Assassin Crow Evolution

Chapter 24: Cortisol Factory

The crows were getting closer, and although their intent was hard to anchor, Jimmy got so anxious that he had to start moving.

"Virena, prepare yourself," he whispered. "The crows might be hunting me."

Afterwards, he poked his head out of his hiding spot, to get a better view of what was going on.

"Well, fuck," he held his breath.

Jimmy spotted twelve crows. Young and old. He was quick to count them, but the problem was that each crow was armed, and they were circling overhead. Each of them had a blade, mostly consisting of daggers which were sharper, and bigger than his lowly kitchen knife. He couldn’t fight them off even if he tried!

"How the hell did they find me?" He panicked.

"What could you have done to turn so many crows against you?" Virena asked.

"Nothing they can prove, I hope," he said.

Jimmy spread his wings, and hit the sky.

"We can’t stay here," he said, "If they corner us, we’ll get torn apart."

With a bit of effort, he managed to make some distance between himself, and the crows.

Shortly after, as he turned his head back to have another look at them, he noticed that they weren’t chasing after him.

"What the...?" he squinted, "No wonder I slipped through them so easily. What the hell are they doing flying around, armed to their fucking beaks?"

Jimmy gathered the courage to turn around. Virena hung on to her friend’s feathers. She sat comfortably on his back, though she had her sickle readied for combat.

"What’s going on?" He yelled out.

One of the crows heard him, and without looking Jimmy in the eye, she gave an answer. Her tone was as nervous as his.

"Look up, you spoiled egg!" She exclaimed.

"Huh?" He grunted.

Reacting to her panic, he unquestionably looked up, as if he was an oblivious child, who casually stared at a fast-moving basketball as it beamed towards his face.

"Fuck!" His feathers stood upright.

The basketball, in this case, was a massive, brown bird. Some species of eagle, most likely, and it was heading right towards him! Talons curled, craving his flesh!

The eagle was only a few meters away from him. If his body was even slightly exposed to the eagle’s trajectory, he’d break his spine. For once, he was aware that he could break his spine.

Instininctively, he pulled his wings inwards, and took a dive.

A mere split second separated him from the eagle’s trajectory.

He dived towards the alleyway below, and the eagle, missing its target, took a sharp turn upwards.

"Oh my sweet, sugar-sprinkled fuck!" He exclaimed. "That fucker looked like a bus!"

As he looked up again, he said, "Not a bus, not a bus, but he looks a lot heavier than me."

Shortly after, he saw the eagle going for one of the other crows. A young one, from the looks of it.

The eagle snatched that young crow right out of the air. Its dagger fell from its grip, free-falling towards the alleyway.

Jimmy expected the eagle to take off now. It got itself a meal.

To his surprise, the eagle threw the crow, unleashing it from its grasp.

The crow did not move. It plummeted towards the ground, and bounced a couple of times after impact.

"I can’t heal that," Jimmy shook his head.

The eagle then headed for another crow, to land a second kill, but it was fended off by an experienced elder. The elder took a dive, flew with his belly facing the sky, and landed a nasty cut on the eagle.

The eagle screeched.

In the meantime, Jimmy produced enough cortisol in his body that he thought his feathers were going to fall off.

Without thinking about it, he dived towards the slaughtered young crow, avoided looking at the bloody mess, and snatched the dagger a few meters away from the carcass.

He almost dropped the dagger as he took off. He wasn’t used to holding two blades at a time.

Ignoring his stress, he flew towards the eagle, and cursed every wing flap of his that led him towards the wicked apex predator.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck..." He held his breath, "Here we go, he’s getting ready to fight me! Come on, mutterficker!"

The eagle remained as stationary as a flying bird could be. It stretched its legs outwards, treating Jimmy as easy prey.

Seeing this, he avoided its claws like the plague.

Once it was within a few feet of its reach, he took a sharp dive, and then rose behind the eagle.

Charging forward, he bashed both the kitchen knife, and the rusty dagger on the eagle’s back. The eagle was at least twice his size if they compared wingspans, but that wasn’t the most interesting thing about it.

"What the fuck?" He took in a sharp breath, "Where are its feathers?"

Jimmy’s weapons were bashed within a patch of fur. Blood started puddling close to the blades, and the distinct smell of wet fur hit his nose holes. It wasn’t pungent, but in a way, it was humanizing. He remembered this scent quite well.

"Smells like a damn wet dog," he shook his head.

Afterwards, he pulled his blades out, and took off. The eagle did not squirm, but it wiggled enough to scare him off.

If he as much as lost his balance on top of the eagle’s back, he could’ve fallen prey to its talons. He nearly cut himself with his own blades anyway.

The rest of the crows below him cheered him on. They never saw a crow get that close to a massive eagle, and escape with his life.

Jimmy ignored the cheers. His eyes were locked on the fur-coated eagle.

"How the hell is he flying?" He said, "This shouldn’t be possible."

The eagle jerked its head backwards, and then did an angular backflip. It was well aware of where the opportunistic crow was.

Within a blink, it charged towards Jimmy.

"Fuck you!" He exclaimed.

Afterwards, he took a dive. He didn’t flee, he didn’t intend to abandon this battle, but he knew well enough that meeting the eagle head on was a death sentence.

The eagle chased after him. It was faster, bigger, and its eyes were raging with blood lust!

Jimmy turned his head back, and saw the eagle chasing after him. In response, he pulled his wings as close to his body as possible, and dived towards the city as fast as gravity allowed him to.

The eagle got closer after every split-second. He couldn’t do anything about it.

Panic was a given, but he was under so much panic that he actually remained calm.

"What if I..." He muttered.

Reee!

The eagle screeched in pain. It did so far before Jimmy could’ve crafted a plan.