Bird

22. Bird

The flying creature is too fast to dodge. I grip my dagger hard and brace for the impact by holding my hands near my chest where it looks like the flying creature will hit me.

It opens its peak instead and bites down on me. I push as hard as I can with my hands, but I can’t break free. All it does is soften the bite. It is starting to take me higher.

I have to get out. I worm my hand out of its mouth and stab its eye with my dagger. Blood squirts out and the creatures screams out letting me go from its mouth.

I fall to the water which splashes all around. The ground is soft, and it is hard to get up.  I struggle to get free from the ground. I stand up while I look up and see the bird circling around in the sky.

I run to the bank and get out of the water.  I quickly glance and see that there is a bit of distance before the flying creature can get to me.

Should I fight or run? It is very fast so I doubt I can run away from it. Fighting seems difficult since it can fly. It doesn’t seem that strong though. I will wait until it tries to eat me again and stab its other eye.

I switch my dagger to my other hand and the creature is already too close. I move backwards as I try to stab its eye but instead of its face there are its talons. I swipe at them with my dagger, but they are hard. I cover my face with my other arm quickly and close my eyes.

There is a piercing pain in my arm and face. I fall to the ground as well. I instantly open my eyes and get on my feet.

I look behind and see that the creature is still flying further away from me. I have some time before it comes back.  

What should I do? its feet are too tough, and it is really hard to hit anywhere else. I have to dodge its sharp pointy things too. If I try to strike it anywhere soft, I would have to take a hit myself and I don’t think I can take another one.

I look at my hand and the cuts are deep. There are probably some cuts on my face too. If I wasn’t going backwards and had a hand protecting me my face would have been ruined completely.

Other than its feet it should be weak. The problem is that I can’t hit it anywhere else. One dangerous plan would be to get on it and climb on its back to kill it but there is no guarantee that I can hold onto it long enough to kill it. Even if I did, I would still be high up in the air if it goes up.

There isn’t enough water to soften the drop. I need to run. It can’t fly through trees, right? They should at least slow it down if nothing else. The creature is already heading toward me. I have to move.

I run to the trees and past them. I hear a loud crash behind me and as I look behind, I see that it can indeed fly through the trees and it did slow down luckily because of it.

I keep running past the trees and shortly the sounds stop from behind. Then there is a loud scream from the creature.

I see it rising up in the air and going back to the water. That was close. But it wasn’t hopeless. I can possibly kill it if I need to. It is dangerous though.

Wait. Where is the fur ball? It probably got to somewhere safe ages ago. There is no need to worry about it. It is too small for the flying creature to even notice as well.

I should wait until the flying creature flies away before searching for the fur ball. It would be dangerous to find it right now anyways.

If the flying creature attacked me, I would have to try to protect it while fighting back. I look at the creature and see that it is just drinking water. It is so relaxed even though I stabbed it in the eye.

Does it think that it is safe as long as it is careful around me? I could kill it though. I won’t try it because it is dangerous but why wouldn’t it go further away to drink water?

I will just assume that it has its circumstances. Maybe there is a dangerous creature hunting it and this is the only place where it is safe from it.

Or it wants to prepare for a fight as fast as it can by drinking the closest water. It wouldn’t be planning to keep fighting me after drinking its fill, right?

It might think that to keep knocking down the trees requires energy and drinking water would help it replenish it.

Should try to kill it while it is still drinking? No, that is too dangerous. I am sure I can outrun it thanks to the trees.

Although it would be dangerous to just keep running in this forest. There are plenty of other creatures that could kill me easily. Or at least help the flying creature kill me.

No, it should be dangerous for it too. It can’t chase one prey for that long.

When did I start running away from my fights constantly? Didn’t I make up my mind to fight to the death no matter what. Last time I had no way to win the fight but now I do have a way to win.

Why am I still running away?

Why am I thinking about it so much? If I just kill it then there is no danger, right?

Fuck that bird.

It should have flown away when it could.

I walk toward it quietly. It is still drinking the water while its back is facing me. How could it be so reckless? Someone just stabbed its eye and escaped from death when it did everything it could to catch them.

Shouldn’t it be worried? Shouldn’t it try to preserve its life?

I hate it.

I am almost up to it. It truly has no idea that it will be dying soon. I hate it so much. Why is it so stupid?

It is so strong and if it fought me properly from the start it could have killed me easily. Such a waste.

I jump onto it and it is startled from the sudden change. I grab its neck with one hand and stab my dagger onto it with the other one. It is soft and it slides in effortlessly.

The creature is trying to bite me with its peak, but I dodge it by going to the other side of the neck. It changes side and so do I. It keeps screaming while I move the dagger around to make the wound larger.

The creature starts flapping its wings and we take off from the ground. I start stabbing it in different spots. Its flying starts wavering and soon we don’t rise anymore. Then we start falling. Then it doesn’t move around anymore, and we start falling quickly.

I grab its neck tightly and close my eyes. I hear a big splash and then there is a mild impact.

I open my eyes and see that we hit the water. I am still alive too. 

Chapter twenty-one. Chapter twenty-three.