A dangerous Gamble

#212's talons clutched together as his right leg gave out, making him scream in pain. But that didn't waver him a bit. His suicidal resolve to save the girls at the cost of his own life was a line set in stone now.

There was no way he was going to lose yet another team. So he flew at an incredible pace, ignoring all the pain and fatigue. He was going to get them to the Grove, no matter the cost.

Suddenly, a streak of darkness struck him on his wounded leg, slicing it clean off. But #212 caught the foe a second later, impaling him on his beak. Just then, a few more streaks rose up in front of them from the clouds. The squad of Amawas had come to finish the job.

"Brace Yourself!" #212 shouted as the girls held on for their dear lives, clutching his feathers even tighter in their palms, He turned sideways, and just a second later, a sword made of pure darkness flew past him, cutting open his chest, until he shot his talon through the sword and struck the abomination directly at it's face; it died on the spot.

"2 more left," #212 mumbled to himself but fate had other plans, due to the constant lack of blood, his vision blurred and blackened. Then his head spun, and energy left his body. Apparently, the burst of adrenaline that had been driving him forward vanished leaving him semi-paralyzed.

He knew there was no getting back from this, Last moment thoughts brushed through his battered mind in hundreds of visions as he sighed inwardly and closed his eyes.

In the moment, #212 accepted that he was defeated as he plunged down beak-first to the ground below, leaving a trail of blood behind. His senses were almost numb now to a point of gray dimness, and in between the dance of life and death, a hand of pure brilliance shot through and grabbed his consciousness before it faded away.

"#212 WAKE UP! We are going to die!" Khadija shouted, banging against his body. His eyes opened just a few moments before they hit the rocks below, and he lifted himself upward, spiraling against the wind. Not yet

Death could wait; #212 had to save the girls first.

Above the clouds, the foes had already declared the bird dead, and they had decided to move towards Qatan. But little did they know, they had picked on someone with a history of defying death. Someone who had lost everything twice before, The clouds below them parted, and a talon shot through the eye of one of them, completely impaling him.

Then a beak of metal came down on the other as #212 ripped it apart.

And without wasting a breath, he pushed himself forward against the wind once again. There was no time for celebrations yet, no time for death. He had a job to do, and he was going to do it no matter what.