It didn’t take long to hear the birds once again. In fact, after an hour of walking, I think that I’m pretty close now. The constant squawking of these birds sent shivers down my spine. It was never-ending and un-nerving. They don’t seem to be your regular run-of-the-mill small bird either. They sounded big. Like, can’t fly big.

That just means more meat. Hopefully.

Unless, if they look like they could kill me before I even took a step. Might have to back out then. My stomach growls at that thought… So, maybe not.

After a few minutes of walking further is when a new sound showed up. A waterfall. Not a normal one, though. After all, why would it be normal? No, instead the sound was soft and quiet, not the normal loudness one would expect. Anyways, sounds like the river drops off somewhere- o-oh.

Looking ahead was a sudden cut off, where the river drops suddenly over a ledge. The squawking of the birds were also the loudest here. So, in the hole? Welp, that’s bad. I might be able to get down, but getting back up? No bueno.

I stood over the ledge with a shock expression. It’s not a hole. It’s a fucking whole other piece of land. The river fell down silently to form, far below, a lake. The ground I currently stood on was at least 40 feet higher than the ground below. I let out a groan at the sight. The hell am I suppose to do?

Good news is that there is a forest off in the distance. So, trees for shelter, and the possibility of animals for food. Speaking of animals…

The birds were large. Like bigger than ostriches, and ostriches were pretty freaking big.

There were, in total, ten birds. Each bird was around 10 feet tall, so about 4 feet taller than I, with the shorter birds still appearing to be 8 feet tall. Fecking massive ass birds. On each foot were three sharp, long, talons. Danger. Their beaks were also long and sharp. Another danger. Their feathers covered their whole body, and partly their leg. The feathers were mostly a clean white, with black wavy lines appearing to wrap around their bodies.

The group of 10 stood huddle together in a group, their heads turning this way and that way, squawking at the open air. It looked to me as if there was no reason for the loud squawks, but again they’re birds, so maybe there is some animalistic reason for the squawks. To me, the squawks may be to warn away predators. Maybe.

Either way, it does not matter. For now, I won’t be able to go down there and survive. So, I’ll have to sit and watch, waiting for my chance to go down.

Without dyeing.

--

Around two hours later the birds stopped, and for not a good reason. At least not for me. Damn, I was hungry…. Anyways, the reason for them stopping was a giant ass, almost 14-foot, bird came out of the forest to them. Like… Dude. It was massive! It could crush me under its foot, on accident!!

It also seemed to be the leader of the other birds because as soon as it appeared they immediately stopped, and rushed to it. Then with a quick movement of its wing pointing to the forest, they ran to it with haste with the leader lumbering behind them slowly, as if there were no reason for it to be afraid. The whole world seemed quiet now, without the constant squawking. It was eerie.

So, no birds for food. Far too dangerous for me right now.

However, it was time to go down now, and the only way down was to jump. Standing up I prepared to leap. The lake down below seemed to be deep enough to catch me, and for my sake, I hope so. I took a deep breath, clearing my mind of distractions; forgoing my worry and hunger that was always constantly gnawing at my mind. I made a quick wish; wishing that'll I survive what I'm going to do next.

Then I threw my self off the cliff.

Acott Myers Level: 0 Race: Human Mana: 10/10 Status: Strength-9 Constitution-7 Agility-6 Dexterity-6 Intelligence-11 Wisdom-8 Skills: Rock Climbing:1 Meditation: 1 Effects: Hunger