I froze and stared at hawk as my mind ran through what I should do. I could try and hide, but I would have to go through the door, and that felt like a worse idea than fighting the hawks head-on. Or I sneak up on the hawk to kill it silently in an attempt to keep it from screeching.

Choosing the latter I closer Step by step, praying that it wouldn't turn, but they would go unanswered with it turning to meet my gaze when I was within arms reach of it.

Horror filled its eyes at its reaper so close without it realizing. My eyes signaling death for the hawk made it screech wildly for help.

I swung the dagger with enough force to cut its head off, and cleanly did so, but it was too late as more of the hawks screeched in response. What now?

I glanced at the door and brought my dagger up. I went over how this fight would go in my head.

The confined space gives me a huge advantage against any of their tactics since they both couldn't properly fly in here or surround me. In other words, I'm screwed if I lose my advantage...

The first wave of hawks was only two followed one other. I mentally numbered them as they came down.

The two jumped at me at once. My right hand pushed hawk 1 back, and the dagger in my left stabbed hawk 2 through the chest.

As I pulled the dagger free, as hawk 1 slashed its talons at my legs, only managing to scratch me and make holes in my pants. I sent an annoyed but sharp kick at the hawk, snapping its neck against the wall. I just got this!

Before I could put my foot back down, hawk 3 jumped at my face, covering my vision as it flapped in front of me.

I grabbed the hawk 3s wing and slammed it to the ground, and followed up by curb stomping its skull into mush.

I exhaled the breath I didn't realize I was holding when two more hawks flew straight at me using the time hawk 3 distracted me by covering my vision.

Hawks 4 and 5 latched on to my arm holding the dagger and pulled me off balance to get to fall down the stairs.

When I dug my feet down in a puddle and resisted them, they in turn yanked me harder into a railing with my hip taking the brunt of it, I groaned at the sharp pain in my side and lost my footing on the slick sludge. Oh shit!

My whole world tilted as hawk 4 and 5 let go, letting me fall unimpeded. I tried to grab the railing to stop myself before I got a concussion, but my hand slipped down, and I had to change what to do to not break something. Uh, Roll!

I contorted my body and braced my head between my arms as I hit the floor and rolled rapidly. The amount of spinning was too much and made me sick. "Urp!"

My body was shaken and my mind stirred as my momentum was abruptly stopped by my side slamming hard into the door, knocking the wind out of me, and lose my grip on the dagger, landing out of reach in a puddle of sludge. "N-need that!"

Stolen novel; please report.

Nausea wracked me as I clumsily grabbed the dagger and turned to face them again, but was tackled by hawk 4 and 5.

They held down my left arm and forced me to the ground with efficiency that shocked me. I lost the advantage!

I tried to fling them off but they weighed more then I realized and while I tried that, 3 others started tearing away at my pants to get to my legs revamping my struggle to get them off my arm.

In a moment of panic, I kicked one of them pecking me and sent them flying into the breathing roots. One of them finally got through my pants and tore a piece of my leg out. "Ahh!"

I might die... Adrenaline pumped through my veins at the thought, and something sparked to life in my chest, making my blood boil.

Steam leaked through my gritted teeth, and desperation gave way to rage. My right hand was screaming in pain, and I did the same. "GET OFF!"

I whipped my hand at hawk 4 to grab them and rip them off, but my fingers dug straight through its flesh and gripped a bone underneath.

Not hesitating at the development, I ripped my hand back out with a large plate of bone in my grasp, causing ichor to coat my face and seep into my mouth.

I hesitated at the new sight of my hand, still dripping ichor from sharp, glowing purple crystal claws that replaced my fingers. The rest of my hand had a crystalline layer over it that flashed a deep purple with my heartbeat. Why are they like that?! They weren't like that earlier.

My thoughts were interrupted when I tasted the ichor covering my face. My heart rate spiked as the taste fanned the already burning desire in me.

It drove me to bite the other one holding me down, driving my fangs into its neck.

All the fear that racking me was drowned out by the ichor flooding my mouth, and I greedily gulped it down only for my mouth to fill again.

The hawk let go in shock and froze as if poisoned, letting me use my dagger to slash a hawk who was tearing another piece of my leg off while I drained the one I was still clamped onto.

Faster! The top of my mouth flexed, drawing large amounts of their blood through two of my teeth, and went to my palate.

The taste was far more vivid and appetizing like this, and it sent it down my throat without me needing to swallow.

My clawed hand wrapped around the injured hawks neck. It squirmed and flapped its wings wildly as I lifted it up and spun it around like a mace.

I used the it to slam it against the other next to me and let go so it would fly into the wall.

The sound of their bones breaking made me ecstatic, but even more, the stench of their blood was intoxicating, I wanted more of their blood. No, I NEEDED more of their blood.

I flexed my palate for another hit of ichor, but I ran into an issue. This one is dry.

I threw the empty husk of the hawk away while spitting a few feathers out as I searched for my next hit.

There was one that was still close to me. It was trembling, looking around, trying to find a way to leave.

"You're not leaving here alive." I grinned, showing my ichor covered teeth and fangs to the already scared hawk.

Wasting no more time, I lunged forward fangs bared and sank my teeth into it, crunching through a few of it's bone to get a secure bite on the oversized juice box.

The refreshing taste of it filled my senses again but it was ruined by the hawk biting me in the shoulder.

I let out growl and clenched my crystalline hand around his head to get it to stop biting me and felt my claws dig into its skin. It screeched in agony and flailing in an attempt to get away.

*CRUNCH* The hawk went limp as my fingers punctured through its skull. Satisfied at the sound, I let out a long sigh that bellowed steam like I was a dragon.

I dropped the now limp hawk and turned to the now still flock of hawks. Staggering to my feet, my face twisted into a sadistic grin as I turned to them, excited to continue with the deathmatch.

Something made them freeze. I was angry that they only stopped now and I expressed it by letting out a guttural growl, reminding me of a monster.

They started to back up, adding to my building anger, so I yelled at them with hatred. "Come on, Attack me! You all were so eager to swarm me before, and I'm still hungry, you damn chickens!"

They all freaked out and even started fleeing back upstairs while talking about how they'll need to get me outside instead.

I went to chase them since they clearly intended to ambush me later, but my leg gave out under me. causing me to bang my head on the stairs.