Chapter 18 - Of course... (2/2)

KREEE!

He heard a loud screech and looked to its source. A two-meter tall, blue falcon was flying in front of the, now still, second rock. Under the rock was a broken tree, and if one looked closely, one could notice a slight amount of blood at the edges. The bird circled the rock and looked around in fury. It quickly spotted Gravis, a fire of rage in its eyes.

”This is getting ridiculous!” Gravis shouted as he gripped his saber. At least, he would have, but his saber had vanished. During all the commotion, the saber had left Gravis. It could be anywhere. The bird charged at Gravis, and he did another jump to the side.

Lava was raining from the sky by now, but Gravis didn't need to care about that. When lava touched his body, it would just slide off like viscous water. The bird was too angry at the presumed killer of its kids and didn't realize the danger it was in right now. Lava could hit it at any moment and burn through its body. Yet, like a miracle, not a single drop of lava touched it.

BANG!

A huge chunk of lava, several meters wide, struck the earth beside them. The bird flew around it and chased Gravis, who was full-on running by now. In no time at all, it reached him again and tried to strike him with its talons. Gravis quickly blocked with his left arm, redirecting its force to one direction, and ran into the other. His arm received some deep cuts, but that was better than losing his life.

He quickly realized that he couldn't flee from the bird, and without a weapon, he couldn't fight it, at least not in his current condition. It was a ferocious beast, so in normal circumstances, Gravis would slaughter it like a chicken. Sadly, without a weapon, that would be impossible. He had to survive somehow. If his body was in top condition, he might be able to take down the bird even without his weapon, but healing his bones would take days.

Suddenly, Gravis got an idea. He changed direction and ran for the massive chunk of lava that fell down earlier. The bird followed him, but before it could reach him, he had already jumped into the lava. Lava wouldn't cool off that quickly, and it was slowly melting a hole in the ground.

The bird angrily circled the lava, but couldn't get close. Just the surrounding heat could set its feathers ablaze.

After a couple of seconds, Gravis poked out his head and looked at the bird. The bird flew at him and tried to claw him with its talons, but Gravis' head pulled back into the lava. In its rage, the bird had flown too close to the lava, and a couple of feathers already started burning. It quickly flew away and picked those feathers off.

Gravis poked his head out again and sneered at the bird.

This time, he would be the tortoise.