"But first, we must observe it to make sure that it's the same creature and confirm its intentions."
Not having an argument against this logic, Sunny led the girls to the spot where he had left his shadow. There, they sat on the ground and watched the black dot as it circled around the Ashen Barrow.
Observing the flying creature left them disturbed and unsure of what to do.
The black dot drew closer a few times, allowing them to discern that it was indeed the same terrible monstrosity that they had encountered a few weeks before, or at least a creature of the same type. However, it never got too close to the crown of the great tree, as though hesitating to land in its shadow.
What's worse, as hours passed by, it was joined by two other abominations of the same breed, each as horrifying and repulsive as the first one was. Now, three black dots were circling in the skies above their heads, filling Sunny's heart with dread.
One of those creatures, with its corpselike white body and raven-black feathers, with an unnatural mess of powerful limbs protruding from its wide chest, each ending with a set of terrifying talons, was enough to wipe out their entire group.
The memory of how easily the creature had broken through the adamantine shell of the carapace centurion with its massive beak was still fresh in his mind. He suspected that these abominations were at least as powerful as the Carapace Demon was, or perhaps even more so.
And now there were three of them.
'We'd better hide well.' he thought, cold sweat running down his back.
However, the flying monsters seemed to be reluctant to approach the Ashen Barrow for some reason. They just circled around it, sometimes hesitantly approaching, but then gaining height again. Their behavior was strange and disturbing.
After some time, Cassie quietly said:
"Maybe they're not hungry?"
Sunny blinked, trying to imagine a world where a Nightmare Creature might not be hungry. Was it even possible?
He, on the other hand…
"I don't know about these albino chickens, but I'm hungry as hell."
This was true. The three of them had not eaten anything since yesterday. Sunny was afraid that if the abominations did decide to land on the island, the loud growls of his stomach would give away his position.
Nephis glanced and him and asked:
"Want to eat some grilled chicken?"
Sunny opened his eyes wide and hissed:
"Don't even think about it!"
She stared at him, then turned away with a smile.
'That was… a joke? She knows how to joke?'
Well… at least someone's sense of humor was worse than his.
…In the end, their worst fears did not come true. After the sun began to roll toward the horizon, the three flying abominations finally made a decision and left the skies above the Ashen Barrow, flying west in a loose wedge formation. They never descended low enough to notice the three Sleepers, let alone landing on the surface of the large island.
Sunny was left drenched in sweat and tired from anticipating a disaster, almost disappointed at the fact that all this worrying had turned out to be for nothing. Looking at Cassie, who couldn't see that the danger had passed, he said:
"They're gone."
The blind girl exhaled with relief and relaxed, the frown disappearing from her face.
"Thank Heavens. Sitting here and waiting was five times worse than hiding from one of them at those cliffs."
For some reason, Sunny flinched a little.
"What… what did you say?"
"I said that waiting for them to land was very tiresome."
He blinked, not understanding why he had reacted so strangely to this innocuous sentence. Did he see a dream having to do with Cassie and number five? Right, he did. Not that it was anything to think twice about.
"Oh, yeah. You're right."
Then he turned to Nephis and asked:
"What do you want to do now?"
Changing Star looked west, where the black dots had disappeared from sight, and said after a short pause:
"Let's check the western edge of the island and decide on the next high point to reach."
Sunny shrugged, not having any objections.
Cassie smiled:
"Good idea! Who knows, maybe we'll finally see the walls of the castle!"
***
Soon, they had crossed the island and approached its western slope. Here, the ground was raised just before plunging down, forming a natural rampart that hid the landscape from their eyes.
Nephis was the first to climb up and reach the top.
Sunny was just behind her when he felt that something was wrong. Changing Star's posture was somehow strange, stiff and rigid, as though she had suddenly turned to stone.
Stepping on the ashen surface of the natural rampart, he worriedly looked at Nephis and noticed a grim, resentful expression on her face. He had never seen her in such a state before.
Turning his head, Sunny looked west and then narrowed his eyes. His face instantly darkened.
Feeling the desire to curse, Sunny gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. Inside his head, only one word was repeating over and over again.
'Damn! Damn! Damn!'