FATE VI The Winged Helper

THE black, gray falcon watched the laughing humans warily. The one with the bow he was most concerned about, but the others seamed harmless. Well… the girl did anyway.

That one with the sword looked like a skilled warrior. So did the one with the bow; and this particular bird had learned early on about bows? The men with black and red armor and shields had them. He hated those men ever since they had hunted down his family and killed them. But now he watched in fascination as the black haired boy spun his sword in blurring circles. As they walked on the falcon flew quietly from tree to tree following them. He liked the girl with the blue dress. She seemed very nice. And he wondered what she had in her pouch.

Harias tossed a large nut into the air and batted it away with Silverlight. The second time he did it, Deodar whipped if an arrow at it. It stuck with a little plock! and then, both thudded to the ground. Harias’s jaw dropped. Deodar merely picked up the arrow and looked at the nut in disappointment. Then he muttered to himself,

“It didn’t split. Phooey.” He removed the nut and all of a sudden something gray and black swooped down, snatched from his fingers and disappeared. “What was that!?”

The falcon was startled at himself for what he had just done. He had been foolish to go after that nut when he had just seen what the archer did with his bow. The human could have been brought him down in one second with one of those well aimed arrows. But he hadn’t had lunch yet and these were his favorite nuts. They were to him like eating crackers as an appetizer. He followed again to see if the girl had more nuts.

The trio had now reached Buckland. Now precaution was most important. The walked between the houses to prevent being seen easily. Presently they stopped and watched. There were almost no signs of life on the roads. All three lay flat as a battalion of soldiers march hotly by. Thara lunged for ward when she saw captain Foltindon leading them, nose in the air. Harias held her back and Deodar clapped a hand over her mouth to keep her silent. When they had past she calmed down and said coldly,

“He is the man that ordered my fathers death.” Deodar and Harias saw the hatred in her eyes as she said it. Then, leaving the subject, Deodar asked,

“Where to first, Harias?”

Harias thought for a moment.

“I’d like to stop at a certain blacksmith shop.”

Deodar nodded.

“You lead the way.”

The three stole silently around the houses till they came to Gennabrick’s blacksmiths shop. Harias’s heart sank at the sight. The windows and door were boarded up. Harias dreaded to think of what Lamord’s soldiers might have done to him. Then the horror of it hit him. He ran to the nearest window and began tearing at the boards that covered it. One of them came loose in his hand but the others were nailed securely. He pulled out Silverlight and smashed the boards in a single blow. Deodar and Thara watched him disappear through the window then followed after. Once they had crawled through they saw Harias standing stalk still in the middle of the room. Cups and bread crust and broken plates were scattered on the floor. Cupboard doors were open or broken of and the contents broken or scattered. A chair was tipped over. The forge works had been smashed

and torn apart. Tools were lying everywhere. The shop had been rampaged. Harias stood shocked in the center of all of it.

“How could they have done this? It was all he had. All I had. They’ll pay for this.” he slammed his fist down on his palm. “I’ll make them pay.” He growled to himself. Exiting again through the window, the three contemplated what to do next.

Finally Deodar said,

“It’s getting dark. We should find a good place to camp out before we do anything else.” They found a good oak and Deodar shot up into the foliage like a squirrel. Presently they heard him call out, “Wow! You can see the whole town from up hear! Uh- oh! Here come a detachment of scouts.” He dropped down quietly and helped Thara to a good foot hold on a branch so that she could climb the rest of the way on her own. The Harias scrambled after her and then Deodar, shaking his head at Harias’s un-speediness. They scrambled as high as they could and just in time. The soldiers came marching directly under the tree. They were archers. Most likely going hunting for the king’s table that evening. Harias could have spat. They had probably taken everything that the people had and now had to fend for themselves. “Serves them right.” he thought, “after all they’ve done.”

The gray falcon swooped angrily. He hated these red and black archers, and now they were coming to his tree. He flew with full force at one of the black helmets and knocked the unbalanced soldier to the ground. The archers immediately scattered and drew their bowstrings taught. The falcon soured high and looked back just in time to see the arrows coming up at him. He dodged and swooped and dived straight toward the ground. Thara gasped, thinking he had been hit. But the gallant bird leveled just above the ground and flew off to safety. Thara’s gasp had betrayed the trio’s position and the archers looked up. Harias and Deodar needed no other urging to decide it was time to move. They dropped down in the midst of the enemy forgetting about their weapons. Harias landed on top of one and dealt a stinging blow with both fists to the one next to him. Deodar whipped out his dagger and severed the bowstring that was a bout to send an arrow hurtling at his friend, then kicked the archer into its comrade knocking them both to the ground. Now the hawk came into the fray flying so close to the ground his wing tips nearly touched the grass. He smacked head on into one of the enemy knocking him completely off his feet. The soldiers were not equipped to fight this team, and were not prepared for an attack. The scattered helplessly and sought cover.

No one had known at the time, but Thara had constructed a sturdy sling during her stay in Deodar’s tree and had become very skilled with it. She let fly a big stone at a soldier. It clanked of his helmet and he turned to see where it came from just to get another right in the jaw. Now she let out a full barrage that nearly exhausted her supply of pebbles. One flew right past Deodar’s head and smacked the soldier he was about to slug. THOK! The soldier yelped and clapped a hand on his jaw as he fell straight backwards like a felled tree. Two others whacked an archer on the hand then a straight one to the cheek. No one knew where they were coming from but the three combatants were grateful of their help. Harias neatly tripped a fleeing archer and sent him sprawling in the grass. The falcon attacked with beak and talons and before long the trio’s fierce onslaught scattered the enemy in all directions and sent them fleeing for their lives. Thara sent a hefty pebble hurtling after them. WHANK! A soldier’s head wobbled like a bobble head and he lazily flopped to the ground. Thara dropped to the ground with a grim look on her face and twirling her sling. Deodar, clutching a bleeding arm, half heartedly chuckled,

“We sure showed them didn’t we.” The falcon landed gracefully on Thara’s shoulder. She smiled at the fierce falcon.

“I think we’ve found ourselves a fourth crew member.” The bird let out a happy earsplitting screech.

“Kyyyyyrrrraaaaaahh!” Thara’s face cringed and she clapped her hands on her ears and so did the others. After the sound stopped Thara announced,

“This heroic bird needs a name; and I believe I shall call him Talonjay.” Deodar nodded approval, concurring,

“It fits him perfectly.” He leaned forward toward Talonjay and said, “Well Talonjay, how do you like working with an archer?” Talonjay reached out and pecked Deodar’s nose sharply. “Yow! Why’d you have to do that?” he looked at his nose whining, “I think it’s bleeding.” Harias and Deodar exploded.

“HAHA!!!!”

“Good shot Talonjay! You-HAHAHA! - landed one right on the- HAHAHA!- on the button!”