I stop hopping when I feel the strange feeling of the air around me crackling.

Something was definitely wrong.

They'd seen me. It should have registered in their minds that I was only a baby raven that had disturbed their barrier. But why was it not turning into something like a 'oh haha, it was only a bird' kind of reaction??

I was expecting at worst, for them to ignore me. But this, their reaction was taking me by surprise.

One of the priests was still chanting, the tip of the golden staff beginning to release a slight glow. The other priest knelt on the cloth he'd been sitting on, fingers crossed over each other as he prayed up at the sky.

The last man, the warrior, watched me with his sword drawn, the sharp point angled towards me as it followed my motions as I'd hopped up and down to get their attention.

"Kei! Kiee!!"

I could hear frantic calls from the direction of the bush Greenie was hiding in. When I glanced behind me, I could see him, out of the bush, spear flailing in the air as he shook it at us.

Something bright was flashing above me. I'd experienced something similar enough to know what that was.

Uh-oh.

No time to think. I start flapping for dear life, back towards Greenie.

Just in time, as a burst of high pitched light came falling down out of the clear blue sky.

Drilling through the grass and scorching the earth where I had just been.

I'd activated 『Evasive Maneuvers』a step too late. Another bolt of light crackles, taking off my left wing tip.

If I'd chosen to fly over the lake, I would have drowned. But as it was, I lose my balance, spiraling forward. For a split-second as I fall, I see the warrior with his sword still drawn, one hand over his eyes as he stares out over the bright lake in Greenie's direction.

Dread overwhelms me. Please, no.

None of this was making any sense. They were really trying to kill me. Me, a baby bird! What had I done to them to make them react like this?? This was too much.

It was naive of me to think that the humans wouldn't be dangerous like the monsters were.

Guilt and regret swirls in my gut, putting a sour taste in my mouth.

And I might have to pay the price for it.

The warrior steps out the copse of trees, white shield strapped to his arm and silver sword in the other hand.

"Craaaawk!" My right wing was feeling the strain from the excessive, desperate, flapping, as I depend on『Evasive Maneuvers』. Not only to avoid the bolts of burning heat that rained down from the sky, but also to correct my path of descent to go as close towards Greenie as possible, before the blonde warrior can.

Thud!

My body sank into the long grasses and hard dirt in a messy landing, but I'd made it. But even though I tried to fly back up so I could get to Greenie and we could escape, my singed wing wouldn't let me navigate. If I couldn't fly straight, it was better not to fly at all.

But the bolts of light seem to have stopped. It was a good thing the speed at which they fell wasn't like the lightning of my original world. Though it was slower, but just as powerful. The glowy staff wasn't glowing anymore, the attack from above ceased as the priest leaned his forehead against his staff, exhausted.

Good. Any more of that and I would have been toast. The white shield seemed to glow in the bright sunlight as the man strode towards us, gems winking their bright blue colors.

I could see the creature that was embossed onto the surface of the shield now. It was a dragon. A gold outline of a dragon, carved with master skill on the burly warrior's clean, white shield. In its jaws, the golden dragon held a sapphire gemstone. There was also one embedded on its forehead, and the other, largest stone in the center of the shield, where I guessed the heart would be. It was a beautiful piece of work, one that could hang in any museum to be admired.

And I would've admired it too, if it's wielder hadn't been headed to approach us with what were very plain ill intentions.

If I couldn't fly, I would need to do the next best thing...

So I jump, getting an extra boost with each flap of my wings.

The big warrior man was getting closer to me. To Greenie. There wasn't enough time, and I wasn't able to fly away from him like I'd done with the wolves this time, either.

They were all scared of us, me and Greenie for some reason. But me, especially. What was it? Why me, when I wasn't even a large, threatening bird?

Quickly spreading my wings, I adopted the most threatening stance I can muster. My instincts were telling me to do more, I could-

"AAAAAaaark!!" A deep, thrumming croak issues out of my throat, a warning sound that makes the cautious man immediately pause in his footsteps, sword lifted and knees bent, ready.

It worked. Once I got back to Greenie, we would be able to run away. My goal now was to get back to Greenie before the man with the cold look in his eyes could get to us.

Greenie hisses and shakes his stick at the warrior when I turn my back to the man and resume hopping back to my goblin. The priests seemed to have stayed behind. They only watched, but both men had the same look on their face. Their handsome brows were knitted into grimaces, and their eyes..

All three of them looked at me with eyes that were burning with a look of utter revulsion and fear, as if I was a monster more dangerous than Greenie.

Who were these people anyway? And what were they doing in the forest?

I take the chance to use Appraisal on them. I would read the text boxes later, since I knew the boxes of pixelated words would follow me wherever I went.

『Appraisal』!

{Shield of the Mioldri Order}

{Mioldri Order Knight}

The other two priests were too far away to get a response on the Appraisal skill.

Oh well. Greenie and I's survival was my priority, first and foremost.

Finally, I make it back to Greenie's four-fingered foot. He was still busy screaming and acting aggressive, not realizing I'd made it back to him until I peck him lightly on the foot.

The goblin gives a start, but seeing me by his foot, he's quick on the uptake and he piks me up.

The yellowed canine teeth of his look almost white under the sharp sunlight as he gives a strange grimace, which I translate as his relief when I'm finally back on his shoulder.

Okay, we'd done it.

Let's run away, Greenie!!

I send my thoughts towards him, and he seems to understand. Branches snap as he struggles out the back of the bush and deeper into the forest.

My body twists so my head was faced opposite of Greenie's to keep my eyes on the man.

With our gazes locked, I stare at the man in armor until we're soon gone, the trees obscuring us from his sight.

-------

"Curse those creatures of darkness!" The man swears as he sees the extremely peculiar sight of a black bird riding a rare forest goblin's shoulder back into the deep forest.

He hadn't known what to do with when that bird had appeared. The Order taught that they were to be feared, and never to be touched. How was he supposed to kill that thing if he could only use his sword?

And then the priests had done the job for him, calling Light down upon the bird as it flew away from them.

But when he saw the goblin jumping and howling on the other bank of the river- he'd had to hide his smirk from the two priests. Knights were not allowed to revel in violence according to the Way.

Now a goblin, those, he knew what to do with.

"Cease, my fellow seeker of light"

The kneeling priest ends his prayer and gets up, calling out behind the knight. He was the youngest man of the three, cheeks still retaining their slight roundness, but his voice held authority as he spoke to the man that had chased after the raven and goblin duo.

"That raven is an ill omen indeed, but we must not be hasty." He'd been the first to regain his composure after the young raven had crashed against his barrier.

The warrior sheaths his sword, spitting on the ground like he'd tasted something terrible in the direction the raven had gone.

"But we must kill it, do we not? It is an unclean thing."

Smoothing his robe with a beringed hand, "You forget. That thing must not be killed by your blade, lest you dirty yourself with what comes out of it." the young priest replies, shaking his head at his cohort's foolishness.

This was the problem with the knights trained by the Order. Only training their bodies and not their spirits with study of the Book.

The last priest, the one who had been leaning his head against his staff, nods in agreement.

"It is better to report to the Order of what we have witnessed here today. Though we had been unable to fulfill our main mission, this alone is enough for our report."

"Agreed."

All three begin to pack their bags, removing all traces of their presence from the area.

.

.

.

A bright flash of light within the copse of trees, and the men were gone.

Short spoiler for the background of the humans in this chapter:

Spoiler: Spoiler

The Mioldri Order: Religious Order of the illustrious Mioldri Empire, the first empire birthed after the disappearance of the gods.