Chapter 112: Old Friends Well Met
The raven flew over the gathering of humans far below. It used its aspect, death, to cloak its presence, utilizing the natural aversion the living felt toward anything not alive.
So many tasty morsels were below, and the number had grown recently. Grown by a lot. And all were so weak.
Too many of its fellows had found death in pursuing those morsels, though, including fellows only slightly weaker than itself. Away from the gathering, several as strong as itself had also fallen. And far from the gathering, even ones stronger had met their End.
Not the raven, though. It was too smart. It flew. It observed.
There was one that seemed to be a mortal but who clearly wasn’t. He covered great distances in an instant and seemed able to sense any of the raven’s fellows who came close to the gathering, even those more skilled at concealment than the raven.
That was why the raven chose to fly far above the gathering and simply dream of eating the morsels below instead of diving for a snack.
As it circled, it spotted a fellow. A weak fellow. The weakest of fellows. Surely, no one would miss that one little fellow who would not be able to contribute to what was to come at all.
But the raven was forbidden from snacking on its fellows, even the weakest of the weak. So, it flew, and it dreamed of morsels. Tasty, tasty morsels.
If only the Not Mortal wasn’t at the gathering. Then it could feast. Truly feast.
The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon when Benton gathered the twins and Zou Tian at the area outside the village’s gate.
“I’ve just finished sweeping for spirit beasts,” Benton said. “There are none stronger than a rank three within a five-mile radius of here.”
At least, there better not have been. He’d spent the majority of the night patrolling for ranks four and higher, killing a good half dozen all told. Even ranging out for the full five miles he’d stated, he couldn’t sense any more threats.