Chapter 12: Cheep!? 11

 

Charles appreciated the forest as much as anyone who lived in an industrialized city, but he had to admit that having his sightlines cut down to ‘the next hill,’ or, ‘that especially dense patch of brush’ made for some issues over time. With the rich, plant life had overtaken the vast majority of the ground, and what little wasn’t covered in plant life tended to be small game trails, albeit very few and far between. In his old life, this would hardly have mattered beyond a passing note, but in this life, it affected nearly everything he did. Sneaking around in this terrain wasn’t easy, but it was possible so long as you were paying attention. Tracking quarry through the forest would have been a cumbersome affair as a human, but his senses were dramatically better than they were in his old life. Every trace scent, every mark of disturbance in the underbrush - nothing was beneath his notice. 

Well, at least, he entertained such a concept briefly before abandoning the notion. Being arrogant certainly wouldn’t help him. That said, everything he noticed now played remarkably well into his strengths.

It was ideal, considering he was going to get rid of that damned badger. 

‘Food stealing prick,’ Charles thought heatedly, ‘This time you’re on the menu.’ 

He stalked through the forest, beginning to feel a minute but familiar essence flow through his beak, his sense of smell somehow picking up the energy as surely as the musky scent that accompanied it. He went from trail to trail, carefully checking his surroundings as he moved. It came as second nature to him now, the natural instincts of his predatory mind honed for the purpose. As he moved, he noticed that the marks were erratic, with little discernible pattern. Yet with every piece of evidence he came across, Charles’ attention never wavered. The scent of essence was as fascinating as ever, and in a bid to understand it, he strove to examine every example he could find.

It didn’t take much longer to realize that there were subtle differences in the essence in the air. Further out, it was still potent, but somehow he could almost feel the ‘layers’ of it on his skin as he went deeper in. Perhaps someday he’d be familiar enough with the energy to even tell how long it had been since the badger was present. As it was right now, Charles felt like he was trying to read braille with numbed hands.

He couldn’t say how much essence was present exactly, but Charles didn’t need to. He knew when he moved from an area with less into an area with more, and let that be his guiding compass. The time he took doing this wasn’t long, less than ten minutes at a calm, stealthy pace. 

Finally his trail led him to a large tree, a snarl of roots that had clearly been bent and pushed through near the base to one side. Even a cursory inspection exposed small tufts of fur that had caught on reaching limbs and bark. A wide dugout extended out from the entrance of what was clearly a den. The earth had long been packed solid at the ramp, and Charles could easily see the paw prints that were in the dirt. 

Doubtlessly, he’d found the badger’s den, and finally Charles could pay back the shame he felt from losing his prey. The calmer side of him warned about letting his instincts sway his thoughts, but...

As he was right then, Charles couldn’t manage to care.

The bladebeak set his feet wide apart even as his feathers almost appeared to ripple, light dancing across the glossy surfaces as he instinctively puffed up. He drew in a deep breath of air, feeling his ribs flex from the force, and automatically thought back to their confrontation - as brief as it was - before. That anything would steal from him was bad, but this was also his territory now. He wouldn’t be bullied by a damned oversized rat, nor would he suffer this particular one in his territory. Only two options were available, a battle to the end, where only one remained or… well, honestly, nothing else existed in the bladebeak’s mind. 

Retreat was not an option.

With that resolve, Charles tilted forward and belted out the loudest, most visceral shriek he’d ever heard in his life. Essence channeled unbidden through his throat, riding his cry like a physical force that touched everything around him. It carried a challenge, a promise of violence it seemed, and for just a moment the sounds of the forest vanished in the wake of what he’d brought to the peaceful day.

He stood there, a few meters from the opening of the den. Part of him said that he should ambush the badger as it left, but something about that prospect seemed untenable to him. His instincts told him that was not the way it needed to be done.

Yet, dead was dead, wasn’t it? 

Charles’ thoughts bled away amidst the confidence that the badger was not prey in the sense of hunting. It was prey, but it was also respected quarry, strong enough to demand a battle a-

‘Wait, what the peck? Is this supposed to be a duel?’ Charles' thoughts abruptly disjointed from his instincts, clarity returning with a flickery awareness even as the bladebeak instincts tried to reassert themselves. 

He fought them off, buying time to think on the topic at speed. Was this actually a good idea? Even if it were, should he actually allow this considering the fact that his instincts were apparently much more persuasive than he’d given them credit for? 

A moment later, the decision became moot. Charles watched as the badger began to trundle up from within its den, eyes glaring around bewilderedly. Its search for the source of the noise ended with a contemptuous glare upon Charles.  It snarled, a heavy, baritone growl that reverberated through the ground in answer to the challenge issued. The badger was large, though not much larger overall than Charles himself was, and its squat legs stood out more from the sides of its body than directly beneath it. A dull metallic color tinged much of its fur, save for a shining strip of silver and black on its back.

Thick claws meant for digging first and clawing flesh second extended a finger's length from its paws. If that was unusually large, Charles didn’t know, but he did know that he had no desire to test them against his own feathered hide once more. His chest still bore the claw marks from their first encounter, scarred as it was from the essence empowered attack.

Charles wanted to attack before he lost his nerve, but once more he felt a potent derision to the thought. A wave of frustration from his human half nearly swept that guiding instinct away, but Charles balked at the sheer tenacity it showed as it quickly flared up, as strong as ever. 

Could he ignore it? Probably, but it would be a distraction. He wasn’t so confident in his victory that he could risk such a thing. With only a moment of hesitation, Charles took a deep breath and dove in deep instead, embracing his instincts closely. He hoped to get the best of both sets, his human capacities for thinking and hence the ability to further temper the no doubt potent instincts of the blade-beak he’d become, whilst still maintaining the wilder set of drives that would help him adapt to his new life.

Charles’ feathers stood even further on end as his taloned feet set his stance wide. A sharp hiss tore out from his razor sharp beak as they postured. The badger stiffened warily, but quickly retorted with another growl, deeper still than the last one. In the space between the trees, the two challengers began circling each other. 

There was something in this moment that Charles felt was important, that the posturing held a purpose, though he couldn’t sense what it was. He could, however, feel his skin prickle with the sensation of essence suffusing the air, going beyond the meager distance he could sense it.

Just as suddenly as the standoff had begun, though, Charles knew when it was time to start. No sound of acknowledgement was made beyond when the badger lunged forward, just as the bladebeak darted in for a strike.

The badger’s forward charge was predictably straightforward, even as Charles could feel essence directed to its fur. From what he guessed last time, that would make its hide much more durable.

And so, as it approached, Charles leapt over it, avoiding the charging badger and its snapping jaws. His colorful wings flared as he descended, controlling his landing easily, already turning towards the badger. 

The badger was five meters away, carried by the momentum and weight of his heavy and squat body. It turned, the subtle shimmer of essence, like heat-waves in the air, dissipating as it did so. 

‘So, not very maneuverable, but fast enough to be a threat. Durable, too.’ Charles judged the animal, his heart thumping loudly in his chest. Distantly he noted that his heart beat much faster than when he was human. The erratic bursting energy of adrenaline flooding through his veins seemed to be highlighting the intensity of his new body. 

In the days he’d had to himself, he’d gotten used to moving, but that seemed empty in comparison to what his body felt now. It was almost like the parkour-like stunts he’d employed were empty, a lie to what this body was made for. 

Charles charged forward, the badger readying itself for when he drew near. Essence filled his legs, his speed increasing dramatically as the energy seamlessly merged with his muscles. Surprised at the sudden speed, the badger tried to lash out with mass rather than skill.

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It swept a paw out even as Charles leapt once more, giving only just enough room to clear the badger. The badger’s look of confusion turned to pain in the next instant as Charles’ struck out with both of his legs, digging his talons deep into the back of the badger and tearing through muscle. 

Essence flooded through its fur a moment later, but he didn’t stop. He struck down with his beak, hitting the badger in the back hind leg with a piercing stab that cut deeper than he’d expected. Charles reared back, clawed legs digging in for leverage as he struck again.

This time it felt like hitting a rock with his face, the essence saturated fur stiffening and toughening dramatically in less than two seconds. Even underfoot, his talons couldn’t seem to cut any further, the badger beneath him feeling more like a living stone than a flesh and blood creature.

The badger wasn’t idle in this time, its squat body thrashing left and right as Charles desperately clung on. The snapping of jaws sounded over Charles’ shoulder, and shortly after he knew that he’d need to evade quickly. 

He tensed and leapt, realizing in that moment that it felt like his talons were stuck in mud. Instead of clearing several meters, Charles realized he’d hardly got any distance. A sudden surge of alarm and near panic pushed him to flap hard, desperate to gain more distance from the badger. Behind him, he heard the ‘click’ of teeth on teeth and a breeze of air just behind his legs. 

Even before his feet set down, he was already clawing at the air, tearing forward through the dirt as the badger pursued him. Charles ran straight to a tree, half leaping up its trunk as he did so. He chanced a glance behind him, seeing the thick-limbed steel grey animal as it nearly slammed wholly into the tree.

It grabbed at the air with his mouth, missing Charles entirely as he rapidly ascended the trunk. He pushed away from the tree, feeling his spine bend in ways that a human simply couldn’t, pushing himself back towards the ground. The badger scrambled, but before it could fully round itself on Charles the bladebeak charged in again.

Wary of the last time, the badger rose to a fuller height, bared teeth and fur beginning to surge with essence once more.

‘Cladding your fur all the time,’ Charles sneered internally, ‘But can you handle a harder hit?’ 

Charles made no move to divert course, knowing that the badger was fast enough to face him, in spite of the hefty hit he’d landed on its hind leg. The injury would bruise, and certainly would hurt, but it wasn’t enough. A mere flesh wound.

He needed to limit its mobility, hit another leg, perhaps the same one, or get into its blind spot. It would be foolish to engage it head on.

Or, at least, that’s what the badger thought.

Instead, the badger was surprised when the bladebeak ignorantly attacked from the front, not seeking to divert one way or the other. It huffed contemptuously, ready to meet the attack with its defense before striking with its claws. 

Right up until it noticed the sensation of concentrated essence, focused around the bird’s menacing beak.

Charles smashed his beak into the badger’s head, feeling his reserves of essence flag rapidly as he directly clashed with the living energy of his opponent. Even so, he drove the strike downwards, pushing even after the hit. He pointedly ignored the explosion of gore as he struck the left eye of the badger, and with great concentration ignored the pained hitch of a growl that turned into a choked wail. 

The badger tried to twist out of the way, only for Charles to drive his beak down with the badger, pushing hard with his superior height to leverage its head to the ground. He refused to back off, intent on doing as much damage as possible as he ground his bladed beak back and forth in the wound. The badger’s essence cladding flickered as its concentration evaporated, letting Charles twist his beak even further, digging deeper into flesh and carving into bone.

Only the warning of a hot tingle up his spine told Charles of the wild strike from the badger. Even so, there was a split second where he and his instincts clashed between dealing as much damage as possible and evading damage. Every fiber of his blade-beak instinct screamed to fight to the bloody end now that they had the upper hand, to end the badger now.

Yet, his sense of self-preservation won out over instinct. The delay cost him, though.

He pulled back, prioritizing getting his neck further away first and foremost. Searing hot pain cut through near the base of his neck and down his breast, the essence infused claws of the badger tearing through hardened feathers and drawing scouring lines across his flesh. A pained screech rattled out from Charles as he fought down the urge to back away.

Many thoughts shot through his head at once, not the least of which being the not-so-dull urge to flee and return later. This had been a learning experience, one that he hoped he could reflect on in the future. The pain in his chest and the warmth that already began streaming freely from his front would be the best teacher of all.

Yet he pushed all of that to the side at the realization of one simple fact.

“You pecking hit my chest, again!” he raged before refocusing and raising himself higher for a retaliatory strike. Before the badger could get far, Charles moved forward with an even greater ferocity. His instincts had been wrong to be so reckless, that he should have drawn off and taken the advantage where it’d been won was as clear as day to his conscious mind. It was the reminder that he needed to know that while his instincts could help, they could also prove fatal. 

He was Charles, first and foremost, and a blade-beak second. 

Sensing the threat, the badger let loose another essence infused swipe, unguided and wild. Charles danced just out of its range, coming in towards the blind side of the badger. He darted in, striking hard at the shoulder of the badger. 

He heard a crunch as he did so, feeling bone and ligament beneath his essence infused strike fold. The badger let out a pitiful howl, instantly falling towards that side.

Charles doggedly pursued the offensive, readily avoiding the crumbling counter attacks that his foe delivered. He lept upwards, even as he bit into the badger's shoulder and pulled himself up on top of the animal, twisting with his grip painfully as he did so.

Once more Charles felt the flux of essence in his opponent - weaker now by leagues than when they’d begun - as it shifted into its fur once more. Just as before, Charles knew he’d have a brief window before the fur could stiffen fully into armor. 

Because, if he was perfectly honest with himself, his essence was burning to nothing alarmingly fast with the direct contest between himself and the badger. He doubted a young blade-beak had nearly the same capacity as a badger like this, but his use of it had been more surgical and sparing.

As such, he drew back and struck the only place that seemed fitting to end the fight once and for all. 

His essence clad beak struck behind the badger's head, the thick muscled neck and hide not enough to stop him from cracking bone and severing the spine. Instantly, all of the essence in the badger's body fled it, and distractedly Charles realized that it seemed to be pouring out through the hide, concentrating there before dispersing into the air.

Only after a few seconds did he realize that the essence seemed to pause, suspended around the victor in a manner that Charles almost thought of as something akin to light flowing snow. 

The last thing Charles remembered was the sensation of pulling that energy into him, guided by something deep within himself, before exhaustion claimed him.

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