- bird's the word...

Everyone turned their head to look at the sky as another 'CRACK' sound reverberated throughout the island.

Soon, hushed whispers were uttered amongst one another, with some praying to the spirits and their ancestors for protection.

Hmm... Its releasing more... Might have to leave this island before its overrun with monsters...

After applying some bandages to scratches and rope burns on the victims, I asked the recently escaped villagers about what had actually happened during my short absence during the meeting in the village hall.

Long story short, apparently the warden had gone mad and grouped up with the prisoners in the root cellar. Their initial plan was to hold everyone hostage and assume tyranny and thus they assaulted the meeting but their haphazard leadership devolved the whole plan into chaos and murder sprees instead.

This was a blessing in disguise as it created many opportunities for the warriors and beyonders to fight back and escape, although from the discussions it seemed casualties were high on both sides.

The good side were now huddling near the shore, using the warehouses and port as their current bastion.

The situation is quite dire however as the only advantage to the location was it was hard to flank them, with the sea to their backs. Besides that advantage, shelter was lacking, not to mention resources such as medicine, clothes and weapons.

The fact that almost everyone were huddled in one location also meant that the area was under constant surveillance, and trying to join them, during day or night, would instantly alert the rebels and had high risk of being intercepted.

The rebels, on the other hand, seemed satisfied with the current situation, slowly preparing for a siege by collecting weapons, armors and even sealed artifacts.

At least, until recently, when the undead legion was released from their restraints, causing the rebels to prioritize on defense instead.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Well not exactly, pretty sure they'll eat my brains first chance they get. But at least the rebels are closer to the legion! How fortunate! What a stroke of luck for the villagers to choose to escape to a location that was further away.

I seemed to hear something scribbling in the background: 'This is a very reasonable development.'

***

After some discussions, we decided that everyone was to hide themselves in the forest while I try to sneak to the port and contact someone with authority.

Hopefully, they will have further solutions and maybe even a way to take care of the rebels and the incoming horde of undead.

So off I go once again, sneaking like a burglar around the perimeter of the village. I had left Pillar with the others, to lesssen the chances of being caught and also to act as emotional support for those still traumatized by their recent hostage situation.

Best doggo ever. Such a kind and cuddly soul...

***

My sneaking attempts were harder than anticipated. The rebels had somehow possesed seagulls around the area and used them as airborne scouts.

At least, that's what my spirituality is telling me as I look at the red eyed birds flying suspiciously close to the port.

Eh. Stupid birds. Knew they were trouble since day one. Now how do I get to the area without alerting them?

After almost an hour of planning, I gave up on sneaking and chose to simply wait for a better opportunity. My patience was eventually rewarded when the flock of seagulls suddenly grouped up and flew towards a burning area in the village.

Some birds stayed behind but I was able to hazard some blind spots and took the risk to sneak in.

Once close to the port, I chose to immediately run towards some guards defending the perimeter.

My spirituality warned me, and I jumped to the left and rolled on the ground. A 'thud' sound was produced behind me and I looked back to see a carcass smashed on the ground where I had initially stood on.

Soon, more seagulls flew towards the same spot, colliding with the carcass and creating a pile of flesh. The pile began to twitch, then muscles, blood and bones began to assemble themselves into a bipedal shape.

A creature resembling a kobold but without skin, it's flesh and bones revealed to the atmosphere, was soon formed. It's head, formed out of seagull skulls and feathers, with a hollow spot where it's eyes are supposed to be, twitched and shook, and soon faced me.

"Watch out for it's screech! Cover your ears when it opens its mouth!" A guard had noticed the commotion and threw his spear at the newly formed abberation while warning me.

The spear landed true and hit the abberation but did not pierce its deceptively tough flesh. It looked at the guard and began to screetch. "Origindepravitymotherevilindestructible..."

Some guard began to clutch their ears in pain as they bleed from the attack. Some seemed to suffer greater effect as large tumour like growth began to pulse out of their flesh. Somehow my nose picked up a wierd smell from those growths.

I conjured a cloud of black smoke and willed it towards the abberation. The screams seemed slightly muffled and thus I focused the smoke to enter its beak.

The monster recoiled back in pain, and soon coughed out blood. Either it ran out of spirituality or suffered recoil from its failed attack and imploded into a smear of flesh and guts.

Some of the guards that had tumors growing out soon fainted and the growth began to visibly decrease and reabsorbed into their flesh. A sniff and the off smell decreased, although not entirely gone.

I looked at the pile of guts that used to be a bird-flesh-golem thingy.

Maybe its weak to poison damage? Anyway...

A foghorn sounded in the distance, and it started to drizzle.

Hurrying before I get too wet, I jogged towards the port with my arms raised. Some guards were still weary and had their bows and spears aimed at me but soon someone amongst them seemed to recognize me.

"He's a night dweller! And not the crazy ones! Let him in!"

After putting down my weapons and giving them to the guards, I was directed to the warehouse where nets were kept and told to report to the leaders currently situated there.

Wonder who's in charge...