"A chicken?" I asked no one specifically.
I don't think there was a single person in the entire world who would look at the monster in front of me and say, 'Hey, it's a chicken.' It had white feathers with no shade, very similar to the sky. A dark beak, blood-red eyes, and It had three wings. Although they were now hurt, with two wings coming from the sides of its body and a third one coming from its lower back. It had two sets of large talons on its feet, plus another set of smaller ones just beneath the wings that connected to the rib cage or some part of it. Like bad attempts at making arms.
Overall, it was weird. It almost seemed to be made by someone. Someone who clearly didn't know what they were doing. In a sense, it reminded me of the Aranean that the Lumerin created. As if someone were just grabbing random pieces of body and keeping them together. But this wild chicken was different. It didn't have the same appearance of having parts of its body stitched together. It still was one cohesive thing. Not something obviously mashed haphazardly.
That wasn't the only reason for my assumption. There was something else. Something that I couldn't quite grasp about this creature. A sense of union that wasn't present on the Aranean. But it was something that I couldn't focus on right now. Since the monster was slowly starting to approach me. Its two wings spread out, even if they were unable to keep it flying, but still in a threatening stance, ready to attack.
I brandished my staff to be directly facing it, but I also had a bit of a problem now. I needed to make sure that this monster was going to fight me to the death. Otherwise, if somehow I overpowered it too much, it could try to run away. As a result, we wouldn't have done what we came here to do. Not to mention, I was not the one supposed to kill it. So in this scenario, I had to keep this creature fighting with me for a few minutes until my companions arrived. This was something that was much easier said than done, but I was going to do my best.
It rushed towards me, flapping its wings, but the motion clearly was hurting it as it let out a small screech with each flap. On the ground, this monster wasn't very quick, at least when compared to how speedy it was when traveling the skies.
As the creature approached, I went for a stabbing motion with my staff, just to push it away while taking a step back at the same time. Something that I was expecting not to deal that much damage and be just enough to push it away. But despite my initial assessment, the monster was stronger than that. My staff was barely able to delay it enough for me to jump to the side, away from where its claws landed on the ground.
Even if my skin was able to withstand the pressure of its claws when it was trying to take me somewhere else, I wasn't confident it was going to last forever. The creature's talons felt like they had some sort of skill or a way to pierce my skin, and I had no intention of letting it use that power.
The monster shrieked and waved one of its wings towards me. From it, small feathers flew in my direction. I tried spinning my staff and dodging away, but the projectiles were too quick. Some of them slammed against my skin and were embedded in my body. This was just a straightforward attack and not an attempt to poison me. Not to mention that the feathers were not able to sink deep into my skin. But even so, I couldn't afford to be hit by that kind of thing over and over again.
I tried to pull some of the feathers out, but they seemed to be stuck, and removing them was likely going to take more effort than I was initially expecting. Effort I couldn't afford right now since the creature was already preparing another charge. This time, it jumped into the air, going up about 5 meters [16.4 ft] into the sky before nose-diving in my direction.
I rolled to the side, feeling the feathers sink a bit deeper into my body, and quickly got up, hoping that the attack would be enough to make it stuck on the ground. But it wasn't. Just as I got up, the monster started to charge again.
Running around the creature, I made sure that we were never facing each other in a straight line. For some reason, that felt like a better idea than just keep dealing with the charges. The wild chicken tried to jump again, and I moved away from its path hoping it would be enough to escape. But it used its wings to shift in the air and readjust itself before nose-diving me again.
For a few moments, I felt its sharp claws scratching my back, and this time they did some damage, although it felt more superficial. I could only hope that this creature didn't have any venom or something like that. Yet the biggest problem was the feathers that were now sinking deeper and deeper into my body due to all my movement. I even got worried that maybe this was part of the effect of the attack. The particles acting in a way so the feathers would continuously dig into me. But it wasn't. The only one responsible for getting more injured was myself.
I jumped back to my feet and stared at the creature charging in my direction. My initial instinct was to trigger {Clash of Nature} to send it to kingdom come. After all, despite the monster being Tier 2, it wasn't that strong. Or if it was, it wasn't showing its true colors so far. But that wasn't the problem. The problem was that I was not the one supposed to kill it. I had to leave it to Rex, so any of my skills could hinder the goal of having his father accept his help during the Eater attack.
If I wanted to kill it, I could use {Clash of Nature}. I could use one of my formless skills. Hell, I could just poke it in the eye, but I was worried that anything I tried to do would result in his father deciding that Rex wasn't the one that killed this monster. Which meant that I was quite literally fighting with a handicap. If I could even call this fighting.
Looking to the side, I noticed there was a large rock in the distance. And I remembered seeing that rock from the sky as we were fleeing. Figuring that running was better than just continuing this pointless fight, I turned around and started to bolt in the direction that I saw the rock.
The wild chicken seemed to think that it was doing such a good job that I was trying to escape. It chased me with more dedication. Almost happy that it was able to win this fight. If it could feel emotions at all. But, I could swear I saw it smirking as if it was enjoying the chase. There was nothing more than I wanted then to wipe that smug look off its face, but it wasn't time to do that.
Not yet.
As we ran, it tried to toss a few more feathers in my direction. I jumped away, and since we were on the move, I figured it was a proper chance to remove some of the feathers. With a single hand, I started yanking them out of my body, causing some blood to pour out. But {Body Regeneration} was activated almost instantly to start fixing those wounds.
Seeing that the creature flapped its wings once more, both of them this time, and a shower of feathers flew my direction. I jumped to the side to evade some of them and started spinning my staff to block them. The metal edges were sturdy enough not to be broken by the projectiles. But the wooden part ended up covered in feathers.
I continued running and decided to try something stupid. Using my staff, I slammed it on the ground and used it to jump up while triggering {Compression} and making the entire thing grow so it would shoot me into the sky.
In the distance, I saw a group of three people dashing across the desert. A very big one carrying something and two smaller ones who were lagging behind. It was pretty obvious. Astrid, Michael, and Riley. Together with Rex, who was still being carried by the Huskcarver. One of them pointed in my direction, and they shifted their path to the side so they would meet me. They were still a little bit far away, but not too much.
I was extremely happy that my plan worked. But now came the bad part. The landing.
I still held on to my staff, making sure to follow an ellipse so my landing wouldn't be as rough. Once I couldn't feel the ground anymore, I triggered {Compression} again to shorten my weapon and once more to elongate it and push it against the ground a second time. The momentum was enough to shift my trajectory. And with that, I was able to tumble forward, reducing the strength of the impact.
It still hurt like hell. Some of the feathers were now halfway inside, and I could feel my entire body sore due to the fall and my tumble over the dried land. But at least I didn't break anything, and the plan worked.
With renewed dedication, I dashed like a madwoman towards my companions. Hoping that this would be enough for the creature to follow me instead of trying to escape. I was already sweating buckets as the area was so hot that I was seeing a mirage of the floor being twisted into the sky. Yet I continued pushing through. I could rest later. If I tried to rest now, this monster behind me would probably kill me. So even if I couldn't handle it anymore, the first thing I had to do was kill this damn chicken, and only then try to take a break.
I started seeing my companions in the distance, even from the ground. Meaning that now I was about to reach them and finally finish this fight. This creature wasn't as dangerous as the Rodenti made it out to be. Then again, all the capable warriors were in the main village preparing for the attack. The only ones who were left behind were those who clearly didn't have any combat ability. It made sense that they would struggle even against something like this.
As I was approaching my companions, I heard Rex's voice echoing through the desert.
"Going use spell. Duck."
I understood where he was coming from, but I wasn't going to duck right away. Instead, I just continued pushing through, trying to look into the eyes of my Rodenti companion. As long as we were able to time this right, we might be able to finish this mutated chicken in a single move. A move that would be 100% Rex's work. His father would be hard-pressed to say he wasn't qualified to join the assault.
"I said duck," Rex shouted again. Likely worried that maybe I didn't hear him the first time. But this time we were close enough for me to reply.
"Just do it."
I wasn't sure if he was understanding my plans, but I saw Astrid's mouth moving. Not long after Rex nodded, maybe she was defending me and telling what I wanted him to do. I had to thank her later.
We got closer and closer, and my eyes were focused on Rex. The wild chicken had seen me stop using any of its attacks. Maybe it had run out of Energy, but it was still so focused on me that it didn't seem to notice the rest of its enemies that were quickly approaching.
My focus was entirely on Rex. More specifically, on the movement of his hands. Just as I noticed him getting ready to launch his attack, I ducked down like I were playing in a baseball match, trying to secure home base.
A large length of stone emerged from the ground, jagged, going right over my head and piercing the wild chicken in its heart. Not just that, but the wild chicken's momentum carried it, making the monster be impaled completely and letting the jagged rock completely go through it. It didn't even have time to respond. It just fell dead right then and there.
I took a few deep breaths while laying on the ground.
"Are you ok?" Michael asked.
I looked into the sky and tried to get rid of the feathers that were still in my body. "I'm never being bait again."