-At the Palace-
The Prince sat at his table as he looked down at the thing under his feet.
"Please-" the thing wheezed, "forgive me-"
COUGH!
The person coughed up blood as the Prince drove his foot into his gut. The Prince looked bored as he regarded the petty thing on the floor. He rested his arms on the armrest and held his hands. The Prince laid his legs on the person in front of him.
"Your Highness, I swear I don't know any-"
COUGH!
"I didn't tell you to speak," the Prince growled.
He turned to his second-in-command.
"Tarif, hold him in a cell. We will catch the others working at Ababeel tomorrow."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Tarif seized the man by his arms and hauled him up. He dragged the man towards the door leading to the dungeon. The Prince watched as the blood left a trail on the floor. He had cut off his legs in exchange for answers but all he got was pleas for forgiveness. The Prince sighed, he already felt the presence of black magic on him.
'What is making him so scared?'
The Prince stood up. The knights behind him made a path to clear the way. The Prince waved the door to the torture room open and his butler was waiting out by the doors for him.
"Shareef, clear my schedule tomorrow evening," the Prince announced.
"Yes, Your Highness," the butler bowed.
"Tell Khorasa and Fariq to prepare themselves to come with me to Ababeel's tomorrow," the Prince turned and walked away.
He had been so loaded with work that he couldn't have time to rest for even a bit. A few days ago, he found out that the shipments were coming from many different areas all across the empire. The Prince was busy with assigning extra security in these areas and sending in more people undercover. He managed to subdue the shipments coming into Karandish and took the men into captivity.
He massaged his forehead from a headache and pushed his office doors open. It slammed shut behind him. He took off his coat and threw it on a chair. He spread himself out on the couch. He picked up his tube and stuck it in the corner of his mouth. He flicked his hands towards the windows and they opened.
'How long has it been?'
He last went to the desert almost a week ago. He remembered his interactions with the girl and wanted to go and see her. The Prince groaned. Even the suppressants weren't helping him. His headache was clawing at him. His eyes shut and he clenched his jaw. He was taking suppressants to stop transforming for a few days and it was taking a toll on his body.
"Fuck it," the Prince threw his tube down and walked towards the doors.
The guards standing outside flinched a bit.
"Don't let anyone come in, tell them to go to the second-in-command," at their nods, the Prince locked the door and stripped his clothes off as he felt the transformation starting.
In a matter of seconds, he became a crow and zipped out the window. His feathers rustled and hummed against the opposing wind currents.
'I better find you sneaky little thug.'
...…..
The crow perched on a tree. He didn't bother going to Thelowar's mansion. He somehow felt better sitting on the branch looking out at the desert. He liked the sight of the golden bits of sand rolling about. The sand on the ground rolled like a big golden wave. People were coming home on their camels and the place was quiet and the only sounds in the air were the rustling of tree leaves.
'I can tell why she would choose this place, it's so calming.'
The crow closed his eyes. This peace was short-lived.
Masses of people were walking around a thing stuck in a cage. They were chanting and reciting some prayer or incantation. The crow was alert.
'Were they under some type of influence?'
The thing in the cage was flapping its wings desperately. It was another crow. This time, the people drew some sort of magic circle and poured a murky liquid. The circle brightened and the crow screamed in agony. The people ran around in circles around the bird, frolicking their torches and doing a ritual practice.
'Shit!'
The silver-black crow spread its wings wide and whooshed down from the tree towards the people and the trapped crow. He heard pounding feet from behind him. A small figure wrapped in a cloak was sprinting towards the people beating at the animal.
'Why now-?!'
She shouted at them, "STOP YOU BITC-!"
The silver-black catapulted into her stomach.
'Is she crazy?! She will be under their influence too!'
The crow flapped out its wings and perched on the rock beside her.
"Ouch-" she tried sitting up.
She looked around her before seeing the crow before her.
"Wait, what-?"
The crow was shaking his head and was going to take off when she wrapped her arms around him. She held the crow in a hug and the crow froze.
"I thought they were beating you up, dummy!" she rubbed the crow's head.
The crow wasn't moving from the shock and the girl picked him up.
'What are you doing, stupid girl?'
The crow hid behind his wings from the embarrassment. She quickly put him and another clothed thing in the abandoned car. She moved away from the glass pieces with a cloth to make it comfortable. She brought a few pouches. The waft of butter and fresh-made bread made it to the crow's nose. The thing in the cloth moved too.
The crow looked beside him and his eyes widened.
'A dragon?!'
"SQUAWKKKKK!" the crow shouted.
"Ouch, my ears!" the girl covered her ears, "shut up, you dummy."
The crow calmed himself down.
'This is crazy. Hidden powers, and a baby dragon. How many more secrets is she hiding?'
The crow closed his eyes from all the weird things he was experiencing after coming to see her. He opened his eyes. In front of him, there laid warm pieces of bread. He smiled and raised his head, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, there was a huge piece of wood covering the opening.
'She locked us up in here...Great'
The crow turned to the baby dragon eating healthily and went to pet her with his wing.
'How did she manage to even get one?'
The crow shook his head and watched the small thing nibble at the food.
'Wait, where did she go?'
He swerved his head so quick, his neck might've snapped.
'THAT STUPID-!'
The crow quickly broke through a window with its wings and flew out. He piled up some branches against the opening so Leela wouldn't leave.
'Does she have a death wish?!'
The crow was planning on dealing with the people after they were done with the ritual. It would have been easier to deal with them when they were calming down after conducting their magic. Interfering right now, without proper protection, would just trap her into their influence.
The crow saw her crouching behind a rock, preparing to pounce out. He quickly went and caught her cloak.
"SQUAWK!" the crow clung onto her.
"You-" she caught him and bent down, "we're going to get in trouble if you do that!"
'Are you seriously lecturing me after the shit you were about to pull right now?'
The crow looked at her with incredulous eyes. The girl gulped.
"I know I shouldn't interfere now, but look," she pointed at the black markings, "their sacrifice is failing."
It was true. The sacrifice was not enough to pull off the entire ritual.
"We can save your wife!" the girl said excitedly.
'My what-!'
The crow sat shocked.
"I'll help you save your wife! I saw you looking at her before, and I felt bad we couldn't do anything so you stay here okay."
She left him on the rock and the crow immediately flew after her. They were vulnerable now that their sacrifice failed. The crow's silver markings blazed.
'I should cast an attacking spell on all eight of them and hold them off, while she can go and save the crow.'
The girl was standing there. She wasn't using her mana so why was she-
'I shouldn't even be surprised at this point.'