Sebastian stood up, all his aches and pains were gone. Not just from his knee, his back, shoulders, all felt like he was forty years younger. Discreetly glancing at his wrist, he noticed an old scar was gone. He wanted to offer his thanks… but the birds were all busy. Sebastian thought they might be grooming the snake god's feathers. Their birdsong echoing delightedly with each new find.
Alexei stood so he blocked the view of his enraged Regina. "Regina, she's goading you." He whispered, it was obvious the female did not care for them. Taking the sliced fruits they prepared for Ashton, carrying him away. Drawing his attention when he or Neolani wanted to speak. Lord Caius may have been blunter with his distaste, but Beloved simply wanted to separate Ashton from them.
Neolani released her clenched fist. Her nails had left crescent moon indents in her flesh. Why. Why? Why?! Why was every beast they came across dismissing her? What had she done wrong? If they were going to keep making barbed comments, they might as well come out and just tell her to her face!
Alexei stiffened, even with his back turned, he could feel the oppressive weight of the snake's gaze. He knew better than to turn his back on a predator… being around Ashton had given him an inflated sense of security.
Neolani looked past Alexei to the snake's patronizing glance. Even knowing Ashton claimed them, the snake would have wiped them out without a second thought. Just to kill Sebastian and Monroe… they hadn't even been a consideration. No… perhaps, killing them would have pleased Beloved. A single flick of his tail and all of Ashton's reasons to remain in the empire could have been removed.
Haven settled in, he'd never paid particular attention to his feathers. If they became a nuisance, he plucked them. They would regrow. This… pampering was peculiar. The wind flowed naturally along his body, the groomed feathers left no pockets for air to become trapped. He had no doubt that if he decided to take flight, there would be significantly less resistance.
If this was why Ru and Nix always fixed each other's feathers, it would make sense why they were so close. He would give much to enjoy having his feathers regularly groomed. The healing was secondary.
Ashton stood on Haven's spine, if they wanted to find his best feather today they would have to pick up the pace. He shared a look with Beloved as they shifted their song of delight to one of coaxing. Soon hundreds of birds started to flock. Without hesitation finding perch along the giant snake.
Haven blinked as he was soon covered in birds. Beasts or animal they paid him no attention. Well… they paid attention to his feathers. Flocking around the original twelve, then separating into groups to groom his feathers. The new arrivals simply set to marking as the original twelve would swiftly take over. Haven did not miss a tiny eagle, no larger than a humming bird breaking away from the rest to mark several feathers. Organized chaos. No… controlled chaos.
Monroe woke with his limbs aching. The phantom pains must be back. Not just aching, itching, numb, pins, needles, all at the same time. With a groan he sat up, shifting so he could rub the stumps in a vain effort of solace. Only… he felt his fingers brush along cloth.
Jaxon had been nodding off when Monroe shot up, then leapt out of bed. Jaxon was already diving forward to catch his brother when he grunted, already crumbling to the floor!
Monroe was staring at his limbs… his fingers, his toes… then he remembered the female bird. Had she… healed him?
"Monkey? Monkey are you hurt?" Jaxon asked setting Monroe back on the bed.
Monroe looked up at Jaxon, "Why… did she heal me?"
Sebastian nodded as Jaxon and Monroe came out to join everyone for tea. He wasn't surprised when Lucian and the rest were huddled away, Sebastian had no interest in their plots. Not to mention… it would seem the birds started a council of their own.
Jaxon stiffened as the flock of birds flew off. Leaving Lord Reece standing with a pensive expression, his arms crossed. Lady Beloved wore an equally serious expression as the ten small birds were chirping furiously.
Haven shifted so he could watch the small flock. They had picked an… interesting place to chirp. He glanced at the sky, perhaps an hour until midday.
Beloved furiously wiped her reddening eyes as she jumped up. "I will distract him, he is still mine! No matter how temporary, this is sand in my eyes!"
Ashton nodded as he traced the outline of a rather impressive scar with his foot. "Then I will remove it, it will still hurt, keep him still Beloved, lest sand turn to dirt."
Sebastian watched as the ten small black birds grew into towering men, weapons at the ready. No, two were smaller… softer. Two of them were… female.
"This will be dangerous, some might seek an advantage to take, if they dare to approach, let it be their last mistake." Hito announced solemnly as he drew two daggers in a reverse grip. The others all nodded as they drew their own weapons.
Novak didn't miss one of the birdmen shifting to keep him in their sight. "Jakub, stay behind me."
Haven tensed as Nix traced a scar older than any human nation. Before he could dislodge the bird from his perch, Beloved was hugging his nose.
"This will be scary, this will still hurt, but I will hold you, the worst I'll divert." Beloved promised wrapping herself around as much of him as she could. Her big snake… someone hurt her big snake! Bad! She would burn them! No, she needed to hold him.
Haven watched as her eyes were already watering, she, not even as big as one of his teeth, was crying over a wound that had healed millennia ago. Haven decided to wait, see what exactly these birds were up to.
Sebastian ushered his grandchildren further away. Whatever was going to hurt a god was not something they could help with. Best to stay out of the way. Not to mention, he'd never seen the little helpers look so… murderous.
Novak watched the female, her feet were barely touching the ground as her upper body was laid out over the giant snake's face. She was going to hold him? If she had that kind of strength, she wouldn't have been so frightened of Kaveri.
Haven narrowed his eyes, she was weaving an illusion, numbing his senses. Two illusions, one for the senses, the second for the humans watching.
Ashton waited for Beloved's signal, a plaintive high note. Without hesitation he fell to his knees, merging his mana with the wind god's. With Beloved distracting Haven, there was no resistance. The flesh became incorporeal. Instead of flesh, the scar was no more solid than a passing breeze. Ashton waited until the area stabilized.
If one were only looking, the incorporeal flesh could be mistaken for a pool of water. Soft tendrils of the god's mana creating color in time with his heart beat.
Slowly, Ashton covered his arm in silver flame. More than seeing the god's flow of mana, he listened.
Closing his eyes, Ashton matched Haven's mana, the silver taking on all the colors of the rainbow, fading until his own arm matched the god's incorporeal flesh. Listening for the discordant notes, he reached past the feathers, flesh, bone.
The ground shook as Haven started to thrash, his body wiping against the ground. No matter how he thrashed neither bird was dislodged. Beloved kept her feet firmly planted on the ground, hugging his nose. Her grip was featherlight, but… his head did not move.
In that moment four black rifts opened around his body. Haven let out a threatening hiss as the air shifted. Someone was watching them.
"I am right here, let me hold you, don't fear. It will be fine, it will be fine, I will hold you even if rivers we cry." Beloved coaxed as her teers fell onto his feathers. "It must hurt, there must be so much pain, please let us help, remove the very last strain."
Haven watched, so, the illusion wasn't for just the humans. The delicate probes were redirected even as his tail slammed into the ground. The earth shook as four of the birds locked onto the probes.
"They dared to look, they dared to probe. Remind them of why, they should fear the unknown." Hito snarled. Futa, Mitt, Itsu and Kokono let out a growl as they gently dissuaded the uninvited guests.
Ashton finally found it. Gripping the discordant note, he wrapped it in his mana. In his eyes, he saw the separation of notes, the removal of a broken cord. As soon as it was separated from Haven's flesh, he ripped it free.
The scream that echoed over the land wasn't from Haven. Ashton didn't lose focus as the four rifts were slammed shut.
Throwing the harpoon on the ground as his silver flames removed the lingering poison. Ashton let a single teer fall into the incorporeal flesh, then released his mana.
Novak shuddered, that scream… it wasn't something a human could make. It sounded female, gargled, as if the owner were choking. Even though the rifts were closed, the sound echoed over the mountains like a haunting reminder.
A reminder that some battles were lost before the opponent even stepped onto the battlefield. Novak watched as the birdmen didn't let their guard down.
Jakub turned his attention to the silver flames lingering on… a golden harpoon. It was easily… fifteen feet long, the diamond head had dozens of spurs, the shaft was covered in barbs. No doubt, it was meant to pierce, then tear flesh with every movement.
Novak glanced over the god, why had he not removed it earlier? Every second must have been… agony.
Jakub stared at the lingering flames… but his attention was drawn to the pooling purple liquid. He couldn't be sure… no, the longer the poison pooled the more it solidified. "We need to get further back. One drop of that… is enough to kill over a hundred thousand men." Jakub snapped summoning two of his skeletons to remove… how would he remove it without killing everyone here?
Ashton hopped down, directing his flame to burn away the rapidly cooling liquid. It was mixed with different poisons, most notably purple worm. Ashton narrowed his eyes as he burned it all away. Now… what do to with this harpoon… forged from the bones of a fallen god. Ashton opened a rift only for Haven to shift so he was staring down at him. Beloved dangling from his nose. "Cheep?"
Haven stared at the wide-eyed Nix. Then shifted so he looked into Ru's domain. Without a word, his tail wrapped up the now clean harpoon.
"Oh! Big snake did you want it? Big snake do you need it? Big snake it is dangerous, where should we keep it?" Beloved asked falling from his nose to peek at the harpoon. She gave a fierce scowl at the weapon. "It is not soft, it is not small… perhaps we can keep it… in Nix's nest, the weapon hall?" Beloved asked opening a second rift.