The girl quietly hid behind rocks as she advanced towards them.
*Sigh* 'What am I going to do with you?'
The crow followed after her. The group of people stopped their chanting and the small and frail bird laid quivering in her cage. The girl picked up a rock and threw some at the people. She would attack all of them at different angles and at different times. She was creating an illusion to make them think that there was more than one person there.
The people didn't know from which direction that rocks were coming from and picked up their weapons. The girl was so fast and efficient that it was almost like she was trained to know how to act in these types of situations.
'Who taught her to do that?'
The crow watched in awe as she carried out her plan.
'Hmmm...I'll lay low and watch her for now,' the crow thought.
He flew up towards a branch in the tree he was perched in and watched the girl fleet here and there to execute her plan.
Some of the men in the group headed towards another area of the hill to check out where the attacks were coming from and some of the women were crowding around the bird. They were poking it and added more 'ingredients.'
They chopped off chunks of their hair and threw it around the bird. Sticks of candles were stuck in meat at each point of the star in the circle. The circle glowed faintly, but if one were to touch the magic circle, then it would leave severe burns on the skin.
'C'mon, why aren't you using your magic?'
The girl was waiting for something to happen. She looked as the women squatted and danced while twisting their bodies in awkward poses.
'Little Thug, hurry up…' The crow started to feel restless.
She secured her cloak tighter around her face and stepped out. The dancing woman didn't notice her until she started laughing like a lunatic.
"Mu WaH HA hA Ha!" the girl howled.
The women jumped in surprise.
"Show yourself!" one screeched.
Her grey tangled hair hung in her face and her clothes hung around her frame. Triangles and eyes were inked on her body with black ink. A knife dangled from her hand. The girl, unfazed by the women walked towards them.
The girl stopped and then, she started moving her body like how the crazy women were doing before.
"HeLlo!" she shrieked, "l aM a pArt of YoUr riTuaL."
The crow wanted to facepalm himself.
'What is the idiot thinking?'
She held a hand up towards his direction as if telling him to stop.
The women looked at each other doubtfully but the girl continued to dance. Shaking her hips and shimmying against the other women.
'Where did her dignity go?'
The magic circle was slowly fading, and the women were starting to dance with the girl again. Slowly, when the other women were distracted the girl took fistfuls of sand and threw it at their eyes. The magic circle was diminished, and the girl stomped and kicked the meat away. The circle was in a mess and the girl took the cage and started sprinting.
She arrived at the base of the tree the crow was in and freed the bird.
"Crow, come here!" She waved down the crow in the tree.
The crow instantly flew to her and she helped the small bird out.
"Hurry! Take care of her, I need to go to my Leela!"
The girl sprinted away from him, leaving a few pieces of cloth for the injured bird. The crow blazed with anger as he healed the injured crow with his magic. His silver markings burned bright in the dark and some of the women from before wobbled over to him.
"Sacrifice...sacrifice...sacrifice…," they chanted as one.
The crow's purple eyes shone a fervent intensity and with a wave of his wings, he sent a gust of sand at the ladies. It lashed at their skin and bound their limbs together. They screeched and chanted curses and spells. As they lay there struggling against their binds, the crow flew off in the direction of the car.
'I'll deal with the women later,' the crow shot past a few men and tied their limbs together as well.
'Six down, four more to go.'
Up ahead he heard a crash of metal against metal. Up in the air, he observed the scene. Two men were holding the little dragon hostage whilst the other holding an axe approached the girl. The girl stood still as she let the man approach. The little dragon whimpered and the crow snapped his gaze towards her.
The girl snapped his head up towards him and nodded. The crow understood what she wanted him too. Slowly, in a flurry of light wingbeats, the crow flew behind the two men. They waved in arms and danced with the baby dragon in between them. The crow looked to see if the girl was watching, but she was busy trying to avoid the man swinging an axe at her.
The crow quickly bound the men together and grabbed Leela. He zoomed towards a hidden area of the hill and sheltered her with his magic.
'One safe, another to go,' the crow flew over the hill and towards the girl. He noticed the men laying on the ground rolling around in circles. He dismissed it as a behaviour of ludicrousy and returned to look at the girl.
She was fighting with two men now. Both swung their torches and axe at her at the same time. She deflected them easily. Swinging on top of the car and landing blows against their bodies, she looked like she was hesitating and holding back.
"Crow!" she shouted, after a few moments.
Her eyes widened.
"Move back!" she yelled as she flung a shield spell towards the crow.
'My body can't store or use much mana, compared to my physical human form.'
The crow gritted its beak. Before he can fly towards her again, he notices the ground. The two rolling men had used the blood pouring from their noses, to create a magic circle.
'But, the hostage-'
It was the crow's mistake not realizing it before.
Their bait was Leela but the hostage was the girl stuck in the middle of it all.