Thorpe and I stare at the stranger a bit warily. Especially as five other men step out into the open as well. All of them seem about middle aged and rugged. Each dressed in padded or leather armor. Two armed with swords, one with a halberd, and one with a bow that has an arrow already nocked. The archer’s face is covered by a hood and a cloth mask. The last is quite massive with a bald head and a long ashy beard. A double sided battleaxe in his hands. He stands defensively beside the man with the staff and looking just as wary of us.

  Thorpe grabs my shoulder and pulls me a bit behind him. The old man’s eyes still flicker towards the crashing sound of the encroaching monster. “Would certainly be a big help if you can spare it friend. We are definitely in…” Thorpe is cut off momentarily as the very upset bird screeches loudly in the not too distant area. “…in a bit of a pickle.”

  The man with the staff narrows his eyes in the direction of the monster. “Certainly so…is that a feather drake? Why the hell is it hunting on the ground?” He asks curiously as his comrades start setting up around the area, preparing to face off with the creature. Which gives me a bit of relief.

  Thorpe keeps a tight hold on my shoulder as he nods to the man with the staff. “It’s a Mountain Kite. And unfortunately, this one’s a bit…quirky.” Old Guard sighs. “I’m thinkin it’s probably a runt that got dominated off the peak out west. Probably stumbled on a jackelope colony and got lucky with a new skill while gorging itself.”

  I nod along and say from behind him. “It does leaping charges with high impact resistance to break through the trees.”

  The man with the staff turned his attention to me when I spoke and chuckles. “Eloquent kid you’ve got there.”

  Thorpe pats my shoulder. “That she is. Would probably be bird feed without her.”

  The archer in the other group calls out from one of the higher branches that I didn’t even notice he had climbed up to. “23 seconds before it gets here!” The archer’s accent is one I haven’t heard before as well. He rolls his Rs a lot.

  Old Guard grunts at the warning. “Well, at least it sounds like we tired it out a bit.”

  The man with the staff takes a few steps back after the warning, and the top of his staff begins to glow. “I overheard the girl has a plan? Care to share?”

  Old Guard steps up ahead in front of the man with the staff, moving in near to the larger one with the axe. “We need to cripple its back legs. It can’t use the skill if its legs are compromised. And as long as it can use the skill it’s just going to keep jumping around and buffing us away.”

  I follow up behind Old Guard and give the staff man a nod. “If you can get it to stand up, then I can cripple it.”

  The man with the staff raises a brow at me and then looks to Thorpe for confirmation. Old Guard giving a swift nod. “She can definitely do it. We just gotta give her the opening.”

  The staff man chuckles and waves his hand dismissively. “Works for me.” And then he calls out to his comrades in a much more commanding voice than I expected from his appearance. “You heard him! Give the girl an opening and she can weaken the bird!”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I can’t help but feel pride welling up inside of me when Thorpe vouches for me so confidently. I can definitely do this. Just like with the Sawtooth. Just wait for my moment.

  And so me, Thorpe, and our tentative allies, ready ourselves for what is likely about to be pretty intense. The halberd guy seems to be taking midline while the two swordsmen are up front. The archer has kept off to the side up in one of the trees. Which to be fair, I am a little worried about him up there. But he at least seems to know what he’s doing.

  The big man with the axe seems to be protecting the one with the staff, who I am guessing is a mage. Which I am trying not to show how exciting that is! I have never seen magic before.

  It’s quiet in our little battle zone, save for the brutal destruction of the forest by the encroaching Kite.

  Each crash, thud, and shatter makes the group a bit more visibly nervous.

  And then it finally comes into view. Still a bit of a distance away for us, but for the tenacious creature it’s not far at all. Each quick leap it takes sends it barreling through groups of the usually sturdy pines. But instead the pines are sheared through and reduced to splinters against the Kites impact resistance.

  The large man with the axe who was standing rather casually before, now lowers himself into a much more prepared stance. He growls like an animal, his voice deep and baritone. His accent is even thicker than the archer’s. “Vah’yam! You were not to be kidding. The bird tears through trunk like axe to parchment paper.”

  I am not sure what the big man said at the start of that, but I nod. The whole group backing up slowly as the Kite bounds near. Shrapnel from its wake rains down even into our area.

  And it looks like my instincts for the archer were warranted as he realizes the danger and hops down from his perch before speeding off out of sight to set up in less vulnerable cover.

  Within a couple seconds, the Kite has made it within our area and, to our annoyance, decides to do a high leap out through the canopy and dives through the treetops directly at us.

  The group scatters, Thorpe grabbing me by the back collar of my gambeson to yank me out of the way. The man with the axe heel turns and tackles the mage over his shoulder. The swordsmen and the halberd man manage to just escape the impact point but the Kites wings fan out and send the three of them flying back. Bashing them against the trees.

  The monster spares little time assessing its targets before it’s already trying to bare down on me and Thorpe.

  Even with so many people here now, it’s STILL fixed on us?

  Thorpe has his left arm wrapped around my midsection and is carrying me in the crook of it. Which definitely isn’t a comfortable place to be, as the old man deftly dodges back a few times when the Kite starts pecking at us viciously. Each miss has its beak strike the ground and causes a cascade of dirt.

  But one such lunge of its head gives an opening as Thorpe sidesteps and stabs his spear forward. The kites head feathers bristle and it pulls its head back, but not before the spear manages to slash along the side of its head.

  Thorpe growling out quickly. “RADIANT-DENIAL!”.

  The glancing slash on the Kites face begins to smoke before a white flame bursts from it. The monster screeches shrilly, backing away from us while it stumbles around. The creature rubs its head in the dirt to try to put the flame, but it’s proving difficult for it.

  I don’t have time to be enamored with another unique skill use before that familiar prickling sensation washes over me again. “BACK UP, BACK UP, BACK UP!!!” I yell out rapidly.

  Thorpe knows better now than to second guess me as he leaps back as far as he can just as I hear another shout off to our right.

  “STORM-SPEAR!”

  All of my hair stands on end as a bright pale light erupts off to our right. Then a thick bolt of lightning flashes across the forest, carving through a tree and striking the side of the Kite. The monster is sent tumbling over itself from the hit and smashes against another pine.

  My mouth is agape.while the creatures body twitches, struggling to get up.

  And despite my best efforts to keep myself contained...I just can’t help myself.

  “MAGIC IS SO COOL!!”