A Serial Killer in the Midst

by VPVPVP

Sequel to Paradise Sanctuary. Carla and co's offspring and their cohorts are now grown up. However, in the Sanctuary de Amazon, an incident has happened and it is revealed that it was no accident, and killings start to occur. As time goes on, it becomes clear that there is a killer on the loose but it is not a predator.

4. 4- savage harpy attack

Chapter 4- a savage harpy eagle attack

Next morning, the Sanctuary de Amazon

In the Amazon rainforest which hadn't changed much over the past four years, the inhabitants on the protected reserve rose with the sun as it beamed down its golden honey shafts onto the biodiversity-saturated jungle below. Among this biodiversity lived a number of flocks of various macaw species, some of them very rare. The Spix, Lear's, red, green, blue-and-gold, glaucous, blue-throated, and hyacinth macaw tribes and clans, together with the species that preferred to live in smaller groups like the chestnut fronted macaws and the toucan species present on the sanctuary, and a flying fox and archaeobird clan, all rose to prepare for their morning routines. Chicks and pups continued to be born and educated while the older members of the groups continued their daily lives such as forage for food, raise their young and socialise with each other. Though not much has changed about the rainforest except for outside where loggers continued to roam and chop down trees, the Sanctuary de Amazon had had more territory added to it, and that was not all.

In a certain area of the sanctuary, a tribe and clan leader meeting was in progress in a large tree, called the Meeting Tree which was a giant tree with a massive hollow. Due to its size, it had been chosen as the main meeting spot for all the leaders of the tribes, clans and smaller groups and it was where they had their discussions about updates on various subjects, as well as more serious and important issues such as drought and how plans were formulated to deal with them. In this meeting, the tribe and clan leaders, together with their inner circle members, were currently using the hollow to discussing updates and their tribes and clans' progress and wellbeing, and among those present were Blu, Jewel, D'Artagnan, Aurora, Athos, Porthos, Aramis, Cobalto and Levi and of course Augustus and Melissa the flying foxes and leader of the mixed clan living in Lily's Village, named after the brave flying fox and cousin of Melissa who had helped save so many birds from the barbaric, bird-loathing flying fox colony even at the cost of her life; and Andromeda and Eragon from the archaeobird clan. Also present were Roberto, Brisa, Felipe and Pearl who still led the red tribe; Alonso and Verde who still led the green tribe; Marinho who led the hyacinth clan; Rudi and Valeria who still led the glaucous tribe; and Soleado and Zoie who still led the blue-and-gold tribe. The current leaders of the Spix macaw tribe were Blu and Jewel and they were now complete leaders of the flock of rare blue macaws. Eduardo, Jewel's father and Blu's father-in-law, had passed away only recently from old age along with his sister Mimi, and the two had been buried in a special place in the Spix tribe's home habitat, the ravine, where tribe leaders were often buried, so now Blu was the official patriarch of the tribe, and he had grown well into the role of leadership despite his rather awkward beginnings with meeting them. He still had his domestic habits on him but he had managed to develop some key wild ones as well with Jewel and some of the other macaws' help, and one key skill was rising early. His habit of sleeping in had been drastically reduced though Blu sometimes had the odd day when he took days off from tribe leadership. Further, he was more mature and tougher than he had been years ago.

While the tribe and clan leader meeting was in progress in the tree, outside, a small flock of chicks and flying fox pups were out playing with some older macaws, birds and flying foxes watching them. Among the watchers were Sapphire, Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda, Phoebe and Lapis Lazuli, the mates of D'Artagnan and company and they were helping to keep an eye on the playing chicks and pups, sometimes even participating. Among the individuals playing were some young adult macaws, such as Linda, the second-brood daughter of Blu and Jewel; Oberon and Ophelia, Roberto and Brisa's second brood; Azurite and Aquamarine, the two second-brood chicks of Zephyr and Aurora; Athos and Ruby's second-brood sons Cinnabar and Oliver; Porthos and Orquidea's second-brood daughters Amalthea and Desdemona; Esmeralda and Aramis' son Edmund, and Phoebe and Cobalto's daughter Violet. Also present were the second brood chicks of D'Artagnan, Sapphire, Levi and Lapis Lazuli, Ozzy, Lola, Charlie and Bertie. Ozzy and Charlie had been named after the deceased chicks who had been mercilessly slain by some of Cicatriz's minions during the initial stages of the flying fox trouble and were essentially replacement chicks for those deceased siblings, similar to how Orion and Hermione had named their son after his deceased brother. Lola had been named by D'Artagnan in honour of Levi's mother at Levi's request. Now as the years had passed, the second-brood offspring of Blu and company were now young adults like their older siblings, with the exception of Violet, Phoebe and Cobalto's second brood chick, who was still like a preteen for hyacinth macaws did not reach maturity until around seven years of age. Also present was a flying fox who resembled a spitting image of Augustus, as Augustus and Melissa have had another pup, a son, named Hans. Unlike his older brother and sisters who had albinism characterised by their white fur, chalky grey wing membranes and reddish eyes, Hans had normal pigment and was brown like his father Augustus, and his wings were basalt black like almost every other Amazon flying fox. Alongside this new addition to Augustus and Melissa's family, the offspring of D'Artagnan and company who had chosen to remain in the Amazon were also present. They were Miranda and Annette, Jasmine's sisters and Larimar and Quincy, the brother and sister of Trixie and Tristan.

During the past four years, Quincy, Larimar and Miranda had found mates and have also had families. Miranda had two chicks, a son and a daughter; however, she was raising them as a single mother due to problems with her mate which resulted in them breaking up and ending their mate pairing; Quincy also had two chicks, both of them sons and Larimar had just a daughter, and those chicks were playing with a number of other chicks and flying fox pups from the various tribes, clans and groups living on the Sanctuary de Amazon including the archeaobirds who flew on bat-birds due to them being only capable of gliding. Things were indeed merry for this lot but while all this was going on, in the Meeting Tree, the tribe and clan leader meeting continued.

"No reports of any poacher activity apart from the one a few weeks ago," said Felipe who was flanked by some of his tribe's inner circle members, among them Athos, "It's been quite peaceful in our territory other than that. As for that poacher, we managed to drive him away by attacking him."

"That's good to hear, Felipe," said Alonso with a smile, "Our territory's been peaceful as well."

Then the blue-throated macaw clan's patriarch, Reynaldo who was accompanied by his mate Anita, spoke, his gaze aimed at Augustus, Melissa and their inner circle bats and macaws, among them a Cuban red macaw and a Dominican green-and-yellow macaw, two species that were extinct everywhere else in the world with them and their clan members being the last individuals of those species.

"How are the newcomer clans settling into the new areas of the sanctuary, Augustus?" he asked, "Such as the clans of silver bat-birds (pterosaurs), the pterobats and the dragonbirds?"

"They're doing fine, Reynaldo, thanks," said Augustus but then his face fell, "But they still want to remain hidden from the humans. They don't trust them one bit at all."

"Yes, they have had a VERY troubling history with them, especially the pterobat clan," said Melissa, "Their habitats were completely decimated by loggers, while the dragonbird clan had moved away from our flying fox colony after discovering the barbaric customs and their treatment of birds to settle into a new area until loggers came along and destroyed it."

"We're gonna have to do our best to ensure that the survivors adapt to their new homes then," said Blu, "At least they'll be safe from the loggers and their destructive machines," he then paused briefly as a memory flashed in his head.

When Blu saw the devastating effect of logging on the rainforest for the first time in person years ago during the events involving the discovery of the Spix macaw tribe alive and well, he had been utterly horrified and he was still troubled by it even now. While the discussion of updates continued amongst the tribe and clan leaders in the Meeting Tree hollow, outside, a certain group of macaws was watching over the group of fledgling chicks and flying foxes as they continued to play a small version of a recently invented aerial game called Pájarritch, which was like soccer but had a number of key modifications such as small distracter birds and a dragonfly, and division of the teammates into key tasks such as a Dragonfly Catcher and the ball players. Here, the ball used was a small fruit pit big enough to be kicked around while the live participants were mosquitoes that served as the distracter birds and the dragonfly. Scattered among the chicks and flying foxes were some individuals of the newcomer species. Several young silver bat-birds were present. Silver bat-birds bore silvery 'pelts' (termed 'pycnofibres') and white undersides and were about the size of an adult Amazon flying fox when fully grown, or between the heights of an adult Spix macaw and a hyacinth macaw, and were NOT used by the archaeobirds as flying mounts for aerial transport, and could talk like many of the birds and flying foxes. Another type of pterosaur, a smaller and more unusual creature called a pterobat, was unlike any other type of pterosaur known. These pterosaurs had short necks, muzzle-like mouths instead of beaks as possessed by bat-birds, and were very small, around the size of a small macaw species like the chestnut-fronted macaw. They did not have long tails and from a distance resembled a cross between a pterosaur and a bat. According to the scientific birds such as Bia, Blu and Poinsettia, these little pterosaurs were in fact a surviving relic of a pterosaur species recently discovered from the fossils, called Anurognathus. Because of their lack of a long beak and lesser bird-like appearance, these little pterosaurs had been dubbed 'pterobats'. The pterobats' pycnofibre pelt came in a variety of drab colours with black and white, brown, reddish and orange being most common like in the Amazon flying fox, and they sported large eyes for they often hunted at sunset and sunrise though the members of this clan was also diurnal (daytime active). The young of the pterobats and bat-birds were called 'flaplings' and like the young of most flying birds and all bats, newborns were flightless when born and had a fledgling age.

While the young chicks, flaplings and flying fox pups continued to play their small version of Pájarritch with some of them 'chasing' off the mosquitoes while the others chased after the fruit pit ball, and two of them, a flying fox and a blue-throated macaw, one of serving as goalies hovering in gaps between selected branches, Miranda, Annette, Larimar and Quincy, together with some old friends such as Kiawe the blue-headed macaw and Citrine, a golden conure and some new friends such as a male silver bat-bird named Juni and a female pterobat named Celine, were discussing amongst themselves. Citrine's mate Caspian was on an outing with his and Citrine's daughters Satsuma and Apricot and Greg and his family, his mate Sardonyx, and sons Steven and Kevin, Ophiuchus, one of Andromeda's brothers, and Bellerophon and Pandora, Andromeda and Eragon's now grown-up second brood and Spyro's younger siblings, somewhere else with a couple of macaws. Nearby, some of the other macaws, bat-birds, archaeobirds, flying foxes and pterobats kept an eye on the chicks, flaplings and pups.

"Have you heard anything about Zebedee's ex Penelope and her family lately?" asked Annette as she ate some licuri nuts, the main staple of a Lear's macaw's diet D'Artagnan and some other Lear's macaws had brought with them to this area from their tribe's ravine, "I've heard that she and Brock have had a LOT of chicks."

"They've honestly been breeding like those horrible toucans back in Blu Bird Sanctuary, Rio," hissed Miranda with disgust. She then flashed a glance at her two fledgling chicks who were two additions to D'Artagnan and Sapphire's grandkids and cousins of Vega and Regulus, Jasmine and Finn's daughter and son back in Rio, before returning it to her friends.

"And her attitude hadn't changed much either," said Quincy as he munched on a peach, "certainly not to Zebedee and his family. After an incident in which she and two of her daughters severely humiliated Celeste, Castor and Pollux, and Sugilite in front of a number of other residents resulting in a brawl between her and Zebedee, she had to leave with her family and live somewhere else on the sanctuary as ordered by Marinho."

"It's disappointing that she hadn't changed her attitude towards us over the years," said Larimar disgruntled, "No wonder Marinho had evicted her and her family from the hyacinth clan."

"I've never known a hyacinth macaw be so obnoxious," said Juni the bat-bird; "When we first met her, she just gave us a dirty look and mocked our species."

Juni was like every other member of his species, silver and white, and like most bat-birds, he sported a beak, a long neck, and membranous wings supported by one very long finger. Behind him, his silvery tail snaked and on its tip was a white flat spade. The silver bat-bird thus resembled some of the bat-birds the archaeobirds used as flying mounts though they were smaller and had drabber colours. His eyes were a shade of orange and he sported a flat sheet of pycnofibres on his head. A collar of pycnofibres adorned the base of his neck. His silvery pelt glinted like the surface of the water in a river or lake. Celine was a small pterosaur with a short neck, a muzzle instead of a beak, and rounded wings. Her main colour was very dark brown with a white underside.

"Yes, by calling us mutated bird-killing bats or something like that," said Celine, "which included the offensive 'C' word that Augustus and his flying fox clan absolutely DESPISE (that is, Cicatriz), and the majority of her offspring are no better."

"Especially Tybalt, Narcissa, Nagini and Benvolio," said Juni, "Those four are honestly such brats, most especially Narcissa. She's like the ringleader of her pack."

"And Nagini, despite her utterly beautiful and captivating appearance that every female hyacinth macaw would envy," put in Quincy, "is no different."

"And that's not all," added Annette, "It's been rumoured that Penelope is having an affair behind her mate Brock's back."

"Look, Annette, you know better than to listen to rumours," said Larimar with a frown, her brother Quincy gazing at the flock of playing chicks, flaplings and pups, including his two sons, "they're just troublesome talk."

"Known to destroy reputations in some cases," said Miranda, "But that rumour always reminds me of how my mate, Jackie, had been utterly unfaithful by cheating on me with another female macaw and spewing lies about it. When I found out, I immediately packed up and left with our son Murphy and daughter Beatrice behind his back. It is clear that we are NEVER gonna get back together, EVER."

"Cheating mates is one of the things that hurts the most," said Celine with understanding, "I once dated a male pterobat but he kept going after other female pterobats so I eventually broke up with him. The male I live with now, Fungus, is very faithful and knows how wrong it is to cheat on your other half," the pterobat shook her head, "and when I heard that Zebedee used to be the boyfriend of that bratty Penelope, I and Juni had been utterly shocked."

"She actually cheated on Zebedee behind his back as well while the two used to date didn't you know?" said Larimar, "Even during the flying fox trouble leading to the Battle for the Sanctuary, she went off with another male hyacinth macaw. Her true colours were only revealed when Zebedee sustained that life-changing injury on the left side of his face from one of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's minions when protecting Sebastian, Stella and Luna from him, resulting in him losing sight in one eye and receiving those scar streaks and clouded eyeball that he now has to conceal with a bandana."

"It was a horrible injury that he had sustained, and even MORE horrible that Penelope had decided to dump him," said Kiawe. The others nodded in agreement. Then Citrine turned her head in direction of where her mate, daughters and Sardonyx's family were along with Ophiuchus and his nephew and niece and their bat-birds had flown for their own little outing.

"I wonder how Caspian and company are doing," she said, "It is a pleasant day for an outing, I must say."

"Indeed it is," said Celine as she relished the warm sun.

Meanwhile

Caspian was flying with his two adult daughters, Satsuma and Apricot, Greg, Sardonyx, Steven and Kevin, and Ophiuchus, Bellerophon and Pandora on their bat-birds. Like most of their cohorts born roughly at the same time as them, Satsuma, Apricot, Steven, Kevin, Bellerophon and Pandora were adolescents and adults. The two golden conure sisters and Kevin were already dating as was Pandora, but Bellerophon and Steven were still uncertain as to whether to date or not. And over the course of the four years, Greg and his family had adapted well to Amazon rainforest though it had been a struggle sometimes. As the ten flew along with three on their bat-bird mounts, Ophiuchus was smiling.

"I look forward to this year's Pit of Games tournament including the Pájarritch games," he said, "The trainees in the sport are indeed improving on their skills very well."

"Some of Carla and company's group members had showed an interest in participating in that game," said Caspian, "I think Spinel and Sheldon's daughter Betelgeuse wants to be a player as do Sandalwood and some of Blu and Jewel's grandkids..."

"They have been practicing over there in the Blu Bird Sanctuary," said Greg as he flew alongside Sardonyx (who was an unusually orange scarlet macaw rather than red, more so than the red-orange plumage colour of Alexandre and Betelgeuse), Steven and Kevin, "but I'm not sure about the five golden fruithawks who are Gylfie and Aurum's offspring, and the two white-and-silver owls. They don't seem interested in many things."

"Carla and company have indeed been looking after those seven very well," said Sardonyx before another memory appeared in her mind and made her shudder, "Especially after that dog incident at the clutches of that sickening cockatoo two years ago."

"I could never stand that cockatoo since I met him once," said Ophiuchus with disgust, "I remember my nephew Spyro telling me, Andromeda, Anakin, Eragon and Spock how repulsive he was and when I bumped into him during my visit to Rio with Bellerophon and Pandora here," he nodded to Spyro's younger brother and sister as he said this, "he had bombarded us with insults and threats that are too graphic and obscene to describe, going as far as to have the audacity to injure Bellerophon by biting him on the tail after Bellerophon said something that struck a sensitive nerve. I actually scratched that cockatoo across the face to defend my nephew and I had to beat a hasty retreat."

"I mentioned bringing in Blu and Jewel to deal with him if he didn't stop his threat," said Bellerophon, "And that must have been the spark for the fire of that cockatoo's temper."

"He certainly was frightening, I can tell you," put in Pandora. The group then came to a stop at a Brazil nut tree, Ophiuchus cautioning the others to not perch under one of the heavy fruits, knowing how lethal they were when they dropped above them.

"He always reminded me of Dalek with his hatred of exotic birds such as us," said Steven as he perched by his older brother Kevin and also Satsuma and Apricot on the same branch. On an adjacent branch, one of the two accompanying macaws, a male hyacinth, looked on while the other macaw, a great green macaw from Alonso's tribe began to keep an eye out for aerial predators. Steven continued, "In the same way Dalek wanted all parrots dead, it seemed that Nigel had wished the same for exotic birds as well."

"Total psychopath he was," growled Kevin, "Especially when he deliberately endangered our lives with those dogs after all that Miranda, Annette, Quincy, Larimar and Cinnabar had done for him as well. Too bad he had to be dispatched..."

As he spoke, the male hyacinth macaw left the group after seeing something in the adjacent tree. Greg flashed a glance at the macaw as he left and assumed that he had decided to get the group a snack, so he pulled his gaze back to the others present. Then the great green macaw, a female, spoke.

"Oh, have you guys heard the incredible news from Augustus's flying fox scouts and what they have found?" she asked. Caspian, Satsuma, Apricot, Ophiuchus, Bellerophon, Pandora, Sardonyx, Greg, Kevin and Steven gazed at her with smiles. Nearby, the three bat-bird mounts of Ophiuchus and his nephew and niece were examining a cluster of Brazil nuts curiously. However, they avoided crawling under the fruits, obviously aware of the dangers involved should they fall. As the great green macaw prepared to spill the findings of Augustus's clan scouts, the male hyacinth macaw perched on a branch of the adjacent tree, before turning to smile at whoever had got his attention.

"Oh, it's you," he said. However, his mood flashed from cheerful to confusion. Back with the rest of the group, Ophiuchus and the others smiled and shouted "WOOOW!"

"That is EXCELLENT good news," said Caspian, "At least the..."

However before he could finish his reply, a loud screech of a macaw in agony exploded from one of the nearby trees, alerting the group and pulling their gazes in the direction of the sound's source.

"Bruno?" said the female great green macaw, saying the name of the male hyacinth macaw who had left the group. The others then hurried to the branches facing the adjacent tree, Greg flying to the area where he had last seen Bruno. However, what they saw next made horror erupt within them. The great green macaw's eyeballs inflated out of their sockets and she lofted into flight towards the adjacent tree.

"BRUNO!" she screeched. Behind her, Caspian and the others had lofted into flight, also having seen the horrifying sight. As the group then touched down around what the great green macaw had seen which was a navy blue feathered body, the great green macaw drew in a horrified gasp while Ophiuchus went to examine it. As he did so, Pandora, Bellerophon, Steven, Kevin, Satsuma and Apricot shuddered as they gazed at the macaw, which appeared to be dead, but Ophiuchus soon found the macaw's cause of death but as he did so, he winced violently.

"He's had his throat..." he said but he trailed off, not wanting to finish it. None of the others said anything for they were too gripped by horror to even form words. Caspian even had to take Apricot and Satsuma to a spot away from the nauseating scene as the two sisters were feeling weak. As the trio of golden conures left, Sardonyx gazed at the deceased body of Bruno including the fatal injury on his neck, which was a set of claw marks.

"Could a predator have done this?" asked the orange scarlet macaw. Ophiuchus began to examine the surroundings.

"I don't see any birds of prey," he said, before pulling his gaze back to Bruno's body, "But we have to carry this macaw's body back to the hyacinth macaw clan and report his demise to them, especially Marinho, and everybody else and perhaps have an investigation set..."

However, before he could finish this sentence, an EXTREMELY LOUD, ear-assaulting screech erupted from the clearing amongst the trees, making the whole group jump about 10 centimetres off the branch. Then Bellerophon and Pandora snapped a terrified gaze in the direction of the screech's source, but the moment their eyes connected with it, piercing screams of utter terror exploded from their muzzle-like beaks. Ophiuchus, Sardonyx, Greg, Kevin, Steven, the great green macaw and also Caspian, Satsuma and Apricot all violently flinched, Ophiuchus and his nephew and niece's bat-birds screeching and bolting into flight.

"FLY FOR IT!" squawked Ophiuchus while he hastily seized Bellerophon and Pandora and then lofted into a hasty gliding flight, too consumed by terror to call for their bat-bird mounts. As the archaeobirds glided away, the macaws and conures lofted into flight as whatever had spotted them emitted another ear-perforating screech and pursued them.

Meanwhile

Back around the Meeting Tree where the tribe, clan and group leader meeting was continuing, Miranda, Annette, Quincy, Larimar, Juni and Celine continued their discussion. Larimar had just had a peek into the Meeting Tree hollow and had returned to her friends and brother.

"I can't imagine myself among that lot with the updates," she said, "Sounds incredibly boring."

"Well, I think it's one of those things you're gonna have to eventually face, Larimar, since Mom (Lapis Lazuli) and Dad (Levi) are related to Rudi and Valeria," said Quincy, "Especially if you plan on becoming a member of our tribe's inner circle."

"Rudi is Lapis Lazuli's cousin, am I right?" asked Celine.

"Yes, and Alberto and Lorenzo are our second cousins," said Quincy, "So technically, Larimar, I, and also Trixie, Tristan, Charlie and Bertie are related to our tribe's leader."

"My aunt is the mate of our bat-bird clan's leader," said Juni, "So I'm one of the heirs to the leadership role after her, my uncle, and my parents, alongside my cousin and sister."

Annette was about to speak when suddenly, the sound of a distant ear-piercing cry cut her off and made her stiffen. Quincy, Miranda, Larimar, Celine and Juni also stiffened. The group of chicks, flying fox pups and flaplings also stopped their game and stiffened, as did their watchers.

"What's that noise?" asked Larimar.

"Sounds like a falcon cry," said Miranda, "There are several forest falcons that live on the Sanctuary de Amazon."

Annette, however, had arrived to a different conclusion for she had become familiar with predatory bird cries. At the hollow of the Meeting Tree, a number of heads had peered out, their faces bearing wary looks. Then Annette gazed with dread at the other five.

"That's not a forest falcon's cry..." she said slowly. The other five then gazed at her but as they did, something rushed towards them, but it was not the source of the ear-piercing screech for it was still in the distance. Then before any of the six could see who it was, a blue comet suddenly appeared and charged at them, violently ramming into Annette and Quincy and knocking them off the perch. Miranda, Larimar, Celine and Juni, violently startled by the passing blue comet that was moving so fast that its identity was obscured, suddenly lofted or dropped into flight and rushed over to the first two that had been struck as they plummeted towards the branches below. Annette crashed hard onto one branch while Quincy was seized by two more comets, one silver and white and the other brown and black. A female silver bat-bird, Juni's sister, and a flying fox, Augustus and Melissa's latest son Hans, had charged in and had caught the glaucous macaw.

"Thanks, Hans, Marie," said Quincy as the flying fox held him by the neck with his foot claws while Marie had his tail in her beak. Miranda and the others rushed over to Hans and Juni's sister Marie as they hoisted Quincy to another tree branch when suddenly, the ear-piercing scream exploded loudly, accompanied by the screams of many young macaws, bat-birds and pterobats, and flying foxes in addition to a few adult ones, but those screams were saturated with not just terror, but something else as well. Hans snapped his gaze to the source of the sound and the moment his eyes landed on it, his fur flared out and he let loose a scream. Miranda, Larimar, Annette, Quincy, Celine and Juni also saw the screaming object and also let loose terrified screams.

"We NEED TO GET YOUR FRIEND TO SAFETY!" Hans bellowed and with that, he and Marie seized Quincy again and carried him off. Miranda, Larimar, Celine and Juni then gathered around Annette as she clutched her wing, her face twisted in agony.

"I think my wing's broken," said she painfully through a gritted beak. Miranda and the other three changed worried glances and carefully picked up Annette and hoisted her to safety. As the four lifted her carefully off the branch, being careful of her possibly injured left wing, Blu's voice exploded from the Meeting Tree, "GET THOSE CHICKS, FLAPLINGS AND FLYING FOX PUPS AWAY FROM THAT HARPY EAGLE!"

Hearing this, Miranda, Larimar, Celine, Juni and also Annette looked up and to their horror; they saw a massive bird of prey viciously fighting some adult macaws, flying foxes, bat-birds and pterobats to keep it away from the kids while some other macaws and flying foxes led the petrified kids away. The bird of prey was slate grey and ivory, and was armed with massive sickles for talons and beak and based on the large collection of plumes on its head, it was clear that it wasn't just any bird of prey, and that bird of prey was smothered by a colourful cloud of feathers, fur, pycnofibres and membranous wings as many of the watchers of kids were viciously attacking it. Fear for the safety of his two sons and mate, as well as Miranda's son and daughter and Larimar's mate and daughter exploding within him, Quincy called to those carrying Annette.

"Get Annette to safety, NOW," he barked, before commanding Hans and Marie to release him despite their protests, "I have to get my sons Elliot and Marty and my mate Bertha to safety NOW, along with the other kids!"

"Can you fly?" asked Marie. Quincy just barked at her and Hans to release him, which they did. Once airborne, Quincy, despite the pain from the tackle from the unidentified blue blur then rocketed off towards the flock of the evacuating kids while Marie and Hans rushed to safety after Miranda and the others as they carried Annette.

The harpy eagle continued writhing under the blanket of various macaw species, two species of pterosaur and a giant bat, its lethal talons tearing wildly and indiscriminately at the variety of prey choices. Those talons managed to catch a few more unfortunate macaws and flying foxes and they were sent plummeting towards earth from the battle cloud, forcing some of the carers into diving down to save them and carry them away. From the Meeting Tree, the tribe, clan and group leaders all rocketed towards the commotion with several of them joining in the fight to help drive off the massive harpy eagle.

Jewel threw herself at the massive avian beast despite Blu, Roberto, Aurora, Brisa and Zephyr's protests and landed onto its back where she proceeded to score her claws through its feathers, making the eagle thrash and writhe in pain. As it did that, Augustus, Melissa and some of their inner circle bats rushed in with sticks to try and help drive the beast away. Although flying foxes rarely wielded sticks, only using them in dire, life-threatening situations like this one, they NEVER EVER wielded sharp-sticks due to the infamy of these spear-like weapons had with the flying fox colony before their scattering, so the flying foxes of Augustus's clan only used ordinary sticks, and they used them to beat extremely dangerous predators like harpy eagles whenever they targeted members of their clan or their friends to help drive them away.

Augustus went straight for the eagle's head and tried to whack it with his branch while Andromeda rushed in on her bat-bird and leaped onto the harpy eagle's back with Jewel. A number of other leaders, such as Orquidea, Esmeralda and Ruby also joined in the fray while Blu and the rest commanded everyone within the vicinity of the dangerous bird to evacuate while the attacking group held it off. However, harpy eagles were NOT to be underestimated in their strength and capabilities and this harpy eagle began to viciously fight back, lashing its claws at its attackers. More casualties ensued with several more falling out of the battle crowd, slashed by the eagle's talons, and several more very nearly became casualties by those same weapons.

Andromeda very nearly had her back carved with a brutal claw mark as one of the eagle's talons sliced at her lower back and tail as she glided away, her wings and leg-wings spread out. One of the fishhooks sheared several metallic dark blue feathers from the archaeobird clan matriarch's semi-moveable tail, just below where the fan of flight feathers started, and sent them dancing away like metallic snowflakes, but no scratch was opened. Another slash of the eagle's talons very nearly caught Alonso's neck but the green macaw tribe patriarch managed to arch his head back far enough for the points of the talon to miss by centimetres, resulting in Alonso having a narrow escape from a fatal throat slit, and Jewel was almost bitten on the wing by the furious eagle's beak, much to her alarm. While the chaos of the fight continued, D'Artagnan spotted several feathered forms fly in. It was Caspian's group but then D'Artagnan, together with Aurora and Melissa, saw that three of the birds were injured. Bruno the hyacinth macaw was carried in the talons of Caspian and Greg but he was already dead and D'Artagnan, Aurora and Melissa already saw that he had a throat slash, while the two casualties, Kevin and Ophiuchus, both bore nasty scratches with Kevin having his right wing hanging limply below him. Because he could not fly with an injured wing, he was carried in by Sardonyx. All eleven birds, which were the female great green macaw, Caspian and his daughters Apricot and Satsuma, Greg, Sardonyx, an injured Kevin and Steven, and Ophiuchus, Bellerophon and Pandora, and the three bat-birds carrying the latter three were visibly frightened and shaken, their feathers flattened against their bodies, but Ophiuchus and Kevin's faces were twisted in extreme pain as well, the former's wing claws clasping his left hip. When Marinho and Phoebe's eyes found the deceased Bruno in the great green macaw and Greg's talons, horror tore through them.

"That eagle just came out of nowhere," Caspian managed to say at last, his voice trembling with terror as he spoke, "but as we were making our hasty escape, a blue blur shot in and attacked us, knocking Ophiuchus off his bat-bird and sending Kevin flying into a tree.."

"CASPIAN, APRICOT, SATSUMA!" yelled a voice. Caspian snapped his head up and saw a yellow and green comet rush in and collide with him and his daughters in a hug. As the golden conure family shared a hug of relief, Blu flew in and examined Kevin and Ophiuchus's injuries.

"We'd better get you two and the other casualties to the hospital now," he said, "Especially Ophiuchus. He's severely wounded!"

Bellerophon and Pandora gazed at Ophiuchus's side and saw that it was bleeding badly, more so than Kevin's injury on his chest. If Ophiuchus isn't admitted to hospital right now, he could end up as another fatality. Immediately, Verde and Sapphire, together with her half-sister Monique and brother-in-law Waldo who had resigned their leadership of the Lear's macaw tribe and had handed it over to Sapphire and D'Artagnan to lead it due to what happened with Waldo in the flying fox colony's Interrogation Patch years earlier, flew in.

"We'll see to that," said Sapphire and with that, the three Lear's macaws and the green macaw tribe matriarch took Caspian's group to the animal hospital, Pandora and Verde seizing some large leaves to apply to Ophiuchus's wound to stem the bleeding.

After Verde, D'Artagnan and his mate, half-sister-in-law and brother-in-law left, Blu and the others returned their attention to the main task: driving off the harpy eagle. However, that had already been done as Felipe, Jewel and several other macaws, flying foxes, bat-birds and pterobats, and archaeobirds on their bat-bird mounts arrived, all of them puffing and panting from the skirmish.

"We've managed to drive away the beast," said Felipe, "Athos managed to rake his claws over its right eye which forced it to give up."

As he spoke, Augustus began to bark at the other fighters to fly down to the casualties and take those that had been severely injured to the hospital and those with less serious injuries to the infirmaries in the territories. All the fighters were puffing and panting and some of them bore several cuts and bruises, but several more had sustained more serious injuries.

"That's good," said Blu, "Now make sure that the casualties that are SERIOUSLY hurt are rushed to the animal hospital PRONTO!"

"We're already in progress with that Blu," called Roberto from the fighter group, many of them flying down to their wounded comrades. Then Levi flew in with Pearl and several other macaws and flying foxes, bat-birds, archaeobirds and pterobats.

"The kids are also all safe but they've been badly shaken from the ordeal," said the glaucous macaw. As he spoke, Quincy turned up.

"Where's my mate Bertha?" he demanded, worry for his mate boiling within him. Levi gazed at his son, the look of worry also plastered on his face while the other macaws and flying creatures exchanged glances.

Soon

The cleanup after the harpy eagle attack continued until all the casualties were taken to the hospital and those killed in the attack were taken away to be buried in their respective tribe, clan, and group's territory. Amongst the badly injured were Ruby, Orquidea, Esmeralda and Cobalto and of course, Quincy's mate Bertha whose injury had put her in critical condition. These macaws had participated in battling the harpy eagle to drive it away but had sustained serious injuries. Athos, Porthos, Aramis and Phoebe had been utterly devastated, as were the close friends and families of the macaws, such as Pearl and Felipe, who were Ruby's sister and brother-in-law respectively. Fortunately, none of the silver bat-birds and pterobats was among these casualties. While the cleanup continued, a group of macaws and other animals were perched on a branch of a tree just outside the animal hospital, while a number of other trees were decorated with more macaws, archaeobirds, bat-birds, and flying foxes, clearly relatives of the casualties being admitted to the hospital. In the former group were Miranda and her son and daughter; Annette, Quincy and his sons Elliot and Marty, and sister Larimar, and Celine and Juni, and Kiawe the blue-headed macaw who sat with his mate Mariposa and grown-up son Franco who now had a mate and two chicks of his own. As the group continued to watch the casualties get admitted to the animal hospital, worry, confusion and disbelief were boiling within them.

Quincy and Annette's injuries were not too severe and thankfully, Annette's wing injury happened to be just a nasty bruise, the result of her hard landing on the branch, while Quincy had just suffered a strike to the back but despite the pain, he could still fly. Because of this, these two didn't need to be taken to the hospital, but Quincy, Elliot and Marty were laced with worry and concern for Bertha. They did not get a glimpse of the extent of her injuries but they knew that they were very serious. Nearby, Hans, Augustus and Melissa's newest son, was trembling in disbelief. Augustus and Melissa were clearly glad that he was safe and had not been caught in the chaos, and the two clan leaders had put him under strict supervision of some of his friends, such as Miranda's group.

There was a moment of silence hanging over Miranda's group until finally, Quincy spoke.

"I don't believe this, folks," he said to the others, "How could a harpy eagle just appear out of nowhere and attack us?"

"Not to mention that blue comet that knocked us off the branch and nearly gave me a broken wing," said Annette angrily. She was clearly livid at whoever had did the deed and was itching to give them a piece of her mind but a part of her assumed that the blue comet was trying to flee the harpy eagle and had accidentally crashed into her and Quincy, but still, it was a reckless move. While Annette thought about this, Hans gazed at a certain gathering of macaws, archaeobirds and flying foxes.

"Looks like Mom, Dad and the other leaders are discussing what had happened, folks," he said. Miranda and her chicks Murphy and Beatrice who were nearby, and Annette, Quincy, Elliot, Marty, Celine and Juni all gathered around him and followed the flying fox's wing point to the group of bats, macaws, and archaeobirds. Kiawe, Mariposa and Franco and his family did the same.

"They will be, Hans," said Kiawe with no surprise, "This is a very serious matter."

"It always is when an apex predator is involved in unusual situations like this," put in Mariposa. Franco, his mate and two chicks didn't say anything and shrugged while Miranda and company only gazed back at the blue-headed macaw family with silent faces.

While the onlookers watched from the trees, Blu was discussing the incident with some of the other leaders and inner circle birds and flying foxes, among them Jewel, Roberto, Brisa, Aurora, Zephyr, Felipe, Augustus and Melissa. Some of the leaders and inner circle birds, archaeobirds and flying foxes had left to either be with their injured relatives and friends, such as the case with Athos and Pearl with Ruby, or to talk with the eyewitnesses, among them Caspian, Satsuma and Apricot.

"Could that harpy eagle have been out hunting or something?" asked Blu. The others shrugged their shoulders.

"It's a possibility Blu," said Roberto, "But the thing is, around the Meeting Tree, there are no harpy eagles nesting anywhere within the vicinity."

"Maybe that harpy eagle could have strayed into the area by accident?" asked Aurora, "Or could it be coincidence? After all, if there are no harpy eagles nesting nearby, the chances of a harpy wandering into the area on a hunting trip are slim."

"We were sure that the area around the Meeting Tree was safe, even for young bat-bird and pterobat flaplings, flying fox pups, and chicks," said Melissa, "since few predators, especially harpy eagles hunted around there though we still had to keep an eye out for winged predators for the sake of our young."

As she spoke, the sounds of membranous wing flaps reached the ears of the group, pulling their gazes to the sources of the sounds, four archaeobirds on their bat-bird mounts. Andromeda, Eragon, the former's other brother, Anakin and cousin Spock, then touched down and dismounted their bat-birds, before approaching Blu and the others with serious looks on their faces. Blu and company felt dread well within them.

"Blu, folks," said Andromeda in a stern voice.

"Yes?" said Blu while the others looked on with wordless gazes. Jewel exchanged worried glances with Aurora, Brisa, Zephyr and Roberto. Andromeda, Eragon, Anakin and Spock then paused before Eragon came forward but nothing could prepare Blu and the others for what he said next about the harpy eagle incident.

"That harpy eagle wasn't out on a hunting trip," said Andromeda's mate in a serious voice, "Someone had deliberately provoked it and lured it toward us to attack us, starting with Caspian's group."

Spock and Anakin nodded in agreement to this. Blu, Jewel, Aurora, Brisa, Zephyr and Roberto, Augustus, Melissa, Felipe and the other leaders and inner circle birds and flying foxes present all threw on horrified and disbelieving faces, hoping that Eragon and the other three were kidding but the serious looks on the archaeobird clan patriarch, his mate and his brother-in-law and cousin-in-law confirmed that they were indeed being serious.