“SCREEEEEEEE!!!”

The Flame Swan leans forwards and lets out a shrill shriek. Everyone covers their ears from the sharp pain that assails our ears. While we’re stunned, the Flame swan launches itself forward. Before I realize the true gravity of the situation, the bird scoops its head low and bites down on the rope between Gebo and Tuuk.

Our front half is lifted into the air leaving Mago, Tuuk, Gebo, and Jambo dangling on opposite ends of the creature’s beak. Now that it’s this close, I notice the beak is tipped black and has a charred texture.

Rouk shouts at the top of his lungs as he lobs a spear aimed at the Flame Swan’s eye, “ROOOOOOO.”

The pink swan nimbly pulls back its head and Rouk strikes the beak instead. Unlike with the shell of the giant shrimp, there’s no visible damage and its head simply recoils.

Biting down harder on the rope, the bird severs the connection. Gebo and Jambo flop to the floor while Mago and Tuuk’s end remain hanging. Tuuk’s nose and eyes are leaking large amounts of blood while Mago helplessly tries to club the swan with his elongated tongue. He succeeds in striking it across the eye, but his captor’s grip holds true as it blinks away the pain.

Seemingly annoyed, the Flame Swan spreads its wings and flaps into the air. As it hovers out of reach, I see two spindly legs with knees that bend backward and in raptor like claws. Reflecting against the sun, the swan’s feathers bathe the drab swamp in a rosy hue. The overlapping textures create the likeness of pink flames sweeping across everything in its path. With a swing of its serpentine neck, the bird flings Mago and Tuuk out of view.

“NOOO!” Kigo shouts throwing a contracting wooden spear. His swing seems to aim for the wings, likely in an attempt to bring the creature down, but the Flame Swan easily pulls its wings back inside and twists its body as it falls.

Its legs meet the mud at an angle which sends clumps flying towards us. Daru takes a direct hit and gets knocked off his feet. The Flame Swan bends a knee and extends its wing giving off an aura of aggression. Seeing it enter this stance, the swan towered somewhere over forty feet with a wingspan twice that.

I look to the rest, “You all should do the war chant! You know, ‘GROKAK’ or however it starts. We’re gonna need it.”

They all hang their heads low and Gebo says, “The Dance of War can only be started by one who has achieved the rank of Elder. Without Papa, it is just mindless croaking.”

So that’s how it was, I say in my head. A pit of helplessness begins to well up inside of me as I realize we can’t even fight at our full potential. In fact, Tuuk’s story never mentioned that the Flame Swan had such long legs and sharp feet. The monster looking down on our party was more akin to an angry crane. Who knows what it could do or even what its weaknesses were? It was even tougher than the shrimp that caused me to injure my hands, and easily took out a swarm of giant mosquitoes. Clearly, no one had survived long enough to even describe the creature properly and we were going to meet our end here.

While I’m panicking, Kigo and Jambo cut themselves loose from the rope. A mix of relief and anger begin to overcome me. Kigo was young, he should live and live his life. Jambo could easily jump away while the bird tore apart the rest of us.

I start to glare as Jambo enters his jumping stance, but contrary to my expectations, Jambo’s power jump launches him straight at the imposing monster.

“ROK-OK-ROO! ROO! ROUK-KOUK!”

Flipping my head to the source of the shouts, Rouk is frantically patting at his neck and pointing to the bird. My eyes widen in realization. At the same time, the Flame Swan screeches in pain as a gash appears at the side of its neck. A white frog lands at the opposite flank.

I’d forgotten. The Grouak’s had one warrior who had fought this creature before. One who lived but struggled to tell the tale because of an injury and was mocked for his seemingly outlandish tales. Rouk goes around to snap all our ropes, disconnecting everyone.

“KO-KOH. ROUK-OK,” barks Rouk as he continually slaps at his neck. He then begins spitting outwards.

Gebo nods seeming to understand, “Got it. Aim for the neck, be wary of a flame attack.” “Papa and Tuuk are not dead!” he says confidently. “They have fared worse pain! Let us bring down this beast of legend and come home as heroes,” a wild smile cuts across his face as he picks up the broken proboscis of a mosquito, “…and let the one who deals the final blow claim the glory of being an Elder!”

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That last line seems to invigorate everyone and snaps me out of my stupor.

“Gando has been learning Abra’s magic for a day like today.”

“Just wait Haro, your big brother is coming home an Elder!”

“ROO-KOH-KOH!!!!”

Without saying a word, Kigo is already rushing towards the beast with a number of fallen spears in one hand and a wooden pole in the other.

Gebo looks proudly, “That’s Gebo’s son.”

They all charge with Kigo at the lead and Rouak not too far behind, leaving me behind.

This is fine. I do not possess the agility of the Grouak’s and I would likely become easy pickings for the bird if I got close. With my hands as injured as they were, damage dealing spells would likely cripple me in one way or another. Instead, I focus mana within my hand let it condense until it fluoresces into a ball of light. Light magic was considered was considered one of the most novice tricks a mage could perform, but that also meant it was versatile. If I could distract the bird, then the others could move in and unleash hell on it.

As the Grouak’s approach, the Flame Swan kicks forward at Rouk with its bent leg. He nimbly dodges and readies a counterattack, but before he’s able to send out a punch, the swan leans all its weight against the same leg and drive its body forward. Using the initial momentum of the kick, the Flame Swan pivots and sweeps laterally. Kigo and Daru jump over it, Gando puts his palms in the mud and drops down into a trench. As the foot flies past the top of his head, Gando somersaults forward and brings down his spear on the swan’s foot. The wood shatters and the bird re-enters its one-legged stance unfettered.

Kigo had dashed away from the swan as it sent its initial kick and formed the corner of an inverted triangle formation. He and Jambo formed the triangle’s upper vertices standing at the Flame Swan’s left and right respectively while Gebo and the rest faced the beast head on at the tip.

Jambo lunges once more towards the bird leaving a muddy crater due to his force and speed. His snake’s fang aims for the base of the neck, but the swan backsteps while hanging its head low causing Jambo to overshoot by several feet. Now that his target got closer, Kigo capitalizes on the opportunity by lobbing his magic projectile straight for its extended knee.

A direct hit and the bird begins to topple until it flaps its wings once more and steadies itself with the other leg. In spreading its legs like so, the swan’s neck had dropped into jumping range for the others. Rouk is the first to reach it as he wrestles down the creature’s neck to ground level. Each wielding mosquito spears, Gebo and Daru stab at the exposed target before them. Their hits go shallow, but that seemed to be the intent as now blood sprays like a fountain from the hollow needles.

Pained yells escape the Flame Swan’s beak as it breaks free of Rouk’s grip. Gebo and Daru dodge while Rouk goes flying but lands on all fours. At the swan’s feet, Gando has made the mud loose and moist causing both feet to sink inside. Annoyed, the swan arcs its head high into the air and comes down on him between its legs in a downward scooping motion. Gando is caught off guard and takes a direct hit at his chest. Blood sprays from his mouth as he gets launched back.

Another spear from Kigo again at the knees, but this time the swan swiftly scoops back a glob of mud which cushions the impact.

“What!?” Kigo shouts, “that’s not fair!”

“Everything’s fair in a fight Kigo,” shouts Jambo who again makes a jump for the bird.

As he approaches the neck with fang held firm, the swan whips itself upward expecting the same simple power attack. As it does, Jambo twists his body midair into a spinning slash that cuts vertically at the feathers. More blood sprays.

Jambo’s change in trajectory causes him to land directly beneath the beast. It goes for a backward scoop, but I send a bright flash of light straight into its eyes causing the strike to miss Jambo by a hair. The heat of my injuries resurfaces but remain bearable as I cast through my palms.

The Flame Swan tries to move, but Gando’s mud trap hold it firm. Rouk, recovering from his prior throw, jumps forward. Veins bulge in his meaty arms as he clenches his fists and brings them down, hammering perpendicularly on the bird’s foreleg. An audible crunch and snap is heard by all.

A deep and guttural cry echoes from the Flame Swan’s throat. It beats its wings down in rapid succession causing gusts to assail everyone. I’m knocked to my back and watch as the mud around the remaining foot breaks loose, and the bird assumes a battle stance from the edge of the mud clearing. In doing so, the embedded spears also break loose.

Now forced to be on a single leg, I can see our damage has been substantial yet nowhere next to fatal. The left leg hung limp from the foreleg down, several patches of feathers were missing where we had hit, but the bleeding had mostly stopped.

Noticing this, Gebo charges forward with another black needle, “The beast is near dead! Finish it off!”

The Flame Swan’s eyes suddenly turn red and it breaks out in a fit of coughing. Gebo sees this is as a sign of weakness and only increases the speed at which he jumps towards the creature. Rouk on the other hand is yelling and waving his hands as if he’s warning about something. Gebo is too focused to hear him.

Wait…this was the Flame Swan. It had yet to breath fire.

I yell at the top of my lungs, “SOMEONE STOP HIM HE’S GOING TO GET BLASTED!”

Indeed, as Gebo gets closer and the coughs cause the bird to convulse, a mass grows in its neck and snakes its way to the base of its mouth. The mass emerges and reveals itself to be the claw of a dragon shrimp. My eyes widen in horror as air rushes into the swan’s mouth and light forms in the darkness of its jaws. The black tip of its beak increase in size towards the base.

“NOOO!” Kigo shouts, but he’s too late—too slow.

A pillar of flame rushes towards Gebo. He tries to sidestep, but inertia works against him and his legs slip.

The world then flows in slow motion. A boom echoes from next to me. A white blur flies at an astonishing speed towards Gebo. Gebo is knocked back by the white blur, and Jambo’s bloodcurdling screams reach our ears.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”