Adjacent to a long-winded corridor that was inlaid with smooth glistening tiles, a huge group that numbered in the 300s rested under the cover of a cloth stand. The clothes that were hung on the cloth stand acted as their cover that shielded them from prying eyes.
"We still have 200 metres to reach our destination," A scout housefly dissolved its transformation and reported its findings.
"There are 31 pigeons, 4 eagles and 1 woodpecker currently camping in our destination. The woodpecker has already managed to create a 3-centimetre wide hole through the door," Another scout relayed his report.
"We have to hurry," Vikram commanded for his resting men to march forward.
The distance from their base to their destination was approximately 500 metres and hence they planned to take a break in this cloth shop. They had marched such a long distance on foot to conserve their Karma since the moment they engaged with the birds, they would neither have the time nor the breathing space to revert back to their human forms and bask in the sunlight.
They didn't want any more zombies to pop up from their midst while they were facing the birds; that would cause them severe casualties.
It had been exactly 10 minutes since they had begun their march, and they might need another 10 minutes to reach their destination.
The expeditionary army marched in silence as anytime from now, the birds would be able to easily detect them. Birds had a sharp vision not to mention the 4 eagles that camped in their destination that were famed for their extraordinary visual prowess that could spot a worm from kilometres away.
Their rectangular formation elongated until only 3 rows walked side-by-side along the edges of the corridor. They were using the lay of the land to their maximum advantage. Even if the birds had spotted them, they wouldn't be able to glide through the air towards their location which would result them in colliding with the hard wall. This meant that even if the birds had spotted them, they would still have a few seconds of leeway to plan and act accordingly.
A long line of humans walked behind each other that from afar looked like a long serpent crawling across the expansive corridor towards their prey.
10 minutes later, the expeditionary army had reached their destination.
"Activate your skills and be ready," On Vikram's command, purple smoke gushed out of the bodies of all the assembled warriors and transformed into either a mini Victoris or a mini Shaggy.
There were 220 mini Victoris and 100 mini Shaggy, implying that everyone who participated in this expedition possessed a Skill.
On his signal, 20 warriors rushed out of the crowd and transformed into houseflies that spread throughout their surroundings. They were the scouts he had brought with him for the sole purpose of gaining Intel. It was the remaining 300 warriors that were part of the actual fighting force.
10 seconds later, all of the 20 houseflies returned and dissolved their transformations. Among them, the one that looked like their leader walked out with a solemn expression on her face.
"The situation has worsened further leader. Two more eagles have appeared amidst them and moreover, the wood-pecker has widened the hole large enough for it to squeeze through. The door is also showing signs of cracks; a few more minutes and the larger birds would be able to enter too," Vidya said with a pale face. The addition of every bird decreased their chances of victory and increased their potential of casualties by a multitude.
"We have prepared to the best of our abilities. We will face whatever they have to throw at us later," Vikram said to her and faced his army.
"Act according to the plan. There has been no change to our plan; the only thing you have to note is my retreat signal. If it is sounded, then you have to drop everything you have and retreat at the first notice. Do I make myself clear?"
'Thump'
All the warriors including the 20 scouts hit their fists on their chest as a sign of acknowledgment. They didn't want to create a sound and alert the birds any more than necessary.
"I'm counting on you to sound our retreat signal Vidya," Vikram pointed to an alarm clock that was as tall as him. It was one of the items they had brought with them.
Vidya nodded and held the alarm clock like her life depended on it. Most of the strongest warriors of their base were involved in this expedition; the loss of each would be a major damage to their future well-being. It was her responsibility to sound the alarm the moment she deemed the situation to be dire.
"P-Please be careful," Vidya held her hands in prayer before her chest as she gazed at the two figures who were seated atop the puppet pigeon. Her concern now stemmed from the bottom of her heart; her praying hands trembled in fear as she gazed at the two figures.
She wanted them to emerge victorious; victory meant their base would grow stronger in the future while defeat would spell the doom for them.
"Watch my back brother," Vikram said as his mini Shaggy entered the head of the puppet pigeon.
"Same to you," Prakash replied as he bumped his fist with Vikram's. The puppet pigeon flapped its wings and took off to the skies.
The entire expeditionary army was stationed on the fourth floor just below the place where the birds had camped. Since the centre of the shopping mall was a huge open area, they could directly fly up through the open space.
The entire army awaited with bated breaths as the puppet pigeon carrying the duo flew towards the fifth floor.
The duo clenched the silk rope with trepidation as the puppet pigeon rose above the fourth floor and the fifth floor came into their view.
'Tuck' 'Tuck' 'Tuck'
A semi-sonorous noise reverberated through the surroundings as the duo gazed at the figures of the excited birds who were camped 50 metres before them.
They seemed restless as their patient labour was finally bearing fruit. The woodpecker had almost widened the hole big enough for the eagles and the pigeons to squeeze through.
"Let us hurry," Prakash said as Vikram motioned for the puppet pigeon to fly faster.
The puppet pigeon flapped its wings and raised its altitude and began to glide towards the bird camp. The moment they had reached 30 metres to the nearest bird, 38 bird heads swerved in their directions.
Just the stare alone made their skin crawl while their bloodthirsty eyes that became further deranged when they noticed the duo made the duo wish they never flew here in the first place.
Dozens of birds took off to the air and flapped their way towards them.
Purple smoke gushed out of their bodies and transformed into Ugly Shaggy and Victoris respectively. There was a significant difference between their bodies now as compared to before. Ugly Shaggy was only half the size of Victoris when it was almost 10 times smaller before.
Moreover, it seemed that Ugly Shaggy didn't shy away from fear as it gazed at Victoris, meaning that it had developed quantitatively in such a short time. It seemed that giving Skills to others also gave benefits to one's own.
A pigeon brandished its claws and swooped in on the puppet pigeon that folded its left-wing and took an abrupt left turn in the air. Before it could reorient itself after the turn, another bird swooped in from the front and brandished its claws.
Just before they were about to come into contact, Ugly Shaggy flew like an arrow and entered the head of the pigeon at the front.
The pigeon instantly lost its balance in the air and began to fall down. A second later, Ugly Shaggy retreated back towards Prakash.
Gazing at his 'Record' Prakash noticed that he had expended only 5 Pigeon Karma in the previous exchange and felt his hopes rise up.
Meanwhile, Victoris entered the body of the falling pigeon and began to voraciously devour its flesh. Just when it was about to crash into the floor, the pigeon regained its senses and furiously flapped its wings and slightly oriented itself before colliding into the floor.
The pigeon chirped in pain as it had hurt its legs in the fall. Feeling anger at the duo that hurt it, the pigeon flapped its wings and shot towards the puppet pigeon with crazed vigour.
It had only flown 2 metres into the air when it let out another ear-piercing screech and smashed onto the floor.
A second later, Ugly Shaggy once again emerged out of its body and flew towards another pigeon and entered its head.
This was what the duo had planned; Ugly Shaggy would disrupt the flight of any bird that came dangerously close while Victoris would gnaw away at the body of the disrupted bird. The duo maintained this tactic and aggroed the attention of the dozen birds.
The puppet pigeon flapped its wings and manoeuvred through the air like a fighter aircraft whenever a bird tried to attack it. The puppet pigeon only focused on escaping while Vikram, the one who controlled it focused on finding safer paths and manoeuvring through those paths.
'Caaw' 'Caaw'
Suddenly, the appearance of a sound they had not expected brought their early tactics close to a halt as a crow swiped past them, removing a couple of the puppet pigeon's feathers in its wake.
The crow then swerved forward and disappeared from their view.
'Caaw' 'Caaw'
Only then did the duo notice the appearance of eight crows that gazed at them once and flew downward, towards the place their army had been stationed.
"Brother, it's getting dangerous," Vikram said when his eyes further widened in surprise. Three more crows flew in from the terrace and proceeded towards the fourth floor as if they had communicated in advance.
"Give me 10 seconds before you sound our retreat," Prakash shouted as Ugly Shaggy Swooped in towards a pigeon that had injured its legs and still hadn't flown up.
The pigeon thrashed in resistance the moment Ugly Shaggy entered its head but its injured legs failed to give it the necessary footing to thrash harder.
10 seconds later, Prakash felt a connection get established between himself and the pigeon; he had consumed about 200 Pigeon Karma to convert it into his puppet.
"Quick! I can no longer hold on," Vikram shouted as he struggled to manoeuvre the puppet pigeon which had lost most of its feathers by the attacks of the other pigeons that followed the example of the crow.
The pigeon with an injured leg flew to their sides and gave them some breathing space. The duo immediately rushed towards the fourth floor when another cracking sound froze them in place.
A major section of the door had been broken by the woodpecker as the impatient birds rushed inside.
"Aaaahhh save me!"
"Help,"
"Nnooo,"
Transforming his ears into that of a dog's, Prakash could faintly hear the screams of the people that were getting massacred by the birds.
"Vikram, please handle this area as soon as you can and come there," Prakash said as he jumped towards the adjacent pigeon which was being controlled by Ugly Shaggy.
In his state of unrest, Prakash failed to control his strength and shot further forward than he had initially anticipated.
"Aah," Prakash flailed his hands that luckily managed to grab a pair of feathers. Immediately pulling himself up, the world around Prakash began to spin.