No question about it... that's my mum.
Those three golden rings on that hen combined with the system's message left no room for doubt.
When Mr.S informed me the "protection of the mother hen" had been re-instated, all it meant was that I was near enough for her to notice me. I had little to no hope of her actually arriving, if she cared that little about me to resort to abandoning during my first week as a chick, why would she care now? I tried to think of a logical explanation for her return but I came up blank.
Her beady black eyes stared at me for a second, before her long neck snapped up and faced a specific branch, high in the trees shrouded by leaves; the same spot I had last seen that pair of green eyes.
The air around me seemed to buzz with heat, I was unsure if it was the evolution that made me feel this way, the mother hen or the combination of both, but it felt uncomfortable to an extreme degree.
I tried to gulp my anxiousness down.
'Something's about to go down...'
------
Eurydice panicked, he had been spotted.
'Three golden rings! That's a minimum of three evolutions that it's gone through...' his mind was racing, the simple chase meant to thicken his wallet had turned into a matter of life and death, maybe if he had surprised the beast and landed a powerful blow to it's eye, fighting would be a possibility; as a spy Eurydice's capabilities lay mostly in hidden assassinations and sabotage than head on battles.
There was no need to think for him, only one option remained.
Run.
He didn't bother to activate 'Shadow Steps', a beast of this calibre could sense him through many methods, it would be like protecting yourself from an arrow by putting a leaf in it's path, unnecessary.
-----
The eyes returned! I was intently staring at where my mother was to figure out what had caught her attention, and the moment I did so, the green dots appeared.
As quickly as they arrived, they were gone. The eyes left an emerald blur before disappearing deeper into the forest. My beak hung open while looking at it jet away.
'That speed! It could've easily killed me whenever it wished... why did it trap me instead?'
I was confused... questioning my survival was the least of my concerns, as the eyes left I turned to face my mother; my eyes ready to shoot off disapproving glances at her for leaving me.
She was gone too.
'Are there Guiness World Records for "most times orphaned"? If so I would like to apply'.
I had no idea what to do, my stalker had been chased off, my mother who miraculously appeared had ran off with it; I was left awkwardly standing near some crumpled bushes and the remains of the formation. The grass on the ground which had shone blue, browned and withered, looking as if the sun hadn't smiled on it in weeks. Stepping on it, the grass crumbled and disintegrated, my name's not Stark but if you don't feel so good you can tell me too!
The ground felt uncomfortable and gave me an eerie sense of death, I stepped off it.
'Magic isn't something to be trifled with...'
The white light that enveloped me had dimmed down considerably, I was looking less like a spherical beacon with legs and more like a cheap toy bought in a Fair, I had thought about finding a hiding place but with my current "situation", hiding in a dark forest would be next to impossible.
'Even if being stealthy isn't possible, staying here won't do me any good... I've lost my fruit and repellant... maybe I should head back for them?'
No... not now, I should wait for the night to pass and search at day.
'How much longer till the light show ends system?'
[ Unknown, data on HYBRIDS incomplete ]
'Yeah sure, but what's the maximum time for an evolution?'
[ Unknown, data on evolution in flux ]
'Ok... how about an average time?'
[ Uknow- ]
Alright I get it, I'll shut up.
I asked the system to direct me to the nearest cave, which after making sure it was free of zombies, skeletons and spiders, was the place of my rest. The cave was small, more of a large crevice than a classical cave, it was enough for me to fit my body in comfortably and that's what mattered. After that whole fiasco there was no way I would feel safe sleeping; even if I wanted to, my disco ball of a body would severely hamper my ability to do so.
Sitting in a corner, I faced the cave entrance with my tired eyes and rested, physically and mentally I had gone through a lot... my thirst to grow stronger was renewed; I don't want to be seen as prey anymore.
-----
Eurydice's training had prepared him for many situations, they had drilled in him the best steps for every eventuality in order to ensure his survival and health.
Being chased by a giant death chicken, blinged out in gold was not one of them.
The process was as terrifying as one could imagine, Eurydice had casted a spell, popular amongst all the armies in the continent, "Mindstill". The spell was simple and could be casted with no wand or magical artefact, learning the words and channeling mana were enough for it to work. Everyone from military Captains to foot-soldiers would learn Mindstill, it greatly increased one's decision making skills in a stressful situation and honed their thinking. Even under this spell's influence, The Dryad was sweating buckets.
Every instinct he had was screaming at him to escape, the branches, which are usually his best friends, looked long, winding and sharp, almost begging him to misstep and stumble forwards to his doom.
The intent of annoyance was still stabbing at his consciousness like a spear, growing stronger as the beast gained on him; somehow the chicken was faster on the ground than he is on the treetops.
Eurydice reached into his breast-pocket while running, frantically clawing at small vial of transparent liquid he had tucked away in there.
'If I can smash this into that monster, I can still escape!' he felt as if he were grasping at straws, but it was the best chance he had at surviving, Mindstill had allowed him to go through every possibility and this was the one which resulted in the highest chance of survival.
There was no time to lose, he needed to take the initiative and enact his plan before the Chicken had made it's first move.
Eurydice looked back and saw the creature chasing him, he stopped jumping and stayed at his branch, eyeing the beast up and down.
The black Chicken saw this as a challenge, it bent it's legs and got ready to jump.
Eurydice looked at the chicken, Mindstill was coming to an end but the beast should jump before it finished so he didn't bother getting the spell ready for next time, he hid the vial in his sleeve, ready to throw whenever the chicken pounced.
He waited...
And waited...
Seconds passing felt like months to Eurydice, Mindstill was slowly dying down and his mistake of not having the next one ready was ironically brought to his attention by the spell itself, the last idea Mindstill allowed him to receive was of the possibility the Chicken could be waiting for it to wear off.
Eurydice's eyes widened, he had underestimated the bird.
Mindstill wore off.
"SKKRRREEEEEAAAAA!!!'
The beast let out an unholy screech and jumped off the ground, forming an indentation on the dirt as it did so. Eurydice slipped the vial off his sleeves and shot it towards the neck of the beast... he missed.
The vial instead headed towards the beak of the bird, he had aimed for the neck but wasn't this better he thought?
'The eyes! I can get the eyes!' he saw a ray of hope shining in his darkest times.
As soon as he thought this, his hopes were shattered by the jerk of a neck. The bird had snapped it's head forwards, seemingly accepting the vial; and then proceeding to open it's beak and consume it.
Eurydice didn't have time to think before his own neck performed it's own jerk away from the rest of his body; kindly aided by the chicken.