He watched from his perch as two new nestlings were added to the Nest. Quietly he shifted into the air-between-worlds, moving on silent wings as the large and small fanged ones herded them off. New arrivals were always interesting, filled with delicious things from the space-between-worlds.

He remembered the first attempt to prank, the one known as Slaughterwing. It hadn’t gone well. The feeling of paper wrapping around his body, crushing the breath out of his lungs, made his feathers shudder. If the new arrivals were like Slaughterwing, he needed to find out before an accident happened. Flying in the air-between-worlds, he effortlessly shifted through the door that had been closed after the new nestlings were inside.

Moving to a perch above the door, he watched as the large white sharptooth explained many matters to the small nestlings as they sat on the bed. Smaller furry sharpteeth nudged them for pats, scratches, belly rubs, and nose kisses. He waited patiently for the opportune moment to intervene. The youngest of the new ones looked around with eyes filled with wonder, her hands petting everything in reach. The older one had the eyes of a suspicious anti-prankster plastered on her face. She only designed to pet a single small white sharptooth.

He decided that if any pranks were to be done, the younger nestling would be the target. She would more likely respond with less-lethal methods than the older one. In his opinion, the young nestling was also filled with more fluffiness in her soul, which was a vital component to accepting pranks without revenge. The older nestling’s soul felt as if someone had constantly ground away at it, damaging the interior. Only the thin thread connecting the older nestling with the younger one, like the one between siblings, that some sharpteeth had kept it from collapse.

Waiting until the older sharptooth with white fur left, he swooped down. By expertly timing his approach, his feathered form perfectly appeared from the air-between-worlds right as a brown sharptooth exited the lap of the youngest nestling. He appeared directly in the vacated location with effortless grace, fluffing his feathers to look even cuter. Cute birds were the best birds.

There was a sharp gasp from the young nestling, as all who saw his plumage that sparkled with radiance had as a normal reaction. Unlike any of those without wings, his countenance was a radiant, sparkling array of silver tinted slightly with pink.

While he wasn’t sure why his old brown and white coloring had slowly disappeared, it wasn’t an unwelcome change. The Birdslayer had once commented that it was perhaps due to his constant movement in the air-between-worlds. Whatever the reason, he knew his coloring was exquisite because even Slaughterwing fell to the desire to pet his gorgeous feathers. The great one was still willing to pet him even now, and he was sure Slaughterwing’s anger at how he sniped her fried bugs would eventually dissipate in the face of his utter majesty.

“Pretty!” the youngest nestling said, hesitantly petting him. It was good that she instantly recognized her most important duty, the tending of feathers.

He forcefully nudged the hand that was hesitant to pet him, indicating that pettings were very much allowed. Compliments too, but pettings worked better, in his opinion. Soft unformed hands stroked his feathers, and he smirked beak-filled glee at the sharpteeth that we're unable to interfere.

While he couldn’t beat the Birdslayer or the furry minions it had, the small sharpteeth had learned that combat with his feathered form was filled with despair even if they won. Even if he lost a fight, the next time snacks were being thrown, they would vanish out of the air before reaching the puppies, food bowls would be empty unless watched, drinking bowls would relocate themselves randomly, and all manner of other horrible things would happen. He was a very vindictive bird, and the small sharpteeth knew it.

Even worse, sometimes, if there weren’t an adult sharptooth around, his feathered form would reveal his true power.

Pulling a smaller sharptooth into the air-between-worlds was enough to make them shiver in terror as the oppression of the place against those not aligned with Air was immense. While he didn’t do it often, it was enough that the pack of young furry sharpteeth nestlings knew not to fight unless there was no other option or they had an adult nearby.

Due to this, his seat in the youngest serpent-scented nestling’s lap was unchallenged.

As a tribute for the small new serpent-scented nestling who was doing her rightful duty to pet him, he pulled a small glowing worm from out of the air-between-worlds with a lightning-fast attack. Pushing the squishy soul worm towards her un-occupied hand, he crunched down on half of it before swallowing.

Watching the youngest nestling, she held the squirming worm up to her mouth before eating it in a single bite. The older nestling had an aghast expression on her face, which compounded to a look of horror.

He couldn’t understand her expression, as soul worms were completely beneficial. They were the mainstay of most young lifeforms in the air-between-worlds and would consistently add additional nutrition to a young soul making it stronger. As the youngest nestling had a very fluffy soul, he, of course, made an appropriate offering.

Watching carefully, he saw her skin glow with a healthy silver glimmer before her body relaxed back, folding onto the bed. Before the older nestling could interfere, she was licked by the surrounding sharpteeth, who knew exactly what he was doing.

It was no mystery why so many creatures around Slaughterwing gained sapience and power.

His beloved Masters had requested that he keep Slaughterwing as safe as possible, and the easiest way to do so was to strengthen the souls of those around her.

Fluffing his feathers, he moved to the forehead of the youngest nestling as her eyes rolled gently back into her head. A silly grin appeared on her face, and he watched carefully in the surroundings for the appearance of any disturbance.

The moment a shadow appeared in his sight, his feathers went still as he struck into the air-between-worlds with lethal force. A shadowy soul pest that appeared as nothing more than a tiny snake was ripped into the light. Holding the snake for a long moment, he eyed the other predators that had approached the slowly brightening soul of the youngest nestling.

With a brutal crunch, he slew the interloper as a warning to those that would prey on the young souls that grew in Slaughterwing’s house.

Shadows flinched as his beak ripped and tore the snake-form into strips of soul flesh before devouring it all. A small ripple of silver-pink light flew across his form. While he appeared small in the real world, his true form was visible clearly in the air-between-worlds.

Shifting fully into the air between worlds, his form circled above the small fluffy serpent girl’s form before he gave a sharp cry at the shadows nearby. Some turned to flee, but others ignored his warning and pressed forward.

Fools.

This was his battleground, the place his six Masters had revealed to him, a place he guarded, a world that even Slaughterwing could not enter. Raising his feathers, he shrieked a battle cry as his form became faster than lightning, moving from one interloper to the next.

Screams of agony resounded as his beak sliced, while his claws flayed, his wings struck stunning blows that instantly turned into fatally crippling interruptions.

Mere moments after gifting the young serpent nestling with a soul-boosting prey, he had swallowed nearly a hundred foolish interlopers that fed his own strength even further.

Shifting back from the other side, he gave a smug look at the two small sharpteeth leaders, the light white-furred one and the small dark-furred one.

“Is it done?” the light white-furred one asked.

He stared long at her for a moment before nodding slowly.

The older serpent girl had a puzzled frown on her face, but he turned and flew out of the room. Right before leaving, he heard the older one ask, “What did that small little emergency food supply do?”

Emergency food supply!

He almost slammed into the door, barely shifting in time to avoid it. Carefully narrowing his eyes, he placed the older serpent nestling on his list of currently not-liked individuals. When the older serpent girl ate and found half her food missing, she’ll realize the need for a real emergency food supply!

Quickly moving through Slaughterwing’s abode, he returned to land on a vine by one of the Birdslayer’s cores in the garden.

A vine approached before speaking in a shifting vibrating tongue, “Greetings.”

He bowed his head in acknowledgment. The Birdslayer would never strike directly, but as his feathers had found out the hard way, itching powder sucked.

“How are the two little ones the Slicer has brought back?”

He used body language to reply. A flick of feathers here, ahead twist there, a bob here, it all combined into wordless communication.

The Birdslayer’s vines vibrated as it replied, “For a sparrow, you are certainly strange. To think there was an entire world stacked next to ours made from soul-stuff like a dinner plate stacked on another one! Humming-That-Cuts was wise to make you the guardian of that possible weakness. It vexes me I didn’t even know it existed.”

He fluffed his feathers. Of course, the six Masters were wise. They were the six Masters! Their song was the morning before the sun, the darkness before the end. They were the six most powerful members of the great Slaughterwing’s house, on par with the Birdslayer himself!

Rolling his eyes, he communicated once more using his body, feathers flashing.

“Are you certain this can work? My food requirements have been growing, and taking the Skills to reduce them would limit my growth as a future Alchemist. If what you claim is true, I would owe you a debt.” the Birdslayer replied.

He looked straight at the ferocious plant’s vine and gave one sharp yet solid nod. While he could guard the air-between-worlds, it was slowly turning into a problem beyond even his incredible powers.

Releasing the Birdslayer to gain sustenance from that place and prevent overhunting could reveal Slaughterwing would be killing many issues with one beak strike.

The vine moved closer, and he grabbed it with his talons before pulling it into the air-between-worlds. The creatures of this place would soon find they were a sacrifice for the greater good.

One small flight for birds, one great sacrifice for birdkind!