The next few days were filled with a lot of misery for the duo. Not only did the Hawks not come, but hunting had become much more dangerous than before.
Hunting in a state of chaos was very dangerous. There was now always a chance you would get attacked from behind. Some animals even suspected them of their crimes, which led to more trouble.
And without a clean water source, the new most convenient way to quench their thirst was to drink the blood of their pray. Ciaran found it truly disgusting, but it was a necessity, and he just gritted his teeth and insured.
The most infuriating thing was that because of all of this, preparations for their revenge had to be made mostly indoors. Ciaran had this grand idea of making zip lines outside, but every time they tried the burds attacked their creation. Sometimes because it was in their way, and sometimes just out of spite.
"Don't worry girl, the idea can still be used, it's just that the new version would be a lot more dynamic. And it will have a lot shorter range. And it will leave us in a lot more vulnerable position. Ok, yeah there are things to worry about, but we will manage." He said as he continued to tinker with his toys.
The old versions were made to be used in day-to-day hunts. The new ones were bigger, and he combined five to ten of the normal supplies into his new toys. He wasn't preparing for a battle, he was preparing for war.
He didn't neglect to train his Wind magic as well. He didn't really know what he was doing, but he was put under a lot of pressure, and that pushed his abilities to the extreme.
Now, not only would the Wind move as he wanted it to, he could even produce a little from on his own. He used it for acceleration, deceleration and to make himself float. He tried it with Ariadne as well, but he wasn't strong enough to support her weight.
Another one of his preparations was that he converted most of his snake-fang knives into throwing knives. There was no way he would get in a mele with those things and live, but he could still hit them in the eyes if presented the opportunity.
Ariadne was doing her own preparations. She was weaving a net, which they would throw on the birds. It would not stop them, but it would slow them down a bunch.
Her nets were then given to Ciaran and he sprinkled some powder on them. No point in the paralyzing powder as it needed to be ingested, same with the poison, so they went with the itchy powder. Their preparations were complete, but then Ciaran had a flash of genius and made more mushroom paste. He then had Ariadne make more nets and soaked them in it.
"If hit by these nets while they have wounds on their body it would leave a nasty infection. Even if they survive today, I will not let them exist on Dyrta anymore, I promise you that much Ari." The boy said as he was careful not to get any of the paste on his skin.
Three days after their preparations were complete, they spotted the birds making their way to them. In the grand scheme of things, the Hawks weren't that noticeable. They were just two out of many of the predators that tried to take advantage of the situation.
The birds had spotted a family of wolverines, which had just been chased out of their den. They were exposed, and they had young to protect, meaning they were the perfect prey for the birds.
What they didn't know was that these wolverines were just the latest of baits Ciaran had laid down for them. He had smoked out and guided numerous animals in the general direction of the ambush point he had chosen.
"So we finally have a bite. Get ready girl, it's going to get messy." He said as he licked his lips.
The Hawks flew high in the sky and dove down on their prey. Just as they were about to make contact the sky darkened, and the duo made their move. Seventy-eight nets were cast, and their sky exit was blocked.
The birds didn't know what was going on or how to react, and the wolverines weren't quite either. There was a reason Ciaran picked them. They were small but viciously protective of their young. They clawed and bite at the birds' talons with reckless abandon, which slowed the birds down enough for them to get caught.
Ciaran then used his new gadget, a grappling hook, which was the final product of the compromised zip lines, to position himself just above the now tied-up beasts. He threw at them his special bombs. They not only packed a punch, but they also had a bit of poison in them.
BOOM
He had used fifteen of those bombs and it was enough to collapse a decent chunk of the mountain. However, it only killed The Rank One bird, the Rank Two flew away with some injuries and a few burns.
"ARI! After it, aim for the legs."
Ariadne jumped and picked the boy up mid-air, then shot her web at the bird. It hit its talons and now they were being dragged toward its nest.
"This ends today, one way or the other," Ciaran said his voice a low growl.
The bird didn't know the insects were responsible for the death of its partner. In its mind, they were just caught in the explosion and just made a last-ditch effort to survive. It thought at least one good thing came out of this, and it would at least feed its young.
The bird flew towards its nest. When it landed in it, it looked at the dinner and the first thing it saw was seven small fangs flying toward its eyes. It managed to protect its right eye, but the left one was stabbed.
It cried in pain, as its eye burned from the poison, and its body was starting to develop a monstrous itch.
It wanted to tear the insects limb from limb, so in its blind fury it pecked at them. Ari was just able to get out of the way but lost her four left legs in the process. The speed of a Rank Two bird was not something they could handle, not in a straight fight, definitely not from this close-up.
Ciaran was worried about his familiar, but first, he had to finish the kill. He decided to use every bomb he had in his arsenal. He throw them all at the bird but it knocked all of them away with its wings.
Before all hope was lost Ciaran used his grappling hook and making use of its sticky properties, glued as many bombs as he could to the big birds.
Booom
Boom
BOOm
Many explosions rang out. The bombs that were scattered by the bird hit multiple locations, and the bird itself was now riddled with holes. It dropped down, but it was not dead yet.
Half blind and unable to fly, it still attacked with its beak and took Ciaran's right leg clean off him. The boy screamed in pain and tried to bunch the bird but it ate his left hand too.
Now laying in the nest the boy was about to be killed when Ari jumped on the bird. Legs or no legs, she would fight.
She could feel his pain, and his fear, and she had lost all reason. There was only pain and rage in her mind. She wanted to kill this damn bird for good. She remembered how Ciaran had strangled creatures much bigger than himself with her web and tried the same.
She wrapped the bird's neck in her web and tried to strangle it. The bird resisted first and fell on its back, trying to squash the spider.
As it fought back it saw the boy standing on one leg. He shoved something in its beak and prevented it from breathing.
"You wanted a snack right, enjoy your chicken dinner, fresh and seasoned with high-quality eggs."The boy said.
The bird looked and saw that its eggs were smashed. This monster had just shoved its chick right in its mouth, along with some of the eggs. The shells were riping its throat apart, and the web was slicing it from the outside.
In a few minutes of struggle, it died.
Ari and Ciaran lay next to it bleeding. Ciaran was about to die, and Ari couldn't access anything in his storage. She remembered what he had taught her, how he had treated her before, but she had no way to make fire.
In desperation she called out to the Fire, she pleaded for just a little, so she could live, so THEY could live, and it came. Her mandibles heated up and she cauterizetheir wounds. Both of them screamed Ciaran passed out and when the last wound was closed Ari followed.
A creature had come to see what the commotion was about, it cast a shadow on the embraced bodies of the now passed-out partners.