NOVEL WEB Chapter 420: Birdfall
"Here it is" remarked Derdlim, utilising a boulder as a door was a rather simple trick, only that this one was truly massive, and its shape did not allow for to be pushed easily, one required monstrous strength to even hope to budge it, the one time Maulerd had gotten sight of The Unseen, it had struck its hand out after just moving the rock a little bit, even the owner seemed to struggle with it, only sliding it a small way and squeezing through the gap that the action created.
"Are you really certain about this, my lord?" Gartran, as much as his brain was affected by overconsumption of trolls, very much still regained a good portion of his wits, Derdlim had put him to a diet of brain of intelligent species lately as well, getting stronger was one thing, but the guy she had picked as her second used to be a smart one.
"We only have our lives to lose, and they are already sought after by the undeads, I would rather die from my own decisions than from my inability to fight them back, open this place up" commanding him directly, Gartran didn't even use his cleaver, instead cracking his knuckles and began pummelling the boulder, dealing remarkable damage in only a few series of punches.
Standing a small distance above them, their feathered stalker struggled with coming to a decision, Tilmiel remained unnoticed even at this distance, but she knew very well that one single mistake could give her away, although an expert in the art of concealment, the two she was tailing were not exactly the easiest to fool, their senses were keen.
Bringing one hand up to the handle of her blade, bony fingers rubbing up against the handle cord, thighing the grasp around it, the nightbird felt confident that a plunging attack from this distance could guarantee a kill on Gartran, however, multiple things told Tilmiel not to act just yet.
The first being that she did not truly know what they were after, she had been graciously granted a necklace allowing for her to share into the gift of comprehension, but they communicate via another mean than speech, seemingly through a cadence of strikes, as glorious as Sir Loimos's creation was, it could not translate such things, just like certain languages could resist it.
Lacking in information and also, striking in this way went directly against the strategy decided by Horhir, the right hand had to prove that he could make use of other means that direct confrontation, and although assassination may not be quite direct, Tilmiel knew very well that it counted as such in this particular situation.
Not to mention, she would have to then engage Derdlim Maulerd in combat, Tilmiel was not exactly confident in such a confrontation, as strong as she was in spite of her profession, her skills were not yet honed, having been in charge of information gathering, the nightbird knew well that the warqueen hid cold calculations behind a savage, brutish facade.
Softening her grip, finger brushing off the handle, Tilmiel instead crouched, noting each of their movements in her mind, observing them would both serve to earn a better understanding of their secret language, and perhaps even of what they were doing here.
Tilmiel had been trying to track down the thing that had managed to escape detection by all nightbirds, but had gotten sidetracked as she ran across the two livings travelling by themselves, a warlord and her right arm moving on their own was definitely suspicious.
Eventually, Gartran breached the crude door, splitting the boulder right down the middle, bits of rock cracking and peeling off, pulling both of the larger pieces away, the cave was left wide open, a pungent smell hitting the two livings head-on.
Even without stepping in, they could feel that the levels of humidity within were tremendously high, not only that, but it was dreadfully warm as well, like some sort of sauna.
Still, both went right in right, their skin bubbling for a split instant, using an ability earned from feasting, turning their entire bodies luminescent, a typical ability earned from preparing and devouring head-sized fireflies, which were especially crunchy and delicious amidst the insect-based dishes.
Dropping down ten seconds after they began walking further in, without a sound, the corvid grabbed onto the ceiling, her bony hands and feet sticking to the stone as well as those of a gecko, being careful not to dislodge any rocks as she moved, unlike the two she was following, the environment posed no threats or discomfort to Tilmiel.
Humidity, ambient heat, darkness, all three of those things were inconsequential to the undead, in fact, the dark was advantageous as her darkness awareness could come into full effect, although the overlapping of her senses was not as extensive as that of Loimos, she had still been directed to cultivate this overlap, as such, through the undead sixth sense, she could see, hear, feel, smell and taste much further ahead.
'Is this the thing?' wondering to herself, she slowed down, allowing the two livings to get there with much advance.
"Ah, can you smell it?
It reeks of goodness…" Derdlim Maulerd smelled food, whilst Gartran only smelled danger, both retracted the bioluminescence as light could be seen ahead, coming from beyond a sharp corner, although stealth was the forte of neither, they slowed their step and carefully peeked into the illuminated room, the light danced and weaved, licking the ceiling, whipping at its surroundings, and only as they got this close did they begin to hear the mutterings, a low chanting done in a gravely, deep tone.
Past the corner, there was a wide room, of which the ground was very much like that of chicken coop that had been left without cleaning for years, the rocky floor was nowhere to be seen, drowned under layers stacked over layers of dung, what was most eye catching was a great pure, of which the flames was unnaturally taller than it was wide, as though the flames were reaching for the ceiling with specific intent, moving around with disturbing intelligence.
But the real sight to behold was the being muttering chants in an unknown language, tapping its feet in rhythm, moving its arm in accordance, everytime it elevated the voice, all flames shuddered and expanded.
No doubt about it, this was the being they had come looking for, gaunt, absurdly lean for its height, no doubt taller than four meters, one could point at the majority of its bones even from this distance.
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Covered in filthy brown fur from head to toe, hands like those of an ape, face only covered in what was most rudimentary, skull exposed with only strips of muscles wrapping around to move each part, as well as human arms sprouting from the sides of its jaw like mandibles, as it began an odd dance, they were able to get a better look at its hunched back, covered in countless faces that seemed to be actively pushing against its skin from within.
All movements ceased, both feasters moving in, the gaze of The Unseen hardly on them, its fingers trembling, stepping forward, crushing the wood serving as kindle for the flames, walking through the inferno, howling sharply at the two invaders, shadows appearing and vanishing as the fire waned.
Neither Derdlim, neither Gartran, neither The Unseen noticed a particular set of shadows being cast, as a upon the ceiling, upside down, a certain bird stood high upon its feet, unsheathing the blade upon her back, the sound of iron rustling masked by the howl and crackling of fire.
One hand tightly wrapped around the handle, the other with its palm firmly against the very end of the hilt, right above the malignant creature.
The corvid fell straight down.