I can hardly believe it, I… no we made it out alive! To think that our truce would be tested so quickly… Ha…

My knees begin to buckle and I narrowly avoid falling beak first into the mud. When did my breathing always get this heavy? Placing a wing over my chest makes me suddenly aware of just how fast my heart is racing. Seems I overexerted myself during the battle, and a wayward glance towards the smoldering remains of the foul brute in front of me supports that theory. For now I move myself a bit closer to the tree before forcing myself to sit down and collecting my composure.

What a hellish day it's been. So much for paradise am I right? This place is downright vicious, but I can't say it's been all bad. If it weren't for all these trials and tribulations, I may have never discovered that I would be capable of such crazy feats. I mean just look around, I managed to kill two of these brutes by myself! Me! A bird that weighs no more than 15lbs! That's insane! Does that mean I'm going to go around picking a fight with every other baddy in a 10 mile radius? Hell no! But for now I'm proud of myself.

What of the others? Taking a look around I'm surprised to discover that only four orothus remain in the clearing. Two are missing, the old scarred up chief and the mother of those two foolhardy pups. Speaking of, make that only five that are here. Just then, I feel that worrisome premonition from earlier coming back to haunt me. Their bodies aren't mixed in with the invaders here, so they must have chased the apes back into the thicket… or worse yet… No don't think like that. It's too soon to dwell on those sort of thoughts.

A quick slap from both of my wings expels those vile notions from my head. For now what of the others? The first one that catches my attention is the pitch-black sentry that was standing watch out in the rain before all hell broke loose.

Caught up in the branches of the tree, his body is contorted in unnatural and painful looking manner. Somehow he must have got caught up here, but then I remember the poor fella that went sailing into the air at the start of the battle. That must have been him. Considering he isn't moving and his tail hangs like a limp, lifeless vine, I'm worried that he didn't make it. That is until said tail twitches ever so slightly, which tells me that the lights are still on upstairs.

With little regard for my own well being, I shuffle up the tree awkwardly until I am face-to-face with the creature. While it's incredibly difficult to see what sort of external injuries he's dealing with given what little light remains and his dark pelt, one thing that is apparent is a steady flow of blood dripping from his mouth. Whatever wicked blow sent him up here must have really messed up his insides. My thoughts go back to the ape that got his skull obliterated and I shudder thinking about how much damage these bastards can deal. If it's anything like that, I highly doubt he'll make it, I should probably put him down…

Just as I'm leaning down over his neck, seconds away from granting him a final mercy, a certain memory resurfaces. One that involves a thieving scoundrel with a rather peculiar behavior. In such a short span of time after he stole my opal, his body changed remarkably fast, so quick that he grew a new organ.

…

Admittedly, it could save his life if what I'm thinking is true, but I'm also hesitant to do so. In the end, that lizard died, and one could hardly call his death peaceful. Before I collected his body from the lake, he was flailing wildly. Clearly he was experiencing quite a bit of torment before he died, and I'm not entirely ready to condemn this orothus to such a fate.

…

Sigh

…

But on the other hand I really don't want to live with the knowledge knowing that I could have saved him but chose not to. I know that you can't hear me, but I'm rooting for you. Try your best to survive here.

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Very reluctantly, I draw upon an extremely finite amount of essence, and from my extended feathers, a thin trickle of the precious dew falls straight into his mouth. There's not much of a reaction at first, but after another minute or so his eyelids slowly open to reveal a pair dark green eyes. One would think the sudden development would be cause for celebration, but these eyes… It's as if they are staring out into something far in the distance. Worriedly I try waving some feathers in front of his face, trying to bait out any sort of response, but it's as if I'm not there. Seeing how nothing else is happening, a heavy stone grows in size in the pit of my stomach. Did my plan backfire? Did I not provide him with enough essence? If I give him more, will he get better? Should I put a stop to this before it gets worse?

My head is swirling with a swarming collection of doubts, and I truly don't know what to do.

From down below, the sound of pitiful whimpering rises above the ongoing rain. Eager to take my mind elsewhere, I notice a pair of orothus approaching the center of the clearing, or rather one carrying the other by the scruff of its neck. Both look to be in terrible shape, but the one being dragged can hardly muster the energy to put one foot in front of the other. Clearly these were the two from earlier that I saved, but only now am I realizing how similar they are. Both of them have light timber pelts with deep green scales flecked with hints of yellow. Doesn't take a genius to tell that they are siblings, close ones at that, but similar to this poor guy up here, if nothing is done I don't know if they will make it.

I take one last look at this one up here in the tree with me, but unfortunately there's no further changes. Don't you dare die on me, you hear?

…

Just hang in there, okay?

With my little internal soliloquy out of the way, I make my way down to the two siblings to see if there's anything I can do to help. Only I'm so caught up with what I could do, that I didn't take in account how they would react. Because as I draw closer, the vigilant serpent that remained alert reacts to my approach with a violent spat of nasty hisses. And as soon as that happens, the main head perks up, pulling his mouth back into a wrinkled snarl, revealing a set of bloodstained canines for all the world to see.

Woah! Easy there! I'm not trying to hurt you, jeez!

Not wanting to provoke him further, I calmly back off a few steps, my talons sloshing through the mud with each one.

Why did I think it would be so simple to help out a wild animal? No sane creature in these woods would let some strange animal approach them, more so while they are wounded. But on the other wing, if they don't get any sort of help… Hmm… The old chief wasted no time uprooting my little project, so clearly he was aware of what was contained within. What if I were to try offering them something similar. There were several plants that drank in their fill and sprung to life when I flooded the area with essence. However those are all gone now, the entire area is scorched and leveled.

So without any other immediate options ahead of me, I try to show my good intentions by growing another specimen in front of the one playing gatekeeper. In almost no time at all, a sapling with softly glowing leaves sprouts from the muddy soil. For a second, I think I see a reaction from him, but regardless he maintains his distance. Taking on a bit more risk now, I clip the fresh sapling at the base using my beak, and cautiously approach with the surely nutrient-dense plant as an offering. Getting as close as I can before I risk him lunging for my throat, I set it down on the ground and step back once more.

Nothing. Both of his heads just continues to stare at me.

Come on! I'm trying to help the two of you! I thought we were all supposed to be allies here! We all just fought together right? Gah!

Ah, what's the use. Why am I trying so hard to save a couple of monsters? Somehow I failed to spare it a thought at all. But you know? Perhaps acting on these charitable impulses kindle and keep warm the coals of human instincts that I have buried deep down somewhere. A burden that none of my fellow inhabitants within this wilderness happen to share. They live a far more simple existence, one that I fear one day I might decay into should enough time pass.

Maybe the others will be more receptive and open minded, there should be one more in addition to the pup. After circling around the massive trunk of the oak, I catch a glimpse of a fiery pelt and instantly, memories of this bastard come surging back in all at once. That's right, this is the one that tried to kill me after I failed my first flying attempt. If it weren't for the chief's timely intervention, I would have been made mincemeat. And being restrained underneath the forelegs of said dangerous individual is the young child. The little prisoner whines and begs to be free, but those cries fall on deaf ears as the warden continues to tenderly lick off layers of mud and grime coating the rebellious pup. She does all of this while ignoring her own hind leg lies askew at an egregious angle, clearly broken and most likely a source of tremendous pain.

With eyes that blaze as bright as her coat, her black scaled guardian keeps a hostile gaze leveled upon me while I make heads or tails out of the sight before me. To be honest, I'm still a bit hesitant to administer any sort of aid. At least if she stays like this… Call it cruel, but I can't reliably say that she won't attack me later if she were in a better state.

While I ponder on how to proceed with the unexpected dilemma, I return back to my first patient. His status remains the same, but I opt to try and reposition him so he's not so strewn about the branches in such horrible fashion. It takes a lot of work, and it looks like I can't get the job done without making liberal use out of my talons. Doing so is a challenging one-foot balancing act made worse by the slick branches, but luckily my talons have enough grip to keep myself from slipping. With far more effort than I accounted for, I finally manage to get him in a good enough spot, but I'm plum tuckered by the end of it. For the last step, I grab his serpent head and rest it against his back so it's not just hanging upside down, but that's it, I'm done.

No more.

As the lull of sleep takes its toll, the temptation to use his midnight fur as a pillow ends up being irresistible. Without much strength to fight back on the choice to do so, I close my eyes and let the drumming rain lure me into well-deserved slumber