Book One – Chapter 9

“Fuck off,” he said, moving right towards the foremost paigan, closing the distance, deliberately getting within reach. Because sometimes, all you could do is bluff. With his injuries, the words did not come out properly. His hoarse voice did not travel through the rain.

Spikes tensing, legs rattling, the beast recognised that Yves was now within immediate reach —

Giant claws shot out of the storm above, spear-like appendages that slashed through the air, tearing just above the ruins, accompanied by a high, bestial screeching — the norlak, an avian beast, the natural predator of paigen. It killed paigen with brutal efficiency, slashing them dead mid-flight or thrashing them against rock formations. Its long claws provided formidable defence against the paigen’s spikes. The norlak shot out and vanished into the storm within the same heartbeat, narrowly missing the foremost paigan. Its deafening screeches hinted at an impending descent for another strike.

With that, the dynamics between Yves and the paigen abruptly shifted. One of the creatures behind the walls leaped up, whirled around, and bolted. In that same moment, the paigan closest to Yves, in front of the dwelling, also turned and fled. The third followed right after. They were incredibly fast, gone in a blink.

It had been a poor visual and auditory illusion. It had been all Yves could muster. He had scraped together some last reserves of energy; he really did not know where they came from, probably from the Jabarrah. At this point, Yves was too exhausted to discern the differences. Well, it had been enough. Yves had enough experience with paigen to know how to manipulate and intimidate them. No wizard would have recognised this norlak, but then, the illusion had not been crafted for wizard eyes. During his attempts as a paigan hunter, Yves had figured out how to create deceptions that appeared realistic through a paigan’s visual and auditory senses. It was a Fuck off they understood.