"That does it!! Use your magic, Dummy!"
"What? No way it'll hit. The bolt is so slow."
"Don't you have a fast one too?"
"Still. I can't even see it's true shape yet. Why's it so fast?!"
"What if it is stopped?"
"Huh?"
Dagger handed him a gourd, similar to the one she had thrown a few moments ago.
"Petrifier. Use your other magic. That vanishing trick." She held another, "We've got two shots"
"Hmm? Oh. That could work." Lester spoke, lucidity returning to his eyes as he realized what the girl was planning.
"Exactly, hope it works or we bail."
"Why take the risk though? Why not wait it out? It may just go away." Lester asked.
"If I'm right, this tiny thing chopped up those dead wolves in the forest. The limbs were sliced clean. It may not want more flesh now, but what about later?"
"But it's busy with my shield."
"For how long?"
"Yeah, we'll need time to get away as well."
"Not to mention the fog. I don't want to go back in there."
"Yeah, fair enough."
"I still don't like our odds", Fatty complained.
Meanwhile, Tommy focused and made the gourd disapper, handing it back to the girl who curled her fingers around until she had a good grip on the invisible thing.
"The liquid is hidden too. Pretty cool" Dagger said, as she pitched it.
A large splash covered the blur. Perfect shot.
It agitated the bird. It zipped erratically, coming close sometimes, yet didn't leave the vicinity of the torn metal. It slowed down, the wings, beaks, talons, head, all coming into view.
They all stared at it. And they were stuck, unable to make a sound. As if petrified in return. Fear took over their minds. The beast grew in size, it's ruby red eyes blazing in fury.
When Dagger saw the talon marks, she had been reminded of the destruction deep in the jungle where she had found the pair of sharp feathers. 'We were stupid. How can my tricks handle such a monster? It took Leader's direct hit. It broke his sword. It tore Fatty's pig steel wok. My knives do nothing. Everything is pointless.'
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Lester was losing his mind. 'How could it be? The fog. Yes. It must have been the fog. No beast like this should exist.'
Fatty wanted to speak but the words won't come. 'When had such a horrid creature appeared in these sparse woods. So strong. A monster. Even the person walking towards it... Huh?'
A person walked towards it.
'The mage? What is he doing?'
Tommy walked forth, stumbling a bit, drained through the ordeal. What had once been a blur, too quick, scary, was now revealed, it's strange vibration halted. It shrieked but once - a familiar call issuing its challenge, yet alien. It halted. They had trapped it.
He finally arrived, right next to it, never breaking eye contact. That gaze too felt familiar. Nostalgic. Within arms reach. The monster looked outraged, like it would attack.
So he smacked it. Booped it on the head. Twice.
Tommy was pissed off. All the fury within him came boiling over.
'Even a chicken? A damned chicken is scaring me now.'
They had been fighting a chicken. Not even a rooster, an overgrown fluffy baby. How embarrasing. The others had stayed back at their spot. He could understand. It was just too bizarre.
'It is dangerous.' the thought arose and passed quickly. An alient thought, one that irked him so much. It was the same thing Babyface had put him through.
He picked the frozen chicken, clutched by its neck, and squeezed. Not that it did anything.
"How dare you, you wretched bird?"
The three gaped. The chicken, for its part, was equally mortified.
"It's dangerous." "Watch out." "What are you doing? Kill it."
Peek! Pe...
Instantly, the call vanished. Dead in its throat. A quick mana bolt, shot at point blank, had wiped it off. The head was gone, the spent bolt churning the thin fog, leaving a light puffy tunnel behind which rapidly filled in.
"You crazy son of a ..."
"I swear that was as dragon. Dragon fear."
"Maybe. That was way too intense."
"A dragon chicken lol."
"So cool, Dummy."
"You too. Anyway, can we eat this?"
"..."