A gentle chorus of trilling and chirping soothed Fretly as he slept. A smile crept on his face as the sound grew louder and louder until it woke him up. Through sleepy eyes the young man saw a group of birds hopping and scratching at the ground on both sides of the ditch. Then Fretly remembered his watch duty and he jumped up, shaking off the grass stalks that had been covering him. He spun around to see Soern laughing at him.
"Oh boy, way to keep watch, there, watchman," Soern said as he laughed his signature belly laugh.
Fretly scratched his head. "I guess I fell asleep before the end of my watch. Sorry," he said before yawning. "What are all these birds," he asked, coming over to sit next to Soern.
"Rockhoppers. They know razorwig swarms will knock grass seeds from the stalks and the rockhoppers follow them out of the woods to feed on the bounty," Soern explained.
"Oh yeah," Fretly said, "these are those birds that can't fly. They sure are tame here, I've never seen them come so close to a camp."
"Not many people around to hunt them here," Soern replied.
"How's Dashyl," Fretly asked.
"I'm fine," answered the boy who also had just woken up. Dashyl sat up and rubbed his jaw. "I can move and I can talk, I guess that means I'm doing alright." He winced and felt the sutures on his cheek and then explored the wound on his neck. "Still hurts all over," Dashyl said.
"Now you know why a razorwig swarm is so dangerous," Soern reminded him.
"Oh, thanks, for a moment I forgot why I feel like this," Dashyl snapped.
"Now, now. You're lucky to be alive. We all are," Soern said. "Eat some rations and let's make a plan of action so we can move on soon. Maybe we can catch whoever set off those explosions and put the swarm in motion towards us. I'm going to feed the igwaza while you two eat."
The two friends ate their breakfast in silence. Dashyl had to eat gingerly due to the cuts on his cheek and neck. Soern returned from feeding the runners and crouched down with the others to begin discussing a plan. Before he could say anything, a loud screech pierced the air followed by a soft thud and an flurry of feathers spinning in the air near them.
"Whoa," Fretly said, startled. "What was that?"
"Look, it's a merlyn, it must have dive bombed a rockhopper," Soern pointed into the air. "There, it's got one in its talons as it flies away."
As the three travelers watched the merlyn rise into the sky with its prey, something whizzed over their heads and struck the merlyn, knocking it from its course. It released the rockhopper it had killed and both birds fell from the sky like deadweights. The rockhopper's lifeless body fell right at Dashyl's feet. The shocked companions were staring at the dead bird when they heard a strange voice.
"Greetings," said a man wearing black armor and a green mask with what looked like a large orange eye on the front. The man stood on one bank of the ditch and was wielding a bow with an arrow notched and ready to fire. "Any of you move and I will put an arrow through your throat."
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