Hunting the Stymphalian Bird (Success!)

[Nyghtingale]

     Nyght ignored Marcus for the most part. His words where sarcastic, as usual and held little meaning for her. She did contemplated upon what Stilia had said, and found it still all the while distasteful in her own opinion. Gods and goddesses making mortals do their work for them because they where to...what? Scared to do it themselves? It seemed unlikely they would be scared to come do it themselves if they where so powerful. Then what was it if they where not scared? Lazy? That was a possibility but Nyght seemed to doubt that as well. If they where still doing this goddesses's bidding, simply so that the goddess herself did not have to come down and do it was that not still doing exactly what the goddess wanted? That was still being under her control and her control upon the planet. It was simply control by another means. Hitler controlled the Nazis, Schutzstaffel, and Gestapo who in turned controlled and dominated the Jewish people and others and yet it was still Hitler himself who was ultimately in control and doing those horrible things. What was to stop a god or goddess from doing such a thing themselves and even controlling such groups to do things for them? Did not those people see what they did as good and beneficial for the whole world in their own eyes?

     Nyght simply sighed and turned away, wisely keeping her mouth shut for probably and what really seemed like the first time in her life. She had no wish to get in to a political divinity argument with anybody, and so decided it was best to just drop the subject. She contemplated saying something, when she glanced up and grinned. They where traveling on a bumpy, rocky road now, but Nyght had seen something up in the skies that had cheered her up. She pressed her hands against the glass followed by her forehead and stare up as best as she could. Sure enough, she was almost positive she knew what it was that was flying above them. When the vehicle stopped, she waited impatiently for the others to get out. She finally scrambled out, with nothing but her backpack and no weapons. She looked up again and frown, not seeing what she had been looking for. When Paquito emerged from she grinned seeing Jack's pet.

     From behind her she heard the soft crunching of steps and she whirled around raising her hands and inhaling sharply in the case she needed to throw off one of her incantations for a spell quickly, but Aurora padded arouud from the other side of the van and Nyght dropped her arms. She ran to the creature's side and threw her arms around Aurora's head hugging her friend and pet. The large cross between a wolf and killer whale huffed and nuzzled against her, and Nyght planted a kiss upon her forehead before grinning and turning back to Jack. "How in the world did you get Paquito over here? I know he can not follow you all the time, what did you do? Get him an airline ticket? I told Aurora to stay, but apparently she flew after me. I wonder how much flying and how much swimming she did." She looked at the creature, reaching beneath to scratched beneath her muzzle and Aurora's eyes narrowed in satisfaction and growled in content before pulling away and moving over to her pack mate Paquito and rubbing her head against the other Akhult's in greeting and sitting down beside the common looking at the two strangers.

[Stilia Medusa]

Marcus also decided to chime in his thoughts, and the conversation was beginning to become quite philosophical. Jackson did not seem to want to chime in, and Stilia didn’t blame him. When it came to opinions, a single word could create a new enemy.

However, Gods and balance aside, they seemed to have arrived to the point on which they would need to switch their method of transportation from soccer mom van to foot. Stilia didn’t mind stretching her legs a bit, to warm the blood before a fight.

Stilia said nothing when Jackson told everyone to be cool, and made his strange little whistle. It was obvious he was signalling for someone or something, and Stilia wondered who would join them. Not all supernatural creatures could turn their tail into legs, after all.

However, what emerged from hiding was something the Gorgon had never seen before, except in drawings in a book. She had once set out to find these creatures, but had never found one. It seemed Nyght had also acquired one of these strange pets, for one named ‘Aurora’ came up to nuzzle the girl.

“You have an Ankhult?” Stilia exclaimed, quite surprised by the turn of events. She hesitated for a moment. “Fascinating creatures, would it be alright if I touched it?”

[Marcus Drago]

After Marcus spoke his mind, it seemed that no one wanted to voice their thoughts anymore. Maybe they were just shy, or maybe they were avoiding the discussion. Marcus hated to think of it as the latter because he loved these type of discussions. On one side stood someone with different views that could nitpick his views while also finding reason within them, and on the other side stood Marcus who could nitpick their ideals while also finding reason within them. Of course, there was the underlying truth that strong opinions led to strong battles. Maybe a battle would have been started if Nyghtingale said more, or if Jack jumped in. It definitely would not have been initiated by Marcus, of course, since he hated fights in general; the only reason he ever fought was for a gain or to defend his life. However, if a fight did break out, Marcus would have started to enjoyed every minute of this ride.

Shortly after Marcus spoke his words, the vehicle was stopped. Jack climbed out first with Nyghtingale right behind him. Then Stilia left the van, followed by Marcus. They all gathered near a path to a forest. Marcus walked to a nearby tree as everyone stretched their muscles. He rested his back against a skinny looking tree, folded is arms and his legs, and paid attention to the group while waiting for them to begin the hunt. When Jack turned to everyone and asked them to be cool, Marcus raised a brow. Fletcher then whistled, and out from the bushes came a monster half orca and half wolf. The thing padded into full view, and Fletcher introduced it as Paquito. Marcus said nothing, but stared at the creature with a little awe. He knew what this thing was, as he knew what all supernatural species were, but he was surprised to see it being friendly with someone other than their own. Marcus was once assigned to kill these creatures, so he knew a little about them due to his habit of studying his kills. While he once looked through the books about this creature, he discovered that they definitely were not friendly, and dying off as a species. Marcus was curious as to how this man named Fletcher could acquire such a prime beast.

Right when Fletcher's beast arrived, Nyghtingale's creature did as well. When she saw it, she quickly ran to it and gave it a hug. Stilia stood in front of them, as amazed as Marcus was. She asked them if she could touch them and Marcus chuckled a little, knowing what the answer wold be if he asked that question instead.

 

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    "I've been operating in Europe a lot lately so I snuck him over here a little while ago, before the attacks started happening. It wasn't easy, but I managed to smuggle him aboard a cargo ship friendly to supernaturals who need to travel inconspicuously, the ones who can't take a more human form or cross the ocean on their own. I'd done the captain a few favors previously so he totally owed me one."

    Paquito returned Aurora's greeting, wary as he always was around the more powerful female, but pleased to see another of his kind. Jack had kept him away from his kin for too long and it was about time the young man escorted him home for some much needed downtime among those like himself.

    When Stilia asked if she could touch them, Jack hesitated for a moment. He looked at Paquito questioningly, as if silently asking him if he'd be okay with that. The Ak gave a slightly indignant huff as if to say Do I look like some sort of pet to you losers? You don't ask random people on the street if you can put your hands all over them now do you? He then sprawled lazily by Jack, not even bothering to look at Stilia anymore. It was the closest thing to an answer the Ak could give.

    "Um. Paquito doesn't seem too excited about it but I can't speak for Aurora."

    After all that was over Jack would gesture towards the general direction he would be leading everyone. "Right. Let's be on our way now," the young man would say before starting off into the wilderness. Paquito would walk next to him for a few minutes before breaking off on his own, presumably to scout ahead. The group would have been traveling for a little more than a half hour without incident, making good time on the path Jack had traveled previously, when the Ak would return, teeth bared. The young man understood the signal immediately.

    "Everyone, prepare yourselves!" The young man said quickly. Nearly just as he spoke his warning, metal feathers began to rain down on the group, piercing the trees and earth around them. Forewarned, Jack had managed to quickly throw himself to the side, dodging the worst of it. He didn't have time to check on the others though as the creature was upon them already.

    The Stymphalian bird had dived at the group out of a cloud bank near the sun, managing to have made it's approach nearly undetectable until it had decided to attack. It led with a firing of it's metal feathers, quickly followed up by a sonic burst from it's bronze beak as it's outstretched claws reached for the space where Marcus had been at the beginning of the attack, rending what flesh it might find before turning and flapping it's great wings to regain altitude, letting out another loud screech, this one louder and angrier, enraged by pain.

    Covered in minor wounds from feathers that had grazed him but, luckily, done no further harm, Jack had managed to climb to his feet. Though spots raged before his eyes and he clutched one bleeding ear with his free hand he somehow managed to keep focus and shot a brief burst from his shotgun at the rapidly receding creature, one round managing to disable a single iron talon in a flash of fire and puff of shrapnel.

    "Paquito!" The Ak came running and the young man climbed onto the beast's back, letting Paquito carry him while he focused on the task of bringing down the Stymph. The entire ambush had only raged for a mere handful of seconds so far and, with the creature's attempted retreat, it appeared it would end just as suddenly as it had begun.

[Nyghtingale]

     Nyght stroked Aurora's strong firm jawline and grinned watching Jack with Paquito. She knew that his akhult would never let anybody but him touch it. Although not a Prime like her own it seemed, in a slight almost peevish way, to hold that as a grudge and didn't like other's approaching it. However Aurora loved attention, especially from other females. She suspected the was because Aurora doubted another female would try to mate with her and she would not have to fight it off, or at least something along those lines. Males however was sorta of a fifty/fifty chance. She sometimes allowed them to approach, and other times snarled and snapped her fangs at them.

     "Aurora might let you pet her. Depends on her mood, in all honesty. Simply walk up to her and extend your hand for her to sniff. She will, and if she does not growl or try to bite your hand off she will let you pet her." She grinned, watching to see what Stilia would do. If Stilia approached and held her hand out, Aurora would sniffed it intently a few seconds before moving her head to nuzzle against Stilia's hand. Nyght would grin, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. Aurora was such an attention starved thing, wanting attention from just about anybody and anything. Nyght suspected it had to do with the fact they where pack creatures, and Aurora had been a prime and thus was use to being paid attention to. While Stilia was petting Aurora, Nyght began to inspect the headphones Jack had handed supplied them all with. They seemed odd to her, large and bulky. Did they really have to wear these things? She supposed they did not really have a choice, what with the creatures emitting ear shattering screeches.

     When Aurora had enough and they all began to move again, Nyght watched as her akhult followed Paquito in to the woods and wondered what she was up to. However she did not call the creature back, trusting her friend and pet's instincts and letting her go. She slowly slid the headphones over her hair, settling them over her ears and grimaced. They felt very uncomfortable, but they would have to work. She left them on, and continued walking with the others. She watched as Paquito suddenly appeared from the woods a good amount of time later, and she registered the bared teeth. A fleeting image of their group as might bee seen from the sky flitted through her mind's eye. The whole group of them, with a giant bullseye super imposed off the group. She threw herself to the side, deciding it was better to not be part of the large group that was making such a large inviting target towards whatever had upset Paquito.

     Her actions where good, and a sudden storm of metallic feathers flew towards the group. Nyght was out of the way, and rolled even further away from the action getting her hair filled with leaves and twigs. She leap to her feet however, shoving herself out of the dirt with her hands and standing up. Metal feathers had stabbed in to the ground, and she decided to use it against the bird. She flung her hands out at one of the larger feathers, lips working as she incanted her spell. The feather pulled from the ground, and she twisted her wrist directing the feather to turn around. She then launched it at the massive bird in the air, hurling it through the air back at the bird it had come from hoping to strike the creature though she was unsure if she had or not.


     She dropped her hands, sighing as the creature flew away trying to see if she had injured it in some way but was simply unable to tell. She then looked around, frowning and wondering where Aurora was. Paquito had come back, but it seemed that Aurora was not with him when he did so. Had she gone of in a different direction? Had she been injured?! Nyght really hope Aurora was alright. Aurora had proven to be an amazing companion, friend, and ally. She did not think the Prime Akhult was going to be taken down so easily....but she was not so sure against these creatures.

[Stilia Medusa]

Seems Jackson’s Akhult wasn’t queen on touching, but Nyght and her companion, Aurora, were quite alright with it. Once Stilia extended her hand, the creature sniffed it and nuzzled it, deeming her trustworthy. Aurora seemed to think she was getting a petting out of her good behavior. And although Stilia was happy to comply with the creature, she was more interested in making scientific documentations. She continued to pat the creature, while taking note of fur thickness, color and texture. She also briefly played with Aurora’s front paw, and counted nails, as well as taking mental notes on things like shape and padding.

When Aurora and Stilia were finished, Stilia instantly pulled a small journal and pen from her bag and began documenting everything she observed about the Akhult. As they walked, Stilia adeptly kept going forward, following the group with ease despite the fact it seemed her attention was engrossed in her writings.

She finished her documentation and stored her things again. The walk was fairly uneventful. However, about ten minutes later, they came across their prey.

Stilia adeptly jumped behind the nearest tree, earning only a few scratches on her arms, which healed up almost immediately with her powers. Everyone immediately got to work.

Stilia’s abilities mostly laid in stunning. If she could make eye contact with the beast, she could quickly stun it, and within seven seconds, send it off to dreamland. However, flying around as it was, that wasn’t exactly a simple task. Stilia wondered if she should morph into a bird so that she could quickly fly up to the creature, but that was a dangerous course of action. Also, an unnecessary one considering the others could control metals. Stilia took out her whip and left her sword sheathed, the whip had range, which is what they needed right now.

“All I need is even a millisecond of eye contact, and I can stun it. However, if it falls from the sky it will simply snap out of it. Can you metallurgists arrange it so its on the ground? I can put it to sleep, and we can kill it in one well calculated blow.”

[Marcus Drago]

Marcus found it hilarious how Fletcher's akhlet brushed off Stilia. It acted as though it was a high and mighty royal, too important for Stilia's plebeian fingers to touch. The fact that a beast that doesn't know how to shit on a toilet would have such a characteristic was enjoyable, and Marcus smirked while Fletcher answered for his Akhlut. You're Akhlut needs to get off of it's high horse, Marcus wanted to say, but decided against saying it. 

Unlike Fletcher's Akhlut ('Paquito'), Nightingale's Akhlut ('Aurora') was incredibly happy to have Stilia pet her. Stilia, however, wasn't as excited to touch the creature as Marcus originally assumed. She was more than happy to study it instead, noting different things about the creature then writing it in her journal. She didn't stop writing after her interaction with Aurora either. She dotted down her notes while somehow managing to not trip on her feet. Marcus thought about tripping her himself, but decided against it. He wanted to do all these horrible things to these people, but many factors stopped him. One was that he would ruin the team trust he was trying to build with some of these people, and another was because someone would die if Marcus didn't control himself.

As the daemon walked with the others, he began looking over those muffs that Jack offered him. Nightingale had already placed hers on, but Marcus had to mess with it a little to match his head size. When he placed them on himself, he found them very comfortable, and Marcus could barely hear the footsteps of the others. The daemon liked these headphones, but the color didn't really match his style. Maybe something a little more black would fit him. 

At some point in time Fletcher and Nigtingale's pets left the group. It wasn't until they walked a few more paces ahead that Marcus finally got his first ping. He opened his mouth, ready to warn everyone, but Jack already had that covered. As soon as Fletcher yelled, metal feathers began raining down from the sky. Everyone dodged, but Marcus stood still, that was the better option for him. Feathers flew past him, and one in particular darted really close to his right cheek, nearly hitting him. After the creature's first attack, it dived to the ground, really close to Marcus, and screeched. Even through his muffs, Marcus could still hear it's painful yell. The daemon placed his hands on the muff to make them come closer to his ears to block the sound. When the bird finished its tantrum, it came right after Marcus. The daemon was already aware of the Stymph's presence, so dodging its attack was very easy. Still holding onto his ears, Marcus dived away from the bird, forcing it to hit only air. While he was down, he noticed some of the birds feathers flew back to it. When the metal striked the bird, all it met was more metal. The entire thing was made of scrap, and not even Marcus' blade could penetrate the stymph's metal skin without breaking. 

Marcus stood as the creature flew away, making another screech to show that it was not done with them yet. Marcus found that screech annoying, and would do anything at the moment to silence it. When the group recovered, Stilia offered everyone a plan. It was a risky plan, considering that it was very hard to bend a metal shrieking animal, but it was still a good plan. Marcus took off his jacket, letting his dark wings spread, and stared at the flying monster. "We're going to have to get closer to it," Marcus told Stilia. "Our magic isn't that ranged. So, who wants to be bait?" He stared at the others for an answer.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Mostly recovered, Jack glared after the fleeing creature. The group hadn't managed to slow it down very much and now it seemed to be headed back toward its nest. The young man wiped sweat and blood from his brow before adjusting his hearing protection. He blamed himself for what had happened. He should've been more alert, better prepared. On his own this never would've happened but he'd allowed himself to slack off in his vigilance and Jack had paid the price in blood but it wasn't enough. Someone could've been killed.

    "It's headed back towards the nest," He told the others, leaning against a nearby tree after climbing off of Paquito. "If we can't catch it and stop it now then we'll have to finish this fight there. If we need bait, I'll be bait." Jack volunteered, not looking up from what he was doing. The young man inspected his wounds, wincing as he poked and prodded a particularly nasty cut. It was nothing serious but he'd have to slap some bandages on them or else he'd be bleeding all over his couch later on. At least the ringing in his ears was starting to fade.

    Jack glanced up. He wished he was strong enough to reach out and pluck the creature from the sky but he just wasn't. It was too big, too far. There was a small chance that he could've used his teleportation to close the gap somewhat, since he'd already traveled the path to its nest, and possibly succeeded in pulling the Stymph to the ground. But Jack wasn't willing to risk the exertion or reveal more of himself than he felt was necessary.

[Nyghtingale]

     Nyght frowned, staring at the creature as it winged away, then looked down at Stilia as she spoke and her frowned deepened. She wondered if even working together all three of them could bend the metal of the bird itself. She wondered if it was really possible to do such a thing, but doubted that the three of them could coordinate enough to do such a thing. Maybe if they all focused upon an individual part of the bird, such as a wing or a foot and something such as that. Would they be strong enough to do such a thing to hold then entire bird down? She contemplated and sighed. They might have been able to, but it left them open and vulnerable. It was a really risky proposition and she wondered.

     "I dunno if we would be able to do such a thing. I have never attempted to hold something so large, nor coordinate with people to hold something so large. Perhaps it would be possible, maybe if we each concentrated upon a different part of the creature to manipulate that part individual. However we would have to coordinate extremely well, especially to hold it still long enough for you to look in it eyes and stun it. It is an extremely risky proposition, however if anybody wants to actually attempt that I would be more then willing to attempt it. It is up to Jack and....Marcus." She spat the last word out, flicking her gaze at the male.

     She looked up at the sky, wondering where Aurora was. She was sure that the akhult would not have done anything stupid that would endanger herself to bad. She supposed that meant Aurora was either busy, or bidding her time for some reason or another. She would simply have to wait and see what happened, and where her friend had gone to. She wondered if there was a spell she could learn to find out where her friend was, or to summon her friend to her side. However that was for another time, and she would have to wait for that.

     She lowered her gaze and looked around the group to assess how they had done. It looked like most had gotten away unscathed, except Jack who seemed to have received some scratches and scrapes. She walked over to Jack, moving around him and noticed the pretty bad cut. She stepped closer, then sighed. She gripped the edge of her shirt, and ripped it along her body and exposed a strip of her flat stomach. Taking the black cloths, she bound up Jack's cut hoping to slow the bleeding enough it would dry and clot quickly.

[Stilia Medusa]

The bird was a magnificent creature, but also a deadly foe. Stilia wished they didn’t have to kill the thing, the creatures were rare enough as it is, but if one decided to live near a town and not move, they were too big a threat to be allowed to remain.

As it flew away, the group gathered and discussed. Marcus mentioned that their magic isn’t ranged, but Nyght seemed utterly unconfident in the three’s ability to hold it down.

“We’ll have to think of something else, if you don’t think you can coordinate to hold it. I was trying to come up with a way to kill it with the least risk possible. I’ll still put it to sleep if I get the chance, but I’d rather a plan where everyone feels confident in their abilities.”

Jackson mentioned that the creature was flying back to it’s nest. “I don’t really see a way of stopping it, nor do we have a solid plan to kill it. We could try and get it’s attention and see where it goes from there, or fight at the nest. You’ve seen the nest, it’s your call.”

[Marcus Drago]

Marcus Drago sighed. Everyone was speaking their concerns and ideas, but none were stepping up to do those very ideas. The boy that gathered them here had been given a good wound, and the girl seemed more concerned for him than the bird at the moment. Stilia expressed her thoughts on other plans that could work just as well as the one she formerly had, and Marcus agreed on one of them. Not because it seemed like the best plan, but because it was the only plan available to them now.

"We're going to the nest," Marcus said with a booming voice to get everyone's attention. "It's too far away to catch up to now, and catching it while it's grounded is probably the safest way for all of us to end this." The daemon didn't look at the group, but he was sure most of them heard him and understood him. He would surely hate to need to repeat everything he just said.

His eyes held firmly onto the bird. The farther it went, the more Marcus' heart sank with defeat. That thing had made the first move by targeting him out of everyone else, and it would be a crime not to show it what happens when creatures, even giant mechanical robots, targeted him. Marcus looked towards Fletcher, as he was the apparent leader of this group, and waited for him to guide the group to the bird's nest.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    Everyone spoke up. Nyght seemed fairly confident that they lacked the ability to catch the Stymphalian bird before it made it to the nest and Stilia expressed doubts as well. That pretty much clinched it, reinforcing Jack's own beliefs. They would have to fight the creature at its nest. As Nyght approached, he looked at her, curious, before realization of her intent became clear to him.

    Jack looked to the ground, his face flushing. He considered protesting her ministrations but waved the thought away soon enough. Nyght had already torn her shirt so he might as well accept the improvised bandaging. Still, the young man was embarrassed to receive any sort of care, preferring to leave his wounds bare until he could wrap them himself at home. Once, he'd let Paquito lick his wounds, but Jack had found himself uncomfortable with how much the Akhlut had seemed to relish the taste of his blood so he hadn't allowed the Ak to touch his wounds again since.

    Turning his attention back toward the manner at hand, Jack sighed, considering the lack of options at hand. He waited for Marcus to finish before speaking up again. "Since we can't catch it," The young man began, nearly echoing his earlier statement, "we don't have any choice but to confront it at the nest. A dangerous task but that was our initial plan to begin with, so I s'pose not much has changed. On the lighter side of things, we've engaged the beastie, albeit briefly, and I like to think we came out on top. Without the element of surprise it doesn't stand a chance."

    He started walking in the direction of the nest, not bothering to look back and make sure the others were following. Instead, Jack kept his eyes ahead of him, knowing his attention was best given to the dangers that lay ahead. The walk would grow progressively more difficult, though not exponentially so, as the ground inclined somewhat and they headed uphill . As they finished traveling the remaining distance to the chicken's lair, the young man warned them all to watch their step explaining that the area around the nest was littered with the creature's acidic droppings, droppings that frequently pooled together and eroded the ground on which they lay, leaving them significantly deeper than they appeared from above. Ending up knee deep in acid shit was most definitely not on the day's to-do list.

    Jack informed the others that they were close and should begin to prepare themselves. The forestry surrounding the nest area grew increasingly thicketed the closer they got, making the last legs of the journey tedious and slow going through the brambles, even using the path the young man had picked out during his previous visit. They would emerge on the other side to be greeted with the sight of the nest, centered roughly in the midst of a clearing smaller in size than a football field.

    The terrain surrounding the nest was fairly rugged and moderately inclined toward the pile of worn stones and dead trees that made up the creature's nest. Roots from the surrounding trees choked the rocky soil, providing a substantial tripping hazard that would have proven dangerous even without the added threat of potentially falling face first into the chicken's corrosive leavings. Every so often the ground was littered with an abandoned animal carcass, remnants of past meals. The closer to the nest one got, the less potential cover there was to be found.

    "Well, this is it," Jack cheerily informed the others, nudging a cracked animal skull with his foot, having stopped at the edges of the nest area. Though the inside of the nest could not be seen from their position, the young man kept one wary eye on it. "It most likely already knows we're here so we probably haven't got much time before it emerges to attack. Everyone ready?"

[Stilia Medusa]

Stilia raised her brow when Marcus decided to take command. He didn’t even wait to hear Jackson’s words of advice, as Stilia had asked, for it was the Elemental who had been there before. She made a mental note to not leave her safety in the hands of Marcus, he seemed to be a tad to rash, ready for action instead of getting everything planned out beforehand.

However, Jackson agreed. They were to go to the nest. Stilia just wish they had a better idea of eachother’s strengths and weaknesses, to minimalize risk while maximizing potential. But that could not be convened in words, and their brief skirmish hadn’t shown much about each individual.

Stilia approached Jackson as they began walking, her eyes on the bandage. “I apologize, I did not notice you were hurt, and my negligence has led to the destruction of a perfectly good piece of clothing. But, I do not recall if I mentioned this before, but I possess a certain affinity for healing. I could easily close those cuts up in seconds before we arrive.”

Whether he accepted or not was up to him, Stilia did not care either way over some minor cuts. She would proceed in silence as they marched on towards the nest. However, when they found their first droppings, the Gorgon was fascinated. She made a mental note to closely observe the substance later, see what she could learn from these magnificent creatures. She was a bit disappointed she didn’t have the time to do so now, and wondered yet again if they had to kill the dear creature.

But, it was inevitable, and so when Jackson asked if they were all prepared, she unwound her whip from her belt. It was sad that the Gryphon it had once belonged to also had to die, but at least it’s razor sharp tail would serve useful in protecting others from violent creatures.

[Marcus Drago]

Marcus was sad to see the bird fly away. It's wings were magnificent, its screech loud, and its body fully alive. The creature was beautiful, but Marcus wasn't sad because he could no longer stare at its beauty. He wanted it dead, screeching on the ground in fear for its life. How dare that big pile of crap just attack him and fly away? If he wasn't quick enough, Marcus would have died. His wings did spread a little beneath his coat. He wanted nothing more than to spread them fully, drag that thing back down to the earth and rip it apart with his own powers. Could he really do it? Could he use his magnetism to separate every limb form that beast and see if it bleeds red? Marcus wanted to see, but doing so was stupid, even for a super powered being like him. That thing had a big roar, and crippling blades for wings. One wrong move and Marcus could find himself decapitated. The daemon didn't want that, so he held back his blood thirsty urges.

"Since we can't catch it, we don't have any choice but to confront it at the nest." Fletcher pointed out the same thing Marcus said, but in a nicer voice, and tried to cheer everyone's morale by saying, "I like to think we came out on top."

Marcus smirked. This kid was positive, Marcus liked him. However, he was very angry with how things played out, despite the fact that they 'came out on top.' The daemon wanted to see that thing grounded and killed immediately, but he had to digress. The better plan was following it to its nest, and luckily there was a man in the group who could do just that. Fletcher saw the nest before, he knew the way, all Marcus had to do was follow.

The daemon said and did very little while the group walked to the nest. Occasionally he would spot some stymph droppings on the ground, not enough to make this forest an acid wasteland. Instead of walking to the side of them, like the others probably did, Marcus used his flying abilities to float over them. This small display of power allowed him to release some of the dangerous tension he held within his wings. instead of flying straight in the air, Marcus floated 10 inches off the ground then stopped. It kept him calm and stopped him from doing something stupid.

When they finally arrived at the nest, Fletcher made sure to ask if everyone was ready for the oncoming battle that was about to ensue. In response, the smart female of the group took out a whip. Marcus found it strange that she did not go for the sword, since that would probably provide her with good enough cover against those steel wings. Did she not like the blade, or was she more proficient with the whip? Marcus was fascinated in discovering an answer through their battle. 

The daemon drew the katana from his sheath, whose steel was colored blood red instead of silver or dark silver. The thought of how he got the weapon's color to change made him cringe, he didn't like remembering how a Goddess stabbed him with his own weapon. 

Once the katana was out, he twisted it with one of his hands, as if he was testing it out. Then, when he was finished with that, Marcus took off his coat to reveal his large, thickly black wings. With one flap of them, a small amount of wind grazed the people next to him.

"Ready," Marcus said to Fletcher, preparing his mind for what's about to come.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    At Stilia's mention of being able to heal his wounds, the young man scratched his chin, wondering. He'd heard of magical healing before but had never experienced it himself, let alone managed to actually perform such a feat. "I would appreciate that, thank you," Jack replied, relief evident in his voice. He found the idea of entering the coming battle already wounded to be a distasteful one. Such a distraction, while small, could prove unfortunate in a life or death situation. Afterwards, he would examine the areas where he'd been injured, having removed the bandaging. Every time the young man viewed the smooth, unbroken brown skin, he would shake his head again, amazed.

    Jack climbed atop Paquito's back, trusting his companion to keep him out of the chicken's reach for the duration of the battle, so he could focus his efforts entirely on assaulting the creature with his ranged magicks. And his shotgun, of course. One mustn't forget about the shotgun. A quick glance took in the battlefield. Facing the nest, cover was thickest to the left, were several trees, some dead, still stood. However, it was also where the pools of acid were most concentrated, making navigation troublesome and dangerous for anyone limited by ground travel. The right was more open and less treacherous to traverse, with fewer of the dangerous leavings, but was also possessed of less cover, potentially leaving one open to volleys of feathers and pursuit by the chicken itself.

    Shortly after he'd asked if everyone was ready, the Stymphalian Bird burst from its nest with a loud screech that had Jack flinching, even with his headphones on. This is it! The young man told himself, his dour outer expression masking the almost giddy joy he felt at confronting the beast for the final time. Jack recognized the grim necessity of what had to be done, knowing the creature's murderous rampage would only grow if left to its own devices. More people would die and all supernaturals would risk discovery as a result. He took no joy, however, in the part he would play in the Stymphalian's death. What anticipation he felt towards the burgeoning battle was tempered by the knowledge that its end would result in an already rare species being diminished even further.

    Paquito dashed to the left, nimbly avoiding pools of acid while putting a friendly tree between his rider and a volley of metal feathers fired by the chicken as it charged the group. Moments later, the Stymph would land in the midst of where the group had been standing, iron talons poised to rend earth and flesh in the space where Stilia had been located at the battle's start. A quick flap of its massive wings would serve to buffet the surroundings with a powerful gust, potentially leaving one off balance when buffeted by the gust, eyes stinging from the displaced soil littering the air in troublesome clouds.

    Jack quickly fired off three shots from his new position, determined to cripple the chicken's wings and prevent any chance of later escape. He didn't much expect to hit anything, not with the Stymph moving so quickly and with such aggression, and, when it buffeted the surroundings, found himself clinging onto the Akhlut for dear life as his beast skirted dangerously close to a pool of acid, nearly losing his grip on the shotgun. Sooner or later, though, one of the explosive slugs would make contact with the beast or some part of it, leaving it reeling and open for a carefully aimed kill shot. The young man would fire every so often, conserving ammunition while he used his abilities to clamp the bronze beak shut, preventing any more sonic attacks.

((OOC: General depiction of field for those who appreciate some visuals. Dragon symbol marks the Stymph, star marks Jack. Their positions indicate where I left them at the end of this post. Ringed circles are pools of acid. The brightly colored area marks the groups general starting position and areas damaged by the feather volley. Red is worst, pink is less worst, etc. Shades of green are just the ground. Won't be updated.))