I launched myself off the branch, and as soon as the shard slipped his grip, I caught it quickly. I used Cat Reflexes and Acrobatics to twist and throw the shard at Suda and Myantha just before crashing through some smaller branches and drawing the attention of a whole lot more Hornbills.

I glimpsed Suda, catching it and creating a wooden shield, part protecting and part hiding them. The hornbills are focused on me, so let's keep it that way.

I pushed out Provoking Aura and produced a strong Flash.

Tāwai squawked in protest, but the sound of horns drowned it out. “Hide!” I tried to communicate with him as I Flashed again and tried to land on a branch, but it cracked and broke.

I was under constant sonic attack now and disorientated, which wasn’t helping my Acrobatics of Cat Reflexes. I flicked on Feather Fall but smashed into a branch, and I am sure my ribs were cracked.

I pulled a shield out of my Storage and tried to use it to protect my head and upper body as claws and beaks were coming at me.

I Flashed again, trying to blind them. Shit, I can’t think. I finally thought to turn off Provoking Aura.

I got the shield in front of me, which sort of helped me bounce off a branch. I was still falling uncontrollably, even with Feather Fall. I had no idea where Tāwai was. Hopefully, he had hidden and avoided them chasing him.

I also hope Myantha and Suda can sneak away, but it will be doubly difficult for them. I may have a lot of hornbills after me, but I am sure they are not all of them. And they will all be awake now.

A set of claws raked down my back, only partially stopped by my armour and Toughened Skin.

I crashed into another branch, and my head took a hit. I am thankful for my helmet, but it does not stop everything. My Minor Regeneration was already hard at work, adding to the pain and disorientation but keeping me alive.

I started flashing out stored Copy Images in random directions to try and distract some of the birds, and I tried to grab a health potion, but it was knocked out of my fingers. I was bleeding freely, and my armour was being turned into ribbons. My insides felt like they were being turned into mush from the constant sonic horns.

Then, my leg cracked against a branch, and I could see my thigh bone sticking out of the leg.

I might not survive this.

Then I was bounced off another branch, and this time, I started spraying blood from my leg, and I almost passed out.

Then another sonic attack sounded nearby, but this halted the horn attacks as Tāwai swooped in with Excruciating Screech and Wind Blades. Tāwai landed on my leg, and his claws rammed against my bone, shoving it back into my leg. Heal Wound, stopping the arterial bleeding.

We crashed into another branch, which I think he cushioned with his air manipulation. I saw a hornbill rake him, and his Blacksteel Feathers sliced off the claws.

My consciousness was fading. All I could focus on was Tawai riding me as we fell, his Air Manipulation fending off hornbills and branches.

There was a massive crash, and I knew no more.

Something dripped on my face. Then it dripped into my mouth, and I tasted blood. I tried opening my eyes, but only one of them worked. My brain was still fuzzy, and everything hurt.

I fumbled for a health potion, but all the ones in my ready belt were used or smashed. My headache spiked when I tried to use mana to get one from my storage.

I tried to make sense of what I was seeing with my one eye. Nightsight was best and required the least effort. The darkness resolved into a set of scales not far above my face. What? The scales moved and then suddenly flicked side to side, and I realised what I was looking at.

Rob was standing over me. His rear feet were near my arms, and I was looking at his tail from underneath. It was his blood that dripped onto me, and his tail had just swiped at something.

I need to get up and help or get up and move, at least. I may have too many broken bones for that. I put more effort into getting a health potion from my storage. Did I have a Mend Bones potion? I can’t remember. I got a Health potion and painfully brought it to my lips. Even swallowing was painful.

It helped a bit. I wondered how I was still alive. How was Rob out? I didn’t bring him out. Did Tāwai do that? I didn’t know he could.

Rob moved above me, but I didn’t hear anything. Then I remembered I had Earplugs in. I brought an arm up to remove them and realised I had only one moveable arm, and that was painful every time I moved it. I got one earplug removed.

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At least there are no Horn attacks. How far did we fall? The more urgent question is, why is Rob bleeding?

I tried to move my head and discovered that was a very bad idea. The blackness closed in, and I almost lost consciousness.

How soon can I take another potion? It is hard to think.

Rob moved suddenly. He darted forward, and I heard the snap of his jaws, and then he stepped back into the same position over me. I don’t know whether he got what he aimed for, but he didn’t chase it. He was guarding me. Where was Tāwai?

My brain was clearing up a bit. Using mana was not the part that hurt, or not anymore, anyway. Everything physical did. I couldn’t feel my legs at all, although I could see them.

I cast the charm Self-clean to try opening my closed eye. It didn’t really work, so I used the charm Trickle to wash the dried blood and then to get water into my mouth to drink. I needed that.

I cast self-clean again, and the eye partially opened. It was massively swollen.

My brain started working a bit more, and I grabbed another potion with my Helping Hand and drank it. That will be it for a while until the magic settles.

I tried to turn my head, and it worked without me blacking out. This had to be better than just looking at Rob’s reproductive organs. I could see the thick branch we had landed on, and a dead hornbill was in view.

There were no horn attacks, so we escaped the hornbills. What was attacking us?

It was still night. I am pretty sure it was the same night.

Something flashed across my view, but it was too fast to see what. My brain was slow.

I quickly looked at my status, as I couldn’t do much else. Acrobatics and Cat Reflexes both went up, as did Toughened Skin, Toughened Body, and Medium Armour. I looked down at my armour. From what I could see, I was not sure it would self-repair. Leather was ripped into shreds in some places, and every bit of bone reinforcing had multiple fractures, and one bone section that I could see was missing entirely. I would have to look closer later when I could move.

Rob moved fast, raising himself up on his hind legs with the tail stabilising him. Then he came down again. Whatever it was, it was fast and silent and had something sharp.

Where was Tāwai? He wasn’t dead, was he? No. I felt the bond. I looked at his status. His health was low, as was his stamina. He had an increase in all his skills, sometimes more than once. He had a new skill called Air Cushion.

I came to my senses and started pushing out Regenerating Aura. Why had I not done that first? I might have been hit in the head a few too many times.

Then I realised my Seeker and my Pilferer classes could level, and I had the XP, so I levelled both, giving me more attributes. I immediately put some into Constitution to speed up my recovery. Lying here is just making us a target. The rest I pumped into Agility.

My bones creaked, and I groaned in pain. I think the tougher my body gets, the longer it takes for Minor Regeneration to work. I didn’t realise that when I got it, but I can recognise it now that Toughened Body is at a higher level. Maybe I should have stuck with only the Toughened Skin. Too late now.

My bones creaked again. I am not sure how I didn’t die, but it can only be a result of Tāwai’s efforts. Probably his new Air Cushion.

Then, the parrot himself dropped into my view. He was battered, and more than a few feathers were missing. I could tell from his movements he was tired. When he crashed down onto the branch, he was not alone.

He had his claws in a brown-furred mammal, which was probably twice his size. The mammal's claws were ripping at Tāwai at the same time he had his claws firmly buried in the mammal’s stomach. They crashed onto the branch, and the creature hit back first and it let out a squeal of pain. Its claws ripped another feather from Tāwai as his beak went for its throat. It was a stoat or similar mammal.

Its strong, sinuous body struggled to get out from under Tāwai, but Tāwai’s wings flapped, keeping him on top. Blood was flowing from them both.

I used my Helping Hand to throw a Death Dart in the Stoat's neck as Tāwai’s claws ripped out its intestines.

The stoat lay still as Tāwai just stood there for a few seconds, soaking in my Rejuvenation and casting Heal Wound on himself. He cocked his head, looking at me as if to say, “Are you getting up soon?” Maybe it was my guilt interpreting that. He could see my status as much as I could see his. What he did say was, “You DON’T have wings.”

Then he was off again. He wobbled a bit, taking off. There were more enemies out there. I stretched my Helping Hand and touched the corpse, storing it.

I felt useless. I threw myself off a branch to save a piece of stone that it might have been better to let fall and then find again. It probably would have been. Tāwai was visible and a target of the Hornbills, but did I have to make myself the target? He is the one who can fly. His expertise is in escaping and hiding. What the Terah’s tits did I think I was doing? I stuffed up. I should have let the thing fall and concentrated on helping Tāwai escape.

Now, I am lying broken and unable to move, having to wait while others save me. I think I have an ego problem. I fell for the delusion that I am the hero and the one at the centre of the story. I have to save the day. I think I have been on my own too often.

One thing is certain: Tāwai is the hero of this story, and he is saving the day. He is saving my stupid ass.

My bones creaked, and I stifled my groan.

What else can I do to help? I am not alone. I have a bond and a summons working hard to keep me alive. There must be something I can do. My Rejuvenating Aura will help, especially Rob and my healing. It helps with stamina, but Tāwai primarily operates out of its range.

Loot drops. I need to harvest and get loot drops, as they can make a difference. I have two Helping Hands that are strong enough to hold a knife and a number of hornbill corpses. I start harvesting. Beaks, feathers, claws, throat and heart.

There must be more I can do. I need to get back to basics. I am primarily an illusionist and a thief. The illusionist is what can help me now. Illusionist skills. Maiming Decoy. I have the rat trap. I know these are not rats, but I cast out the rattrap and used an illusion to make it look like a struggling Tāwai. That will make sure Maiming Decoy activates and does some damage.

What else can I do?

My bones creak again.