The Cavalry is Dead

Chapter 15: My Friends Catch Me in a Very Bad Lie

"You said they'd be asleep," Asa hissed.

He clung to the bridge with white knuckles. The birds were drawing closer, their beaks snapping. Jax's heart was beating so hard that he could feel it in his stomach. There was something, he thought, terribly ominous about a group of bloodthirsty birds slinking towards you. "Death-by-feathers" wasn't an idea that he relished.

"What do we do?" Romes demanded.

She spun in a circle, her knife flashing in the watery morning light.

Xander's red bandana slipped down his face, but he made no move to adjust it. His face was the picture of disbelief. "I don't understand. They're meant to be nocturnal. Every scientific publication says they're nocturnal."

"Well," Romes said dryly, "I guess they can't read."

Jax unsheathed Wind-Singer. He wasn't intending to use it, obviously, but the sight of the sword might scare the birds off. Asa gave him a long look.

"They're blind, you idiot," he said.

Jax swallowed.

Ah. Right.

He lowered the sword. The birds charged.

The bridge rocked. Sharp talons and beaks ripped into his clothes, and Jax lashed out, stabbing his sword at random. The blade sunk into something fleshy. He hoped it wasn't a friend. He could hear Asa grunting, swinging his rucksack like a club.

The bridge trembled.

There was a lot of weight, Jax realized belatedly; too much weight. And with how fragile the stonework was—

The floor gave way.

Jax yelled, backpedalling towards the grass. Birds tumbled into the river, spewing white feathers. Asa let out a pained roar. He was bleeding from the forehead, gushing red blood all over the stone; his arms clung to the remaining part of the bridge.

A bird soared through the air.

The creature smacked directly into Romes' chest. Jax's heart contracted as she screamed, tumbling backward, her dark hair flying out like a banner. There was a splash. Xander raced to the edge of the bridge, falling to his knees.

"Watch it!" Xander hollered.

Jax scanned the water. Relief filled him as he spotted Romes, waist-deep in the roaring river, spluttering mud and looking pissed as hell.

"Cheers, Xan," Romes called. "Really well done. It would have been perfect if you'd only said it about three seconds earlier." She wiped at her face, spitting out water. "Five seconds would have been ideal, actually—"

The bird attacked.

Romes threw her knife. The silver weapon caught the bird in the chest, sending the creature tumbling into the water. Another bird attacked. Another. Romes was a whirl of knives, dispatching cold justice. But it wasn't enough, Jax thought; there were too many of the feathered monstrosities. He could feel his limbs screaming, and his shoulder burned with the effort of keeping his sword aloft.

The bridge rocked. Xander shouted, scrambling for purchase. Something cold settled in the pit of Jax's stomach.

They were going to die.

He gritted his teeth. Swung his sword. Talons scraped the back of his neck, and Jax half-closed his eyes. The words pounded like a second heart: we're going to die, we're going to die, we're going to die—

"I have an idea!" Xander shouted.

His face was pinched with determination. He was digging in his rucksack, using a shoe to beat off any birds that came too close. Romes let out a grunt, dispatching a large bird with a well-placed knife.