The Fray of Werebirds [Discontinued]

Chapter 26 - Seven Seconds

"Where's Leigh?"

We were all assembled on the same shore where I had experienced my first flight, or at least all of us except for Leigh. Even Millicent was there after Jay had explained to her the situation at hand, but I could tell that she was giving Gregory the cold shoulder. She did apologize to Sirena, though, about the bad impression she left when we had first met her. After accepting her apology, Sirena scanned our group briefly and noticed the absence of the jolly werebird.

"I think he said he'll catch up with us," Ethan answered.

"Alright, then, let's start undoing the curses," Sirena said, "Who shall I begin with?"

"You guys have been here longer than I have," Brock told the three other jailbirds. "You should go first."

Millicent ended up going first. She knelt before Sirena on one knee, and waited patiently as the latter placed two fingers on the former's forehead and hummed a tune. At first it sounded more like a nursery rhyme, but when I strained my ears I realized she was muttering string of vague words and not just a melody. Either way, I was mesmerized by the strength of her voice. For once, I did not see Sirena as the pianist I had fell for, but as the magnificent daughter of a queen, a lady worthy of respect.

Behind the two girls, the reflection of the sun shimmered on the sea's surface, adding a game-like setting to the spectacular scene unfolding. I wouldn't have been surprised if a box with a list of choices appeared underneath. Perhaps this whole ordeal was a high quality video game, except that we, the players, didn't have the privilege of returning to our last save point. If that was possible, then Gregory's friends may not have ended up on Yardbird Island. But then again, if that had happened, there wouldn't have been any werebirds Sirena could reach out to for help. The idea was beyond complicated so I shook my head vigorously and watched the counter-curse come to an end.

In seven seconds, Sirena was able to – illegally, if I might add – break a curse that lasted for seven years.

"Thank you," Millicent breathed, smiling gratefully.

Afterwards came Jay's turn. I must have done a lousy job at hiding my irritation when Sirena touched his forehead because Brock asked me if I happened to be choking on a frog. I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous question. Then it was Ethan's turn, and, last but not least, Brock, who gave me a thumbs-up when he was no longer bound to the island. Each time the counter-curse took approximately seven seconds, and each time Sirena looked paler than the last.

"Are you alright, Lady Sirena?" I asked carefully.

She nodded absent-mindedly.

"Leigh's still not here," Jay pointed out.

"We don't need to hurry at the moment," Millicent told him, "Last night I managed to squeeze out some information from one of the jailbirds who are planning to side with Queen Isabella. Apparently she's not coming to free them of the curse until next week. We should be safe for the moment."

"Bribing convicts to perform her dirty deeds," Jay mused, "Such a lowly thing to do."

"Indeed," Gregory agreed, "Although I do have to admit it's smart. In order for her not to lose too many of her own flock members she's risking the lives of wild lawbreakers no one will ever miss. In fact, it's too smart I doubt our friend Bella designed a scheme like this on her own."

"Bella?" Millicent chuckled. She stopped abruptly, though, probably realizing that she had failed to ignore Gregory completely. She returned as soon as possible to her I-am-not-giving-you-a-second-chance attitude.

Before the silence evolved into an awkward atmosphere, Leigh ultimately made an appearance. He wasn't alone, though. He was dragging a scrawny werebird with yellow hair that reminded me of lemon sorbet. I almost lost myself in a quicksand of craving for ice cream when the boy was tossed towards us. He stumbled forward clumsily and stared at us with fear munching at the corner of his eyes.

"See all those werebirds, Arthur?" Leigh put an arm around the terrified fellow's shoulders, causing him to flinch. "It wouldn't be wise of you to fly off, now would it?"

"Who is this?" Millicent demanded, "And where have you been?"

"Little Arty here is this week's supplier for the island," Leigh explained, "I'm quite sure he could be useful to us in some way or another, especially if he was sent from one of our enemies' flock."

This seemed to have perked Gregory's interest. He lifted Arthur's chin and stared at him dead in the eye. The color drained out of the younger werebird's skin as if the magician had absorbed it.

"Tell me, lemonhead, what's it like where you come from? Is it sour? Jokes aside, whom is it that you serve, Queen Tamara or Queen Isabella?"

"I- er- I'm not- you've got the wrong guy- erm–"

Leigh smacked him on the head. "Answer him, lemonhead."

"I-I-I don't serve them I swear!" he shrieked, "I serve Queen Alicia – I do, really!"

"Don't lie to us–"

"He's telling the truth," Gregory put in.

"And I thought we had a two in three chance of getting the right supplier," Leigh sighed.

"We can still make use of him," Gregory grinned, "Listen, my dear lemonhead. Make sure you tell Queen Alicia that she better rush to Tamara's flock because if she doesn't, things are going to get messy. Tell her that Lady Sirena is trying to prevent Queen Isabella from taking over all three flocks. It would be very convenient if we had another flock on our side."

Arthur's eyes, which had been quivering uncontrollably, widened in astonishment.

"Too much information, man," Leigh chuckled, "I think you gave Little Arty a heart attack!"

The boy stuttered a few butchered words that ended with, "S-s-s-s-so many!"

"What's so many?" Leigh asked, but by the time he had finished speaking he, too, was gaping in the same direction.

I gulped and turned around reluctantly. At first I only saw my comrades, the shore, and the sea beyond, and then I glimpsed something – no, many things – scattered all over the azure sky, like ants gathered on a kitchen table. As the black spots neared and increased in size, I realized that they were birds. There was probably around forty of them, and they were all headed in our direction.

"Who are – They can't be jailbirds!" Jay exclaimed, "They can't fly that high! They're not supposed to be – Millicent didn't you say..."

Unfortunately, they were indeed jailbirds, because in the lead, flying ahead of all the other birds, was a large raptor with a scar in replacement for one eye and a murderous glint in the other. When Fernando landed on a rock in his human form, his mouth was twisted into a triumphant sneer. He didn't speak at all, though. He performed one, simple gesture – he pointed.

It took merely seven seconds for every single pair of eyes in the sky to set on Sirena.