Part I. The Stench of Crows
The forest was eerily quiet as Breylun wound his way through. The only sound was the quiet, steady beat of his wings.
I need to find a place to rest for the day, he thought. The thermals are plentiful but I don't want to risk getting mobbed by crows.
Breylun is a Barn Owl and the mortal enemies of all owls are crows. Owls being the stalkers of the night and crows the scavengers of the day. Being mobbed is when an owl was attacked by a group of crows. The feud between the two species had been going since as far back as any of the two could remember.
Barn Owls were known for their excellent hearing and he was putting it to good use now. He was turning his head back and forth, as all Barn Owls do, and searching for any sound but to no avail.
It's like this entire forest is completely devoid of life, he thought as First Light started to creep into the sky.
He was about to land in a nearby Oak tree, when he heard loud wing beats closing in behind. That was when he caught the stench of crows. He picked up higher into the sky listening in behind him, counting how many crows there was.
Five or six. An uneven fight but I still have a slim chance, he thought.
That was when they started cawing. This tactic was used by crows to try and intimidate owls into going yeep. Going was the worst thing that could happen to an owl. It's when extreme fear or excitement causes the wings of an owl to lock, rendering them unable to fly.
He was trying his best not go yeep and it was slowing him down considerably. The crows were closing in fast and their cawing growing louder by the second. Breylun veered off to the left, sensing a thermal nearby. He found the thermal and shot up high, as the hot winds lifted him up. He glanced down and saw that there was only 4 crows. They were directly beneath him and he wondered what to do.
He thought back to his extensive battle training in the Northern Kingdoms.
It might work there was only 2 or 3, he thought. But maybe I could create a distraction.
He glanced then made up his mind. He locked his wings tightly against his side, as he shot downward, aiming for the lead crow. He brought out his wings at the last moment and aimed his talons at the crow's wing.
He felt and heard a slight crunch as his talons connected with the bird. He felt hot blood on his feathers and looked back to see the crow falling from sky, blood trailing behind him, while the other crows watched in shock. They started fleeing rapidly and Breylun decided to do the same.
"I'll never get the stench off of my feathers," he thought as he landed in the oak tree.