Young Flame

Controlling my spear without my hands is far harder than I expected. Even the lazy twirls around my body feel like I’m trying to balance it with a foot. It’s a bit like when I first grew my wings; the unfamiliarity of using my flames to grasp makes my actions feel alien.

Cycling through strikes and thrusts of the variety of styles I know helps me gain familiarity and speed in my actions, but it doesn’t stop feeling strange. Doing so while focusing on flying only amplifies the feeling. I realise now the importance of the balance training Bunny had me do. I need more experience splitting my focus.

I fly toward the flickering gold and green glint until I can make out its avian shape. The grounded bird is digging through the earth. It mines into the stone amongst piles of boulders and loose rock. Metallic scrapings echo through the air as its beak, talons and wings grind through the earth.

I cast a glance down to the three heat signatures following close beneath me. They are blending with the ground, but it doesn’t seem like they are going to back out now.

The grinding cuts off and the bird rises from the hole. Moonlight bounces off the creature's shiny body, the light as bright as if it were day. Its feathers glimmer and shift between gold and green. The alicanto’s wings snap wide and it screeches up at me. I guess there’s no hiding my approach when flames writhe around me.

The bird’s screech doesn’t sound natural. Like when it was digging, it sounds more like the scraping and grinding of metal. As I close in on it, the alicanto doesn’t wait for me. It flaps its large fifteen metre wingspan and takes off.

I’m surprised and somewhat thankful it doesn’t take me head on. I’m still carrying Grímr in my pack, so I’d rather avoid any heavy impacts. It’ll be especially bad if this bird can hit as hard as that four-winged eagle could.

Now that I think about it, why am I holding the bag? I quickly toss it into the surrounding flames to be carried alongside my spear. Grímr should be fine floating around until I need him.

Unlike the last avian I had to deal with, this one is slow to rise. It takes multiple flaps to pull itself into a stable flight. Despite the slow movements, the amount of turbulence the bird stirs through the air says much about its strength. The thing must weigh tonnes.

The alicanto gradually speeds up, but it is no trouble for me to catch it. Other than its large wingspan, the bird has a long rope-like tail of feathers. Feathers which, as I look closer, are far more inflexible than they should be.

I glide behind the bird for a few seconds, waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself. The longer I wait, the faster the alicanto becomes. It’s impressive how fast this creature is moving, considering how slow it was to get off the ground.

Impressive as it is, I can’t wait any longer. It might get faster than me if I wait for an opportunity that won’t present itself. I cut the distance between us in a moment. The alicanto twitches and I only barely halt my momentum in time to prevent the bird’s tail smashing through me. The tail whips through my wing, which quickly reforms.

It’s a relief it doesn’t possess that same ability as the other bird to tear me apart without regard for the incorporeal state of my flames.

There was something I noticed when the tail tore through my flames. Even the way the tail flicks around for another strike only confirms what I felt. The feathers are all metal. The tail acts more like a chain than anything natural, with movements that bend only at joints.

What with how slow it was to start its flight, its entire body might be metal, not just the feathers. Will Grímr even be able to take over a creature like this?

Well, no point having doubts now. I shoot a jet of flame out of my back, pushing me under the second tail-swing in a way that would be impossible for a normal bird. For that instant, I use the new mass carrying inner flame to propel myself while removing the physicality of my wings.

As soon as the sharp chain of metallic feathers soars over my head, I snap my wings back to corporeality and give myself a boost with a jet of flame. I rocket toward the metal bird faster than I’ve ever moved.

With my inner flame grasping my spear, I launch it forward. It does nothing other than bounce off its metallic feathers. I’m not surprised; it’s too difficult to put much weight behind my flames to breach the bird’s defences.

To stop me from reaching its back, the alicanto twirls in the air. Razor feathers slice through my body without resistance, but it does nothing to me. Not worrying about Grímr, still floating amongst the trailing storm of fire, I slam into the metal breast of the bird without a touch of damage to my body.

As fast as I rocket into the bird, it means nothing in the face of the weight it possesses. The alicanto stops its twirling and levels its flight again, but that doesn’t mean I have nothing to worry about. As I cling to the underneath of the metal bird with my talons and clawed wingtips, its feathers buzz as they oscillate.

I watch in surprise as the feathers leave their natural position. A metallic scraping scratches at my ears as each feather weaves past one another. In seconds, the plumage moves at a terrifyingly dangerous speed. Feathers cut through my talons and wings and before I know it, I’ve lost my grip.

Unwilling to let the bird take the advantage, I bring the firestorm down upon it with an intensity I’m still not used to. I can feel gold and silver along with more common metals and some that I don’t recognise. If I can burn away the feathers defending it, I can make an opening for Grímr.

The bird hardly reacts to the flame spreading over its body. Curving its wings, it soars high. It gains altitude quickly, but its momentum dies with altitude. I trail behind it, but keep some distance between us; I don’t know what it’s planning.

The alicanto slows to a stop in midair. With a mighty thrust of its wings, it plunges toward me with near max speed. I’m right below it and there is no mistaking that I’m its target. The bird has finally given up running and plans to take me head on. It’s an intimidating sight; so much weight nosediving toward me.

This is an opportunity, so I resist the urge to dodge.

I cast my bag away from the incoming beast and grasp my spear in my talons. I can’t put much weight into the weapon with only my inner flames physicality. It’ll be more effective to hit it myself.

With flame jets bursting from my wings, I rocket up into the plummeting mass. I doubt my spear can do any damage if it is a glancing strike, so I need to make sure it’s a direct hit. The alicanto dives with its razor like beak first. Dangerous talons poise to pierce me.

Its body has too much sloped armour. Nowhere I hit will give me the purchase I need to pierce. Not with the limited weight I have in this body.

Nowhere except the eyes.

It’ll be difficult to hit, but that’s the only place I’ll be able to do any damage. I line up my spear, twisting in the air so I’m rising with my talons ready to thrust the spear through the bird. It leaves me exposed to being run through by the alicanto’s beak, but I should be fine.

The metal bird falls with insane momentum.

I rise with explosive thrust.

The impact sends me sprawling. It takes a few seconds for the flames of my body to come back together enough for my thoughts to be comprehensible. Quickly, I look below. My spear is missing, and the alicanto continues on its spiral toward the ground.

Did I get it? Did my spear pierce through its head? Or have I flung it into the distance somewhere?

Even if I missed, I don’t have the time to waste searching for my weapon. I pull my wings to my side and chase after the falling mass of metal. My flames have been trying to burn through its feathers this entire time, but I still haven’t succeeded.

An explosion of sound rocks me as the alicanto impacts the earth. Dust rises from the crater it leaves, but the crash wasn’t enough to end the bird. It screeches to the skies. The metal grinding sounds rougher this time, like scratching rusted metal.

The spear is there. Wedged deep in the creature’s eye-socket is the shaft of my spear. The wood is in splinters, but there’s no doubt I hit my mark.

The mermineae, still hidden, rush toward the crash site of the alicanto. I beat them there, slamming into the head of the bird, trying to push the spear deeper. I achieve nothing but scattering my body. The bird doesn’t even flinch.

The alicanto is glowing. Not only from the reflection of the moonlight, but also from the heat of its feathers. A deep red glow rises beneath the gold and green shimmering. It should be far hotter than the melting temperature of most metals now, but I’ve only been able to heat it to this point. Regardless, its exterior is softening now. It shouldn’t take too much longer before Grímr’s opportunity will present itself.

I’ll have to protect him from the heat while he digs in.

The mermineae dash forward, their fur darkening under the illumination of my flames and the alicanto’s reflection. They grab at the creature’s wings and tail, their claws dig into the metal and pin it to the ground. The razor feathers zig-zag along the bird’s surface, trying to cut through the offending claws, but they fail to inflict significant damage.

The alicanto jerks, trying to pull its extremities back to itself, but while the mermineae stumble and struggle against its efforts, they keep it pinned for long enough for me to get to work.

I stand on top of the metal bird, its feathers tearing through my talons, but that does nothing to stop me. With a hop, I land on its head. It snaps around at me, but with its wings pinned as they are, it cannot fling me off. The metal around the shaft of my spear is the first of the creature to melt. It’s only a matter of time now and the rest of the metal will melt.

I’d rather Grímr not have to recover from an entire melted plumage, so I decide this is good enough an entry. My talon grabs the spear and I jerk it out with as large of an impulse as I can push through this body.

The weapon can hardly be called a spear anymore. Snapped near the tip, it’s a disappointing sight. Well, now I got something for Bunny to do when I get her out.

My flames tear through the cavity and the bird shrieks once more. It looks like there is flesh inside the creature. Only the feathers and a thin outer layer are metal. I float the bag with Grímr down to my side and hurriedly open it. Thankfully, he jumps on my offered wing without delay and I bring him to the cavity, where he disappears.

The alicanto’s struggles escalate. A flurry of movement whips the wings and tail out of the grasp of the mermineae. I can’t have it getting rid of Grímr, so I wrap myself over the missing eye.

The razors of the alicanto tear into me as it tries to remove me. I hold tight. As long as it’s trying to get me off rather than dig Grímr out, we’ll be fine.

The mermineae try to regain control of its limbs, but the freed tail whips them all off their feet. The creature twists and flails in its panic. My eye twitches as the mermineae back away from the beast. They give up far too early for my liking. I can understand self preservation, but we only need to last a little longer.

The shadow-lizard didn’t take near as long as this is taking. I know this bird is larger and far stronger, but my grip will not last forever. Not while the alicanto rolls around and scratches at me with its sharp metal talons and wings.

Each feather is fast approaching its melting point. My flames covering the huge bird slowly bring the temperature higher. Far higher than should be required to eat the metals lining its body. It’s hard to think that not long ago, I hadn’t even been able to melt iron.

Despite the feathers’ refusal to melt, they are softening. Each time its wings or tail slam into the stone or its own body, the feathers bend. The grinding sound only grows louder and more grating as the feathers scrape along one another with heavy resistance.

With nothing able to dislodge me from its head, the alicanto changes its approach. Its wings and talons dig into the earth before it slams its head into the ground. The impact dislodges me immediately, but the bird doesn’t seem to notice. It continues to smash its head against the stone until the soft metal bends and the creature’s head twists at an unnatural angle.

I worry that its desperate actions will crush Grímr as he’s wedged deep within the flattening metal head, but the alicanto’s actions slow. A few more stone shattering impacts and the bird collapses. The grinding feathers come to a halt.

I jump on top of the creature’s head while extinguishing the inferno. I’m sure Grímr has succeeded, but I’m still worried he’s hurt. The eye cavity is nothing but a mess of blood and flesh, no way to see Grímr inside. With how much damage the bird caused itself before it lost control, I wouldn’t be surprised if it killed itself.

“Grímr? Are you okay?” I ask, not sure if he can hear me through the thick head.

I wait for a moment before the body jerks underneath me. After steadying myself, I let out a sigh of relief. I don’t know if that was him trying to respond to me or just making himself familiar with the new body. It’s similar enough to the way the lizard acted after Grímr took hold that I’m confident he is fine.