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    Flamme was still doing her best to help the others keep Spectre from the pumpkin patch and more importantly: from the city. They had managed to put down Geiger, and Maja's had chained him once more to the patch while all the valid stryx were pushing Spectre away from Sol. All and all the plan was working, but the harpia was tired. She was fighting the skeletal monster for a whole day now, plus the fact that she was nocturnal and not diurnal, this meant she hadn't sleep in two days... Or could you count the two hours of sleep she had before her son went to the Haunted Wood for a Tack Maker's Chore? Yeah no, not really. Her vision was blurry and for an instant she thought her son was there, flying in the melee. She blinked and he was gone. She shook her head and avoided Spectre's tail just in time. Mirakel couldn't be here. After he brought Geiger in the fight he had to go to the infirmary, and then... well he could have come back... But he couldn't fly, so it was definitely not him. But... what if he had learned while she was fighting Spectre? Could he truly be there somewhere?
      Distracted, she tried to look around to spot her son's white and blue fur, unfortunately, by doing so she forgot Spectre... Their jaws came at her at fast speed and bite her right leg. An unbearable pain suddenly stroke her. She screamed as her rider Terrine shot an arrow at the monster. They let go of Flamme's leg with a deep growl, trying to catch the arrow stuck in their skull.

      "Ok girl that's enough for today." Terrine said.

      Flamme sighted of relief and obeyed to her rider. She flew away from the fight, but not too far so she could still keep an eye on her teammates; Nessy was on her harpia Robin, circling Spectre, the young but giant gryph Ether was immobilizing the demon as he could, and other stryx she didn't know were doing the same. Her landing was a bit chaotic - she could only rely on one leg. Terrine hopped off of her back and examined the wound. Meanwhile, Flamme was still looking at her teammates. Did she really see Mirakel back there? No, it was just an illusion. But when she looked at the fight again, her blood raced through her veins. There! A white fur with dazzling blue wings! The harpia tensed and focused on the stryx. Long tufts, whiskers, hooked nose, 3 parts butterfly wings, there was no doubt - it was him!

      No! Flamme thought, terrified when she saw him launching himself at Spectre, talons sharp and forward, an unmoving expression painted on his face. The monster opened his imposing jaws, waiting for the lycan to just come at them.

      NO!

      Without thinking, Flamme launched herself forward, clapping her wings madly. She needed to save her son! She almost didn't hear her rider yelling on the ground. She had left him behind, but she had no time to waste. She dashed in direction of the fight at full speed. Time was almost frozen. She could see her son facing Spectre's mighty jaws, coming closer at each heartbeat, and Mirakel still focused, as if he didn't realize a certain death was waiting for him.

      And the most terrible thing of all was that there was nothing she could do to stop it.

      The dreadful teeth clapped on Mirakel's neck, quick and deadly. Flamme screamed, seeing her son's fur suddenly stained of crimson red floating around him as he fell atrociously slowly to the ground.

      The world lost its colors. Flamme became deaf to anything surrounding her. Her scream of horror and unbearable pain echoing weakly at her own ears, almost inaudible. Completely mad, she roared and spat all the fire she had in her at Spectre, but the skeletal demon turned his attention to her without feeling a thing. They opened once again their jaws to catch her. Flamme dodged but the illusion faded suddenly, and she saw too late with fright that her eyes had betrayed her - Spectre hadn't attacked her from the front but from the side with their tail, and when she had dodged, she had just moved closer to the attack with no remaining time to avoid it. Spectre hit her with the strength of a thousand gryph. She fell.

      She almost didn't feel her body hitting the ground. She faintly heard her bones crushed, but no pain came. Instead, darkness slowly took over.

      Before she passed out, she made out a shadow in the corner of her eyes and her blood ran cold.

      "You!" She still found the strength to mutter in a painful gurgle.

      A distorted singing voice whispered at her ear :

      "Child of the Sky, Child of the Sky, like the others he will soon die. You fell for this so easily... it's almost sad really. You shouldn't have messed with me. Now... I'll just have to make them pay."

      "N... No... I... I'll warn them. No... matter your... tricks, they... can't affect them if I just... tell..."

      "You haven't picked up on it yet, have you? I have very meticulous planning, and you, you're just not part of it."

      Flamme wanted to scream, but darkness finally claimed her.

      "Farewell, fire-breather."

---

      GLANG!

      "Ouch! Bad Trap that wasn't necessary!" Mirakel growled at the tyto who had just smashed the lycan's helmet with her own.

      "Heehee of course it was, dumb dumb! It's to be ultra duper super extra sure that your metal coat is aaaaaall right!"

      "And, your verdict?"

      "Meh, could be better."

      The lycan sighted. Bad Trap would always be Bad Trap. On a side note, she wasn't wrong to test their newly-acquired armor if they were to fight with it, but Mirakel was a bit concerned about the fact that he would need another armor soon enough if he continued growing. The size of a pony wasn't the full adult size of a lycan, and this armor would soon be too small... At least Bad Trap was almost fully grown so hers would just require some minor adjustments.

      Another thing that bothered him was the fact that when the Herald had said armor, Mirakel had imagined full equipment... instead of what the armorer gave them a battle helm... covering the neck too but... it was still just a helmet...

      Welp, Tack Maker's Chores, something tells me I am not quite done with you just yet... I wonder how mom did for hers. I should ask her when this whole mission is over.

      "All set? Good, the Captain of the guard wants to see you." Said the Herald.

      "I'm not sure this suits me." Sighted Liyu, looking ridiculous in an armor too big for him.

      "Pff, of course it suits him, he's born to be cute whatever he wears." Waved Bad Trap, jumping on her handler to rest her big fluffy head on his helmet.

      "Bad Trap will you stop this?! You're too big to jump on me and you no it!"

      Mirakel chuckled before turning his attention at the Herald; she was looking pretty concerned about the mental well being of her new recruits... and maybe their chances in a fight too... The lycan couldn't blame her, Liyu wasn't exactly the perfect soldier, Bad Trap had the focus of a sparrow, and himself couldn't fly and looked more like a show stryx than a fighter...

      At least the Herald kept her doubts to herself and guided them to the Captain who was planning their defenses at the guard barracks. He was leaning over the table, eyebrows frowning deeply, his gaze focused on a map of the city. When he finally looked up at the group guided by the Herald, he sighted of relief.

      "Thank Daius you bring me some recruits! » He exclaimed. Then he turned to Liyu and the two stryx. « You can't imagine how glad I am to see you. » He took a long look at them to judge their capacity. « You... don't seem really fit for battle my boy, and your stryx are a bit young, but it will do nonetheless."

      Mirakel waited for Liyu to huffed and say something stupid again, but for once, the boy surprised him.

      "We'll do what we can, I promise. » Affirmed the boy. « I know I'm not a warrior, and that we're not much to look at, but we won't let down the city of Sol. I... I won't see innocents die again..."

      That last sentence and word picked Mirakel's curiosity - it was so full of cracks, so different from his usual way of speaking; certainly it had something to do with his past and what had happened to his village... One day the lycan would have to dig this story more to finally understand Liyu's strange behavior about... pretty much everything. Could the answer truly lie in his past? Somehow Mirakel felt connected to the boy and was genuinely curious about him. But why? Liyu was a selfish coward most of the time, and yet... deep down... there was something about him... something that somehow linked them both. Maybe because Liyu was blaming the Gods for all the deaths in his life... while Mirakel had to thank them for saving his own...

      "I am glad to hear that." Noded the Captain, interrupting Mirakel's thoughts before he started to explain: "Since we don't know what will attack or even where, we were forced to make sure that every part of Sol is on high alert, just in case something big is coming. But that also greatly scattered our forces across the city and now we're missing a few souls to complete the defense. That's where you come in. Right now we have two possible jobs for you at the places that need the most reinforcements: the patrol affected to guard the outskirts of the pumpkin patch, and the watchtower. If you choose to go with the patrol, be careful: Geiger has been reattached to the pumpkin patch after we chased Spectre to another place more fitting to fight it. That being said, watching from the wall's towers might not be as interesting, but we could really use another watchman up there, and at least it's spacious. So what do you say?"

      Liyu readjusted his aviator googles. Mirakel was pretty sure they were used more as eyeglasses than anything, which meant the boy wouldn't make a very good watchman, but on a side note he was scared of stryx, so coming too close to Geiger as a guard patrol didn't seem likely either.

      The black-haired teenager took some time to choose, ignoring Bad Trap who was clearly gesturing him to choose the patrol, jumping and moving her wings and head to the outside of the city. That didn't surprise Mirakel. Bad Trap wasn't a stryx who liked to stand still.

      "Comooooon hooman! The choice's easy!" She sighed.

      After some time, Liyu sighed too and shook his head.

      "I have no idea where I would be the most useful."

      "Daaaah com'oooooooon!" Loudly moaned the tyto, standing upside down, feet in the air and head and wings lying on the floor, looking exasperated.

      "What about your stryx? I'm sure they can help you choose." Patiently said the Captain.

      Liyu looked alternately at Bad Trap then at Mirakel. The fake barn owl was still gesturing at the pumpkin patch. It was sadly funny to see that even with a universal language like gestures, Liyu was still very pathetic at interpreting or listening to his stryx. Mirakel preferred to choose the watchman post, standing next to the barrack window, his head clearly tilted toward the imposing city walls. He didn't really care what Liyu would choose. He already knew he wouldn't go on a patrol that was approaching way too close to Geiger; after what happened he didn't trust Maja's chains anymore. He wouldn't be the harbinger of a new disaster.

      Bad Trap finally seemed to notice his mood and stopped wagging.

      "Whatcha doing?" She asked.

      "The watchtower." Answered his friend. "It's the only post where I know I won't cause any trouble."

      "Oh. Scared dat big gryph will break free again if you come too close?"

      Mirakel quickly opened his mouth to huff and say he wasn't scared, but he stopped before a sound could pass his lips.

      "I suppose I am." He admitted instead.

      "Huh. Watch thingy sounds boring, but at least you won't be bored alone dumb dumb, if you stay, I stay!" She affirmed, stepping close to him and giving him a friendly poke in the shoulder.

      "Wha...? Hum, thanks Baddy but... we both know you don't like waiti..."

      "And we both know I never listen hihi!"

      And just like that, it was decided. With Bad Trap standing next to Mirakel, Liyu had no choice but to finally follow them. The Herald quickly lead them to the top of the wall's towers where two delicious portions of prime meat were waiting for them.
      "Mmmmmm yummies!" Bad Trap warbled, already jumping on the juicy meat.

      Mirakel had long given up on telling her that every meal's name wasn't « yummies ». Liyu directly went to the only available chair, a book about dark magic on his hands and his gaze turned toward the horizon. For once it seemed like he really wanted to do his job right.

      Mirakel took place next to Bad Trap who was still loudly eating the meat. Together they started watching the city.

      "Thanks for backing me up. I know it's not the assignment you wanted."

      "Come on dumb dumb, I wouldn't have let you behind. I would never let anyone behind..."

      Mirakel looked at her, surprised by her melancholic and serious tone. But that brief moment of candor didn't last long. Before he could say anything, Bad Trap's beak opened in a large smile once again.

      "Besides, what would ya do without me anyway? Am sure you'd end up bored before the sun calls it a nigh. And tis not like Liyu would wanna go to the frontline anyway... Also, I like those metal coats, could be shinier though. And this meat is good too, buuuut could use some carrots."

      Mirakel giggled.

      Together they watched the city for some time.

      The day was slowly starting to decline as the sunset projected its warm light on the city. From where he was, Mirakel could see the beautiful colors on the pumpkin patch, but also the warm and vibrant spectrum of autumn displayed on the leaves of the trees. Nothing escaped to the vigilant eyes of the Child of the Sky. He could discern the effervescence around the Royal Palace, see the sun casting it's dying light upon the mighty building. He could see and hear it all, and his nose was picking all the smells surrounding him, from the delicious meat Bad Trap was eating to the fallen leaves of the Wood or the sents of sweat in the arena. Even despite the distance he could feel the tension of the guards dispatched across the city and smell their fear. And if he focused enough, his ears could even pick up the distant clamor of the battle still raging between Spectre and the stryx fighters. Flamme was among them, as was Terrine, Ether and Nessy, stayed to get rid of the demon. He hoped they hadn't too much trouble.

      But it's another sound that intrigued the lycan. After a few hours of watching vigilantly upon the city and its surroundings, he perked up a strange noise coming from the Haunted Wood. It was like a flap of wing, only with a lot of echoes, as if a thousand wings were flapping in concert. Mirakel sniffed. The smell in the air was heavy and a new tension was rising, baleful and threatening.

    "Bad Trap do you smell that?"

    "Smell? Na, but I hear it." She whistled. « It's a whole lot of dark chickens if you ask me."

    "Dark chickens? How can you guess their color?"

    "Cause I'm a tyto, I have very good ears. Alsoooo, they're just there."

      She pointed her beak at the Haunted Wood. Mirakel turned his gaze to the dangerous place and his heart missed a beat. There, just as Bad Trap had said, was a cloud of angry crows.

      And they were coming right for the city.

END OF CHAPTER 9

Next: Chapter 10 - No turning back

Previous: Chapter 8 - The Haunted Wood

Prologue: Shadows of the Past - Prologue



---

Mirakel:
1.861 words = 9 AP
Event : 2 (www.deviantart.com/comments/1/… )

BG : 2

Rider : 2

Personal : 1

= 16 AP

Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

    Flamme was still doing her best to help the others keep Spectre from the pumpkin patch and more importantly: from the city. They had managed to put down Geiger, and Maja's had chained him once more to the patch while all the valid stryx were pushing Spectre away from Sol. All and all the plan was working, but the harpia was tired. She was fighting the skeletal monster for a whole day now, plus the fact that she was nocturnal and not diurnal, this meant she hadn't sleep in two days... Or could you count the two hours of sleep she had before her son went to the Haunted Wood for a Tack Maker's Chore? Yeah no, not really. Her vision was blurry and for an instant she thought her son was there, flying in the melee. She blinked and he was gone. She shook her head and avoided Spectre's tail just in time. Mirakel couldn't be here. After he brought Geiger in the fight he had to go to the infirmary, and then... well he could have come back... But he couldn't fly, so it was definitely not him. But... what if he had learned while she was fighting Spectre? Could he truly be there somewhere?
      Distracted, she tried to look around to spot her son's white and blue fur, unfortunately, by doing so she forgot Spectre... Their jaws came at her at fast speed and bite her right leg. An unbearable pain suddenly stroke her. She screamed as her rider Terrine shot an arrow at the monster. They let go of Flamme's leg with a deep growl, trying to catch the arrow stuck in their skull.

      "Ok girl that's enough for today." Terrine said.

      Flamme sighted of relief and obeyed to her rider. She flew away from the fight, but not too far so she could still keep an eye on her teammates; Nessy was on her harpia Robin, circling Spectre, the young but giant gryph Ether was immobilizing the demon as he could, and other stryx she didn't know were doing the same. Her landing was a bit chaotic - she could only rely on one leg. Terrine hopped off of her back and examined the wound. Meanwhile, Flamme was still looking at her teammates. Did she really see Mirakel back there? No, it was just an illusion. But when she looked at the fight again, her blood raced through her veins. There! A white fur with dazzling blue wings! The harpia tensed and focused on the stryx. Long tufts, whiskers, hooked nose, 3 parts butterfly wings, there was no doubt - it was him!

      No! Flamme thought, terrified when she saw him launching himself at Spectre, talons sharp and forward, an unmoving expression painted on his face. The monster opened his imposing jaws, waiting for the lycan to just come at them.

      NO!

      Without thinking, Flamme launched herself forward, clapping her wings madly. She needed to save her son! She almost didn't hear her rider yelling on the ground. She had left him behind, but she had no time to waste. She dashed in direction of the fight at full speed. Time was almost frozen. She could see her son facing Spectre's mighty jaws, coming closer at each heartbeat, and Mirakel still focused, as if he didn't realize a certain death was waiting for him.

      And the most terrible thing of all was that there was nothing she could do to stop it.

      The dreadful teeth clapped on Mirakel's neck, quick and deadly. Flamme screamed, seeing her son's fur suddenly stained of crimson red floating around him as he fell atrociously slowly to the ground.

      The world lost its colors. Flamme became deaf to anything surrounding her. Her scream of horror and unbearable pain echoing weakly at her own ears, almost inaudible. Completely mad, she roared and spat all the fire she had in her at Spectre, but the skeletal demon turned his attention to her without feeling a thing. They opened once again their jaws to catch her. Flamme dodged but the illusion faded suddenly, and she saw too late with fright that her eyes had betrayed her - Spectre hadn't attacked her from the front but from the side with their tail, and when she had dodged, she had just moved closer to the attack with no remaining time to avoid it. Spectre hit her with the strength of a thousand gryph. She fell.

      She almost didn't feel her body hitting the ground. She faintly heard her bones crushed, but no pain came. Instead, darkness slowly took over.

      Before she passed out, she made out a shadow in the corner of her eyes and her blood ran cold.

      "You!" She still found the strength to mutter in a painful gurgle.

      A distorted singing voice whispered at her ear :

      "Child of the Sky, Child of the Sky, like the others he will soon die. You fell for this so easily... it's almost sad really. You shouldn't have messed with me. Now... I'll just have to make them pay."

      "N... No... I... I'll warn them. No... matter your... tricks, they... can't affect them if I just... tell..."

      "You haven't picked up on it yet, have you? I have very meticulous planning, and you, you're just not part of it."

      Flamme wanted to scream, but darkness finally claimed her.

      "Farewell, fire-breather."

---

      GLANG!

      "Ouch! Bad Trap that wasn't necessary!" Mirakel growled at the tyto who had just smashed the lycan's helmet with her own.

      "Heehee of course it was, dumb dumb! It's to be ultra duper super extra sure that your metal coat is aaaaaall right!"

      "And, your verdict?"

      "Meh, could be better."

      The lycan sighted. Bad Trap would always be Bad Trap. On a side note, she wasn't wrong to test their newly-acquired armor if they were to fight with it, but Mirakel was a bit concerned about the fact that he would need another armor soon enough if he continued growing. The size of a pony wasn't the full adult size of a lycan, and this armor would soon be too small... At least Bad Trap was almost fully grown so hers would just require some minor adjustments.

      Another thing that bothered him was the fact that when the Herald had said armor, Mirakel had imagined full equipment... instead of what the armorer gave them a battle helm... covering the neck too but... it was still just a helmet...

      Welp, Tack Maker's Chores, something tells me I am not quite done with you just yet... I wonder how mom did for hers. I should ask her when this whole mission is over.

      "All set? Good, the Captain of the guard wants to see you." Said the Herald.

      "I'm not sure this suits me." Sighted Liyu, looking ridiculous in an armor too big for him.

      "Pff, of course it suits him, he's born to be cute whatever he wears." Waved Bad Trap, jumping on her handler to rest her big fluffy head on his helmet.

      "Bad Trap will you stop this?! You're too big to jump on me and you no it!"

      Mirakel chuckled before turning his attention at the Herald; she was looking pretty concerned about the mental well being of her new recruits... and maybe their chances in a fight too... The lycan couldn't blame her, Liyu wasn't exactly the perfect soldier, Bad Trap had the focus of a sparrow, and himself couldn't fly and looked more like a show stryx than a fighter...

      At least the Herald kept her doubts to herself and guided them to the Captain who was planning their defenses at the guard barracks. He was leaning over the table, eyebrows frowning deeply, his gaze focused on a map of the city. When he finally looked up at the group guided by the Herald, he sighted of relief.

      "Thank Daius you bring me some recruits! » He exclaimed. Then he turned to Liyu and the two stryx. « You can't imagine how glad I am to see you. » He took a long look at them to judge their capacity. « You... don't seem really fit for battle my boy, and your stryx are a bit young, but it will do nonetheless."

      Mirakel waited for Liyu to huffed and say something stupid again, but for once, the boy surprised him.

      "We'll do what we can, I promise. » Affirmed the boy. « I know I'm not a warrior, and that we're not much to look at, but we won't let down the city of Sol. I... I won't see innocents die again..."

      That last sentence and word picked Mirakel's curiosity - it was so full of cracks, so different from his usual way of speaking; certainly it had something to do with his past and what had happened to his village... One day the lycan would have to dig this story more to finally understand Liyu's strange behavior about... pretty much everything. Could the answer truly lie in his past? Somehow Mirakel felt connected to the boy and was genuinely curious about him. But why? Liyu was a selfish coward most of the time, and yet... deep down... there was something about him... something that somehow linked them both. Maybe because Liyu was blaming the Gods for all the deaths in his life... while Mirakel had to thank them for saving his own...

      "I am glad to hear that." Noded the Captain, interrupting Mirakel's thoughts before he started to explain: "Since we don't know what will attack or even where, we were forced to make sure that every part of Sol is on high alert, just in case something big is coming. But that also greatly scattered our forces across the city and now we're missing a few souls to complete the defense. That's where you come in. Right now we have two possible jobs for you at the places that need the most reinforcements: the patrol affected to guard the outskirts of the pumpkin patch, and the watchtower. If you choose to go with the patrol, be careful: Geiger has been reattached to the pumpkin patch after we chased Spectre to another place more fitting to fight it. That being said, watching from the wall's towers might not be as interesting, but we could really use another watchman up there, and at least it's spacious. So what do you say?"

      Liyu readjusted his aviator googles. Mirakel was pretty sure they were used more as eyeglasses than anything, which meant the boy wouldn't make a very good watchman, but on a side note he was scared of stryx, so coming too close to Geiger as a guard patrol didn't seem likely either.

      The black-haired teenager took some time to choose, ignoring Bad Trap who was clearly gesturing him to choose the patrol, jumping and moving her wings and head to the outside of the city. That didn't surprise Mirakel. Bad Trap wasn't a stryx who liked to stand still.

      "Comooooon hooman! The choice's easy!" She sighed.

      After some time, Liyu sighed too and shook his head.

      "I have no idea where I would be the most useful."

      "Daaaah com'oooooooon!" Loudly moaned the tyto, standing upside down, feet in the air and head and wings lying on the floor, looking exasperated.

      "What about your stryx? I'm sure they can help you choose." Patiently said the Captain.

      Liyu looked alternately at Bad Trap then at Mirakel. The fake barn owl was still gesturing at the pumpkin patch. It was sadly funny to see that even with a universal language like gestures, Liyu was still very pathetic at interpreting or listening to his stryx. Mirakel preferred to choose the watchman post, standing next to the barrack window, his head clearly tilted toward the imposing city walls. He didn't really care what Liyu would choose. He already knew he wouldn't go on a patrol that was approaching way too close to Geiger; after what happened he didn't trust Maja's chains anymore. He wouldn't be the harbinger of a new disaster.

      Bad Trap finally seemed to notice his mood and stopped wagging.

      "Whatcha doing?" She asked.

      "The watchtower." Answered his friend. "It's the only post where I know I won't cause any trouble."

      "Oh. Scared dat big gryph will break free again if you come too close?"

      Mirakel quickly opened his mouth to huff and say he wasn't scared, but he stopped before a sound could pass his lips.

      "I suppose I am." He admitted instead.

      "Huh. Watch thingy sounds boring, but at least you won't be bored alone dumb dumb, if you stay, I stay!" She affirmed, stepping close to him and giving him a friendly poke in the shoulder.

      "Wha...? Hum, thanks Baddy but... we both know you don't like waiti..."

      "And we both know I never listen hihi!"

      And just like that, it was decided. With Bad Trap standing next to Mirakel, Liyu had no choice but to finally follow them. The Herald quickly lead them to the top of the wall's towers where two delicious portions of prime meat were waiting for them.
      "Mmmmmm yummies!" Bad Trap warbled, already jumping on the juicy meat.

      Mirakel had long given up on telling her that every meal's name wasn't « yummies ». Liyu directly went to the only available chair, a book about dark magic on his hands and his gaze turned toward the horizon. For once it seemed like he really wanted to do his job right.

      Mirakel took place next to Bad Trap who was still loudly eating the meat. Together they started watching the city.

      "Thanks for backing me up. I know it's not the assignment you wanted."

      "Come on dumb dumb, I wouldn't have let you behind. I would never let anyone behind..."

      Mirakel looked at her, surprised by her melancholic and serious tone. But that brief moment of candor didn't last long. Before he could say anything, Bad Trap's beak opened in a large smile once again.

      "Besides, what would ya do without me anyway? Am sure you'd end up bored before the sun calls it a nigh. And tis not like Liyu would wanna go to the frontline anyway... Also, I like those metal coats, could be shinier though. And this meat is good too, buuuut could use some carrots."

      Mirakel giggled.

      Together they watched the city for some time.

      The day was slowly starting to decline as the sunset projected its warm light on the city. From where he was, Mirakel could see the beautiful colors on the pumpkin patch, but also the warm and vibrant spectrum of autumn displayed on the leaves of the trees. Nothing escaped to the vigilant eyes of the Child of the Sky. He could discern the effervescence around the Royal Palace, see the sun casting it's dying light upon the mighty building. He could see and hear it all, and his nose was picking all the smells surrounding him, from the delicious meat Bad Trap was eating to the fallen leaves of the Wood or the sents of sweat in the arena. Even despite the distance he could feel the tension of the guards dispatched across the city and smell their fear. And if he focused enough, his ears could even pick up the distant clamor of the battle still raging between Spectre and the stryx fighters. Flamme was among them, as was Terrine, Ether and Nessy, stayed to get rid of the demon. He hoped they hadn't too much trouble.

      But it's another sound that intrigued the lycan. After a few hours of watching vigilantly upon the city and its surroundings, he perked up a strange noise coming from the Haunted Wood. It was like a flap of wing, only with a lot of echoes, as if a thousand wings were flapping in concert. Mirakel sniffed. The smell in the air was heavy and a new tension was rising, baleful and threatening.

    "Bad Trap do you smell that?"

    "Smell? Na, but I hear it." She whistled. « It's a whole lot of dark chickens if you ask me."

    "Dark chickens? How can you guess their color?"

    "Cause I'm a tyto, I have very good ears. Alsoooo, they're just there."

      She pointed her beak at the Haunted Wood. Mirakel turned his gaze to the dangerous place and his heart missed a beat. There, just as Bad Trap had said, was a cloud of angry crows.

      And they were coming right for the city.

END OF CHAPTER 9

Next: Chapter 10 - No turning back

Previous: Chapter 8 - The Haunted Wood

Prologue: Shadows of the Past - Prologue



---

Mirakel:
1.861 words = 9 AP
Event : 2 (www.deviantart.com/comments/1/… )

BG : 2

Rider : 2

Personal : 1

= 16 AP