About an hour later, we arrived at a cave in the middle of a mountain. We could see fire spewing out everywhere and hear sounds of fierce battle and screams of pain. Sulnu felt calm despite having previous close ties with the Wyvern Clan. When I asked her about it, she said that although the Wyverns were family once...they were now strangers. She explained how the apathetic feelings she have now may be partially due to the way she was created. She told me not to worry about it much since she did not.

I nodded in understanding as I turned my head towards the battle in the distance. I mentally sent a transmission towards Blackie, notifying him that we have arrived. After a few seconds, the black Firebird variant arrived and landed in front of us. He glanced at Sulnu as I introduced her to him. Knowing that the Demon Bone Wyvern is our ally from now on, he nodded his head and turned his attention to me.

"What of the situation?" I asked Blackie.

Blackie looked at me and sent a thought transmission, "There were deaths everywhere. The Wyverns have lost many of their warriors including their Wyvern Lord. The Firebirds have cornered the Wyverns in a ravine, toying with them and preventing them from flying out."

"How many Firebirds are there?"

"105 of them."

"Hmmm...did they notice you? Were you followed?"

"Obviously not."

"That's good."

"So, what will our plan be?" Agaricus interjected. Our minds were telepathically linked since we were in a party, so everything that Blackie had said was automatically transmitted to everyone else.

I looked up at the morning sky and pondered a bit. "Let's make haste. We need to take this time when the Firebirds were distracted and ambush them."

"Okay." Everyone agreed.

I looked towards the mountains and with a powerful leap, I landed halfway up the nearest mountain in front of me. Not turning around to wait for the others, I continued climbing the mountain. Upon arriving at the peak, I looked down and saw the Firebirds in the distance. I counted the number of enemies and found that there were 103 Firebirds. Strange...why was there two missing? Suddenly, a sharp squawk sounded as two Firebirds appeared from my blind spot and dove towards me. The noise alerted the other Firebirds as ten of them split from the main group and headed in my direction as well.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Get ready for battle!" I humphed as I took out my skinning knife and lunged towards the nearest Firebird. I raised my left hand and aimed my open palm at the Firebird. "Freeze!"

The Firebird froze as thick ice enveloped the bird. However, due to its affinity to fire, the ice quickly melted. Nevertheless, that short period of time was all I needed. With a thrust, I stabbed my knife into the heart of the defenseless beast, ending its life instantly. As the Firebird fell, I did not look towards the second Firebird as it furiously pierced towards me. Just when the Firebird reached a foot away, it stopped abruptly. Its eyes widened with shock. It winced in discomfort and felt something was missing. The Firebird slowly looked down and saw a huge hole in its breast. A weird, black fluid protruded from the opening. This...what is this?

It was Agaricus. The polyp had used its skill, Devour, and consumed a part of the Firebird. As Agaricus's eyes met the Firebird's, he gave an eerie grin and dove into the opening. The Firebird squirmed as it could feel the polyp course through its veins, pain increasing exponentially and a numbing sensation erupted in its body. Suddenly, the Firebird let out a loud squeal of wretched pain...and then silence. The ten Firebirds that just arrived as reinforcements had witnessed the polyp's attack. They had heard the painful squeal of their comrade. Just as they could not stand the silence any longer and daringly approach the frozen-state Firebird, the flaming monster exploded. As guts and gore rained down on the surrounding area, Agaricus emerged from the torn corpse belching and patting his stomach. He had "devoured" all the nutrition and good things in the Firebird before "expelling" himself outwards.

The Firebirds hung there in silence, a hint of fear slowly crept up from behind them and placed a firm hold on their hearts. However, that fear lasted for only a moment as the Firebirds remembered who they were and the honor and bravery they displayed throughout their lives as warriors. With a sharp cry, the ten Firebirds charged towards the black polyp, talons and beaks out ready to pierce and tear.