Climbing up a cliff was tiring for the young guardians. Once they found a clear spot after some walking, they decided to take an early rest. Their bodies appreciated it, and the next day, they found themselves back on track to finding the table. Their newly energized bodies had them moving quickly and they soon found themselves walking along a river. According to the map, it was the river they crossed a few days ago, it was now on their left side.
At this point, the river looked different. The surface of the water and its banks were merely a foot apart, not like the twenty feet they observed earlier.
Alianor was again enamored with the book, while the others observed their surroundings. Jacquelyn was enjoying the unique plants she was seeing, but she told herself she shouldn't get distracted, there could be more shadow bunnies around.
She had been keeping an eye out for sudden movements and pretty plants, but it was something else that caught her attention. It seemed that the further up the river they went, the quieter it got. The sounds of birds, insects and random rustled in the bushes got lesser and lesser.
"Is it just me, or are things getting quieter?" she asked
"It's getting quieter" Ryia answered, she had noticed it too
It seemed like the animals were steering clear of that area, and Ryia couldn't understand why. There was water from the river and plants for food, why would they not want to be there? It was Jacquelyn's next observation that gave her some answers.
"Look..." she pointed to a bird in a tree close by "What's that?"
They all, including Alianor who pulled her attention away from the book, looked up and spotted the bird in the tree. It was large, with black feathers. It had a long almost featherless neck and round head. At the base of its neck, was dark brown feathers. Its beak and feet were almost as black as its feathers. It's black claws looked sharp and dangerous. It's beady eyes bored into them. Ryia knew exactly what it was.
"Vultures" she said
"Shadow Vultures" Jacquelyn corrected
"Look, there's another one" Philip pointed at another tree as they passed it
"There's one over there too" Alianor pointed to another
"There's like a whole flock of them," Jacquelyn said as more and more of them started to appear
"Committee" Ryia said "A group of resting vultures is called a committee"
The progression forward slowed as they kept their eyes on the birds. It seemed like the further they walked, the more birds appeared.
"Why aren't they attacking us?" Jacquelyn asked
"Vultures don't kill to eat" Philip answered
"They eat what's already dead" Henry added
"So they're following us because...?" the youngest asked
"Because they think we're going to be dead soon" Ryia continued
The curious blonde was about to ask why but she quickly figured it out. If the birds thought they were going to die soon, there must be something close that they believed was going to kill them. The others soon came to the same conclusion and they were keeping a keen eye on their surroundings. Even Alianor had tucked the book away to have her full attention on what was going on around her.
They froze when the rustling bushes were heard ahead of them.
"What was that?" Alianor asked
No one answered and the sound came again.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
The Element Table
एड्वेंचरAfter years of imprisonment, Caine is back and ready to take over Luxia once and for all. It is now up to the descendants of the original protectors to find the magical table and defeat him once and for all. °~°~°~°~°~°~°~°
