The Kite is making some pretty alarmed noises as it twitches on the ground. Using its wings to shield most of its body. The flame in it’s cheek dying out but it still smolders.

  Thorpe sets me down and keeps me behind him before holding his spear in both hands. “Do you remember what I told you about higher-tier monsters?” He asks passively while watching the creature twitch.

  I wrack my brain trying to think about what he might be alluding to, but all the adrenaline is making it hard to remember.

  The Kites wings stretch out around it to defend its vitals. Its head and even its legs are now tucked underneath it. And those wings have been proven to be pretty hard to get through already.

  Suddenly, one of the swordsmen rushes in and leaps up to try to stab the monster in the back.

  Both Thorpe and the Mage seem to yell out at the same time. “NO YOU IDIOT!”

  But the swordsman already lands on the Kites back and plunges his sword in about halfway. The monster screeches, its head shaking out from under its wings and twists around to look at the swordsman.

  The swordsman tries to pull his sword free but is too late as the Kite’s neck seems to puff up before its beak opens and a short ear splitting shriek erupts from it.

  I have to cover my ears, and even then it feels like daggers being stabbed into my eardrums. And I swear I can see the air ripple, and now the swordsman is just…gone.

  SPLAT

  My head turns in that direction. I don’t see anything, but judging by the sway of one of the trees further back, something just hit them.

  But then something falls from the branches above and hits the ground with a light thud. And it takes a couple seconds for me to realize that it’s a severed arm.

  My eyes widen. Becoming eerily aware of my own heart beat. Blood running cold.

  “Did…did he just die?” I ask quietly as Old Guard is moving us even further back. The others in the group doing so as well.

  Thorpe grits his teeth and sighs. “Yes. He is definitely dead.” He answers as carefully as he can, given the situation. The old man then calls out to the mage. “Well, it’s definitely phased over!”

  The mage calls back through the trees between us. “Send her over to me! I can give her sound resistance!”

  Thorpe seems to sigh with relief. “God, I love havin a mage around.” The old man gives me a light shove. “Hop over there with him first, I’ll keep watch on the bird.”

  I frown and furrow my brows at him. “I don’t want to leave you by yourself…”

  Old Guard keeps his eyes on the Kite who has slunk its head back up under the shell it’s formed with its wings. “I’ll be fine. It’ll take more than an overgrown chicken to kill me off. Now get over there quick. It might not be dormant for much longer.”

  Despite my apprehension of leaving Thorpe by himself, I nod and sprint off to the right. Now remembering what he was talking about a moment ago.

  Monsters don’t level up like we can.. Instead, it’s based on their species and gaining evolutions that make them stronger.

  But higher-tiered monsters also can do temporary evolutions called a ‘Phase’. Thorpe says monsters tend to use them only when they feel threatened. And it gives them access to stronger skills for a short time to better defend themselves.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  I guess I shouldn’t be surprised something as strong as a Feather Drake would be able to Phase. It was already troublesome to begin with. There’s no telling what it can do now.

  Or well…I guess I can kind of tell since I just saw a man get blown to pieces.

  Which…I—I don’t know how to feel about…

  I shake myself out of a bad headspace. Speeding myself up and spotting a clear path between the trees. Using [Leap Stride], I launch myself through the gaps and then hit the ground on the other side into a side roll. Quickly picking myself up to run ahead towards the Mage and his axe guy.

  The axe man is still in a hard defensive stance with the mage behind him. The mage has his staff crossed over the top of his other arm while his free hand is outstretched, fingers curled into an odd hand sign. But a few inches from the tips of his fingers is a glowing green ring quickly forming into an arcane sigil about the size of a dinner plate.

  I can’t help but be enamored with it. The mage glances down at me and gives a wry smirk. “Never seen magic before, huh?”

  I shake my head rapidly. “Never in my life! I’ve heard about it a lot from Old Guard but never seen it. It was amazing!” I exclaim, despite my intention to keep my excitement more controlled with the monster still nearby.

  Speaking of which.

  A voice calls out from ahead of us, “It’s moving!” The halberd wielder moving back towards us and away from the Kite as it seems to finally be raising itself up. But it keeps its wings spread out in a shield around itself even as its head raises some beneath its cover.

  The mage grimaces and looks back down at me. “In my satchel are a few small scrolls. One of them should have music notes drawn on the outside.” Turning his head back to concentrate on the sigil he is currently constructing.

  Doing as instructed, I unclasp the satchel on the mages side and pull it open. Immediately I’m struck by a pungent mix of odors that looks like they're coming from various herbs stuffed into labeled pouches. Seeing a separate pouch with little scrolls of parchment in them, I quickly pick through them until I find one with a music note written on it. “Got it!”

  The mage takes a deep breath, keeping his concentration on the sigil he’s making. “Alright, all you have to do is…” but he’s suddenly cut off by a loud BOOM and crashing from our left as the Kite charged through the mass of trees near us in pursuit of Old Guard. A shower of wood shrapnel raining down on us.

  That prickly sensation flares up, my right hand flashing to my back on instinct to unsheathe my sword immediately into an overhead strike, using the flat side to smash down on large hunk of sharp wood that was inches from impaling the mage.

  The mage looks at me with surprise that seems to turn almost appraising. The man with the axe laughs, his teeth visible as I get a good look at his rather large incisors. “Sharp senses, cub!”

  I don’t think about it too much. Not enough time. Sheathing my sword again over my shoulder. Watching Halberd man and the Swordsman rushing off to our left as Thorpe is dodging past another charge.

  As expected, the Kite has just started hopping around wildly. Each hop melting through the trees it connects with and buffering off attacks sent its way. Sending bursts of wood shrapnel in every direction. The overcast sky becoming more visible as the single monster reshapes the area.

  Gritting my teeth while watching Thorpe narrowly roll out the way. My attention flashes back to the mage, holding up the little scroll. “How do I work this!?”

  The mage shakes himself out of his own thoughts. “Right, sorry. That scroll will cover two people. Tarfyr will grab the other end and you’ll tear it together. The effect will only last for 5 minutes, so you’ll have to make it count.” He says as he looks to the man with the axe who grins and steps forward, grabbing the other end of the scroll. I guess that means his name is Tarfyr.

  Tarfyr shows his fangs with that grin of his. “I am excited to see what you can do, cub!” He exclaims, his voice deep enough to vibrate my bones. “We will tear this paper and then I will make this beast stand for you!”

  My eyes widen at the burly bearded man as the prickly sensation flares up. But not at anything near us, but at Tarfyr himself. The man seems to be radiating danger.

  My face shifts to determination as I nod sharply. “Then I’ll cripple it!”

  Tarfyr grins wider as we both pull on the scroll, tearing it perfectly in half and releasing a wave of energy up through our arms and over our bodies.

  My head swims for a moment. Vision getting blurry and I feel a cold chill across my skin. But it only lasts for a few seconds..

  That was…odd.

  Was that supposed to happen?

  My shoulder is shoved as Tarfyr runs past me toward the carnage of wood ahead of us. Thorpe, the swordsmen, and the halberd guy engaging with the Kite as it decimates any solid obstacle in its path. A few bloody feathers and half a dozen sunken arrows where some got a few lucky hits in when its feet touched the ground.

  No time to worry about things for now. I’ll just figure it out later.

  I try to convince myself it’s probably nothing, but with my track record, it likely isn’t…

  Either way, I break into a sprint after Tarfyr and get myself ready to finally kill this damn bird!