Young Writers Society

"Uh... well. I'm lost." She shrugged, deciding to just shut up and not answer for everybody else. She didn't know any of them anyway.

"I told you, i'm looking for a wizard." I said, as I put my gun away.

"Well, you aren't going to find one out here. I can bring you out."

Amy hated to be that kid. The Crifide kid who suddenly started questioning who they could trust. It was easy to suspect everyone of ill intent when she didn't need help, and even easier to when she did need help, but thinking that way just made things harder. She bit her lip with uncertainty.

"Out to where?" She asked nervously.

"Well the person who told me to find this wizard said that they were in this stupid valley."

Darian, who'd moved on to the bird and begun plucking feathers from its breast region, grunted and sighed. "You lot turn tail pretty quickly for an hour-long allegiance. I mean...suspicious guardian of the valley? If you were a wizard in a dark place, would you like to be found by any so-and-so with an attack dog?"

Another busty feather. "I know I wouldn't." He wiped sweat from his brow. "I happened to pass a horde of treants on my way to this campsite not too far back." A grip, a pull, a face full of downy feathers. "And if books have taught me anything, it's that treants equal a wizard nearby."

"Are you talking to me?" I asked Darian.

Dangit, Darian was right. Amy lifted a finger as if to protest and then just grimaced and plopped down onto the ground. She sat cross legged, with a general look of displeasure on her face. She didn't know who to trust anymore, but if she had to go with who made more sense, it was definitely Darian over the lady with the scary dog. Keeping the peace was good, and so was clearing up confusion, but that didn't mean she had to go run off with the lady into the woods under the premise that she'd be leading them out.

She didn't know what anybody's intentions were. She just knew that she wanted to get out of there.

"So, am I guiding you out of here or not?"

Darian groaned. "I just wanted to cook this biiiird." An exasperated sigh. "Truth be told, I don't particularly trust any of you but Loki. He seems like a trustworthy fellow, what with a name like that and all."

Darian drew a knife from his pocket and flicked it open. "Now, the breast-bone should be hereeeee, so I'll just start carving...here." He plunged the knife into the bird's chest, but was knocked away in an instant by a clap of lightning spouting from the incision in the bird's body.

All around the campsite, smaller killer ravens began to gather, circling for their revenge kills. Darian wobbled to his feet and, from his supplies, drew his GunScythe. "I think now is a good time to put differences aside, mates..."

"What the hell did you do?!" I said, a bit startled at the onslaught of ravens. "You killed a bird, didn't you? By the gods, how have you even survived this long if you didn't know not to do something so simple?!"

Darian sighed and raised his voice over his shoulder as he swung at a vengeful raven. "Not all of us can be Spooky Valley Survival Experts, kid!" A raven swiped at his shoulder. He swiped back, landing it in the fire pit to roast a nice golden-brown.

"Kid? I'm twenty-five, thank you very much." She whips out her guns and starts shooting the hell out of the ravens.

I drew my blaster and started shooting the Ravens.

As he struggled to wrap his mind around what was going on, the most he could do was grab a stick from next to the fire and wave it about wildly in the hopes that it would scare the birds off. His knife was back in his hotel room, and the only forms he could currently shift into were human in nature. He was completely unprotected.

He barely dodged one of the ravens as it dived at him. Tripping on a root and falling to the ground, he quickly took in the others. His gaze settled on Amy; while the others fought off the birds, she had done exactly what he had done. He scrambled to his feet and ran over to her. Maybe it would be easier to fend them off if he wasn't alone.

"Oh God," he suddenly realized. "This is exactly like The Birds." He glanced down at his stick and back up at the ravens. "I couldn't go outside for a week after watching that!"