Inky talons gleamed in the moonlight, wings stretched against the night sky in a defiant flight. It soared right over us moving South West, towards the city waterfront. Like any waterfront, the city had a nice walkway along the water’s edge so that people could spend their leisure enjoying the fresh air. In this case the devil bird was going to enjoy fresh pickins.

Even though I expected to see it, the Sluagh still baffled me. “This thing is huge. Like Rescuers Down Under huge,” I said.

We drove past the Ferry building now. Parked cars filled half the lot. Owners had left the vehicle overnight as they rode the ferry into San Francisco. There were a few cars driving on the cross streets, but other than that this side of town was pretty dead right now, which was great. The less people involved the better.

“Can you roll up the windows? It’s cold,” said Rob.

“Nope.” I shook my head. “Might need to shoot out of the car.”

The street was now empty, except for a lone jogger. There’s always one guy, rain or shine, snow or lightning, that is outside daring mother nature to kill him as he jogs. Got to lose that weight and get that runner’s high no matter what.

The massive bird dove from the sky. Its talons reached ahead, wings spread back, slowing its descent. The jogger didn’t even stand a chance with his earbuds in.

“Oh crap,” I whispered.

The talons of the great bird latched onto his shoulders and took him higher than any running could produce. Even with the wind in my face I could still hear his screams.

The bird flapped its massive wings and soared higher. Tain barked furiously.

“Bring it down,” yelled Rob.

“We’re too far away,” I said. “I might accidentally shoot him.”

I accelerated, keeping the bird and its catch in sight as the street winded around the natural edge of the rocky city waterfront. The street I was on turned back East, perpendicular and away from the direction I wanted to go.

“You’re losing it,” said Rob who climbed onto my lap and planted his front paws on my open window.

Up ahead I hooked a right turn and kept following the bird down Sonoma Blvd. The bird was staying close to the waterfront, and the jogger was but a dark flailing speck in the night sky now. Unfortunately the boulevard was removed from the actual water’s edge because a huge auto yard owned property all the way up to the water. I’d have to drive past the auto yard and find another street that could bring me closer to the water.

Driving past the graveyard of rusted and wrecked automobiles, the Fastback approached train tracks. The tracks cut right through town and if I turned right onto them I’d be heading the exact direction I wanted to go.

“Turn, turn, turn,” said Rob.

“No more back seat driving,” I yelled.

“I’m not in the back seat,” said Rob.

I grabbed him by the extra fur behind his cat neck and tossed him in the back.

“Careful with the fur,” he hissed.

I drifted across the two sets of tracks and landed on the third. I tried to keep my tires in between the rails but no matter what I did it was going to be a bumpy ride.

The Sluagh came into view and I sped up, trying to keep my teeth from rattling too hard. The train track led right up to the old Kellogg’s cereal mill which had been abandoned for years and was the perfect place for the bird to enjoy its catch in solitude.

I drove through the weathered truck yard of the mill. Massive weeds had pushed their way through cracks in the truck yard making it look like a scene from an uninhabited post apocalypse cityscape.

The Sluagh hovered around the building until it landed on a roof. The mill had several odd building components which seemed to be of various random heights. The bird chose to land on a portion of the building that reached up two stories high.

I drove around the parking lot until I found what I was looking for; a rusty staircase leading to the second floor from the outside. I jumped out of the car and told Tain, “Stay!” Ripping off my jacket, I strapped the shotgun holster to my shoulders and clipped the lanyard onto the Mossberg. Then I had Rob mount the sheathed sword on my back, slipping it through the straps. Cold air whipped my hair and sent chills along my exposed arms. Why did I put on a T-shirt?

I eyed the staircase. No turning back now. I took a deep breath and bounded up the stairs, tackling three steps at a time. At the top I found a few handholds via pipes that ran vertically along the building. I scaled the side up to the roof. Rob cleared the edge of the roof with me.

“Aren’t you afraid of this thing?”

“You didn’t command me to stay. If not for the life debt, I wouldn’t be here.”

The Sluagh hadn’t noticed us yet and the jogger’s cries had stopped. I removed the shotgun from the holster and pumped it. “Alright Rob the Hob,” I said, “you got a battle-cat mode? Now’s the time to use it.”

Without waiting for a reply I advanced on the massive bird.

The sight we met wasn’t pretty. The jogger lay on his back already dead. The big bird wasted no time and had already dug into its catch. Beak dripping scarlet, entrails galore, it lifted its beak to the night sky bobbing its head, swallowing.

Squeamish revulsion lodged in my gut and I resisted the urge to throw up. The Sluagh’s back was turned to us still, so we had the element of surprise on our side.

I hefted the shotgun and took steady steps towards the beast, so as not to startle it. I was about twenty feet away from it when Tain started barking like crazy.

The big bird twitched its head in several directions rapidly trying to find the source of the barking. It turned and spotted me with its disturbingly humanoid eyes. Instantly its feathers ruffled as it let out a mighty squawk that made me want to run and hide. I suddenly became reminded of the pain in my left shoulder from the talons that had ripped into me the night before.

The Sluagh spread its wings out and tried taking off, presumably so it could dive-bomb Rob and I.

“Oh no you don’t,” I yelled and fired off a shot.

The bird’s motion was too quick for me though and my aim was a bit off. A few feathers went flying. Other than that the bird was still in the air. Flapping its wings, it moved higher out of range until it came back around swooping down at us. Its talons reached out ready to rip me to shreds.

I stood my ground and raised the gun, pumping it again.

“Wait Sean,” I said to myself.

“What are you doing?” said Rob, chasing his cat tail in circles of hysteria. “Shoot it! Shoot it!”

“Wait.” It got dreadfully close.

The hobgoblin hovered in my face, eyes bulging. “Pull the trigger.”

I waited until it was within ten feet of me before firing the gun. I did my best to duck out of the way as it collided with the roof.

All of its weight came crashing down causing the roof beneath me to shake. It smashed into a ventilation box and bent several pipes before coming to a halt.

I raised my gun and raced toward it to finish it off.

“Great shot! I knew you could do it,” said Rob.

But I got too close and it batted me with one of its wings.

I stumbled back and tripped over a pipe.

With the gun in my hand I wasn’t able to stop myself from falling off the edge of the building.