The Fray of Werebirds [Discontinued]

Chapter 33 - Skylar City

I crept forward, gripping the heavy wooden plank in my hands tighter. I paused, breathing carefully through my nose as my prey stretched his arms out, yawning. I took a step, lifted my weapon, and smacked down as hard as I can. The werebird's head snapped forward and the plank shuddered violently in between my sweaty palms. My victim slumped down and I straightened up shakily, dropping my weapon.

"Is he down?" Jay whispered, entering the crime scene.

"I think he is," I replied, poking the guard's body with my toes. "He'll be out cold for a while."

"Good, now get ready, Gregory may be giving the signal any time now."

Jay and I crouched down by the large golden bell hanging in the center. We had successfully snuck into Skylar City and were now on top of one of the three bell towers. The bell was on the top of the tower placed in a small room enclosed only by a brick fence, a pyramid roof and a view of the entire city in between.

Sneaking in was surprisingly easy, apparently there were rarely ever any disturbances from outsiders in the flock, so werebirds have been letting their guard down. It was the perfect time for Queen Isabella to make her move. Luckily, we were one step ahead.

"I think I can see Brock and Ethan on that tower," Jay commented.

I squinted my eyes and spotted Brock's shock of red hair bobbing up and down. "Yup, that's them. What about Gregory? I don't see him on the final tower."

"I do," Jay grinned, pointing.

My eyes travelled until they spotted Gregory. He was, literally, on the tower. Unlike us, he didn't take the normal route (the stairs) to reach the top. Instead, he decided to take a detour from above, as he was clutching onto the roof shadowing over the bell. Smoothly, Gregory slid down and swung into the bell room, knocking the guard down with one firm kick.

"Come on, that's the signal," Jay said when Gregory held up a glimmering object to the sun.

I grasped the rope and pulled, gritting my teeth. When the bell didn't budge, Jay clasped his own hands above mine, and together we yanked. I felt the noise before I heard it. The tower vibrated underneath me and my legs wobbled, then came the clanging of the bell, loud and demanding like an attention-seeking child. In the distance the other two bells joined in. Each bell had a different pitch, I noticed. Ours was the deepest.

We pulled again. I raised my voice, asking over the loud noise, "Do you think this is going to work?"

"For as long as I have known, no werebird misses a three bell event," Jay replied. "It's one of the most important alerts. In fact, it rarely happens. Personally, I've only heard it twice it my life, including this time."

He was right. Within five minutes after we had started ringing the bells, more than a hundred werebirds had piled out of their homes and were either gathered on the streets or perched on the branches. Did I mention that the city was constructed on large trees? It was. I was even told that there were elevators inside some of the tree trunks.

We stopped ringing the bells when Sirena and Millicent descended from the sky. The girls landed in their human form on a wide marble balcony sticking out of a large palace. Slowly, the bells' echoes faded away.

Sirena's arrival swathed Skylar City in a cloak of silence.

For a long time, there was only the faraway memory of the clanging bells resounding in my ears, nothing more. Then the crowd began to murmur, and gradually, like an orchestra rising to its climax, the confused whispers evolved into hollers and exclamations of disbelief. Sirena raised a hand, returning the silence once more and earning the full attention of every werebird in the area.