Feathers of Bravery

Radi

When father and Rodo told me about how Aihla basically slaughtered them in the arena when they returned, I couldn't contain my smile. I love all my siblings but I also have a single favorite thing for all each of them. For Aihla, it was her tenacity. She never let anything stand in her way. It wasn't due to simple stubbornness. No. She didn't like to wait for people to be in danger to jump in to help. She agreed with diplomacy but despised the politics of it all.

We all could see that she was a force to be reckon with. Many times I have caught her staring at us while we spar. Many times as well I would see her train alone trying to mimic what she had seen, and since I couldn't go up and correct her, the next day I would make sure to speak aloud the corrections. Next thing I knew the following night, she would have changed her method.

Soon, she developed her own thing. I knew it before she faced our father and Rodo. When Rodo came in both sulking and embarrassed, I knew that today was the day that she showed them a fraction of what she had learned.

My only regret is that I couldn't tell my little stella that I am so proud of her and I couldn't ask for a better protector of the dark. I just hope when the time comes, she won't be afraid. She can't afford to be. If there's one thing my father, my mother and even the world has taught me, is that life is full of sacrifices. Some will be harder than others. This is one of the many that she will face alone. Because I won't be with her. In the time that Theo was telling me his thoughts about perhaps joining our kingdoms, I noticed several Kijod running through the bush. I knew this bird wasn't my enemy, despite being a crow, so I didn't hesitate jumping in front of him to protect him.

Shoving him aside I faced the creature head on. Little stella had shared with me her theories about it's tongue and how it's is their weak link. Dealing with one is troublesome enough. Dealing with four was a God and Goddess sent trial. Immediately, my guard comes flying down to stand besides me. To my surprise, both crows stand beside us as well. My guard already knows the plan since he was there when little stella spoke to us about the Kijod. Although he was far more skeptical when heard it. My two new battle allies, judging by the looks in their eyes have never seen one up close. Rapidly telling them where to aim and what to be wary off, and silently praying to Lakshmi that at least one of us survives.

Both my guard and I take out our charms and combine them to make the barrier spell that much stronger. Straight down the middle is an opening that would allow one to slip inside and then quickly close once it was in. Best to take one at a time than to face all four at once. He commanded his man to concentrate on the spell and keep out of reach while the three of them fought the beast. There's no telling how long the barrier will last.

"Circle it! It cannot defend all sides at once." I call out. Theo takes the left and his guard takes the right. I remain on it's front and start flapping my wings hard to stir up dust. With the brownish cloud for cover, all three of us charge and stab at it's sides and throat before hastily retreating. I know that the throat wasn't a sensitive area. However my plan wasn't to inflict damage but to instigate. The second we see the tongue roll up and shoot out, my guard fires two arrows at it. Pinning it to the ground.

The creature shrieked and panicked when it couldn't get its tongue back into the safety of its mouth. All three swords came down on the it in succession on the same spot, cutting it off completely. By Lakshmi, my little stella was right. Overcoming our shock, I called my guard down and took his bow, along with our charms. I could tell that his energy was drained from holding the magick so now it was my turn.

"Same thing as the last time." I yell. Opening the center again, I let one inside and quickly close it. I focus most of my concentration on holding the spell. The second Kijod took longer to kill than the first. Bloody stubborn creature would shoot out its tongue too fast to pin. I missed four times before I managed to stick it with the last two arrows. Even then, although it still shrieked like the first one, it didn't panic or stay still. Instead, it crawled forward, reeling most of its tongue in and started stomping on the ground to loosed the arrows. Frustratingly, it worked. The beast was free.