Brutoin had quite run out of patience. The little, blond island boy had seen him again and even thrown stones at him. Stupid kid. He would not be stopped again. In his determination to achieve his goal, his fear of being detected was diminishing. He started sailing nearer and more often. For weeks though, he couldn’t find an opportunity to land there. One day, while he and his crew were approaching the place, the weather was starting to get bad. Storm clouds were rolling in.

“There’s no way we’ll be able to find anything today,” Tristan said.

Brutoin was tired of such attitudes. This attitude was exactly the reason why they were failing. “It’s the perfect time,” he declared. He waited for them to look at him in confusion. When they did, he continued, “Would you let your kids out to play in that storm?” It did look like it would be a dangerous storm. His crew weren’t all entirely on board with the idea, but none of them contradicted him.

Lilah brought up us some logistical concerns. “How will you get onto the island? Once that storm is here, you won’t be able to row the canoe safely in.”

“We’ll row it in now,” Brutoin suggested. “Hide it well and go on land when we won’t be seen.”

“Ok.” Lilah agreed.

Yu went to make the canoe ready.

Though not usually a patient man, Brutoin was able to keep himself busy thinking while he and Yu waited in the canoe for the storm to get closer and chase the inhabitants of Molil indoors.

They hopped onto the shore just as the rain was beginning to fall thick and hard. Though they couldn’t see well, they knew the area well enough to find the little flock of birds they they were looking for.

It took them longer than usual to get up the west hill. They had to lean into the wind to keep from being pushed backwards. By the time they got up the hill, the storm was fully raging. Slender trees were being pulled sideways. Water droplets were being jammed painfully into their faces. At the top of the hill, visibility was very poor. Brutoin didn’t spot any birds. Maybe they had escaped the storm. Did they do that? He looked around the falling gray haze as best he could. Then he spotted it. There were a few birds huddled in the thickest part of a large, sturdy tree, bracing themselves in its lushest branches. There were also a few seeking shelter in the gnarled roots of a large tree. They must all be hiding out and seeking shelter. He wouldn’t be able to find very many of them. He only needed one though, for now.

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He jerked Yu’s shoulder and pointed to the roots of the tree with the birds. Yu’s face showed understanding. They fought the wind and approached the spot. The birds shrieked in fear and squirmed. They manged to move around the roots in a way that made it difficult to grab one. The visually impenetrable rain and the unsteady-ing wind didn’t help. They were at it for longer than they realized. Finally, Brutoin decided he was being too gentle. He would just shove his hand down there and grab until something was in his hand. If it was injured, that was its own fault.

“Ah!” Brutoin shouted in pain. His hand rushed up to his forehead to compress the stinging flesh. It was probably bleeding, but is was hard to tell, since he was already soaking wet.

“That bird!” Yu shouted at the top of his voice, to be heard over the rain. He pointed up a little, from his squatted down position.

One of the smallest of the birds was bravely defending the ones cowering on the ground.

Yu shouted again in explanation. “It pecked you in the face. I can’t believe it.”

Brutoin couldn’t believe it either. And, how was the wind not blowing it away? It was so little. It was fighting valiantly against the gale with its little wings. It pecked him on the face again. He swiped at it and missed. A couple other, larger, brave birds fought their way out of invisible hiding places and pecked at the two intruders. Their hands were viciously attacked. Out of disorientation, Yu stood up. He was pushed backwards by the wind. He wiped his face and saw blood and water smeared together on his palms. Confusedly, he stumbled away and back toward the boat.

Brutoin wasn’t so easily dissuaded. He kept digging fruitlessly at the roots, being knocked over by the wind every few minutes, and using one hand to protect his eyes from the attack. Finally, his hands and arms stung so bad that all he could think of was getting somewhere dry and putting ointment on them. He got up, brushed himself off – rubbing water deeper into his cloths – and began to stomp away. The smallest bird, exhausted though it was, made another swipe at him. It didn’t realize he was walking away. He swiped at it and it dodged out of the way. It settled on a very sturdy, low branch and stared at him.

It stared at him. Despite his physical discomfort and powerful frustration, he couldn’t help but stop and look at the bird. It looked at him. Like, it was aware of him. It didn’t flutter scared like the others. It looked different, and its expression was different. It didn’t like him; he could see it on its face. Amazing! This must be it! The thing they were looking for. He stared at the small face with the contempt in its eyes. It didn’t seem to appreciate him staring in that way. He felt now that he really had found something special. No wonder people had called them pixies and spirits. This one at least was something special. Maybe he could find a few like this. What could they do for him once he had them? Did they really heal ailments?

It would be even more challenging than he’d thought to get this creature. They’d probably have to work smarter. They’d need to be able to immobilize it and then abduct it, since it was intelligent enough to hide or fight back. He’d come back again, more prepared next time.