HPDBC Chapter 482: Flocks
Chapter 482: Flocks
As the battle raged on, mere minutes having passed since the first life was claimed, yet, the sky grew darker at a rapid pace, the burning sun's light obstructed as all undeads called upon flocks of putrescent birds, carcasses that should no longer soar to the air, their blood drained or toxic, their feathers with beauty still, their entrail a stagnant mush if not hanging from their stomachs...
Murders of crows, bouquets of hummingbirds, wakes of vultures, gaggles of geese, hosts of sparrows, casts of falcons, flamboyances of flamingos, doles of doves... Countless species flew into a tight, disorderly formation, some of those avians reaching ridiculous sizes, some were even moving around on the ground, flightless volatiles were also represented, feathers rained down from above like a downpour.
So many that moving on the ground was becoming harder and harder, the combined weight of all them arising fears that the suspended village might be dragged to the corrupted depths, but that only applied to the livings, on the contrary- Nightbirds seemed to move with even greater agility, and certainly with less predictability as they dived through the slow rain, able to disappear and reappear into blast of more feathers without being noticed, forcing the westerners to pay even closer attention to the elusive undeads.
The exalted figures of this region fought without restraint, aiming to destroy the unliving creatures that threatened all that was built here, the others also fought with their lives on the line, here, there was no doubt that the enemy would not spare them, the enemy was specifically after what animated them, seeking to stop hearts from beating, to stop lungs from being filled with air. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire
Many had already died, the nightbirds proving ruthless as they struck down all that got in their way, as well as those that did not, but in this little idyllic place turned hellscape in a matter of seconds... Only a single living was not engaged in fight with any undead, a young huntress vanished into a small cavern linked to the village, nearly sliding and tumbling down more than once as she treaded the way down to a special area, stairs nothing more than small slopes, one was not recommended to descend this path with hastiness of any kind, lethargic slugginess was typically more of the order.
But there was no time to waste with carefulness, safety damned- The huntress not carried as she bumped her head and bruised herself at sharp turns, even having to roll as her momentum nearly caused her skull to be cracked open upon the ground.
Finally, she saw the end of it, the whole thing had only taken perhaps a minute or two as a whole, but she had felt like an entire hour had passed whilst she ungracefully rushed down.
Faced with many prison cells, bars made from bones, as well as a singular lid upon the uneven floor, her sights were first set on the cells, each and every one of them packed to the brim with all sorts of drylurkers, or at least, of those that could fit through the passageway, taking out her bone blade, the young huntress grasped it with shaky hands, the problem of this situation only dawning on her just now.
'Won't they tear me apart first things first? Will I even manage to unleash more than one cell? If that's so... Shouldn't I lift the lid then?' gripped with uncertainty at a most inopportune moment, the drylurkers noticed her presence, beginning to grow agitated as they pushed against the bars, clawing and gnawing at them, a meaningless affair, the cells had not been poorly thought-out.
A useless action as the carcass, slapped the flimsily-held weapon away, landing a nasty cut to the living's side, staining her blade red.
One had to admit that the girl Jaral Cribler had chosen was awfully jumpy, always knowing where to run away to in order to evade attacks as efficiently as was possible.
But being efficient wasn't going to cut it, the nightbird attacked relentlessly, and space was hard to come by around here, it couldn't even be used to its fullest extent either as getting too close to one of the cells could get one caught by the mad drylurkers held inside.
Right eye brimming with a yellow shine, the huntress attempted to exchange a few blows with the undead, but still, the power of her transplantation was not enough to bridge the gap, her attacks too amateurish, the assassin seeing right through all of them.
The living could only thank her luck and proficiency in getting away from danger for having managed to avoid serious injuries so far, even with the many cuts already riddling her body.
She had to think outside the box, do something entirely unexpected, and perhaps even obviously idiotic to hope to not be completely made a fool out of from beginning to end.
'The chief gave this mission to me... I can't let a single enemy stop me... And certainly not one as weak as that!'
Backing up, she breathed in and out, deflecting one strike before immediately turning right around, showing her back to the undead, who instantly seized the opportunity and carved a cross upon the living.
The huntress brought the hilt of the bone sword down on the simple lock of one of the cells, allowing a tide of voracious drylurkers to pour right out.