Chapter 247: Turning Point!

You might think that the birds were absurd and foolish, because frankly, why didn’t they notice it before?

Why didn’t they see the threat coming? You literally had arrows coming up at you, archers set into formation, taking shots towards you. You could clearly see it.

You could clearly see them positioning, sending arrows at you which you dodged.

Or were the arrows perceived to not be much of a threat?

As far as they up there, maybe they thought they were safe. Maybe they thought the humans below couldn’t reach them.

Or maybe scrap all that. Maybe the birds were starting to realize that they’d got to retaliate.

They’d got to fight these motherfuckers wanting to kill them.

And this awareness came with the fact that three of them had been killed. They had lost fellow birds.

Right in front of them, these birds weren’t dumb. They could see their comrades falling from the sky, could hear the thud of their bodies hitting the ground.

They could see the arrows sticking out of their bodies, could smell the blood?

They knew what was happening. They knew they were being hunted. And they were starting to realize that they couldn’t just sit there and let it happen. They had to fight back. They are going to retaliate instead.

Darion noticed this. So did Seren and probably most of the archers.

The birds’ behavior was changing, their movements becoming more aggressive, more focused.

They were no longer just dodging. They were preparing to attack. Their eyes were fixed on the archers, their bodies tense, their wings half-spread. They were getting ready to dive.

Seren looked at Darion, an exchange glance that showed that yes, I know what the birds are doing.

Her eyes were calm but focused.

She understood the shift, the change in the birds’ behavior.

And instead of backing down or something like that, she saw this as an opportunity to improvise. She urged the archers to keep shooting. Keep shooting! Faster.

The archers responded, their movements quickening.

They had been nervous before, uncertain about the birds and their strange abilities. But now they were focused, determined. They raised their bows, drew their arrows, and released.

Pannett, who had been fast before, became way faster. Her hands moved with a blur, reaching for arrows, nocking, drawing, releasing.

She hit another bird, a Spiked Kort, its body dropping from the sky with a dull thud. She was already reaching for another arrow, her eyes tracking a new target.

But thing is, shooting at this speed with the now erratic behavior of the birds, it’s very sure that you’ll miss.

The birds were moving faster, their patterns more unpredictable.

They knew the arrows were coming, and they were dodging with increasing skill. Many of the archers missed, their arrows flying through empty air, their faces twisting with frustration. Only a few actually hit the target.

Meanwhile, Darion had already started reviving the fallen birds. Just five so far.

He walked over to the first body, a Spiked Kort. Its body was covered in sharp protrusions, its beak still open, its eyes glassy. He crouched beside it, his hand hovering over its chest. He thought about the name.

Spiked Kort. It was a strange name, but no stranger than Yuimon or Uootstans. He placed his hand on its body, feeling the warmth still radiating from its flesh.

Three Spiked Korts. Two Hainkplots. He thought about the names as he worked.

Hainkplot...

Where did these names come from? Who came up with them? They made no sense, had no pattern, no logic. They were just words. Strange words for strange creatures.

He crouched to revive nonetheless, his fingers pressing against the creature’s chest. He focused his energy, felt the familiar pull in his chest, and spoke the word.

"Arise."

Green light spread from his palm, washing over the bird’s body. It twitched once, twice, and then its eyes opened, glowing green. It rose slowly, its wings fluttering, its body adjusting to the binding. It was ready to serve.

He moved to the next one. A Hainkplot. Its body was sleek, its beak long and sharp. He placed his hand on its chest.

"Arise."

Again, the green light. Again, the twitching, the rising, the glowing eyes.

He revived all five birds, one by one. The Spiked Korts rose, their bodies covered in sharp protrusions, their eyes glowing green. The Hainkplots rose, their beaks sharp, their wings spreading. They stood before him, waiting.

Darion added them to his inventory, watching as they dissolved in flashes of green light. He would watch a little longer to see Seren do her training stuff, reviving the birds as they fell.

He was building a collection, a flock of undead birds that would serve him in ways he hadn’t even imagined.

So in the end, he would use it to kill all the birds in the trees, at least as many to fill his inventory.

Because sending his animals up there, the birds could fly away before it reached them.

They would scatter, disappear into the canopy, escape. But undead birds? They would be different. They would be faster, more persistent, more deadly.

He would soon be orchestrating a wild bird versus undead birds fight. It would be a battle unlike any he had fought before, a clash of predators in the sky.

He smiled at the thought. The hunt was far from over.

How epic would a fight in the sky be?

Darion could only wonder as he watched the birds above, their bodies shifting, their wings twitching.

He imagined the clash of feathers and claws, the shrieks of combat, the bodies falling from the sky.

It would be unlike anything he had ever seen. A battle in the air, fought between creatures that had never known such conflict.

He could already see it in his mind, the chaos and the fury. But soon enough, he would know. Soon enough, he would witness it firsthand.

Pannett kept aiming for the birds, missing a lot though, as the birds were good at dodging now.

They had learned the pattern of the arrows, and had adapted to the threat.

They moved with increasing speed, their bodies twisting and turning in ways that made it almost impossible to predict.

Pannett’s arrows flew through empty air, their tips grazing feathers but never finding flesh.

She was frustrated in a way, her eyes burning with concentration. But she didn’t give up. She kept shooting, kept adjusting and kept learning. She was a hunter, and hunters didn’t quit.

The other archers were having similar difficulties. The birds were too fast, too agile, too unpredictable.

Arrows sailed past them, embedded themselves in trees, disappeared into the canopy. The archers were starting to tire, their arms aching, their shoulders sore.

But they kept going. They had trained for this, and they were determined to succeed.

They kept shooting for quite some time, and then soon the birds started to coo.

The sound was soft at first, a low murmur that drifted down from the branches. Then it grew louder, more insistent.

The birds were calling for help from others. They were summoning reinforcements, rallying their forces. The call echoed through the forest, a signal that traveled from tree to tree, from bird to bird.

Darion looked up, his eyes scanning the canopy. The birds were starting to assemble. They were coming together from different trees, all at once.

They flew in from the edges of the clearing, their wings beating against the air, their bodies sleek and dangerous.

They were responding to the call, answering the summons. They were assembling.

The archers noticed the change. They paused, their bows half-raised, their eyes widening.

The birds were gathering, forming a group. They were no longer just individual targets. They were an army, a force that was about to strike back.

The archers were trying. They had killed about six more birds now, their arrows finding their marks despite the chaos.

The training was doing its work. They were learning to shoot under pressure, to trust their instincts, to hit moving targets. They were becoming what Seren had wanted them to become.

Darion kept reviving the birds, his hands moving quickly, his focus unwavering. He had added a few more species to his collection. Lkkonn. Mlpoop. Two more species, their bodies strange and different from the norm.

He didn’t know where the names came from, didn’t care. They were just words, labels for creatures that would serve him in ways he hadn’t even imagined.

The spiked creatures were even harder to revive. Their bodies were covered in sharp protrusions that pricked his hands as he worked.

He winced, his fingers stinging, but he didn’t stop. He pressed through the pain, his focus unwavering.

He had a goal, and he was determined to achieve it.

Boom! He revived the six more birds, adding them to his inventory, watching as they dissolved in flashes of green light.

They vanished into the inventory, and he felt the weight of their presence settle into his collection.

But now the birds above had called all their fellow birds. They had assembled. They were ready to face the humans killing them. They were ready to kill these humans too.

The battle was about to begin?