"So, what exactly do you need that staff of yours for?"

Feyrith frowned at Arbane, suddenly feeling an urge to look over his shoulder, as if to make sure it was still on his back, despite knowing very well it was just by its weight. This human asked the most curious questions, and Feyrith wasn't sure how he felt about them. Thankfully, a lot of the time Arbane continued talking without the elf actually replying, but that was also a problem because Feyrith was often not given enough time to answer even when he wanted to.

"You can do spells without it, right? Does the staff make them more potent?"

Finally given the space to speak, Feyrith replied. "Yes. The magic in the staff lets me focus my own magic better."

They were walking dangerously close to the jungle. After his last experience with it, Feyrith wasn't exactly happy about that. He was still hoping that they wouldn't have to go inside it to search for the quasir, but he was starting to worry about that being the case. He didn't think any quasir would enter the jungle willingly, let alone his, but those tigers had scared them enough to make them scatter without looking where they were running. Only the Goddess knew where they could have ended up.

"Right, so how confident are you that you can fight off whatever is in this jungle?"

Feyrith resisted the urge to wince. Even after the fact that this human had witnessed him being held captive by bandits, admitting that Feyrith wasn't very confident would be shameful to both him and his people, so of course, he couldn't say that. But after his firsthand experience, even if he was stronger and more skilled, he would still think going in there was not a good idea, especially at night. He realized that they didn't have much of a choice since the sooner they found the quasir, the less likely it was that they would get injured or eaten, but at the same time, the Council would be more in favor of losing one quasir rather than not getting the information they needed due to Feyrith dying.

"I can defend you," Feyrith replied. At least he believed he could do that much. "However, I do not think it is wise to enter—"

"We're not walking in," Arbane said, running a hand through his short hair—a strange gesture that Feyrith was still getting used to. It was interesting to note, however, how varied the length of a human's hair could be. Not that this was something Feyrith should be focusing on right now.

In the artificial light of Feyrith's magic, the man looked even more tired than before, though he also seemed nowhere near as worried and intimidated as Feyrith felt, which was not only very odd but also more than a little humiliating.

"I'm going to whistle. If Aggra's in the area, he should run to me. Stomper might come, too, we'll see." Oh, that seemed like a sound plan, then. It did make Feyrith wonder how he was going to find his own quasir, though, since it wasn't trained to do such things. It knew how to follow simple commands, but he doubted it would be able to figure out what he was saying from far away, and it wasn't used to him enough to recognize just his voice, either. "The problem is that it might also call something else to us."

Feyrith couldn't help but look over their surroundings nervously when Arbane said this. No, he needed to push away his fear. He could handle whatever came at them. The incident in the jungle had only been as dangerous as it had been because he hadn't been prepared enough.

Feyrith gave Arbane a nod, taking the staff off his back. He couldn't afford to fail again, and he wouldn't. Whatever happened, he would defend both of them from whatever attacked them.

He couldn't hide a grimace when Arbane did as he'd said, the whistle incredibly loud in the stillness of the night. It felt as though the sound must have been heard from miles away. Feyrith squinted into the darkness as the sound of fluttering wings followed, a few branches of the jungle trees moving. He couldn't see what they'd disturbed, but he hoped it wasn't something too dangerous.

His eyes left the trees, though, when he heard something beating the ground ahead. Feyrith frowned, raising his hand and the light he was keeping in it to illuminate their surroundings better, and soon he found the source of the noise. There were two quasir running towards them, one bigger, one smaller.

Feyrith felt his shoulders sink a bit in relief as the quasir reached them. Arbane's quasir immediately began running in circles around its owner while Feyrith's simply snorted and took its place next to the elf, shaking its head. Feyrith studied it closely, noticing that the quasir was shaking ever so slightly, but its eyes were calm. It looked irritated if anything.

Feyrith closed his eyes for a moment. Thank the Goddess the quasir was all right. Not only did he need it for transport, but he already had enough to explain to the Council. Losing a purebred quasir would certainly not help him.

Meanwhile, Arbane was muttering something to his own quasir as it bobbed its head at him happily. Feyrith stared at it with shock, never having witnessed a quasir acting this way. Was this within the norms for these lower breeds?

"You brought the fancy squawker with you," Arbane told his quasir, using a very strange but praising tone as he stroked the sides of its face. "Good boy, Aggra, good boy."

Feyrith wanted to ask what this was supposed to accomplish, hoping to learn something new about quasir training, when he heard something. It was a kind of soft fluttering, almost impossible to notice, but with how quiet it was, now that he'd heard it Feyrith couldn't miss it.

And it was getting closer.

Feyrith looked around, trying to find the source of the sounds as Arbane continued praising his quasir, but he couldn't find anything. At least not until he looked up.

A huge shape was moving towards them. And finally, the noise made sense. They were massive wings. Almost by instinct alone, Feyrith threw his hand out, launching the ball of light at the beast as its sharp claws glinted, getting closer and closer.

The giant bird let out a shriek as it flew up, momentarily blinded by the light for long enough to let Feyrith identify what it was. An oriam. If he recalled, the humans called them bloodfeathers, both for their bloodthirsty nature and their blood-red feathers. Somehow Feyrith had never realized how large oriam were, but he didn't get a chance to stare at it for much longer as next to him, his quasir let out an alarmed squawk.

Feyrith leaped forward, grabbing its reins before it could run away again. He only had a split second to note that Arbane was doing the same with Aggra before the oriam was at them again. Feyrith raised his staff, doing the first thing he could think of—summoning a shield.

"Aris ak imir!" he yelled, pointing the staff right at the beast as the bird's wicked claws descended upon them. Feyrith used all his strength to keep the quasir from moving as golden light surrounded them, stretching above to form a shield just as the oriam's claws reached them. A few flashes of light followed where the bird hit the shield before it flew up again, circling them.

"Good job," Arbane commented, his voice strained, as he walked closer to Feyrith. His quasir was frantically looking around, tilting its head up so it could gaze up in fear at the predator waiting to strike. "How long can you keep this thing up?"

Feyrith tightened his grip on the staff, swallowing. He could already feel his strength waning. And...was that a second oriam, or was he seeing things? Feyrith took in a breath, his throat tightening. That was a second pair of wings against the dark sky, blocking off the little moonlight they'd had. This wasn't good.

"Not for long," he forced out. Immediately, he saw Arbane reach for his bow. Feyrith shook his head. "An arrow won't breach the shield."

"So, you either keep the shield up for a while longer and they kill us, or you take it down, give me a chance to maybe get one shot in, and then they kill us," Arbane summarized, making Feyrith grimace.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

He didn't think they would be able to outrun the oriam, even with the quasir. These birds were fast and deadly, with the advantage of flight on their side. But he and Arbane couldn't stay and fight either unless Feyrith managed to aim his fire very well, which he doubted he would be able to with the strain the shield had already put on him. But he was willing to try.

He felt the little confidence he had dimmish as he stared up at the two oriam who were still circling above them, wincing as one of them let out a piercing shriek.

"Okay, here's an idea," Arbane said, not taking his eyes off the oriam. "We run to the jungle for cover."

Feyrith wanted to argue. The jungle was dangerous and unpredictable. But with the odds they had out here, perhaps staying at the edge of it, just outside the oriams' reach, would be safer in comparison. Finally, Feyrith nodded, sighing. He hoped he had enough strength left to keep the shield up for long enough to get to the jungle. They weren't as close to it as he'd originally thought, as a lot of trees grew right outside of it, but not in a number that would offer them enough protection.

Without even discussing it, they both climbed onto the backs of their quasir. Feyrith moved his staff so the glowing tip of it was aimed at a spot above both of them, doing his best to keep the shield steady and strong as they started their mad dash for relative safety.

Feyrith could feel the quasir under him trembling, but its eyes were determined as it sprinted toward the trees, despite its previous experience with the jungle. It didn't stop until it reached the tree line, ripping through the wines that hung between the trees as the quasir barreled through.

That was when Feyrith pulled on the reins, stopping the quasir in its tracks before it could carry him too far inside of the jungle. The quasir let out an angry caw, immediately echoed by the oriam, who shrieked into the night, sending shivers down Feyrith's back.

He could hear them still circling above them, but for now, it seemed the oriam couldn't see them. Feyrith let the shield fall, making the jungle they were now standing in much more dark and ominous.

"Calm down, Aggra, we're fine," he heard Arbane mutter to his quasir, but Feyrith didn't even look their way. He could still hear the wings of the oriam above them, but he could see nothing through the thick branches of the trees around them.

He flinched as the branches suddenly moved, creaking under immense weight. A little farther away, the same thing followed. The two oriam must have landed atop the trees. That wasn't something Feyrith had thought might happen. They should have left.

"Well, that's not good," Arbane commented.

Feyrith tightened his grip on his staff. He didn't feel like he was strong enough to try to chase them off, yet, but if he threw fire at them from below, perhaps it would give him and Arbane enough time to run away. They couldn't stay here indefinitely. He wasn't sure if his mind was playing tricks on him or not, but he could feel something watching them from deeper in the jungle.

He flinched when he saw something move from the corner of his eye, his head snapping the way he'd seen it, but there was nothing. Feyrith gritted his teeth, scanning his surroundings even more closely. The more he looked the more on edge he felt, but he couldn't stop.

"You all right?"

Feyrith blinked, tearing his eyes away from the trees to look at Arbane. Was the human concerned about him? That was very strange. Still, Feyrith knew it would be seen as rude to question it.

"Yes, quite. We need to get back."

Arbane nodded, looking up again. Even though they couldn't see or hear the oriam, Feyrith was sure they were still there. And the beasts would likely follow as soon as they left the jungle. Oriam were nocturnal, and so unfortunately they could see in the dark much better than any elf or human.

Surprisingly Arbane didn't say the obvious and point out that they couldn't simply leave the jungle and instead he nodded, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"I can try to chase them off with my magic, but I am unsure I will be able to be direct enough to...."

He trailed off when he saw Arbane shake his head at him. The human put a finger to his lips, which Feyrith assumed meant he wanted the elf to be silent. He tried not to take offense and waited for the human to explain as Arbane looked up again, before nodding to himself and locking eyes with Feyrith.

"They're not moving," he whispered, pointing his finger at the trees above. Then he wagged his finger at something behind Feyrith. The elf looked back, quickly realizing that Arbane wasn't actually pointing at anything specific, but instead that he was trying to imply they could travel along the edge of the jungle to put distance between them and the oriam, so they could leave without the birds noticing.

Feyrith nodded, turning his quasir around and making it walk forward at a very slow pace. Even at this speed, though, every step the quasir took was audible. Every crinkling of leaves and every crack of dry branches on the ground made Feyrith's chest tighten up. The jungle was far too silent to cover up anything, but hopefully, the oriam would think nothing of it.

Every so often, there was also a hiss or a crinkling coming from deeper inside the jungle, but Feyrith did his best to pretend he couldn't hear it. They didn't need more beasts to fight, especially right now, as it would give away their position, and Feyrith didn't doubt the oriam were smart enough to follow if they wanted to. It was entirely possible they had already lost interest in eating them, but they couldn't assume that was the case.

They continued on, walking between ancient tree trunks and vines as quietly as possible for a while longer until they managed to get far enough to hopefully avoid the bloodthirsty birds' eyes. At least Feyrith hoped so, but he didn't want to spend a single minute longer in the jungle than they needed to. He looked back at Arbane just to make his intentions clear, to which the human gave a nod.

With that, Feyrith steered his quasir to the right, the animal increasing its speed at the sight of the grassy field beyond the trees. It clearly wanted to leave as much as Feyrith did. The elf breathed in the much fresher air as they left the jungle behind, giving himself a second to relax before steering the quasir in the direction he thought their camp had been. He couldn't say for sure, though, despite the better visibility the moons offered them out here. It was still difficult to see anything, but at least Feyrith didn't feel the urge to jump at every shadow he saw.

But just as he thought they'd gotten away, he heard a surprised cry from behind him. Immediately looking over his shoulder, Feyrith's eyes widened at the sight of a huge, winged snake that was about to pounce at Arbane, only stopped by the human's quick reaction in raising his bow and hitting the snake with it.

The beast hissed loudly and angrily as it reeled back while Feyrith turned his quasir around as fast as he could. As the winged snake prepared to strike again, Feyrith threw his hand out, yelling the spell to summon a burst of fire without thinking of the consequences.

The snake hissed again, disappearing before the flames could reach it. But Feyrith didn't get even a moment of relief after managing to chase the creature off, because the second it was gone, a loud shriek followed.

Feyrith looked up, just to see the dark shapes of the oriam flying towards them, their claws ready to sink into their flesh.

"Go!" Arbane yelled at him, forcing his quasir into a sprint. Feyrith didn't argue, doing the same. But he knew they wouldn't be fast enough. They couldn't run faster than the oriam could fly, and they couldn't take cover anywhere but the jungle, which they couldn't do because it would mean running right toward the oriam.

As the birds drew closer and closer, Feyrith kept looking back at them, and the claws shining in the darkness. There was no other way—he needed to do something. This was about as clear a shot as he could get, and he had to take it.

"Kinri se tah!" he cried again as he pointed his staff at the two oriam, shooting flames at them. More shrieks followed, but while it did slow the oriam down, it was shockingly ineffective. A moment later, the birds were practically at them again, seemingly completely unscathed and ready to rip them apart.

Perhaps he hadn't aimed well enough to cause much damage, but then Feyrith's main goal had been to chase them away. He wasn't strong enough to use more powerful spells to an extent that would be useful in this situation.

Feyrith tried again, throwing more fire at the two oriam, even as he felt his strength quickly fading, but they were still coming, getting closer and closer until Feyrith could swear he could feel their claws grasping at his robes when he wasn't looking at them.

But just as they were about to finally reach and kill them, suddenly the oriam shrieked again and drew back. He looked up, seeing them circling above for a moment before Feyrith heard the unmistakable swoosh of an arrow flying through the air. More shrieks followed, with the two oriam finally retreating and disappearing from sight.

Feyrith frantically looked around, trying to find out who had helped them only to spot two people in the distance on quasir, running behind them and quickly catching up.

Arbane stopped his quasir in its tracks, Feyrith doing the same as they waited for Lanna and Edwyr to reach them. Feyrith took the time to sigh in relief and breathe in deeply. Though the relief was short-lived when he realized that once again, he'd been rescued by a Cursed elf. Feyrith sighed again, this time in disappointment with himself. Perhaps leaving out a few details from his report when he got back to Aendor wouldn't be such a terrible offense.

As soon as Lanna got close enough, she ran directly up to Arbane and hugged him without even bothering to climb off her quasir.

"Are you all right?" she asked, her worried voice a little too loud for Feyrith's taste, though after what had just happened, any predator who might be interested in trying to hunt them had already been alerted to their presence.

"Yeah, we're good. Thanks for saving us."

How Arbane managed to keep his tone light and joking at the moment wasn't something Feyrith understood at all. The elf risked a glance at Edwyr who was wearing a worried frown, though he hid it as soon as he noticed Feyrith was looking at him. And then his neutral mask turned into a glare.

Thankfullybefore Edwyr had the chance to mock Feyrith about what had just happened,Arbane spoke, voicing what they all must have been thinking. "Now, how about weget to a town? I'm not sleeping out here again."