and quietly handing him his sword. Then they motioned for Joost to climb on their back, even though he was incredibly confused, he did so.

The creature (yes, good choice of words Joost!) then started running through the forest until they found a clearing that wasn't very far from Joost's village. "Thank you, really, I thought you would have eaten me by now."

The creature shakes his head, a small, what looks to be, smile, comes over their features. Suddenly there's a gust of wind overtop Joost's head and he's being lifted up very high into the air. He flails his arms and legs, which very much isn't a good idea by how he's thrirty feet up in the air. The thing that was holding onto him loses it's grip.

And then he's suddenly dropped down, falling down towards the earth and bracing his body for impact. Joost hits the grassy ground rather hard, all air being pushed out of his lungs. The last thing he sees and feels is a clawed hand digging into his chest before he promptly passes out.