Mythical Guardians

♤15. Deal? Deal.♤

Seriously, being shot out of the sky wasn't fun.

But finding out that you're captured by a bunch of centaurs? That's even worse.

Just ask Jason.

Just a few hours ago, he was flying, following the storm signature, and by means, the lightning woman who killed his parents.

He had been flying for days, sleeping when he only absolutely had to, and was sleep deprieved, food deprieved, upset, and very, very grumpy.

Just around two days ago, he had left the city behind, crossing borders of one or two countries, and judging from the map shown on his tablet, he was in Denaur.

He didn't know much about Denaur. It had a capital called Arima, and was possibly another less developed country, judging from the countless trees that seemed to stretch for miles on end.

He thought he had seen something weird during the day earlier on. Shapes flitting through the forest at an astonishing rate, almost as quick as he was flying, which must had been at least eighty kilometers an hour. Anything that could move that fast on land, in a tightly packed forest, could definitely be dangerous. Well, he prayed that those things couldn't climb trees.

Night fell, and the sky glowed, lightning travelled across the clouds, and suddenly, a large arc of lightning, larger than any bolt of lightning he had seen, struck the woods a few kilometers away.

Anxious to meet the woman again, he sped up, just as he passed through a few settlements in the woods. Large, barn sized houses, it had seemed. He frowned. Those people must be crazy to live that deep inside the forest. Maybe giants do exist, after all.

He tensed when he heard yelling below him, and suddenly, something whizzed past his face and clanged against his wings. Shocked, he froze, which proved to be a very unwise decision.

A couple of things shot out the canopy, hurtling towards his wings. With a curse, he beated his wings, putting as much distance from the treetops and him as possible, just as he was rising in altitude, the two things clanged against his wings, and sailed harmlessly to either side of him. Just as he was squinting hard to find his attackers, something else shot out of the dark, hurtling towards him.

He panicked, and in that moment, instinctively blocked the projectile with his wing.

His efforts were unsuccessful. Something heavy wrapped around his entire body, and pinned his wings to his sides, rendering them immobile. He was knocked backwards by the object, and fell out of the sky, then through the canopy.

"Ow!" He yelled as the tree branches poked him in dozens of different positions as once, and for a moment, the mass of branches seemed to halt his fall. Just while he was savouring his luck, relieved that he wasn't dead, the branches snapped underneath him, and he found himself free falling, once again.

He screamed uncontrollably as he fell, and hit the forest ground hard with a thud, rolling until he came to a stop, his entire body aching. His sight went black for a brief moment, before his sight returned when he opened his eyes.

"Arggghhh," he groaned. One of his wings was wedged underneath him in a very uncomfortable position. The razor sharp claw had cut into his bicep, and he was bleeding. At first glance, the wound wasn't deep, but then he realized that it was the least important thing he should be concerned at the moment. It was almost miraculous in the way he had survived the fall.

He found himself undoubtly on the forest floor, entangled within something between a net and a bola, surrounded by a bunch of people, looking at him curiously.

They were all dark skinned, with dark hair. Some scowled, and some had bows in their hands, and arrows nocked on their bows, aimed right at him, while he blinked owlishly at them, those creatures swimming in and out of his vision in his dazed state.