"Misk Gods" Saga
Part II: Blood Drop On The Iron

It came with powerful force. Before I had time to respond to a thing Tiger was freaking out about, and before I could get into the state of mind to realize that we were in danger, Tiger's back leaped up and caused me to go flying way out in front of him. I was able to twirl and land on my feet just in time to land undamaged. See Tiger's worried expression now worried me a great deal more. I look around frantically and noticed there was an oddly-shaped rock just behind me. I crept behind it to watch Tiger safely from a camouflaged distance. I could already feel my vomit starting to dry up and become crusty. My eyes were watering from the direct sunlight getting to my big, blue eyes. I wanted to die; I was most uncomfortable.

Tiger was jumping around and frantically searching behind him. As he looked up, so did I, and there it was. Freedom, the giant bald eagle Sky God was coming at Tiger like a feathery bullet. It looked more like a huge blur to me, but who else could it have been besides Freedom? I hadn't seen him so up close before, and I could feel a chill going all the way throughout my bones, even though It was extremely hot out. The mere sight of Freedom was like witnessing Satan. I began to shake all over and sweat, and you can only imagine how disgusting it felt to be covered in slowly crusting vomit and sweat, especially when you have feathers you were used to preening every day.

Freedom seemed to attack Tiger with full force because Tiger fell back as Freedom's talons hit him in the chest. It was almost comical, seeing Tiger go flying across the dirt ground on his bottom like that, but I knew this was anything but a laughing matter. My only way of getting either to water or back to my cave was in danger, and there was obviously nothing someone as small as myself could do about that. I found myself trying to take a bite out of the dirt-covered rock before me, starting to feel sick again, but this time because of what was happening in front of me.

Freedom wasted no time after he shoved Tiger back. He simply flew in front of him in a single powerful swoop and started hacking at Tiger's face with his long talons. I swear I saw blood and fur go flying as Freedom slid his talons across Tiger's left cheek, but before he could do much damage, Tiger swept his gigantic paw in front of him and pinned Freedom to the ground, his paw neatly crushing Freedom's right wing. Before Freedom could react, Tiger used his other paw to crush Freedom's left wing. Freedom was definitely not going anywhere soon. I almost felt like cheering Tiger on, but what good would that do?

"Don't even think you have me now," Freedom spoke in an equally powerful voice, but like me, his voice was far from perfect due to the beak. I suppose even when you have thousands of years to practice speaking better, you just can't fight the powers of your own beak. "I have plenty of others behind me and they'll be here any minute, Tiger. They'll all rip you up until you're nothing but a gorgeous furry rug inside the front room of lair."

"Is that why you want to kill me so much?" Tiger didn't seem too angry; he almost seemed amused, and that really scared me. "So you can do some home decorating? I had a feeling you were a material sort of guy, Freedom. You'd better pay attention to the more important things in life… Unless you want to pay the price, that is."

"Oh, spare me," Freedom seemed to hack in frustration, his wings straining to be free from Tiger's paws. "You're a piece of shit, Tiger. You always were and you always will be. Don't think for just one moment that you're better than me. You're not. Quit acting like a fucking hero already and accept it."

"Funny, I don't recall saying I was a hero…" Tiger grinned. I was completely scared at this point. Why was Tiger acting so casual about all of this? Was it because he'd fought Freedom so many times that it didn't seem to be a big deal anymore? I knew if I ever ended up in a fight with anyone, I'd never have a casual attitude toward it. I'd probably either be scared or fearless, depending on who it was I was fighting.

I saw Tiger's claws extend outside of his paws. They glittered in the sunlight like jewels, similar to the way his eyes had been glowing inside my cave only about half an hour before. Before I could even think about what was about to happen, it happened. Tiger actually shot his claws into Freedom's wings. Did they go through his wings? Probably. They didn't seem to have a problem at all with spearing Freedom. They slid in like a butcher knife sinks into an angel cake, so delicately and easily. But there was nothing delicate or easy about what was happening, that was for sure.

"Tell me, does that hurt?" Tiger asked Freedom. Freedom seemed unable to respond. It was if he was trying to scream in agony, but the pain was simply too much for him to handle, so he was screaming in silence. His beak was wide open and so were his eyes, his golden brown eyes. "You seem a bit choked up, Freedom… Let me help you with that." The grin on Tiger's face was chilling, haunting.

Like a vampire, Tiger lowered his head and clenched Freedom's feathery white neck with his equally whiter teeth. Just as his claws and slid into his wings, his teeth slid through his neck. Blood squirted out from almost every direction, spraying Tiger's face, chest, and front legs. At first, Freedom's talons had been frantically jittering in an attempt to maybe scar Tiger's belly, but now they stopped and became very, very pale. Whiter than Freedom's own head and neck, in fact. They sank limply onto the dried earth and Freedom's eyes began to close.

I was nearly positive he was dead, and I was about to jump out from behind the rock and scold Tiger for making my eyes witness such horror, while thanking him and congratulating him at the same time. But that's when more trouble seemed to face us; a huge flock, no, a wave of smaller eagles began to fill the clear, sunlit sky. My heart sank and I shrunk back behind the rock immediately. I hadn't felt so afraid in my life. Who would have thought that making friends with somebody would cause so much destruction in such little time?

Before long, the air stampede of eagles shot down like lots of little spears aimed straight for Tiger. The most difficult thing I had ever experienced in my entire life was watching a potential best friend being speared by many eagles and not being able to do a thing about it. I had a sudden urge to just rush out from behind the rock and call out to get their attention, but I knew that even if I did that, it wouldn't change the damage they would be doing to Tiger. They wanted to kill him. Sure, they'd probably want to kill me as well if they saw me, but only because they'd be hungry or bored or something. I knew deep down that Freedom couldn't have wanted to kill Tiger for the soul purpose of having a new rug in his lair, but I was afraid to find out the real reason he wanted him dead. Then again, maybe I did know. Wasn't it true that if the Land God were to die because of the Sky God, the Sky God would be in control of both land and sky creatures? Was Freedom looking for absolute power? The thought was haunting me, but no more than the other eagles pinning Tiger was haunting me.

I watched as Tiger screamed in agony. He would buck his hind legs up into the air and try to hit the eagles, but he was rarely succeeding. They were scarring up his body with their beaks and talons. After they all had a shot at spearing him, they simply hovered around him and tried to scar up every part of his body as possible. If Freedom honestly wanted Tiger as a rug, it would be a pretty well damaged one.

I was petrified in horror as Tiger tried to move, and as he lifted one of his front paws, it escaped out of Freedom's wing and caused loads of warm, thick blood to go squirting back into Tiger's face as well as in the faces of the eagles swarming around him like wasps. Tiger didn't seem to care, I'm sure he only wanted to get out of the mess he was in. He seemed to be struggling with his other paw, but using his free one, he yanked it out of Freedom's other wing. More blood shot out in different places until Tiger's entire front half was literally dripping in dark blood and more than half of the eagles were drenched, too. It was absolutely disgusting. I felt extremely weary and tired. I knew what would be happening soon, but my eyes were locked on the scene.

Freedom still couldn't move, even after he was free from Tiger's talons. He was dead, wasn't he? What if the other eagles killed Tiger? Then we wouldn't have Land or Sky God at all… And that would mean that the Water God would be in charge of the entire world of Misk until his one million years were up, right? But I had never seen the Water God before… Maybe Freedom had already killed him as well? I had no idea, and I didn't like to think about it, but I couldn't help myself.

Suddenly, Tiger turned around to face the other little eagles, and he started swiping and snapping at them vigorously. This wasn't the part that shocked me; the part that shocked me was the fact that blood was still shooting out of Freedom's wings and neck like a fountain, getting the back of Tiger's body and making him look more like a red panther than anything else. His stripes simply weren't visible any longer. His tail looked like it had been dipped in liquid roses. At this point, I was extremely disgusted. How long could I keep up for? Another minute, a few seconds?

Tiger started to rip eagles right out of the air and munched on them. That's where the sick feeling finally got to me. As his teeth went down on the eagle's bodies, they too turned into little miniature fountains and blood was spraying absolutely everywhere. Gross, gross, gross! I took big gasps full of air. This wasn't happening, this wasn't happening! Tiger never seemed to stop, the blood was practically invisible to him. There must have been hundreds of eagles surrounding him, trying to claw at his body, but it didn't make any difference….

The vomit sprayed out from my beak just as the blood from Freedom's body had. Brownish green liquid ooze hit the rock in front of me and sprayed back into my face. Just knowing this made me vomit even more, more and more, my insides feeling hollow. Most of it immediately oozed down the rest of my body, covering up the vomit that had begun to crust, giving me that warm sensation again. This time it sank into my sides as well, and I could even feel vomit on my back. I could only vomit more. The more places I felt the vomit, the more the feeling in my stomach couldn't handle it.

My eyes were barely open at this point, and I had finally stopped vomiting. I was almost afraid that the eagles had heard me, but not one had turned its attention to me. I watched as Tiger picked some more out from the air and munched them up quicker than a machine, the number of eagles dead on the ground was much, much greater than the amount still hovering in the air and trying to attack the blood-covered God… I took one last spray of vomit, one last warm, liquid wave trickling quickly down my chest, and that's when I fell backward once more, this time blacking out.

"Boo, I said come on!" I opened my eyes to find a panther's face directly in front of mine. No, this wasn't a panther at all, it was Tiger! He was so covered in dark blood he really did look like a panther. Even his long whiskers were covered in it, and drooping down like weak flower stems.

"I'm… up…." I managed to gasp as I woke. "What happened? How long as it been?"

"Since you blacked out?" Tiger tilted his head. "I don't know when you fainted, I was a little occupied… As you can tell. Man, that was crazy. Thousands of years… Yeah, I've been alive for thousands of years, and I can't even remember the last time he sent a swarm of them after me. I have to admit, it was actually a little exciting. I'm not as dehydrated anymore. The blood served well. It was warm, though, and I still need something refreshing…"

I vomited again after hearing this, and since I was still lying on my back, it sprayed all over my face. Tiger winced, picked me up with his teeth despite the vomit, and placed me on the back of his wet, slippery neck. I slid a little bit on the blood, but I had a fairly tight grip. No, I vomited a second time on the back of his neck, the brown liquid streaming across his back.

"Sorry," he apologized sympathetically. "I didn't realize you had such a weak stomach. You shouldn't have been watching me! Anyway, I think it's about time we head off already… I'm thirsty and we're both in need of baths, now. Maybe a few, actually. Let's just-"

Tiger didn't finish. He stumbled back behind the rock, but of course he wasn't very well hidden. He was much too big. I peered at whatever had stopped him from finishing that sentence. I froze as well. Three really strange creatures were sitting next to Freedom's white corpse. Closer observation told me that these three creatures were also eagles, but it was difficult to tell because they had the same body shape as me. Very short and midget-like, but very fluffy and chubby-looking as well. One of them wasn't even brown! Instead, it was red and blue. The third one was very tiny… It must have only been a child; perhaps the child of the two other eagles?

"Those three are always following Freedom around," Tiger whispered so only I could hear; something I didn't think was very possible. "The only reason that Freedom lets them hang around him is because that red and blue one is a female… The only known female eagle in existence. That's her mate and child next to her. They're not even really henchmen of Freedom, they're more or less fans. Followers."

I nodded to show that I understood. That's when I noticed there was a vile tied around the female eagle's mate… It was a bright red liquid. It couldn't have been blood in there because it was glowing. Using his beak, he opened up the vile and then hopped forward (he couldn't step forward because of his body type, I understood) and tilted a few drops of the glowing stuff into Freedom's neck. It was the strangest thing I'd ever seen, but I understand almost immediately. Whatever that liquid was, it caused Freedom to return to full health. And I was correct. His wounds shrunk to nothing, his color returned, and his eyes opened. He was still covered in his own blood, however. He looked angry. I could have sworn his eyes were glowing red, more red than the vile of liquid.

"If you think I'm going to thank you're wrong," Freedom spat at the chubby little eagle. "Where the fuck did Tiger go? I wasn't finished with him…"

I nearly fainted again. Freedom's eyes locked into Tiger's. It was as if I was completely nonexistent. Freedom didn't seem to see me, more make a comment about me being on Tiger's back. He just glared at Tiger, and Tiger glared right back. The three pudgy eagles looked eat each other, nodded, and took off into awkward flight, their tiny wings barely able to hold themselves into the air.

I felt like crying. Was this my death day? I felt Tiger's growl, but it only seemed to make Freedom glare into his eyes even more. I started to slip off of Tiger, but he kept a fine balance to make sure I didn't fall. The blood and vomit beneath my feet seemed to be moving on its own. I thought some of the blood on Tiger would have started to try by now, but it hadn't.

Before Tiger could make a move, Freedom did. He launched forward like some sort of action figure and raked his talons into Tiger's neck just seconds after I slipped further back, now more or less gripping onto Tiger's lower back. I was frightened. Freedom's tail feathers were so close they were practically poking my face. I wanted to just slide off and let business be business, but there was no time. At that precise moment, Freedom flapped his wings and rose high into the air with talons piercing Tiger's back and myself still clutching on as tight as possible.

I shut my eyes tight as we rose quickly into the air, higher than I'd ever gone before, and I began to slip. Sweat drenched my feathers, even over the blood and the vomit, which hadn't dried at all. I was slipping down Tiger's tail and Tiger couldn't seem to help me balance anymore. He was probably concentrating on how to move next without putting me in danger, if that was even possible.

"I'll fucking kill you, Tiger!" Freedom called out as he kept hovering us higher and higher into the air, some blood and vomit flying off Tiger's body because of the speed were flying up at. "I swear on my Sky God ancestors, I'll fucking murder you and take control of Misk forever! You'd better be listening to me, you son of a bitch! Forever! I know I won't die when my one million years are up, because I am too great! I'm greater than any Sky God before me! There has never been a greater God than myself! I am superior to all! Especially you, Tiger, especially you!"

But Tiger did not respond, and of course, neither did I. As I slipped down to the tip of Tiger's tail, that's when I looked down. Yes, Tiger was correct, land animals always looked down when they were in the air, it really was a habit. But that wasn't the only thing Tiger was right about; Iron Plateau really was shaped like an iron! And now there was a drop of blood on this iron, toward the tip. It must have been the size of pool up close, but now it only looked like a drop.

"I'll deal with you later when you're more challenging, you weak piece of shit," Freedom spat. And with that, he dropped Tiger. He dropped us and flew off immediately. We were heading straight for the tip of the iron. Tiger didn't scream at all, but I did. I screamed like a whiny little baby. I cried, even. I knew I was going to die. My beak was clenching onto the tip of Tiger's tail, and I knew we were as good as dead… That I was as good as dead, anyway.