Rosy tucked the receipt underneath her leather harness. She turned to look at Ave. “So Ave should we get some lunch?”

Rosy and Ave walked down one of the long spiraling streets that led away from the Ocean’s Bounty. Ave had taken off her breastplate and slung the straps over her shoulder.

“Rosy?”

“Yes?”

Ave looked at Rosy sideways. “Your weapon?”

“It’s not a weapon.” Rosy corrected.

“Your sharpened tool then, is it… is it a-”

“Everyone get out of the way!”

A dark shape swooped overhead. Ave, Rosy, and dozens of tourists looked up. The outline of an enormous bird soared over the roofs of the houses around them. As the people in the street watched the huge wing of the bird clipped a chimney. The ceramic tiles of the chimney shattered and sent a rain of brick dust down into the street below. There was the shape of a person on the back of the bird.

Ave squinted at the giant bird. “It can’t be…” She started sprinting down the street after the shape.

The bird construct glided over the tips of several houses as it descended down the slope of the city towards the outskirts.

*Crack*

One of the legs snapped off and fell into the road below. Ave rushed over.

“Huh? It’s made out of wood?” She kicked the wooden foot replica with her toe.

Ave looked back up at the bird. Rosy ran up beside her.

“Is it not a real bird?” Rosy asked.

“No. I think I can see sunlight coming through the feathers on the wings.” said Ave.

“Maybe it’s some kind of kite.”

“I’m running out of room! Clear the streets!” The person on top of the replica bird yelled down to the people in the street below.

The wooden bird bounced off of a roof. The glider veered into a straight lane between two rows of houses. The rider pulled hard on the bird’s frame to keep it from hitting the buildings on either side, but as the bird descended lower there was no way to get out of the lane.

“That bird is going to crash!” A tourist observed.

“Is this some kind of show?” Another tourist asked.

“Maybe it’s a promotional event.”

The wooden bird reached the end of the street. The lane opened up into a small plaza with multiple converging roads. The rider banked the flying contraption as hard as they could but they were already going too fast. The fake bird slammed into the third story of a house on the opposite side of the plaza.

*Crunch*Thud*

The replica bird’s head embedded itself in the wall of the house. Tourists ran in all directions as bricks and mortar dropped into the street below.

A flock of juvenile mockingbirds that had been sitting on the roof of the house scattered into the air..

*Ke-week*Ke-week*

The rider was jounced up, hit the wall, and then slumped back down onto the bird’s back.

Ave and Rosy ran down to the plaza. A ring of tourists had assembled around the base of the house. They were all staring at the crashed bird above. Bits of wax, feathers, and splinters drifted down from the wooden bird.

“Privati! Privati are you okay!” The Charmed Adjuster elbowed her way through the crowd. She was panting for breath. “Please! I need to-” The Charmed Adjuster reached the edge of the crowd, tripped, and collapsed onto one knee. Her spectacles fell off of her nose.

“My glasses!” she cried.

The glasses fell into a merchant's stall, bounced off of a melon, and flew into a jar labeled ‘White Vinegar: finest glass cleaner that nature can provide.’ The Adjuster scrambled to try and find her frames.

Above her the wooden bird wobbled in the wall. Privati, who was seated on the bird, wobbled as well. She was wearing denim pants with a thick leather belt that was buckled to a strap strung around the bird’s middle. On her head she had a leather helmet with a sun visor. Her hair was tucked up underneath.

Privati shook her head in confusion. One hand gripped her leather belt. The buckle had snapped on impact and half of it hung loose around her waist.

Angry mocking birds flocked off of the building and tweeted angrily at the unwelcome intruder.

*Ke-week*Ke-week*

The crowd of tourists watched.

“Someone should help her!” said a tourist.

“That’s right!” said another tourist.

“Someone should!” agreed a third tourist.

Ave looked at the crowd. No one made a move to step up and assist the young woman hanging off of a building three stories up.

Ave’s hand clenched on the strap of her breastplate. “Damn.” She took a step forward.

*Ker-Crack*

The crowd looked up and gasped.

The wooden bird’s neck cracked open partially. The frame of the bird tilted. Privati groaned, then rolled off the side.

*Sha-Fwoosh*

There was a burst of wind so powerful that Ave had to cover her face to keep the dust from getting in her eyes. The tourists around her also crouched down to take cover.

When Ave looked back up Rosy was grabbing Privati out of the air. The scabbard of Rosy's still sheathed sword was lodged in the brick wall while Rosy held onto the handle with her right hand. Her left hand had a death-grip on Privati's left forearm. The sword's scabbard was planted almost twenty centimeters into the wall just below the fake bird glider. The two of them dangled in the air next to the wall as the wind settled down.

“Urrrgh." Privati groaned.

“Are you okay?" Rosy called down to her.

Privati looked up at her left arm. "I think, my arm, is dislocated." She spit through her teeth.

"Good. You're still conscious. Not good about your arm though. Sorry." Rosy tightened her grip on the handle of her sword. "Could someone help us down please."

"I've got it." The Charmed Adjuster shouted. "What, what should I do?" She rubbed her eyes.

“Summon a ladder.” A tourist suggested.

“No. Summon something for them to fall into.” Another tourist yelled.

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“Add some stairs to the building.” A tourist offered.

"Make another bird!" A child in the crowd shouted.

The Charmed Adjuster glanced back and forth at the crowd of people she couldn't see. “O-okay. I'll do my best.” She held out her hands and concentrated.

*Clunk*

A wooden washbasin appeared on the ground next to the young woman. It was about a meter wide and made from hard oakwood. The basin itself was filled with less than two centimeters of water.

“Is… is that enough?” She blinked her eyes and tried to focus.

Ave walked up and put a hand on the Adjuster’s shoulder. "That was, a good effort. Why don't you step back for a bit." Ave held out the Adjuster’s glasses in her hand. "They're safe for the moment. We can wait until we find someone else that can summon something to get them down."

The Charmed Adjuster put her glasses back on and looked up. The light of the sun refracted off of her shiny spectacles. A beam of concentrated energy lanced up and hit the giant wooden bird covered with wax and feathers.

*Ka-Fwoosh*

The entire thing caught fire.

Everyone looked up in surprise. Several tourists screamed. Some of them clapped.

"Scuttle that idea. No time. We need to get them down quick. Do you have any summon gems?”

The Adjuster patted her pockets. “No. We…” She looked up at the fake bird. “We used them already.”

“Ave!” Rosy shouted down.

“What Rosy?” Ave shouted back.

“I have some gems in my pocket. Can you catch them if I drop them down?”

“I’ll catch them!” Ave shouted up.

“Good good. Privati right?" Rosy looked down at the girl she was holding.

"Yeah?" Privati squinted up at her.

"The gems are under my harness. I'm going to need you to grab them and toss them down." said Rosy.

“But my arm is jacked up. How am I supposed to reach-”

“And up you gooo!!!”

Rosy slowly lifted Privati like a kettlebell until she was even with Rosy’s chest.

“Aaarrgh!” Privati shouted as she was lifted.

Rosy’s face was red with exertion. Privati closed her eyes in pain. Bits of molten wax and burning feathers drifted down around them.

“Hurry! Under. The pocket… on the front.” Rosy wheezed.

Privati reached up with her good arm and pulled a gemstone out of Rosy’s pocket.

“You and you." Ave pointed to two muscly tourists. "Move that basin out of the way."

The two tourists looked at each other. "But we don't work for-”

*CLANG*

Ave slammed her breast plate down onto the pavement.

"Move, that, basin." *Now*

The tourists sheepishly ran over and heaved the basin out of the way.

“Here it comes!” Privati looked down.

“I’ve got it!” Ave braced her legs.

Privati dropped the gemstone.

*Ke-week*Ke-week*

An enraged mockingbird swooped through the air, snatched the stone in its beak, and flew off.

“Wha…?” The Charmed Adjuster watched the bird fly away.

“Did that bird just…!” Privati screeched.

Flames spread over the surface of the wooden replica. Sweat was pouring down Rosy’s face.

“It’s okay. It’s fine. Try again.” she said.

Privati reached up and grabbed another summoning crystal. She pulled back her good arm and threw this one at Ave’s outstretched hand.

*Ke-week*Ke-week*

Another mockingbird dove out of the sky. It steered itself onto an interception course with the falling crystal and plucked it out of the air right before it landed in Ave’s hand.

*Crunch*Snap*

The crowd of tourists gasped. The neck of the giant wooden bird caught fire. The wood split in half under the heat. The body of the bird wobbled and was about to fall down on Rosy and Privati.

“No more time. Throw them all!” Rosy yelled.

“Aaahhh!” Privati jammed her hand into the pocket, grabbed as many gems as she could hold, and chucked them down at the ground.

Indignant mockingbirds swarmed through the air. They grabbed the falling crystals in their tiny beaks and claws before flapping away.

“There’s too many!” The Charmed Adjuster shouted.

Ave ignored her. Her eyes locked in on the fattest mockingbird in the flock. The mini mimidae was falling fast. The annoyed avian was focused on one of the falling stones. With a triumphant *Ke-week* the mockingbird seized the glittering gemstone and turned to fly away. But the bulbous bird was bulkier than its brethren. The arc of its flight was longer and lower than the others.

Ave jumped. She caught the fat mockingbird mid-flap.

*Crack*

The body of the wooden bird separated from its head. The giant flaming replica started to fall. Rosy wrenched the scabbard of her sword free from the side of the wall. Rosy and Privati fell. As Rosy fell she tucked and rolled her body so that she was between Privati and the ground. The wooden bird replica fell after them.

Ave landed on her feet. The startled mockingbird was grasped in her hands. She looked up.

“Summon something!” The Adjuster shouted.

“Not yet.” Ave said.

“They’re falling. Hurry!”

“..."

Ave watched them fall. She calmly reached up and plucked the crystal from the mockingbird’s beak. A single ember landed in her left eye. Her eyelid fluttered. Ave’s hand tightened around the gemstone. A magic circle appeared in the air in front of her. When Rosy and Privati were a meter from the ground she pulled!

A mattress materialized in front of her. Rosy and Privati slammed into it with a soft *Thuuuf*.

The flaming wooden bird fell down directly towards them. The crowd of tourists cried out.

But Ave’s magic circle was still there. At the corners of the mattress a four poster bed frame appeared. Solid posts materialized at each joint of the frame and stretched up into the air. At the last moment a flat canopy as wide as the bed fizzled into existence above the posts.

The flaming bird hit the sturdy hardwood canopy and shattered into pieces. The crowd of tourists dived for cover as burning shrapnel scattered across the plaza. Ave grabbed the Charmed Adjuster and ducked down next to the bed frame.

*Crunch*

*Sizzle*

As the smoke cleared, tourists crawled out of hiding to see what had happened. Smoldering chunks of wood were littered around the plaza.

Rosy rolled off of the bed. She helped Privati to her feet.

Ave stood up beside the bed frame. The Charmed Adjuster gripped one of the posts with a shaky hand as she pulled herself up.

“Good job with the bed frame Ave.” Rosy said. Rosy’s sword was already tucked back into her harness.

Ave’s hair fell in front of her face. “Thanks. I sort of panicked trying to think of something for you to land on that would also protect you.”

“What is with that mattress? It’s the size of a sheep. Who sleeps on a mattress like that?” Rosy asked.

“Kings and Princesses.” Ave replied.

“But bed frames go inside of your house. Who puts a roof on top of their bed?” Rosy asked.

“Rich people.” Ave and Privati said in unison.

Privati looked at Ave. “What would you have done if you hadn't caught that gemstone?"

Ave looked at the flaming wreck of the wooden bird.

“I would have tried to kick it out of the air.”

“Privati! Are you hurt? I was so worried.” The Charmed Adjuster ran over to her.

“I’m fine Alli.” Privati winced as Alli touched her arm. “My bones are only a little out of place is all.”

“Is that girl okay?” A tourist asked.

“That was a big fall.” Another tourist walked over to the group.

“Yes. I’m fine. Everyone go about your business.” Privati waved her good arm.

“That’s good to hear.” The tourist’s mood shifted. “Because that was very dangerous.”

“Yeah! We could have been hurt.” Another tourist shouted.

“Who is going to repair that building?”

“I can’t sell my white vinegar with all this commotion.”

“One of those mockingbirds looked at me funny.”

Privati let out a deep *Siiigh* “Alli. Pay these people to go away.”

The Adjuster hunched her shoulders over. She pulled a large purse out of her pocket. Over the next several minutes she made a circuit around the plaza handing out money to the merchants and tourists.

Privati sagged against a wall and gripped her shoulder.

“We should get you to a Barber. Wait no, an Alchemist? Your bone is injured which is a Barber’s area of medicine. But the bone is inside of you which is an Alchemist’s area. Which one is it for bones, I always forget?” Rosy said.

“If it’s skeleton bones you see a Barber. If it’s mouth bones you visit an Alchemist.” Ave said.

“That seems counter intuitive.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it.”

“No. No alchemists. No paper trail.” Privati hissed through her teeth.

“Are you sure?” Rosy asked.

“Yes.” said Privati

Rosy frowned. “Alright. But let’s at least find somewhere for you to sit down before you fall down.”

“Good idea.” Ave said.

Ave turned and walked into the plaza. She held up her arms and opened her hands. The fat mockingbird that was sitting on her palms spun around and tried to give her an angry look. But then the mockingbird saw the flaming wreckage of what appeared to be another enormous bird behind her and changed its mind. The bird gave her a *Ke-week*, pecked her once on the thumb, and then flew away.

Ave looked around the plaza. “Damn.” she mumbled.

“What is it?” Alli asked.

“Someone stole my breastplate.”