Chapter Twelve

The window opened, without a sound luckily. The dust of not having been opened in awhile cracked and fell off. A few spiders in the corners scurried across the wooden walls but Bitey knew he had them now.

The three mysterious figures he could see were not aware of his entering. Now that the window was open he could here clinking and clanging of metal. It was apparent that these figures were taking weapons, robbing from someone's business.

{Take this sword, it will draw good blood} said one figure.

The shadow took the blade and placed it around their buckle.

{The master will be proud} Bitey held his breath. He recognized the language, it was his own. So many questions rushed into his mind.

Bitey crawled in through the window and found himself on a second floor where he is able to look down onto the first floor.

With teeth clenched and hands shaking in fists of rage, Bitey forced himself to breathe again. He weighed the conflicting emotions within, willing his hands to stop shaking in the meantime. The tremors lessened, but did not stop. Dark Ones... Dark Ones... Dark Ones... echoed the voice in his mind. It couldn't be. The part of him still numbed by shock denied what he was seeing. It... couldn't be. The emptiness of shock was passing to be replaced by pain, and he had not even prepared himself for it. He clutched his head, forcing his watering eyes to monitor the scene laid out before him.

The... Dark... Ones... Internally reeling from the blow, he desperately sought some measure of control. As impossible as it had to be, he could not deny what he saw. It was no ruse. No trick was needed. They... lived. How could we... I have known? They... lived all this time. All this time. Plotting our destruction... It all made sense. The records were sketchy; it was foolish to assume that every one had been taken. There would have been no way of knowing. The Dark Ones were patient, powerful, no doubt waiting for the right age. They excelled at manipulating beasts, shaping them to evil pursuits. First, the 'Rats, then the humans... We've been so blind. How many creatures have they corrupted unchecked? Only the Celestial Being knew, and it chose... Me...

They don't look like much, he thought. Still, I need to cut through to the heart of their web, like Fitey did. These are on an important mission, else they would have sent humans, but the hard parts are finished. Thievery hardly requires the sorceror's touch. He grabbed his cap, ruefully. I give myself away with gear not appropriate to a Dark One. Stuffing it in his pack, he formed the beginnings of a plan. A chance to foil their plans and find their hideaway. Celestial Being, guard my steps... He scanned the floor below.

Bitey slid down the bannister going to the first floor. He was not seen and by the time he spoke he had already landed and was speaking to the dark imps.

{No!} he exhaled in a quiet, mock shout. {This is not the place! This is no good!}

The dark ones turned to look at him. They looked at each other and then back at him.

{This is no good?} The dark one lifted the weapon as if asking for approval. {Master said fine blades, this human blade, good as it's going to be.}

Another figure looked at the speaking imp and then back at Bitey. {Who you? Master sent you?} The figure strode forward to stand before Bitey. {I am called Cezel, you not come with us. Why you here?}

{I'm The Boss, is who I am!} Bitey snapped back. He already didn't like these creatures. {I already have all the blades you need. Those blades will not serve the Master.} He almost tapped his cap, and had to remind himself not to give such a tell. He confidently scowled at them, but inside he felt a momentary pang of doubt. These were Dark Ones, after all. Evils that had been since before recorded history. He blanched... Is this what it feels like... to be intimidated?

Cezel strode forward, just a little taller then Bitey, but not by much. He started to sniff Bitey. {I was to be leader, what tribe you from, and who your leader?} The others surrounded Cezel, while another started to sniff Bitey as well.

The only light was from the window he had just crawled in through. There was just barely enough light to see the face of Cezel. It was quiet, and it was obvious that the town did not know these creatures were inside. Bitey had to think fast on his feet.

Of course their lackeys will be more intelligent than humans, Bitey inwardly berated himself, and they will have learned the price of weak discipline. If that was so, then all advantages were nullified. If he couldn't rely on confusion or cowardice, he only had one thing to fall back on.

{Are you challenging me?!} he growled. He glowered at the sniffing imps. {I come from a clan all but destroyed long ago and I serve only the highest authority.} He tapped a sword hilt impatiently. {The Master will not be pleased if you make me kill you. Why else would I come all this way? We do not have time to argue! If it will stop your whining, you may take the lead and I will follow.}

Cezel looked at Bitey and pulled his companion away from sniffing Bitey. {Stop that!} The creature walked back behind Cezel. Cezel looked Bitey up and down again. His eyes seemed bore holes into Bitey.

{Let us leave!} Cezel said grunting. He started to lead the group outside the building. His companions allowed Bitey to follow Cezel before they went.

{I'll take rearguard,} said Bitey, not trusting them for a second. {Go.} He followed. 'They must be vulnerable... they skulk in places they should hold, their weapons' base is low... There are chinks in this armor. They are like any other foe, to be divided and extinguished.' Still, the nagging doubt remained. He was alone in the middle of a dangerous unknown.

The creatures figured it was no use fighing and started after Cezel. Bitey followed in behind them and they walked outside. The night sky cast shadows that were easy to hide in. The streets were still empty, and the same silence that plagued the small town remained.

Outside Cezel and his two companions were already standing around, Bitey joined them.

Cezel pulled out a small flute like instrument and blew a few small notes that Bitey was almost sure a human could not hear, not with their ears.

From the woods nearby the smithy Bitey heard the rustling of of some leaves in a bush and out came another imp. This imp had very dark skin, its one eye was almost a bloodshot red, its other eye was missing. With a patch over its eye it looked rather intimidating. It was clad in robes and skulls of small creatures. Bitey did not know what to make of this creature.

Cezel strode forward. {We are done, and we found this one, the master sent him to lead.} He pointed to Bitey, and the new imp only looked at him with his one eye. {He said he had other blades, better then ones here, said master did not want these.} He shows the figure the assortment of blades they had. The figure only nodded.

{Then he will explain to me where better blades may be found. Now we go!} The figure spoke, it's voice deep, and raspy, but had the hint of age to it. Bitey could not even begin to estimate how old this creature was. Bitey watches as the figure lifts his hands into the air and notices how quickly the air starts to heat up and crackle.

With it's one eye closed the imp is chanting someting quickly when suddenly the smithy bursts into flames. The wood crackles as the heat consumes it. {We go now, let humans handle this.} The imp turns to go back into the woods, and the other dark imps follow, all except Cezel, {I will do rear guard now, you go and follow.}

Bitey stood by, impassively, not daring to let any emotion show. He was not truly sure how the Dark Ones regarded their magics. He had been prepared for such a presence, but was still unnerved by the evil it exuded. Bitey followed the three, his senses alert to the movement of the imp behind. This one might try something.

It was different style of manuever than he was used to, but the similarities were disturbing. He had never targeted settlements in a raid, always nests, but the organization seemed much the same. Extra eyes and hands, a captain, specialty soldiers as needed. It might well have been one of his hand-picked parties, if the sorceror were instead someone of the Chosen caste.

Sorcerors... I've only seen their works from a distance. The Queen kept a tight reign on the extremely rare few who made up the Magi caste. His thoughts turned to what he knew of these magicians. It has been long since I used to read the stories of the Wizards. Perhaps it would not have been foolish to review... He vaguely remembered things about dark rituals, evil totems, sacrifices... but the most important were the counters. Let's see... I don't have a Magic Shield, no Magical Reflective Barriers, no Magic Ring... Bah! Is the only way to counter magic... Magic?!

In front of him, the single file line is led by the magic using imp. From behind, the hat on his head could be seen to be elaborately covered with feathers and other such oddities. The robes it was draped in were also multicolored, as if pieced together from several pieces of cloth.

The two that followed did not seem to pay much attention to Bitey. They twisted and turned through the woods, and behind a few shouts and screams could be heard. The shouting for water is what Bitey can hear above all else. Still, the number of people he was able to pick out did not even come close to the hustle and bustle of Camea, the town he had left behind some time ago.

For a split second he thought about the chocobo he had asked to wait while he was gone. He hoped that the bird will make his way home. Being somewhat familiar with black chocobos he know that they always return to their home, he just hoped it would be soon.

The imp behind is what was on his mind primarily. Cezel huffs and puffs as he grunts behind. Bitey could almost hear his foot steps pound into the earth. Still, he kept ever vigilant in case the imp tried something.

As far as he could see there was nothing in front, but the dark imps do not live in wide open spaces like the humans, and as far as he knew they have not been seen in so long he can only assume they have gone underground, still he was prepared for anything that might come his way.

So far, this quest had been one terrible revelation after another, interspersed with long, long walks. Bitey pondered the benefits of questing versus gymnasium exercise. While the training in a controlled environment would serve to bolster mind and body, questing was basically centered around destroying both. Even hand-to-hand combat would be less devastating, and one did tend to die in combat more often than in training. Not that one probably didn't die questing. In fact, that was probably the point, or else it would have been called picnicking. He resisted the urge to yawn, then resisted the urge to sigh.

The Dark Ones didn't talk very much. That was bad, since it prevented him from gaining any tactical knowledge about them. He would have to fall back on arcane knowledge. My specialty! Dark Ones are a distant strain, once living on the surface but eventually creating huge subterranean domains where they could practice their unholy arts unmolested. That would indicate that above ground they would be at a disadvantage. These seem well-suited enough to the overworld, so they may have maintained their ties to both sides. Little help-- Cezel grunted again, throwing off Bitey's thoughts.

While deep in thought, he unknowingly slow down and was pushed forward by a blunt edge of some object. Cezel nudged him two or three times to push him foward and he realized he had slowed down as the others are now further ahead then before.

The woods start to thin out and you reach some sort of ground opening, it's not even a cave as it seems to go vertically down into the ground. There are a few rune marks around the came, no doubt to keep curious people away, but how many people really came out here you question.

The two followers were already on their way down and the shaman stood pointing for him to climb down.

{You go next, I will reactivate the runes}

Cezel only grunted as he stopped to watch Bitey climb down. He quickly wondered what will ever happen to the black chocobo that he had told to wait, for sure it had gone. And now here he was with a bunch of imps, dark ones at that, and he only hoped things did not turn sour.

Bitey had now been in the caves of the dark imps for what seemed like a couple of days. He rarely saw daylight so was unsure of excactly how long. What Bitey was sure of was that the world was in trouble. Bitey had only remembered the stories of legends of the outcasts and the trouble makers of his society and other imp societies, but never would he have imagined a force so large.

Bitey assumed they were somewhere in the 200,000 range, and that was just the colony he was in. Some of the language they spoke was archaic and hard to understand, much like a tongue that had died off many many years ago.

Bitey was able to piece together that there were other colonies, all working for this dark one, which had not been named yet. He felt like he had come upon something, and the Queen's council would surely hear of their existence as soon as he was able to get away.

The dark shaman had assigned Bitey to Cezel's troops, and all doubt had disappeared. When they arrived there were reports coming in of battles one and every dark imp was in an uproar of celebration. Still, Cezel always kept his eye on Bitey. Having eaten with these dark imps he was forced to do things in order to fit in, infiltrate the society so as to get answers.

The drinking of animal blood for power, the eating of human flesh, all part of the power rituals. Hence Bitey ate little, and while he had no choice to drink, he did spit out his food when no one was looking. No one noticed since the dens were covered in filth to begin with. It was just another dirty spot on the floor as far as they were concerned. Using his survival skills he was able to eat some of the mosses off the cave walls and some animal meat from time to time, but still he was starving.

Something would have to give soon, he had seen so much that disturbed him, and the dark forces were much larger then he thought.

The things one must do to slay evil... Bitey shivered in spite of himself. It was cold in these caves. How did Fitey do it? Defeat an entire kingdom of these things... Lined up one at a time I can see, but I hardly think they will do that. They do always have their dark magics to resort to at some point, as well. Fire or smoke would be useful tactics, but the problem remained the same. There simply wasn't time for one imp to undo ten thousand Dark Ones, much less one hundred thousand, much less all the nests that they claimed. Even if I don't get tired, there's still travel time. And black magic complicates matters. Worse, their other plots still remain mostly unknown. I do have some small measure of enemy intelligence at my disposal. What was it the old sage had said? My enemy is my greatest resource...

The Magi was the key to all of this. I need him to send my message. Bitey needed to call on his 'minions', and what better way than by using the enemies' communication network?

Careful not to be seen by the watchful eye of Cezel, Bitey made his way back to the Dark Magus' chamber. He'd watched this twisted wizard, and thought he had a good idea of what it could and couldn't do. 'Still, best be on guard.' He sidled up to it, letting it see that he did not regard its presence as odd or frightful in any way.

{I need to send a message to my minions. You have a way of sending my message.} He didn't ask a question, but he was not truly sure that the creature would offer him any assistance. Dark Ones weren't traditionally known for their camaraderie, and nothing he'd seen indicated otherwise. Although they did seem partial to this Cezel leader of theirs.

The Dark Magus turned to look at Bitey, hearing his request. The patch had not been over the eye, so all that stared back at Bitey was a eyeless socket that struck a sudden fear into Bitey that he beat down as much as possible.

Approaching the Dark Magus grabbed his staff and strode forward, shuffling his feet across the floor.

{Who is this that requests this?} The Dark Magus walked forward to get closer so as to see better with his one good eye.

Bitey swallows hard as the Dark Magus approaches. He starts to touch Bitey, his clothes, his face, even his teeth. The Dark Magus only looks at him now with one good eye, and a bottomless eye socket that went straight to the back of the creatures head it seemed. A very nerve rattling experience.

{You know very well who I am!} Bitey covered his revulsion with hostility. Still, the degenerate creature's infirmity gave him some hope of success. {I have minions arriving in Bertosh, possibly within the week, and I need to advise them to be prepared for the assault. That is why I'm here, after all, to coordinate efforts. Now either send my message or let me go send it myself.} He wondered about the relliability of chocobo-to-chocobo communication. I should have asked my black chocobo before I left him...

The Dark Magus imp looked at him and laughed. {I know who you are, the bones have told me. The boiling blood spelled out your fate here amongst us.}

Bitey looked on quizzically as the magus spoke waving his staff in the air.

Turning back to Bitey the magus smiled. {You...you are not who you seem to be, I see through you.} The magus again laughed as he started to shake some bones in his hand before he threw them down onto a tray.

{Yes, you are from far away,} The magus walked over to his live animals in cages. {You come to see us, you come for answers.} The magus took out a small raven that fought the magus's grip. {I know not of these minions you speak of, but you I know.} The magus placed the bird on a tray and lifed a small dagger. The dagger pierced the bird as the blood flowed onto the tray. His back still towards Bitey he did not see that Bitey was trying to see what he was doing.

{Yes....I know....Bitey is it?} Bitey was surely shocked, but the magus did not see the reaction. "Yes, I know, I know all, but I do not fear, you can kill me if you wish, but remember you are surrounded." The magus tossed the bird's body into the fire and fanned the flames with his hands. {Go to where ever you must, you cannot stop the dark tide that comes. Your Queen will be consumed like the humans that seem to run the world above.} The magus turned and eyed Bitey.

{I said GO!} The voice boomed, seeming to shake the cave. {The answers you seek are not here, but above ground, but do not worry. The answers you will not like. Fear not though Bitey, the coming darkness will take all the pain away.} The magus pointed towards the exit as his laughter made Bitey's skin crawl. {GO!}

Bitey looked at the Magi coolly. Now he was angry. {Is that a no, then? I think you should reconsider. I'm not going to be intimidated by a pile of rat droppings performing cheap tricks. Send my message or it will be very unpleasant for you.} Bitey was ready to draw left-handed but refrained, waving a finger in front of the foul wizard's face. You've been a naughty Magi...

As Bitey went to jab his finger into the magi's face. The magi only stood as the finger entered his eye socket making a squishing noise and oozing blood as the eyeball was pushed back into his skull. The magi screamed out in pain and started to jerk and fell to his knees.

Bitey twisted his finger inside and felt the warm goo surrounding his finger. The yelling and screaming had suddenly stopped and turned to laughter. Still with a finger in the magi's eyesocket the magi stood again and was still laughing.

"You pathetic fool, I gave you a chance to leave, now you will pay." With an instant flash the rags that had covered the magi fell to the ground, leaving Bitey's finger hanging in the air, covered with blood and nerve endings. The magi had disappeared but his laughter was still in the air.

"Run Bitey, run and die." The laughter carried on. The caves suddenly came alive with the sound of yelling, Bitey turned wondering what was going on.

Flicking the gore from his hand, Bitey looked his gauntlet over. He kicked the rags on the floor, checking for any solid object, shrunken Magi, or leftover fetishes. He surveyed the room, listening to the sounds of footfalls. The Dark Ones are fallible, then. Cowardly, even. He grabbed some of the vials from the table and tucked them at his belt, then moved to the cages, opening them and grabbing one of the birds while the others escaped. He walked over to the fireplace, glancing up the chimney. {Go, Scout,} he said, throwing the bird up the shaft. Best to go before the situation gets out of hand... a million Dark Ones might qualify. He scanned the chimney, throwing his armor off over his head. Tight fit. He shoved the plate up the shaft ahead of him, carefully climbing after.

Bitey pushed the armor up and then started to wedge himself into the chimney. Not even knowing where it goes, he only knew that it was better then staying for the welcoming crew.

The door burst open and already the grunts and growls echo inside the cave room. Still he was pushing himself up, hand after hand, foot after foot.

The pebbles drop from the sides and hit the fire place floor. The grunting warriors start to stab their weapons upward but hit nothing.

Crawling up he could feel a coolness in the air, and soon a small amount of light could be seen, it was daylight outside. Still pushing forward he heard a "WARK WARK". From below he heard scraping alongside the walls. {Cezel will get you now} Cezel said, Bitey understood perfectly. He climbed all that much faster.

Ignoring the Dark One's threat, Bitey forced his armor out into the sunlight. He mostly closed his eyes as he himself emerged from the hole. Hope the scout bird did his job... First things first. He pulled the vials from his side and gave them a sniff. Surely Dark Ones must have chemical compounds like we do. He thought back to some of the spectacular explosions he had seen. They probably do those on purpose. He was careful not to breathe too deeply, lest they be poisonous. Looking at the fluids in his hand he saw all colors, red, blue, a light green, some clear liquid, and an extra vial of powder. Figuring that any of these could be good, but thinking quickly was necessary as Cezel was coming up.

Bitey chose hastily, then held his hand over the opening in the earth, nonchalantly dropping his chosen weapons. {Oh yes, do come get me...} He didn't bother to think about Cezel taking acid in the face. These Dark Ones were losing eyeballs at a rapid pace. Not that eyesight is doing me all that much good at this moment. Not long after he heard the screams of pain, and the gutteral yellings of anger and cursing. There was a large explosion that threw him back next to the chocobo. The explosion was intense followed by several other underground explosions. Still squinting in the light, he grabbed his armor to slip it back on. It was very strange, not having it on. He was beginning to see more than just blurs and lights, but he still couldn't identify the source of the warking. "Who's there?" he warked in return.

Loyalty... admirable quality in a companion. Perhaps a stroke of good luck, perhaps the hand of fate. Bitey stepped away from the smoking hole. Predictable lot, these dark ones. Always tampering with forces best left alone. He reached out and scratched the chocobo on the neck, still on guard from his encounter with evil. He wanted to make sure this really was his bird and not some dark one construct here to trick him.

"Come," he warked to the black chocobo. Don't Black Chocobos always remember their way home...? "We can briefly stop to pick up some supplies, but I think we have a few important messages to relate." He sighed, regretting the lost opportunity to catch Gundaga before he moved. Now the information had to be relayed. "Down," he warked to the chocobo. "We need to cover some distance."

The chocobo "WARKED" and lowered itself so that Bitey could jump on. With a lunge into the air, the chocobo started flapping and was soon airborne. Below the ground shrank away, the smoke was already as high as them. There were still a few explosions, but they died down as Bitey flew off into the distance.

The chocobo was on its way to it's original starting point, and this time it was daylight. Bitey could see what he had passed over the nights before, but nothing really struck him. Most of the trip was forested and grassland, with a few chocobo tracks here and there.

Finally after a few hours of flying the bird landed in the spot that Bitey remembered seeing all the chocobos. Their footprints were still in the earth, and there were still enough carrots lying around to be picked.

"Well, fellow, you have been of great service. I can't really ask you to continue with me any further, but I still need your help." He scratched the bird affectionately, truly pleased with the virtue his friend had displayed. "Indeed, now we know that many people are in immediate peril. We can only rest a moment, so let us make the most of the time we have."

Bitey made himself comfortable, intending to take a brief rest. He really felt invigorated, but he had been hard-pressed in the Dark Ones crypts. "Here, my friend, have a carrot. You've certainly earned it. You know, I really can't keep calling you fellow. Do you have a name? No, you don't really need it, but I think you deserve a fitting name." He thought quietly, relaxing in the process. "Ah, how about Flitey? No, I don't think that's a very good name for a Chocobo. Maybe something like Turbo... you hear the rhyme. Perhaps... perhaps Rambo? It is short." He looked at the chocobo, then looked down, crestfallen. "No, that's not it either." The chocobo milled, plucking and munching the carrots. He watched the ground below the bird intently. "Aha! Shadow! How does that sound? It fits quite nicely, and it suitably frightens as well. What do you think of that?"

As he rested, he fished his livery from his pack. 'I don't imagine that stain will readily come out.' He put it back on, donning his cap afterward and settling into a meditative state. "{Celestial Being, it is I, Sir Bitey once again. I understand what needs be done and am grateful for the assistance of Shadow.}" No one needed to be left to their fates in a doomed city. Sir Slyde and Taran would do their best, but humans against Dark Ones...? It was a foregone conclusion.

Gundaga was one step ahead of the group it seemed, and the others had to be warned. From not to far away, he started to hear the sounds of hooves against the ground, thundering in his direction.

That sound brought meditation to an end. What other creatures ride horses besides humans? This does not bode well. He warked a warning to Shadow. Best to wait these creatures out, or perhaps get an idea of what misdeeds were afoot this time.

The riders were coming from the city of Camea, and heading towards the city he had just escaped.

Hiding, Bitey could see an all too familiar sight. Camea soldiers were riding by, and riding hard. There were about ten of them, all told, and they carried the banner of Camea.

They all passed Bitey and Shadow who were hiding off in the trees, away from the main road.

"Could they have word so soon of my assault on the Dark Ones' nest? They have fast lines of communication!" He turned to Shadow, hoping to get his take on the situation. He smirked. "I think they will have their hands full figuring out what has happened to their Dark Overlords." He shrugged, knowing full well that the confusion would not delay reprisal for long. I have escaped their grasp, but there are plenty of others for them to take vengeance on. Once he was sure the men were safely on their way, he grabbed some of the carrots to replenish his supplies.

"Come, Shadow, we should be off. When you are ready." He awaited the chocobo, thinking of the inventor's city. It was west, past Camea, in a valley. I should think that will be rather easy to find, if it is such a grand place. No civilization that could make humans act with respect could be anything less than stupendous.

"Kweh...Kweh" Shadow screeched as if understanding Bitey. With a few "WARKS" and three carrots later, the bird started to flap his wings, as if signifying that he was ready to leave.

Bitey seeing this was quick to gather his gear and jumped aboard the chocobo. With a kick of his heels, careful not to hurt the bird, he and Shadow lunged into the air.

With a flap or two they were already airborne, moving upwards, high off the ground. From where he was he could see the riders in the distance getting smaller and smaller.

Getting his bearings, he figured out where Camea would be, looking west and remembered how they went south towards Bertosh, so it was possible to simply go southwest until he found the road and then turn south, but was that wise?

Time passed. Bitey had been flying in the air for hours now. It was going to be a long trip to Bertosh with a lot of ground to cover. Bitey had already stopped a few times to feed a carrot to the chocobo, and so far Shadow did not mind the trip.

While flying far off to the east Bitey could see a dark cloud start to burst through the white clouds of the sky. It seemed as if the sky was boiling as the blackness burst forth and frothed in the air. This could certainly mean a storm, but the clouds were much too far away to be considered a threat.

"Hm... does that seem natural to you, fellow?" asked Bitey, regarding the black cloud. {I wonder if it portends something, this sudden darkness.} He shrugged. "No matter. We'll just be all the more prepared. If you are ready, we will continue on. We can rest when our task is safely done."

Bitey looked over his shoulder every now and then and it seemed the black clouds were finally starting to catch up with him. In every direction it seemed as if the darkness was reaching out, as if poured from a dark cup it spilled across the sky. The sight was scary indeed and Shadow looked up as if knowing something is wrong as well.

The dark clouds boiled over head as they flew past Bitey racing to cover every inch of sky. It seemed as if night had come, and the sun was still a few hours from fully setting. Above the sounds of loud screeching caused Bitey to look up only to see about seven flying attackers rip through the dark sky.

Shadow "WARKED" in fear and attempted to outrun them, but the attackers were coming fast and hard, and Bitey was sure they would catch up to them.

Bitey watched the clouds and cloudbourne enemies coming fast. "Down, Shadow. If we cannot outrun them, then we will outmaneuver them. Have no fear." He leaned forward, intent on speed and looking for advantage in the terrain below. Perhaps they cover their assault with infernal darkness. He scowled at the reach of the black veil. "Make ready, Shadow, we cannot be stopped here..."

The creatures were seemingly flying faster and closing in on Bitey and Shadow. Bitey realized the urgency of moving faster or finding some way to distract the creatures.

Below was mostly plains, but there was a small patch of forest up ahead. The trees stood tall and dense and could provide some cover, or at least an interesting battle.

"Go, Shadow, the forest!" He turned to see the oncoming flyers hurtling toward them as the ground grew closer. "Now Shadow, if I leave your back for any reason, I want you to stay low and keep away from them. No sense that we should both be embattled." The forest drew ever nearer. "The forest is your home, we'll use it to defeat them. Don't give up now, fellow." He turned to regard the pursuit. A suitable taunt came to mind. Maybe later...

Shadow and Bitey take a sharp dip towards the ground racing for the trees. Behind the creatures are still screeching and seemingly out for blood. The only hope are the tall trees up ahead.

Faster and faster Shadow goes, dipping further and further, the air rushing by as if free falling from the sky. Before the ground rushes up at them, Shadow quickly arcs even and uses the momentum to fly through the trees zipping in and out, past as many as possible.

Some of the creatures also follow. But looking back Bitey saw a few who were unable to stop and simply slam into the trees, exploding, flesh and blood scattered. Only two made it through and were zig zagging through the trees.

"Good!" Bitey warked, encouraging Shadow. He looked back in consternation to see the pursuit continue. {Agile beasts, considering the size of them...} He looked at the wildly veering forest, hoping for a hollow log or thicket to slow down the large monsters. "Shadow, look for a place just big enough for us to clip the beastie's wings." He scanned the forest floor, ready to take action if he saw something... or if the creatures got too close.

Shadow was flapping as hard as he could, diving beneath fallen trees, dodging trees in his path, flying over, under, over, under, in a random pattern obviously trying to get the enemies off his tail. Bitey held on and kept low, no need getting decapitated now.

The creatures remained in pursuit. They were very agile indeed, or very lucky, these were the only two to survive the dive apparently, and they were not giving any signs of letting up.

Up ahead he saw the forest coming to an end. The trees were already starting to thin, and there was not much left to hide behind, so it was time to decide quickly what to do. Looking above he saw no sign of creatures flying overhead, and no sounds other then the ones behind.

There wasn't enough time to think. These things aren't going to give up soon. Not without convincing. He looked up, trying to find a good solid tree branch. "I'll try to stop them. If they chase you, keep them circling... now, veer left!" He gathered himself to grab the next branch. This was definitely going to hurt something... or someone.

A large tree branch up ahead loomed low enough for him to grab. As Shadow veered left he readied himself and reached up grabbing the branch just in time for it to lift his body off of Shadow and pulled himself up for the oncoming enemy. Shadow twisted and turned through the thinning forest.

As he turned he saw the enemy coming as it slowed down for an attack.

Agile... and equipped with air brakes. Bitey reeled as the monster came on, his own momentum almost upsetting him before he recovered. He drew both swords and studied the monster, looking to make a decisive attack. "All right, beast, come on then. Let's see how you like the taste of steel."

The first Wing shoots out a sonic blast that sends a distortion of waves towards Bitey. Unable to move much on a branch the waves hit causing him to almost fall off the branch.

Bitey with swords in hand takes a swing with all his might, steel flying through the air. The blade just misses the first winged creature.

The second Wing dives in for an attack, but misses flying by and then flying back into position.

No sign of Shadow anywhere.

Bitey reeled, looking down for a soft place to land. The creatures were dancing out of reach and their attacks were stronger and faster than was reasonable for such ungainly abominations. This is dark sorcery indeed. Still, Shadow needed time to recuperate from the flight and couldn't very well recover if he was being eaten at the time. Bitey needed to bring the monsters down to his level, or just lose them entirely.

Bitey quickly looks down to see that there are more branches that could possibly lead him to the ground. That would be his best bet, and maybe there was a chance now.

The first Winged comes in for an attack but as Bitey lowers himself to look below the creature simply flies overhead creating a gush of wind.

The second Winged starts to glow and uses DRAIN. He felt a little energy leave his body, as if somehow a piece of him had been stolen.

Bitey raced for the promise of solid ground, and perhaps even escape, below. It was one thing to be nearly blasted out of the sky, but it was quite different to be ensorcelled. It occurred to him that there might be worse things below. Really now? What could be worse then these things? He hoped a bear would eat them.