The first few rays of the morning sun greeted Blaine when he woke up. The tall silver-haired man next to him was still soundly sleeping. The hemomancer pricked his finger and let the blood drip for a bit into a vial. Once he was satisfied enough blood dripped out, he left the tent and took his blades with him. The demonic-looking man found a peaceful spot by the trees and sat down cross-legged with his scimitars resting across his knees.

First, he took out a water skin and poured some of its clear contents onto the blades before grabbing a rag and wiping them down. He took his time cleaning each blade, polishing them until he could see himself clearly in them. After, he dripped the vial of his blood onto the blades and started buffering the blood into them. His blood became sticky and wasn't sliding off easily. After about an hour or so, the scimitar had a reddish hue to them. Blaine smiled at his work before returning to camp. His morning ritual was very therapeutic and he can hardly remember a day when he didn't do it. The cursed-blooded man didn't enjoy learning hemomancy at first but realized it was important to achieve his goal; a cure for the cursed blood.

When he returned to the camp, everyone was ready to go. Fern handed Blaine a weird-looking violet blueberry when he arrived. "What the hell is this. I've never seen a fruit like this before."

"Just eat it," insisted Fern. "It will curb your hunger for the day."

"After you eat one," agreed Blaine. Fern ate the one he presented to Blaine and then the hemomancer ate the second one the druid offered. It was too sweet for his tastes. Fruits and vegetables never really agreed with him, the man enjoyed his food with a bit of blood.

"I found a big feather earlier this morning while you guys were sleeping," announced Ciylia. The thief points further up the mountain and everyone else followed her. The trees start to thin a bit but after a few moments, we spotted the feather. It was long and white, probably the length of a squirrel. "Do you mind if I keep that?" asked Blaine. "It could be useful later in my research though I would love to harvest the corpse of this creature if we do end up killing it."

"All yours handsome," smirked Meowlynn. "Be sure to fan me with it sometime. Climbing is hard work and I truly hate sweating."

"Yeah, yeah," shrugged Blaine. Ciylia had told him the night before that the quickest way to deal with Meowlynn was just to agree with her delusions. His work was more important than her whims and he was going to do whatever he needed to make sure he progressed towards his goals.

After a few hours of climbing and one annoying fan break later, they could finally see the nest of the bird. The home was the size of a hovel, maybe even bigger, it was hard to see its full scale from where they were. It used small thin trees that could bend, logs, and various other large objects. There were even pieces of wagons and buildings in it.

"Can you give me that feather?" asked Meowlynn while using her finger to motion Blaine over.

"Is this really time to relax?" Blaine's voice filled with rage. He was upset that this pampered princess wanted to be fanned when they were so close to their goal.

"Relax, handsome," sighed the wizard. "I need that to increase the power of this mirror's magic. I am going to see where the creature is at this moment."

"Oh," grumbled the hemomancer. "You should have said that from the start." He hauled over the feather and threw the feather at the gorgeous high elf. She nearly fell over, perhaps he threw it harder than he should have but her attitude really irked him.

The wizard produced her ivory mirror and leaned it against a thin tree and sat in front of it. She pulled the feather onto her lap and began speaking elvish. Luckily, for Blaine, it was a language he had known since he was young. He couldn't recall why but he had known it ever since he could remember.

"Staring through the glass of ivory, trapped within my vanity. Take its power, steal its light, to give me the power of sight. Its colour is gone turned to black, show me the knowledge I lack." Meowlynn's words rang out clearly. The translation felt weird, as Blaine's mind didn't really work in elvish and he preferred the common tongue.

The mirror's ivory frame changed into a black disfigured frame, the ebony absorbed the sunlight that touched it. Light encased the giant feather and weird shapes appeared in the mirror. The curse-blooded man had no idea what the wizard to see in that mass of shapes and hues.

"It's coming back," whispered Meowlynn. "I think it's best if we hide."

Ciylia and Fern looked towards the sky, there was a large speck that was becoming larger by the minute, sailing towards the nest.

"Come here," shouted Ciylia. "Let me help you blend into the surroundings."

Everybody followed Ciylia's lead. She covered the group with mud, leaves, and bark.

Everyone, except Fern. The druid was creeping closer to the nest, unfazed by the giant shadow circling above his head. The group could only watch in horror as they watched the half-elf press against the nest, sticking his head into an opening.

Blaine looked around slowly to gauge the reactions of the others. He wasn't sure if this kind of recklessness was commonplace for the young man and if he had to worry about the druid dying. Meowlynn was staring at the mirror that was still propped up and Ciylia started moving forward with her bow drawn. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

A mighty winged beast landed on the edge of its home dropping an elk's carcass into the nest. Its wings caused twigs and leaves to blow down the mountainside. It had the head of a massive eagle, its sharp yellow eyes looking around for predators or prey. Blaine's whole body seized up and he held his breath involuntary.

It had the movement and body of a lion, something the hemomancer had never personally encountered but if it was more agile than a bear then the group was in big trouble. Blaine wanted to run but he owed a debt and he was taught that debts always needed to be paid or else bad luck and bad blood would follow.

The creature could fly which was another big problem though Meowlynn and Ciylia seemed skilled in ranged combat. What worried him the most were the talons that looked like they could easily rend flesh from bone, that and the fact he was one of the only melee fighters here.

Blaine's eyes drifted back to Fern, the druid was having a hard time squeezing through the gaps and he transformed himself into a mouse. Great, the idiot turned himself into easier prey, one more appealing to birds no less. The creature scanned the area one last time then tucked in its wings and jumped down into its nest.

Moments went by in pure silence before tiny chirps and screeches could be heard. From what Blaine knew about animals which wasn't much, it sounded like it was feeding time, there must have been babies in that nest. Just seconds after that realization, Meowlynn spoke softly, "Fern has been spotted. We need to help him now if we don't want him to die."

Ciylia sprinted to the nest and hopped up to the edge using the various tiny trees as footholds. At the top, she let loose an arrow. A high-pitched screech pierced through the air, followed shortly by Fern screaming in pain. Blaine and Meowlynn ran towards the nest.

"Servent Ajax, hear my call. Blast through this fucking wall!" Meowlynn yelled as she pointed her fist at the nest. The find on her finger sparkled before a giant humanoid with a ram's head smashed his head into the nest, obliterating the point it hit. The curse-blooded man was happy he didn't have to climb over a wall of trees but became slightly terrified of the gorgeous wizard. Like how some animals look adorable before you corner them and see the real beast they hide within.

The debris scattered through the air and Blaine grabbed out his scimitars and ran one along his neck, soaking it in his blood. Soon flames erupted from the bloody sword as the hemomancer ran in through the newly constructed entry. The giant beast flapped its wings in a show of power, trying to make itself look bigger. Ferm was on the ground with two claw marks raked across his chest staring in panic.

Two baby birds peeked out from behind their father. The anatomy was hard to miss with the beast standing on its hind legs like the epic pictures of knights on their noble steeds about to charge into battle. "We can still run," quickly suggested Blaine.

"No," replied Fern. "I want them." With that, he morphed his body into his signature brown bear and ran at the beast. The bear bit one of the front legs which caused the bird to slash him in the side with its free talons. Fern roared out in pain and cut into the beast's chest with his own claws. Seeing an opening, the bird-lion clamped its beak around the bear's neck and landed on all fours again. The beast shook the bear wildly until its flesh was torn away and Fern slammed into the side of the nest in his half-elf form.

"I want those babies alive," yelled Fern acting as a man possessed.

An arrow pierced into the neck of the beast, "I'm going to kill the father then." Ciylia began knocking her next arrow as a bolt of fire slammed into the beast.

"I'm keeping one," said Meowlynn as she began preparing another spell.

In response, the bird-like creature expanded its wing to shield its children from harm. If Blaine was sympathetic he might have cared but this was the way of the world. The strong devour the weak and take their spoils. It was a reason he had to become strong, he had to be able to conquer anything that stood in his way.

Blaine allowed the mystical flame to emerge from his flaming blade. Green and blue flame sailed through the space between him and the giant beast as he ran at it and slashed it across its neck. The magical fire then seemed to burrow into the fresh wound and expanded until it burst out of the bird's throat. The monster fell to the ground but somehow still clung to life, trying to stand up until Ciylia put an arrow through the side of its skull.

The babies rubbed their heads against their father trying to wake its corpse. They chirped and squawked but they received no response. Just beyond their dead father, against the furthest part of the neck, was their mother. Her body was riddled with arrows and the body seemed to be at least a week old judging by the decay. The children began crying, and tears dropped from their eyes.

Blaine pulled a length of rope from the bag that had the tents. "Want me to tie around the neck so we can drag them?"

"Do you think that will work," asked Ciylia.

"I have another plan that will get them to follow us willingly but it's a bit messed up," replied the hemomancer. "But I need the help of someone not afraid to get their hands dirty."

"I can do that," sighed the thief. "What do I need to do?"

"First we need to cover their eyes," explained Blaine. He dumped the tents out of the bags and handed them to Fern and Meowlynn. "If you want them then you need to help as well."

Meowlynn and Fern got next to the babies and they were nuzzling their father's body, blood started to stain their white feathers, and forced a bag on their heads. The children cried loudly and struggled but Blaine didn't have time to watch that.

"We are going to cut off its head," he said gesturing towards the body. The curse-blooded man handed Ciylia one of his scimitars and the two did their best to saw through the rest of the neck. After a few attempts, the bone and muscle snapped and the team had a severed head.

"Now pick it up," instructed Blaine. With a nod and the help of Ciylia the duo picked up the head. "You can now remove the bags."

The wizard and druid did as they were told and the babies looked around in a panic but saw the head of their father. They rushed over and cooed happily as Blaine and Ciylia carried the head out of the nest. The little ones followed the head of their father, though somewhat wary of its new companions.

"Cut up some of that elk in the nest and mix it with those berries you gave us this morning. Then put it in the beak of the head and make it seem like the head is feeding them." Blaine knew what he was saying was disgusting and morbid but it was the only way this was going to work. "Rope around their necks would also be good so they get used to the feeling."

Meowlynn tied ropes around their necks and Fern got their food. "It's best to wane them away from the head over the next few days," suggested the hemomancer.

"I wonder if Astrin would be able to help us with taming them," thought Fern out loud.

"I guess we'll find out when we get there," shrugged Meowlynn. "Do you mind checking their sex?"

Fern poked his head low to the ground. "The one closest to you is a boy and the other is a girl."

"I want the girl," yelled Meowlynn, causing the children to screech at her.

"Fine, I'll take the boy," agreed Fern. "I'm going to name him Drake. You know like the small dragons in the storybooks."

"What a lame name," hissed the wizard. "Since their siblings, I'll make their names rhyme." Meowlynn pondered for a moment before smiling. "I'll name her Cupcake."

Night came and Fern was talking with the bird babies using some sort of magic. They were squawking and screeching all through the night. Blaine paid little mind to it, he was more interested in harvesting parts and blood from the father's head.

By morning, the birds were listening to Fern. Apparently, he had rubbed some piss from the father on himself to trick the naive chicks or cubs, whatever they were. Blaine and Ciylia had covered the head up with some fabric to help deceive the birds. Fern would puke chewed-up food into their mouths as Meowlynn pet them. She too allowed a bit of the piss scent to be placed on her so she could attempt to quickly tame her new pet.

By the evening of the second day down the mountain, the group could finally see Erend.