The Fray of Werebirds [Discontinued]

Chapter 23 - The Deal

"Well, well, flower boy. You sure have exceeded my expectations."

I withdrew my hand from Sirena's chest. "G-Gregory?!"

The magician was standing a few feet away from the shore, accompanied by two other werebirds I didn't know.

"I never thought you'd choose to become one of us," he beamed, evidently impressed, "Humans are far more interesting than I thought."

"How did you find us?" I asked, flustered and rather disappointed that our moment was interrupted.

"We came across Jay and the ginger on our way."

"Since you're here now," Sirena approached him, "Would you care to explain why you brought us to this island in the first place?"

"Ah, yes, that. Well, first, let me introduce you to my friends over here."

The first jailbird with him was Ethan, who had a chocolate colored afro and wore a long sleeved shirt, despite the warm weather. He bowed politely to Sirena and gave me a small smile.

The second one, Leigh, saluted with two fingers and exclaimed, "Sup, milady!"

He had oriental shaped eyes, shiny black hair and a mischievous smile that spelled trouble. He wore a tank top that read "Polly wants a cracker". I wondered for a moment from where they got their clothes. I sure needed a new outfit.

"We should be able to beat Tamara with their help," Gregory continued, "All you have to do is free them from the curse."

"But that's illegal–"

"And Tamara stealing your position on the throne isn't?"

Sirena sighed, "Why didn't you inform me in advance that the strong werebirds you spoke of were lawbreakers?"

"They're not criminals of any sort. They were falsely accused. Besides, I was quite sure that you would refuse if you knew my plan beforehand," Gregory confessed, spreading his hands in a gesture of innocence, "I had no choice but to take the risk."

"I do hope you share your plans with me in the future. On the bright side, though, I've gained some vital information concerning Queen Isabella."

When Jay and Brock returned with the food they had hunted for, Sirena told everyone what she had learned from Fernando. How Queen Isabella wanted to take advantage of Tamara's inexperience and how she planned to enslave humans once she had all three flocks under her control.

"We'll stick to the plan," Gregory decided after hearing everything, "The only chance we've got of defeating this Queen Isabella is by reaching the flock before she does. We'll make sure that Tamara is out of the way and once the werebirds see that Lady Sirena is alive I'm sure we can guide them to fight against Isabella. The element of surprise is no longer by her side."

We all murmured in agreement to that plan.

"May I join you?" Brock asked, speaking for the first time.

"Of course," I said.

"Not," Gregory put in.

I shot him a perplexed glance, "Why not?"

"We can't trust every ginger out there, flower boy. He might as well be a spy working for our enemies–"

"If you really think he's a spy," Sirena interjected, "why would you spill out our whole plan in front of him?"

"Because a. We can make use of him and b. I can easily fry his blue eyes like marshmallows when I'm in the mood for it."

"That's my Gregory!" Leigh yelled, "Oh, and now I'm craving marshmallows."

"He's not a spy," I contradicted, "He told me what happened to him before he was sent here, there's no way someone could make up a story like that. He was once a human, just like me."

Gregory shifted his gaze to Brock. "Why aren't you defending yourself, ginger?"

"You know I'm not a spy," Brock spoke with confidence. "You like games, don't you? You would have killed me a long time ago if you wanted to. I know you can. I can see it in your eyes. How about this offer, then? Kill me the moment you're bored of toying with me, which, by the way, I assure you won't happen. I may not be the only Bogus anymore, but I'm still quite fun to have around."

For a tense moment the two observed each other, their eyes cold and wary. Locking eyes with Gregory was equivalent to being at his mercy, so when the latter stretched his arm out, I expected Brock to wince with pain. He didn't.

Instead, Gregory purred, "Deal."

Brock shook his hand, firmly sealing the deal.

As I watched the two reach to an agreement, I realized that I had never thought much about Sirena's uncle before. I only ever knew him as the badass dude, and yet little did I know that this one particular badass had a backstory of his own.