Chương 59: Chapter 57

Sir di'Frandara,

We thank you for your letter, for it has allowed us to showcase why it is that a focus on clarity within our halls is an absolute must. I must admit, however, that the droning and aimless approach your letter takes to explaining your points leads to significantly reduced understanding for the reader. Nonetheless, I believe we can agree on one point–the so-called Saharliard, as you wish to call them, were never scaly friends. There remain no people I know of that have ever met one of the "Empire's people", and this is where our thoughts diverge. All archeological evidence indicates that these "people" weren't much more than warmongers and slavers. Perhaps they did have the intelligence to begin to develop a written language as you suggest, but no such writings exist, to the Red Abbey's knowledge.

Additionally, you and some others speak of Nievtra, this golden capital with free libraries and awe inspiring architecture. If you ever find any evidence of its location, please let us know, as we would love to document its existence and location, as well as to conduct a dig and investigation on the site. Until such a thing happens, we will continue to teach that these creatures, dead and gone these ten or more centuries, were warmongers, barbarians, and beasts.

Regardless, we thank you for your novel take on history. It has garnered no small amount of attention here within the archeological school.

-response from the Archeology School's Dean's primary clerk's desk to Eldara di'Frandara's letter to the Red Abbey

I had to force myself not to shout as whatever it was tore through the brush towards us, but my magical preparations would go to waste if I didn't restrain myself. Instead, I braced myself, low, with my left arm ready to grab onto something or begin to tear.

The terrorbird burst into view and immediately snapped its head down towards Brutus. I was surprised by the speed with which it lunged down and bit into him. None of us could react before Brutus was lifted from the ground, his legs spinning in the air wildly, trying to find purchase. I didn't hesitate as I jumped up, my mouth as close to the terrorbird's head as possible and let out a wordless scream.

As I touched down on the ground, I realized that the terrorbird was well and truly stunned with my initial "attack". It stood, swaying, eyes wide and unfocused while its jaw began to go slack and released Brutus. With a thump and a groan, he hit the ground and joined me and Took as we rushed to try to kill the beast.

I didn't know if this one was the same we had seen before, standing at least 7 feet tall when upright with a wicked beak and long, strong legs, but I didn't care. With a strong jump, I was able to latch my jaws onto the base of the terrorbird's neck where I began to chomp down harder and stronger than I'd known I was capable of. Here, the feathers weren't quite as thick and armorlike like they were on its body, but more downy and soft. The vertebrae cracked and began to give way under my jaws as I dangled and continued to crunch my fangs ever deeper. Our prey didn't stay stunned with our retribution and began to try to extricate itself.

Beneath my fangs, I felt the rumblings of the terrorbird attempting to scream or cry out, but all the noise it could make was a faint gurgling. Even if it was unable to make noise, it thrashed wildly and reached to peck at me or swipe me away with its legs. I tried to lever myself up and maybe even onto its back, but with my prey's blood coating my face and flowing down to cover my body, I couldn't find purchase.

Somewhere I could hear Took and Brutus doing something, but I found myself losing all sense of self in [Bloodlust]. Unthinking and disregarding the pain in my right arm, I lunged out with both hands deep into the terrorbird's chest. After an inch of feathers, I struck flesh and, with all my strength, attempted to dig ever deeper. The terrorbird didn't seem to mind too much about my hand, instead lashing out ever more desperately with its beak and legs to try to knock me away, but to no avail.

I continued to gnaw on the bone, it crunching and shattering beneath my constant attention, and the terrorbird collapsed to the ground. In a moment of clarity, I looked and saw that Took and Brutus were savaging its legs, not giving our prey the opportunity to try to do something back to us. The opportunity noted, I released the base of the terrorbird's throat and leapt up to its head, still maybe four feet off the ground. I chomped down at the base of its skull as it hardly resisted, and after one, two, three strong bites, the back of the terrorbird's head was no more.

Without much thought, I tossed my head back and swallowed what flesh and blood remained in my mouth and shouted my victory to the skies. We had taken down a terrorbird! Without losses! After just a single moment, though, I felt that something was wrong. Through the haze of [Bloodlust], my mind labored to understand what was it, what was wrong. Was something missing? What could it be?

The thought blearily pushed its way through to the front of my mind, and it shook me from my victorious contentment. Where were the rest of the pack?

Finally having shut up, I could hear the sounds of combat off in the distance, from where I had sent the rest of the pack to circle from. We had made early contact with this terrorbird, so I couldn't say where exactly the rest of my keelish were, how far, but I could hear where they were. I hadn't thought about it before, but terrorbirds mated for life, and while they would hunt alone, they had nests to return to. The terrorbird's mate had returned home while we'd been sneaking in.

I didn't look back as I rushed towards where I could hear the wordless cries of battle, the sound of my subordinates locked in mortal combat. I should have known, I should have thought for even a moment, and then I would have been able to prevent whatever it was that was happening to my pack.

Curses filled my mind as I began to fill my throat with magic from my sonilphon. I would need to stun this one as I had the last to try to salvage the massacre that would be happening. My magic was beginning to run dry as I readied myself and charged in towards the battleground. As I rounded a particularly large and sprawling burlraiz, I saw the remains of my pack.

None were missing as they surrounded and harried the terrorbird. It hadn't sustained any serious wounds, but all ten of my other subordinates were adeptly evading every attack it attempted. A couple of them were moving with obvious pain, possibly from kicks or other strikes sustained, but all ten remained without true injuries, and continued to engage with the foe carefully and methodically.

I felt myself relax, seeing that my brood, my subordinates were truly capable of rising about what they had been, and, though I'd planned it, hoped for it, and worked for it, already, the keelish, my companions became more than I'd truly expected.