From the skies, the labyrinth of emerald jungles and jagged peaks sprawled across the landscape, made by mother nature herself.
Nestled at the edge of this wilderness lay a small village, primitive yet peaceful. Wooden houses dotted the landscape, and unlike most places, there were no fences or walls. Yet, the villagers seemed unbothered, as if this routine had always been their norm. The forest had always been a neighbor, never a foe.
…..
As night fell, the usual sounds of the jungle intensified—howls, growls, but Arjun and the villagers paid no heed, accustomed to such sounds.
his calloused hands gathering firewood at the forest's edge. A breeze tousled his shoulder-length hair, carrying the pungent musk of damp earth and crushed pine.
He hummed a tuneless melody, lost in his thought, "would there be venison tonight, or another meal of bitterroot stew?" His stomach growled. "Better not be mushrooms again," he muttered, kicking a pebble into the underbrush. The forest answered with a rustle. He froze, then laughed at his own jumpiness. Just the wind. Always the wind.
As the evening turned into night, The cries of creatures pierced the night. Yet, Arjun and the villagers ignored the howls and roars of the creatures, taking it as a normal occurrence.
A sudden screeching sound jolted Arjun awake, a sound like rusted metal scraping wood. His heart skipped a beat as the bundle of firewood fell from his arms as he spun toward the noise. From the darkness, a pack of hulking brown figures headed towards the village. While running their powerful legs produce dull thuds crushing everything in their path.
The figures moved with a terrifying swiftness as they closed in on the village. Arjun felt a wave of fear crash over him. He frantically ran from the woods to the outskirts of the village trying to warn the villagers, but the fear sat on him as not a single word left his throat. The dark brown figures, faster and more relentless, reached it before he could even get in the opening.
Chaos erupted almost instantly. The villagers' cries filled the air. Arjun's mind raced, but a single thought cut through the panic—his grandfather , Bhima, who had lost his one leg, was in danger.
Thinking of him, Arjun bolted towards the center of the village. His mind started to fill with the worst possibility "Please be okay, Please be okay" he muttered under his breath.
Within the central circle of the village Bhima was sitting in the open, with other villagers escorting the old ,weak and children there .
"Grandpa, are you alright?" Arjun shouted, his voice trembling with fear.
His grandfather seeing Arjun so nervous laughed "hahaha, what can happen to me we are in the center of the village there's no way those overgrown chickens can get here".
"HUH! overgrown chickens?" Arjun remembering something asked in surprise. "You mean... the terrorcrests? Those giant, flightless birds?"
Although Arjun have seen the beast in the forest the darkness made it unable to distinguish what creature it was
Bhima nodded with a smile on his face "Yes yes that's them but don't worry we can drive them away–"
Before Bhima could finish, A deafening crash cut him off. Splinters rained down as a hut collapsed and a massive bird covered in brown feathers emerged, towering over the villagers. Its piercing gaze and blue-crested neck exuded a menacing presence as it knocked down the hut, its eye behind its large beak was especially fierce while looking at the people in the center of the village.
The scene immediately fell silent as the huge terrorcrest shifted its body towards them and let out a Squawk as it started charging towards them.
"HAAAA'' but amidst its charge a talwar(sword) came from the side of the terrorcrest and slashed at the terrorcrest. Cutting a gassing wound on its neck.
The bird recoiled, snarling, before retreating some distance. For the heedlessly running villagers Dinesh's presence was a beacon of hope amidst the madness.
It was The village chief, Dinesh, who arrived just in time.
" Everyone, to the medical hut and get the healer! Tell the womens to also help take whoever is injured and hide in the medical hut" Dinesh commanded aloud, his voice steady and authoritative despite the turmoil.
"Let's go Grandpa" Arjun grabbed his grandfather's arm, lifting him with all his strength.
The other villagers were doing the same, carrying the injured and children away from the fray. While the terrorcrests, undeterred, continued their assault.
Chief Dinesh stood his ground, fighting with the strength of a warrior. His strong, robust build deterred the terrorcrests. His Talwar cut through the air, each strike pushing back the advancing beasts. "Form a group! Protect the wounded! Use fire to scare them!" he commanded, The villagers formed a tight circle and grabbed torches as his command ready to defend their home.
....
Soon Arjun brought his Grandfather to the medical hut. where the healer, a composed middle-aged woman, was already tending to the wounded, mixing herbs and preparing remedies; she immediately got to work.
"Arjun go and help the villagers, We're safe here. If you find any children, bring them." Bhima ordered Arjun as he patted and reassured him of their safety.
"Ok grandpa " Arjun left a small sentence as he sprinted off, he knew that as part of the village he had to fight for it so he immediately went to the scene of the battle.
When Arjun returned, he saw Chief Dinesh leading a counterattack. With a burning branch in his hand and a talwar in the other,
"Torches high!" Dinesh bellowed, his voice slicing through the chaos. Chief Dinesh was at the center of it all, wielding a torch in one hand and his talwar in the other. He feinted left, dodging the terrorcrest's snapping beaks, then pivoted and drove his blade into the joint of its wing. blood sprayed, sizzling where it struck the flames. The beast reeled, its clawed feet gouging furrows in the earth as it retreated—but three more surged from the tree line, their eyes reflecting the fire like hellish lanterns.
The villagers rallied around him in a group of five each, waving torches and makeshift weapons. The air was filled with the acrid smell of burning feathers and the desperate shouts of the villagers.
Arjun seized a fallen torch, its flame flickering weakly. To his right, old Mala swung a sickle at a juvenile terrorcrest, her strikes wild. The creature darted forward, its beak snapping shut on air inches from her throat. Arjun acted without thinking, driving his torch into its flank and saving mala. The stench of singed flesh erupted as the beast screeched, thrashing. Its tail whipped sideways, catching Arjun in the ribs. He hit the ground, gasping for breath.
—then a hand hauled him upright. "Eyes open!" talu snarled, shoving him toward a cluster of villagers.
From the right, Dinesh's voice rang "They go for the weak. Protect the circle!"
The "circle"—the group of elders and children near the medical hut. It was starting to break apart. One of the terrorcrests, larger than the rest, had barreled through two defenders., its talons shredding a man's leg to the bone. Arjun froze, his pulse a deafening drum. Grandpa's there.
"Move, boy!" A woman shoved a spear into his hands—Rupa, her braids singed, face streaked with soot. "Aim for the throat!"
The terrorcrest reared, its crest flaring. Arjun's muscles locked. Too fast. Too close. But then he saw Bhima, one-handed, swinging a cooking pot at the creature's head. The metallic clang echoed, enraging the beast. Its beak snapped toward his grandfather—
Arjun screamed. Not words, just raw sound. He charged, spear leveled. The terrorcrest turned, beak gaping, but he dropped to his knees, skidding beneath its feathered bulk. The spear tip caught the soft flesh beneath its wing. Hot blood drenched his arms. The creature staggered, its scream cut short as Dinesh's talwar cleaved its skull.
"Up!" Dinesh hauled Arjun to his feet, his grip iron.
The villagers surged, a ragged wave of fire and steel. Arjun fought beside the villagers, his torch scorching feathers. A terrorcrest's beak grazed his shoulder—searing pain, then numbness—but he swung the flame into its eyes. It recoiled, blind and shrieking, as others finished it with clubs.
" gotta let these terrorcrests know what we are made of, RIGHT BROTHERS"
"YEA"
The roar of defiance echoed across the village. The terrorcrests, seeing they were being cornered, began to retreat, regrouping with the others.
Another terrorcrest, larger and more aggressive than the rest, leaped towards Dinesh shaking the ground by just running. The chief met the attack head-on, his talwar flashing in the firelight. He struck it hard—first the stomach, then the neck, the terrorcrest turned away Screeching from the injury. Dinesh did not pursue him immediately; he turned to face the next threat.
The battle raged on, time blurred each moment stretching into an eternity one after another terrorcrest kept attacking and charging at the villagers To his left, a villager screamed as talons raked his shoulder. To his right, Chief Dinesh roared, "They're breaking!" keeping the defense line steadfast.
"AAHHH"
The villagers' shouts echoed through the night as they waved the fire to keep the terrorcrests at bay. The sound of animals' snarls and the clashing of weapons filled the village. Arjun felt his muscles ache, his breath coming in ragged gasps, as he joined the defensive line.
His mind racing with thoughts
he can't escape, He has a duty he has a pride to keep.
"Go away, you birds!"
Arjun shouted furiously, his voice along with the villagers' voices echoed through the night.
The terrorcrests Scream and squawked, their sharp beaks gleaming menacingly in the firelight. The flickering flames threat, their heat driving the terrorcrests back, forcing them to retreat step by step
Fueled by fear and determination, the villagers chased the retreating terrorcrests, swinging their makeshift weapons wildly.
Finally, after a tiring battle the villagers forced the terrorcrests to retreat. Their figures faded into the deep, dark forest, leaving the village in a tense, uneasy silence. Arjun stood among the villagers, panting heavily. Tonight they had survived.
"Is everyone alright?" Dinesh called out while looking around him, his voice steady but weary.
"Well nobody is dead so We'll manage," someone replied, the relief evident in their tone.
"Okay if you can move then lets go and rest near the medical hut" Dinesh acknowledged, the battle-worn chief leading his people once again.
.....
Led by Dinesh, the villagers gathered around the medical hut as instructed. The air inside was thick with the metallic tang of blood and the sharpness of crushed herbs.
Bhima sat propped against a wall, eyes alert. "Took you long enough," he grunted.
Arjun breathed, still shaking from the adrenaline, tried to catch his breath. "When that hut collapsed i almost thought—"
Bhima cut him off with a laugh. "What did you think? huh?? That you'd die? Hah! When I was your age, I fought these birds daily. You're just too weak."
"Then why didn't you fight now grandpa?" Arjun shot back, staring straight at him. Bhima coughed, ready to explain, but Chief Dinesh stepped into the hut, cutting the moment short.
Across the room, the healer pressed a wad of moss to a man's mangled shoulder. "Hold this," she snapped at a pale teenager, who obeyed without a word. Her gaze flicked to Dinesh as he entered, his talwar still dripping blood. "We need vishaal root," she said, no preamble. "The bites are festering. Without it, the fever will take them by morning."
Arjun stiffened. Vishaal root—the cure grew near the eastern ponds,deep in the maze-like forest. The injured may survive… but only because they'd had the root then by then.
Dinesh glanced around, his expression hardening at the sight that can make people's stomach churn. Around twenty people a tenth of the village lay there with their bones crushed or flesh missing the terrorcrests didn't even miss the children.
Dinesh crouched by a young mother cradling her unconscious son. The boy's arm was mangled, the skin covered with green paste. "How many do you need ?"
"fifteen. Maybe more." Mira didn't look up from stitching a wound. "And we're out."
Arjun stood abruptly. "I'll go."
Bhima grabbed his wrist. "Fool boy! It's not a stroll. The maze eats the reckless!"
"You think I'll sit here while he—" Arjun jerked his chin at the boy, whose breath came in wet rasps, "—dies? "
The young boy was a friend of Arjun. That boy was a friend. In the village, everyone knew each other, but they had been close since they were children. He couldn't just watch him fade away. children form their different groups and that child was in Arjuns group.
"I will go there and bring the herb, " Arjun once again declared.
"Then i will go too" Tej, another boy near them also interjected, he was a disciple of bhima.
Dinesh rose, his shadow swallowing the torchlight. "The forest will be crawling with terrorcrests."
"But chief–" Arjun tried again
"No buts They'll smell weakness on you." Dinesh rebated.
Arjun met his gaze, the challenge clear. "You said it yourself—we protect our own."
A beat. The chief's mouth twitched—not a smile, but something fiercer. "We leave now. Twenty armed. No chatter, no torches." He turned to the villagers clustered at the door, their faces streaked with soot and resolve. "Javed, Rupa—gather the hunters. Silent steps. The rest, guard the perimeter. They'll be back."
As the group dispersed, Bhima yanked Arjun and Tej close. His breath smelled of bitterroot and fear. "You both listen to Dinesh. No heroics. Swear it."
Arjun and Tej nodded, throat tight, eyes firm with resolve.
*As the group vanished into the labyrinth's throat, Arjun glanced back. The village fires flickered like dying stars. Somewhere in the dark, a terrorcrest screeched—a sound that carried neither defeat nor retreat.
A warning.
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Readers do provide comments on how my writing style is
please give me some suggestion on English as its not my first language
But I would surely try them in the later chapters.