Chapter 55 - Thornbill

  The sound of a spell going off was as loud as a gunshot and just as alarming. I glanced in the direction of the noise and saw a single Ice Blast shoot upward about two dozen feet before exploding into a shower of fragments. It looked a bit like a signal flare, and it wasn't difficult to figure out someone had sent it up to raise an alarm.

  I activated my flight and shot upward to take in the scene properly, and right away I spotted the source of the problem. Dozens of strange, bird-like creatures were landing all around the area where the spell had been sent up. My eyes narrowed as I saw who was in trouble. It was Alex! He stood there like a human shield between these strange new creatures and Maggie.

  I reacted instantly, racing ahead and pouring on every ounce of speed I could. If those things attacked, my friends were going to need backup. I was the only one fast enough to get there in time.

  The creatures saw me coming. Two of them took wing and moved to intercept me. Before they could, the big tier five one on the ground let out a loud cry that was halfway between a coo and a caw. The birds shifted course in midair, veering off so they no longer blocked my approach.

  So the boss monster over there wanted to take me on personally, huh? I could oblige him. I rocketed straight at him, descending like a meteor.

  Just seconds before I crashed into him, the avian leader did something I hadn't expected at all. He bent at the waist and crouched forward, eyes facing directly toward the ground. It was the perfect picture of supplication. He was utterly defenseless.

  That's when I realized they didn't want a fight.

  I slowed my approach, putting on the brakes hard, and settled onto the ground gently right beside Alex. If these beings wanted to talk, then perhaps we could work with them, but I felt better having both Alex and I standing guard to make sure Maggie stayed safe. We'd already had one feathered friend try to abscond with Emmy. I didn't want to take any chances.

  "Thanks for rushing in," Alex said.

  I flashed him a smile. "I'll always come running if you need me."

  "I know." He reached out with one hand and clasped my shoulder.

  "Do we know who they are? Or, better still, what they want?" I asked.

  None of the avian creatures had moved. Even their leader was still crouched over, its beak practically touching the dirt in front of it. I glanced at the others, all perched, unmoving, nearby. They were all low rank, but there were enough of them that if this went sideways, it was going to be a tough fight. Some of our lower ranked police would be in danger. Maggie, too. I wanted to avoid that if it was at all possible.

  "We’d only just realized they had a language I could understand before you came over," Maggie said.

  “Sorry if I disrupted things,” I replied dryly. "We'll keep you safe. Why don't you tell him he can stand back up?"

  Maggie did as I asked, parroting my words. Where the avian hadn't seemed to understand me at all, he responded to her right away. He rose slowly, careful not to make any swift or threatening moves. As he stood back up, he kept his hands open and off to his sides. Then the bird man opened his beak and made a few sounds.

  "He's thanking you for sparing him," Maggie said. “The word he's using for you, Cameron, it sort of translates as a mixture between ‘guardian’ and ‘destroyer.’ He must have an inkling of how strong you are.”

  That made sense. He was tier five, after all. Assuming he got the same benefits from attaining that tier that I did, he'd be able to identify the tier level of anyone he could see. He'd known the instant he laid eyes on me that he was outmatched and still risked making himself defenseless in the face of my attack. If I'd continued the attack, he’d probably be dead. He'd taken a dramatic chance with his own life, hoping I would see it and choose to not strike.

  I had a hunch these creatures had been watching us for a while now. The fact that he'd put himself in such jeopardy told me he'd probably seen enough of me in action to consider it a calculated risk. As the avian stood and his gaze locked with mine, I felt even more certain that was the way of it.

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  Captain MacGregor strode up, half a dozen of his officers flanking him. "Well, this is interesting. Do we know what they want yet?

  That question was directed at Maggie. She shook her head in reply.

  "Ask them," I said.

  She did. “Why are you here? What do you want from us?"

  The bird-man sketched a small bow, then brought himself back up to his full height and began to speak. The speech was short, lasting less than a minute, and I couldn't understand a word of it. I was starting to think I needed to go fishing until I could find one of those language stones Maggie had won from a flying fish.

  Once the avian finished his speech, we all turned and looked at Maggie. She looked nervous, but didn't let that stop her. She launched right into explaining what our new guest had said.

  "He says his name translates as Thornbill in our language. The leader of his people, at least in this city. Thornbill says they call themselves the Peristera, and in ages past, they were close allies with humanity. He's hoping that alliance can be renewed in this time of troubles. The Event returned magic to the world, restoring his people to their former glory. But we have a common enemy in the Karabos. That's what he's calling the lobsters, I think". Maggie said. "Honestly, he seems to have a much better grasp of what's going on than we do. And he wants to help. He's proposing we team up to stop whatever the lobsters are up to."

  Then the avian spoke again, but this time the words were in English. The words sounded strange, coming from a beak. It was difficult to make out what he was trying to say at first, but as he finished speaking, the message was clear enough. “Fight...as...one."

  MacGregor turned to me. “What do you think, Castle?”

  He was asking me? My thoughts raced, trying to come up with the right answer. “I’m thinking we could use all the allies we can get right now, captain. Alex? You're the smart one. Opinions?”

  "I think you're right," Alex replied. "If we want to stop whatever the Karabos are up to, we could use all the help we can get, don't you think?"

  Before anyone could add another thought, the ground shook and rumbled beneath us. It was another earthquake! Several of the Peristera took flight, flapping their wings to keep themselves aloft until the shaking subsided. It was another mild tremor, much like the one I felt yesterday evening. It wasn't strong enough to damage the nearby buildings, but the fact it was happening at all was alarming. Whatever magic the Karabos were performing, it was still taking effect.

  "How often has that been happening?" I asked.

  "They've been occurring with increasing frequency," Alex replied. "They're about hourly, now."

  The Peristera leader spoke again, a shorter message this time.

  "He says those quakes are from the Karabos magic." Maggie translated, "Each quake is dropping the city another inch or two into the ocean. He says if we don't stop them, eventually all our homes will be gone."

  I glance back over at Thornbill, meeting his gaze. There was an intensity in his eyes I couldn't help but respect. That look told me he knew. Seeking an alliance with us was a sort of Hail Mary pass. If he failed, his people would have to flee and try to find new homes somewhere else, same as us.

  Which meant failure was not an option. Not today.

  "If we're running out of time, then we had better get to work." I said.

  “Agreed,” MacGregor said. "It feels about time to finish this."

  "But what about the truce?" Maggie asked.

  McGregor shook his head. "I don't think the Karabos were playing straight with us, miss. Don't get me wrong. Your translations were incredibly valuable yesterday, and twice as much so today. But that truce? It was for their benefit, not ours. If Thornbill is right and those towers they built are behind the magic that's sinking the city, then the enemy never stopped taking aggressive action. They continued their magical attack straight through the night, slowly destroying downtown Boston, one inch at a time."

  "I'm pretty sure I can take out the towers. That ought to at least disrupt what they're doing. Right?" I asked.

  "It stands to reason," Alex replied. "But why don't we ask the Peristera? After all, it seems like they have far more knowledge than we do. A better understanding of magic, at least."

  Maggie took a step forward toward Thornbill. "If we destroy the three towers they built with blue orbs on top of them, will that end what they're doing? Or is there something else we should do, instead?"

  Thornbill snapped her a nod and then answered with a string of bird-like noises.

  Maggie turned back to us. “He says yes, it'll help. Destroying the towers will disrupt their spell, but not destroy it. To finish the job, we may need to take down some sort of Karabos leader. Sort of like Thornbill, here, but for the Karabos instead of the Peristera.”

  “Let's get to it, then,” I said. "Alex, you up for this?"

  "Wouldn't miss it. You need someone to watch your back."

  I hooked one hand through Alex's belt and wrapped the other around his waist, grabbing hold tightly. "Better clench up, Gandalf," I quipped.

  Alex groaned, which just made me laugh. “All the possible movies in the world to quote, and you pick that one?”

  Before I could take off, Thornbill said something else. I turned toward him, wishing more than anything that I could understand his words. But as soon as he finished, Maggie translated for us.

  "He says he and his people will fly cover for you, while you take down the towers," Maggie said. Then she went on. "He says to be careful, too. All the Karabos' best fighters and spellcasters will be guarding those towers. The troops we've been fighting on the front lines are their weaker warriors. They've saved the best to defend their strong points."

  "We'll watch ourselves," I said. At least our new allies were going to be there to back us up. “Let’s go. The sooner we get this done, the better.”

  Rushing wasn’t going to make things better; Thornbill was right that we needed to approach the sites with caution. But all the same, my gut was telling me we were fast running out of time.