"So, what do we do now?" Melly asked, eyeing her swashbuckling companion’s new red-winged accessory. There was something about the parrot’s sudden arrival that struck her as highly suspicious, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

Clemiticus looked quizzically at Melly. “Fairy just gave us a quest.”

“And?”

“And we will have to go north of course to complete the quest.” Clemiticus spoke slowly.

Melly sighed. “I know that. I right meant now.” She gestured at the wrecked room. “I don’t know if you noticed, but we just killed the leader of this town.”

Clemiticus looked affronted. “We didn't do nuffin. It was an accident.”

The other two men nodded.

Melly sighed again. “And who’s going to believe that?”

Clemiticus glanced at the others, who simply shrugged. “Well, you make a good point,” he admitted. “I might have enough charisma to convince the locals of our innocence, but your charisma points are non-existent.”

“Thank you,” Melly said sarcastically. “We’ll need to find a back door out of this place. Nuecus, could you fly us out of here with the carriage?”

“No can do, lovely miss. My lousy magic will need at least another thirty magical minutes before it can fly again.”

“Damn. By that time, a hundred guards could come up here and throw us back into the Arena.” She closed her eyes. Think Melly think!

“Squawk!” Clem’s new parrot called. "Follow me, follow me!" The scarlet bird took flight and flew down the stairs. Clemiticus just shrugged and rushed to follow the parrot with his new swashbuckling hat, bouncing with every stride.

"Seriously?" Melly threw up her arms. “Or we could just follow the stupid chicken!”

Derrick and Nuecus ran to keep up with their new sea-bearing comrade. For some strange reason, the men had no problems taking orders from the feathered guide.

"Quit ye yapping, noisy girl!" Nuecus said and chuckled. "This is getting interesting."

Melly swallowed her pride and resisted the urge to throttle the miracle worker, instead choosing to follow the stupid boys. The descent was easier, but the hard stone steps still sent jarring shockwaves through her feet. While she ran down, she silently vowed that one day she’d find a better way to navigate these insufferable towers.

When the party reached the bottom, they found the main hall empty. It was far too quiet.

"Squawk! This way," the Parrot screeched as it flew out of the main doorway.

“This stupid bird’s going to get us killed,” Melly mumbled.

“What was that, Melly?” asked Clemiticus. He had stars in his eyes and was almost skipping to follow his new pet.

“Nothing!” Melly replied.

Moments later, they emerged into the full sunlight. It was still midday, and their little party of misfits had accomplished so much in so little time. The crowd that had followed Clemiticus and Melly’s arena triumph had dispersed, their attention drawn to a far more impressive spectacle: the sparkly, expensive mount of booty surrounding the corpse of their fallen mayor.

“Good, they haven’t spotted us yet,” Melly whispered. “If we sneak off now...”

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Squawk!”

As one, the crowd turned towards the prime suspects.

“Crap,” said Melly.

The sight of the guilty party sent murmurs rippling through the crowd. Within seconds, the sea of people closed in around them, guiding the suspected murderers toward the crime scene. Clemiticus and the others offered little to no resistance. "Hello, friends," Clem greeted with a cheerful grin.

That's when Melly spotted two familiar faces she wished she hadn't: corrupt guards one and two. She guessed they hadn't followed them into the tower and avoided the fate that befell the other guards, but now the shady sentinels were in a different kind of trouble. They were struggling to fend off townspeople from their ex-boss's treasure. A few other guards were with them, all wearing frantic expressions, as they brandished weapons, barely holding back the crowd.

"Back! Back I said," corrupt guard number one commanded. "This is the property of the Mayor and as the next highest-ranking official in this city that heavy burden now falls on me. This is all mine!"

“Yours?” corrupt guard number two asked angrily. “What about me?”

Melly scoffed. "That's brave!" she laughed, glancing between the greedy faces of corrupt guards one and two, then at the desperate townspeople.

The startled guards quickly turned their weapons toward Melly.

"Murderers!" shouted number two.

"Thieves!" added number one. "Arrest them!"

"Hypocrites squawk! Filthy hypocrites squawk!"

Hundreds of faces shifted from Clemiticuses party to the guards. The expressions on the weary, downtrodden townspeople turned grim, fire and pain burning in their eyes.

"Shut up... you ruddy pigeon!" snapped guard number two as he knelt to scoop up some fallen loot.

But it was too late. The crowd’s mob mentality had already taken over.

"Uh-oh!" the guards muttered together as the people descended.

In an instant, the crowd swarmed them, knocking their weapons aside. A sea of hands pulled the guards off their feet and away from the treasure. The pile of riches quickly disappeared amid the frantic limbs, followed by every scrap of clothing the guards had been wearing. After being deprived for so long, the destitute denizens of Bluehill Town seized anything and everything they could grab.

"My LOOT!" Clemiticus yelled as the pile disappeared. "Get away, get away!" he shouted.

The parrot swooped down to aid its master, pecking at random villagers. "Get away. Get away!" it squawked.

But it was far too late. Clemiticus’ glittering prize had vanished.

"Nooooooo!" Clemiticus yelled. “WTF?”

"What does that mean?" Melly asked, an involuntary laugh escaping her lips. While it was unfortunate that they wouldn’t receive a single drop of compensation from the insane Mayor. Melly relished the disappointment her crazed pirate comrade now suffered.

"What the fuck! What the fuck!" the parrot informed her.

"Oh." She chuckled. "Thanks, Parrot."

The parrot seemed to give her a death stare. "Step off, bitch!"

"What?" Melly shouted. "Come here and say that!"

Melly lunged for the parrot's neck only to miss by an inch. The bird soared skywards, out of harm’s way and laughed in triumph.

"Step off, bitch! Step off bitch!" it repeated as it swooped down to tease her.

Melly scooped up a stone and threw it as hard as she could.

Thunk!

The rock found its mark, and the parrot fell from the sky in a sea of red feathers.

"Melly!" Derrick reprimanded. "What was that for?"

"It called me a bitch," she replied.

"So? It's a parrot!" Derrick harrumphed.

"Skittles!" Clemiticus screamed as he dove to catch his feathered friend.

"Skittles?" Melly asked.

Clemiticus ignored her as the parrot landed softly in his open palms. The small creature looked up pitifully.

"Skittles say something," he pleaded.

"The bitch got me!" Skittles said softly. Melly rolled her eyes.

The bird's wings stretched out and its eyes rolled to the back of its head. It was a grand Shakespearean display.

"Why!" Clemiticus pleaded to the sky. "What a cruel, cruel world!"

Melly froze as the parrot flickered red.

A blue light flashed, and the fairy appeared above the party.

"Skittles has died," Fairy said cheerfully.

"Noooooooooo!" Clemiticus mourned.

"Oh, Whoops," Melly muttered while feeling guilt rise in her chest.

"Way to go kid," Nuecus scorned her.

Bing!

A red light flashed as the parrot disappeared in a cloud of red feathers.

"Noooooooo!" Clemiticus repeated.

Bing! Bing!

"Skittles the Parrot has respawned," Fairy announced.

"What?" Melly gasped.

"Squwaaaaak!"

"Seriously, WTF?" Melly said with her hand secured on her hips.

"Shhhh!" Derrick berated her. "It's a miracle!"

Clemiticus cheered!

Fairy the fairy landed on Clem's shoulder and shrugged. "It seems a pirate's pet will respawn indefinitely as long as the Pirate is alive," Fairy said confused. “I guess that’s how it works.”

"What does that mean?" Melly asked.

"It means the parrot is invisible," Nuecus supplied.

"No, dumb, dumb!" Skittles the parrots chirped in. "Squawk. I'm invincible. Squawk!"

"Oh, bloody hell!" Melly grumbled.