Chickens of The Dawn

Iridi

    The grey hen froze, scowling.
"What dream?" She whispered through a clenched beak.
    "You know of what I speak.  You saw your dearly missed brother, the chicken who gave you the idea to start this quest in the first place.  You saw--"
    "Nonsense!" Jenny yelped, the wound on her underbelly painfully oozing blood once more.
    "You know it's true, Jennifer.  You cannot deny Iridi's choice..."
How did this crow know this?  It was a dream.  But the chicken that had been there...
   "I may not be able to read your thoughts, but I am Iridi's messenger.  I see all that she sees, and you will aid in waking her."
Waking her?
    Slate bolted out to stand at Jenny's side, and the dark grey hen stood defiantly. "We have no idea what you speak of, crow.  Your mind is dark and confused."
Jenny gave Slate a sidelong glance saying, Uh, yeah, he's knows what he's talking about.
    The hen raised a tentative foot and bounced it up and down as if the ground was boiling.  "What else can you tell us of this 'dream'?  How can we believe you?"
    The crow continued to circle around them casually, occasionally pecking at the ground. "Jenny doesn't need any help with trusting, she's pretty naive all on her own."
    Jenny lowered her head in a defensive position, gritting the point of her beak. 
    This bird definitely knows his stuff.
"Who was in her dream?"  Slate asked, her voice wavering.
    The crow chuckled and stopped walking. "Her worst nightmare, of course."
    Slate bristled.  "Who?"
"It was her."
"Who?" Slate demanded.
    "Her." The crow nodded his head sharply at Jenny.  "Jenny is her own worst enemy. Ironic, isn't it?"
Jenny shrunk between the two birds' burning stares and she could practically feel the confusion radiating off of Slate.
The hen didn't meet her friend's eyes as she stepped foreword, paying attention to any hostile movement from the crow and skirting to the edge of the clearing to--little did the crow know--Lennox's fallen sword.  Jenny didn't have hers as it was inside the hollow, but Lennox's steel cutting would do.
She could feel the crow's ebony eyes on her back and Jenny suddenly slashed the sword in a wide arc, missing the black bird by a feather tip.
He cawed in surprise and took to the skies, hovering.
"Your fate is sealed, Jennifer, daughter of Tabitha!" The crow screamed down at them.  Jenny squinted as he dropped something from his talons, the object landing at Jenny's feet.  "Iridi will destroy you!"
Slate looked on in horror as the crow flew off into the distance, but Jenny leaned down and picked up the object in her beak.  She tucked it under her wing and proceeded to drag Lennox's body to the middle of the clearing for a proper burial.  It was then that Jenny noticed Fleece's limp corpse under the shelter of bushes.
"We were afraid the crows would return." Neon explained, draping a wing over Jenny's shaking back. "That's why we didn't get them sooner..."
Jenny stifled a cry and padded over to where Fleece had fallen.
Her neck was torn in several places where the crows had attacked her. Her feathers were tattered and there was blood pooling around Jenny's feet.
Shuddering, she and Neon pulled Fleece and laid her beside Lennox.
"Who else?" Jenny murmured to Neon.
The hen sighed sadly and beckoned with a flourish of her tail. Jenny followed Neon to a towering pine tree where she saw a dead crow and....
Jenny crumpled to her side
In front of her, Allen was sprawled on the ground, her neck completely severed from her wounded body.  Her feathers were soaked with crimson and Jenny bit back a sob, tears now falling freely down her cheeks.
    "I will never again see a day like this!" The grey hen screamed, stumbling to her feet.  "I cannot!  I will not!  We will find the rebels.  We will persist in honour of our fallen comrades."
    Suddenly Jenny felt a deep bubbling hatred rise to her throat.  "We will murder the birds responsible."
Her hens nodded and clucked with agreement, urging Jenny's loathing.  "We will find their friends and ripped off their heads in front of their children!" The hen rose to her feet, her chickenly brows furrowed and her beak curved.  The gathered chickens roared with a burning resolve.
    "Vengeance is in order." Jennifer growled darkly.
Slate came to her side, looking concerned. Jenny sensed she wished to speak her opinion, but wisely kept her beak shut.
    The moment was over and the Ameracauna exhaled, her mind clouded with confusion.
   Was destroying the crows so brutally really the answer?
Jenny supposed it was too late now, as she had her flock engrossed in the idea with mad need for destruction.
    The hen returned to the tree hollow as everyone began digging burial holes for their friends.  Glancing to be sure no one was looking, Jenny pulled out the object that the crow had dropped.
   It was a small scroll tied with a velvety ribbon that felt oddly familiar.  Trying to ignore the fact that the crow had described her dream precisely, and now this ribbon felt like the ground from that very dream, she sat down and carefully unraveled the paper.
   In small script, Jenny struggled to understand it.
The general words were there and Jenny's eyes widened in horror.
   And with that, the hen fainted.

A/N
Yay! Ten chapters.  Thanks to those who enjoy and actually read it.