Free Web NovelChapter 21: Chapter 21: Hostile Nest
The massive eagle flew straight into the towering wall of scorching hot sand, cutting through it with ease, and contrary to Riven’s expectation, his body didn’t burn.
Not because the sand was cold but because the sand didn’t even touch his body. With every flap of its powerful wings, a strong gust of wind was created causing the sand around him to be swept aside creating a protective space around them.
Due to the insane speed of the massive eagle, his body swayed left and right threatening to throw him. He drove his fingers into the eagle’s back, anchoring himself.
Afterwards, he waited as the eagle kept flying in a straight line. Although he was safe from the sandstorm... he wasn’t sure about one thing.
That was where the woman was taking them. Was she talking to them at her base or somewhere else?
Riven had no idea so he stared at the woman’s back and asked.
"Where are we going?"
The woman didn’t respond; instead, she remained silent. Riven’s eyes narrowed... What did that mean? Was she taking them somewhere to kill them?
No that probably wasn’t the case. She could have easily killed them if she wanted to, considering the level 30 eagle was under her command.
But she didn’t do that so it was very unlikely.
As he was lost in his own thoughts, the eagle started to descend. Not abruptly but very slowly. He lowered his gaze — at first he saw nothing but flying sand.
However, as the eagle kept descending and sweeping the sand aside with a strong gust of wind formed by the powerful flap of its wings. He finally saw what was below them.
There was a large mesa. Not the small one but one that stretched as far as his eyes could see.
But the thing that shocked him the most wasn’t how large the mesa was. It was the fact that the mesa didn’t look barren. He spotted a few silhouettes that looked very similar to him...
He could have sworn the shape was the same as a tree. But he wasn’t certain since the sand made it hard for him to see anything clearly.
However, if those silhouettes were really trees then it changed everything. Trees don’t grow without fertile soil and for the soil to be fertile, it must have moisture.
That meant there had to be a water source nearby... he had found. If he did then they won’t have to worry about being thirsty in the desert for a long time.
However, before Riven could examine the mesa further, the eagle took a sharp dive down, completely ruining his view of the mesa.
Then it flew straight ahead towards the towering walls of the mesa. Uncertainty settled in his heart... Why was this eagle flying towards what looked like a dead end?
Just then he saw something that answered his question. There was a massive crack in the surface of the towering wall of the mesa. The crack was so large that the eagle could easily pass through it.
The eagle went inside the crack. The moment they entered — a rotting stench reached his nose. The smell was so bad that it made him want to throw up and get as far away from this place as possible.
Of course, leaving this place was a suicide since the sandstorm was still raging outside. Without the eagle’s powerful wings, they would burn to death.
So he moved his hand closer and covered his nose. Just then, the woman who had been silent till now finally spoke and said.
"Get off."
The woman didn’t waste her time; instead, she jumped off the back of the eagle. The moment she did, the eagle shook its body violently making Riven’s entire body sway left to right then right to left.
Riven tightly gripped the eagle feathers but it made shaking even worse. Eventually, his grip loosened and he fell off its back landing on the ground with a loud thud and he heard the sound of something snapping under his weight.
Riven cursed the eagle in his head as he moved.
"Damn you eagle."
He tilted his head and saw that the eagle was licking the woman like a dog licking its master. As for the woman? She was rubbing its head like a pet.
Riven cursed mentally.
"Not a pet? My ass."
She had claimed the eagle was not her pet and gave him a lecture on freedom but her actions didn’t support her claim. Based on the way she was petting the eagle, anyone would think it was her pet.
As she kept petting the creature, he saw something that made his eyes narrow. There were countless branches in front of him and the branches beneath his body rubbed against his back like needles trying to penetrate his body.
Riven quickly stood up and his gaze swept across the entire place. The entire floor of the cave was littered with dry branches and leaves of trees.
Half-eaten carcass, dried up blood, and broken bone were lying on the ground not too far away from him. The horrible, rotten smell that assaulted his nose when first entered was coming from it.
This wasn’t all... he saw three massive blue eggs that were even larger than his own body. It didn’t take a genius to understand where he was.
"This is looks like the nest of an eagle."
Furthermore, the fact that the nest of the eagle was made with branches and leaves of trees made his early suspicion even more likely to be true...
There must be trees at the top of the mesa otherwise where would the eagle find the branches and leaves?
Just then, he heard the sound of crushing bites echoing through the cave, each followed by the wet rip of flesh and the crack of splintering bone.
Then the woman’s voice resounded through their ears. Her voice is serious.
"This isn’t the eagle’s nest... it belongs to some other monster."
A chill ran down his spine the moment he heard this. If it wasn’t the eagle’s nest then what kind of monster’s nest was this?
That crushing bite echoing throughout the cave stopped then it was followed by a roar so powerful that it sent the branches and leaves beneath him flying backwards.
