Gods Speed 5

Finally, I locked onto the figure of a lone raptor squirrel. Before the squirrel drew close enough to be in range for me to kill, the black bird had already decided to take action.

I barely glimpsed the faint shadow of the bird diving down; no noise made whatsoever. It wasn’t unnaturally fast like the raptor squirrel or silver panther, but at night, it was near impossible to see this predatory bird.

As the black blur drew closer to the unsuspecting prey, something unexpected happened. The bird, nearly invisible to the naked eye, spread its wings and let out a loud crow.

The squirrel immediately jumped, but the crow seemed to have been expecting that because, instead of swooping down where the squirrel had been, it stretched out its talons to where it leaped away.

That whole scene looked as if the squirrel simply leaped into the claws of the bird, wanting to be its next meal.

I had lost my meal to the bird, but I gained something much more valuable instead.

“Hehe.” Hoping to be able to put my plan into action, I waited again. As I predicted, the bird had finished its meal and was waiting patiently in a different tree. The bird’s wingspan alone was about larger than mine so I knew that one squirrel wouldn’t be enough.

About half an hour passed when another raptor squirrel finally emerged. As its three antenna-like tails surveyed for danger, it cautiously approached the small pile of mushrooms.

On cue, I saw the swift blur of black out of the corner of my eyes.

Not yet.

It happened again. Right when the black bird swooped down and stretched out its talons, the raptor squirrel appeared as if it jumped right into the bird’s grasp.

Now!

Using Burst Step, I cleared the eight meters between us, and before the black bird had even the chance to react, I reached for its neck.

The bird let out a surprised crow as it flapped desperately to escape my hand. To my surprise, however, the greedy bird never let go of its meal even as I snapped its neck.