How to be of shadow and light (bxb)

Chapter 19- Old friend

I know it's been a while guys but this should be worth it
Alec narrowed his eyes to scan the forest floor for the herd. He knew that Cada with his sharp peraguine eyes would pick them up before him but he couldn't just do nothing.
His body was full of adrenaline, raising his heartbeat which pumped more blood full of magic round his body. Since he was a leshy he took his magic from the environment which meant it travelled in his blood stream like oxygen. So at the moment he felt like an electric current was being run through him.
Far off horns sounded signalling the hunt and Cada changed direction very suddenly to the left. It threw Alec forward and he had to grip on for dear life to prevent a fall to his death.
"It'd be nice if I got there alive," he grumbled but the ever stoic chamrosh remained silent. That is until he spotted the tiny brown speck in the distance and recognised the way it moved. It was a tame chamrosh and that meant he had located the hunt.
   Cada sent up a screech of triumph which Alec was worried would ruin the element of surprise. He couldn't think on it for long though because Cada spoke briefly.
   "You'll probably want to hold on tight. Peraguine's are the fastest birds around in a dive," he chuckled in glee.
   "What!" Alec cried over the rush of wind but he soon got the message. They plummeted towards the ground at a terrifying speed but Alec only felt exhilaration as he got a crazy adrenaline rush.
    When they landed it was to a scene of chaos. The ground literally shook with the vibrations from hundreds of stampeding hooves both from the panicked herd and the huntsman's beasts. The ground had been turned over completely so everywhere was covered in a layer of thick mud which was becoming wetter and thicker with the drizzle that had suddenly struck up. 
    Alec had no idea where to start having been momentarily overwhelmed by the severity of the situation. He had landed himself and a chamrosh in the middle of a hunt full of angry castors who would likely kill him if he revealed his true identity. And for what? The life of a simple non-magical stag...but it was his stag. 
      With a war cry he charged forward followed by Cada who stuck to his side skittishly. The half bird clearly felt ill at ease on the ground. He managed to find the end of the herd and threw himself in front of them. 
    Around twenty men on horseback accompanied by their pack of bloodthirsty hound dogs approached at full speed. They all wore thick clothing to protect themselves against the elements and saddle sores. Their eyes were all browns of some form and were hardened like stone with grim determination. This was about keeping up their persona's of the most powerful castors around. The masters of nature...or so they thought. 
     Every brow furrowed with confusion as they saw Alec. The lead man on the back of a black stallion actually gaped before composing himself. It was Alec's father and he did not look at all pleased. A childish fear of the man washed over Alec as he remembered all the cruelties this man had put him through over the years. He'd spent hours as a child locked in a bare room so that he was 'out of the way and couldn't cause trouble.' 
    Looking around though he saw Olin rearing up to bellow at the tamed chamrosh who was hovering overhead. The rider, a boy just a few years older than Alec waited nervously for orders. This was his first flight and he was hoping not his last. The guy was small and weedy by castor standards meaning he couldn't cut it doing hard labour. Without this job he would be nothing, a peasant or beggar most likely. Alec felt a pang of compassion for his fellow odd one out but hardened his heart almost immediately. He had not forgotten who had released the killing arrow in his dream. 
    "Boy what are you doing?" The man called. His eyes were a red brown which blended with his fiery auburn hair. That in turn matched his awful temper. 
    "Stopping this madness," Alec called in return. 
"What madness we're getting food!"
"No, you could survive on plants like me this is just for fun," Alec snarled getting himself worked up. 
   "You always were a piece of work. Just like your mother, filthy half-breed scum. I curse the day I met that enchantress and I try to forget the day you were born. So what are you going to do boy?"
   That was a very good point. Alec had no plan and no clue, he felt some sort of show of power was in order but he didn't really know what he was capable of yet. There was little time to think though because the men had arrived and were circling around Cada, Olin and himself. 
    He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and then held it. Held in all the breath in his body and called for the magic to come as well. It did, building to a frenzy until he released it and took a gulp of air. 
     At first nothing happened. His father sneered in disgust, he hated weakness. Slowly though the sky began to darken. Everyone turned their eyes to the heavens and were shocked to see a huge group of birds twisting and turning in the sky. They looked like a swarm of angry bees. 
     They dove down and saw the men standing in a threatening way in front of a leshy. Leshies were sworn to protect magical creatures but in return they had to protect young leshies who were just learning. The birds attacked the men clawing and pecking at their eyes. 
   With them taken care of Alec climbed back onto Cada and pointed at the smaller brown chamrosh who was also being mobbed by the starlings. It was time for him to get rid of the threat from his dream. It was a thought that filled him with dread, if he was attacked he'd have no choice but to try and kill the boy. Alec did not like the idea of murder but nonetheless he couldn't count out the possibility. 
    The two took to the sky and within just a few moments Cada was bobbing rather clumsily next to the tame dog who was snarling at them while also trying to shield its eyes from the onslaught. 
    Very suddenly Alec's heart sunk to the ground far below them. A cold sense of dread washed over him that wasn't his own. It was that person in his head from earlier on, the mysterious man who knew something he didn't. 
    That is until he saw it. The bow and knocked arrow that the other rider had ready to fire at the birds. A guttural cry left him as he leapt across to the tame chamrosh but he was too late. The arrow went whizzing past himself and the starlings and plummeted towards the ground. Alec could not tear his eyes away from it until the shining tip sunk itself deep into the rearing stags neck. 
    Everything stood still for what seemed like a lifetime. And then he was falling, falling through oblivion. Pain was his only companion on the journey towards the ground. As he fell he was almost glad of the plunge to his death. Anything had to be better than this. But the soft, deadly voice in his head had suddenly lost all composure and was screaming at him. The splitting pain of the echoing noise in his head made him open his eyes. 
  Flying, or rather gracefully falling next to him was a magpie. The bright black, white and blue of its plumage just seemed to stick in his mind. Then with two almighty cracks and waves of agony he felt his body change. 
    Just before he hit the ground a gust of wind caught under Alec's new wings and he pulled up just in time. He landed next the stag who was laying on the ground in a dishevelled heap and willed himself desperately to change. 
     When he did he looked down slightly worried about whether his clothes were with him or not. He had mixed success previously with re-materialising them. The clothes were not in fact the ones he had been previously wearing, they were instead made of magpie feathers. He would have marvelled at the novelty but he was too busy. 
    Behind Alec the men were muttering about what to do with him. There were mixed opinions by the sounds of things, some said hanging him would be best. Others said burning at the stake. A very small minority felt it was best to just let him go, after all he was someone they had grown up with or cared for at some time or another. His father was not one of these few. In fact Alec heard him say three times in the space of a minute, "he's no son of mine."
    "If any of you ever cared for me you'll give me a few minutes to say goodbye. Then you can kill me, or perhaps I'll kill you. I'm sure Mr Axe will remember my prowess in hand to hand combat and my spell teacher would remark shortly that I could cast any spell, all suspiciously close to nightfall. " It was said in a carrying murmur, hollow and pained. 
    They went quiet and he turned to the great stag. "I'm sorry Olin, I couldn't save you," he sniffed running his hand through the animals tawny fur. "Don't worry though I'll keep them safe for you." He whispered glancing briefly at the herd who were milling around unsurely. They would fall apart with no stag to lead them. 
    "Maybe I can save you though," he muttered as he tried to remember a healing spell that worked on animals. 
    "Your forgetting though all castor arrows are dipped in poison. Magic won't heal a corrupted wound." The voice whispered somewhat sombrely. Alec didn't think he cared about the stag, just the pain Olin's death was causing him. 
     Tears fell thick and fast after that. Alec managed to pull the arrow out of the deer's neck without much protest from him. The once great beast was weak now but it didn't feel right for him to die while the weapon was still inside his body. It overshadowed what should be a peaceful passing from one plain to another. 
     After that Olin began to go very quickly.. His eyelids drooped and a great scarlet lake formed around them. "Goodbye old friend," Alec whispered just as the head went slack in his arms. 
    "I will avenge you," he muttered darkly as an after thought.