CLANG!!
Fatty struck the shield hard, and it rang. It startled Tommy.
No, it hadn't been Fatty. He looked equally surprised, the shield having nearly flown out of his hand.
Soon, it happened again.
CLANG!!
Something else was there. A blur. It shot out of the fog, barely visible in the dim light of the dying embers, attacking Fatty, hitting the metal, then retreating in one supercharged move. The whole sequence was over in instant.
"What just-" Tommy started.
"You saw that, right?" Fatty asked at the same time. He was massaging the right shoulder, still somehow holding onto the shield.
The clamor woke the other two up.
"Something's here, guys. It bashed into me."
CLANG!
To prove his point, the dark metal rang hit again. The two didn't dally, quickly maneuvering into the same defensive stance as when they faced the wolf - Fatty at the front covering Lester, Dagger next to Tommy at the back.
Only, they were open on all sides. Atleast the thing always returned from where it had last vanished to.
CLANG!
They rotated. There wasn't much they could do. Whatever it was, moved so fast that they barely afterimages as it attacked. Fatty shrunk his frame, like a turtle, obviously scared. The rest were spooked too. The formation was much tighter, barely any room, as the three swivelled their heads around, trying to cover the wide field of view.
CLANG! Swooof!
Next second, it reappeared, lit only by the dying embers and the pale light of early dawn. Lester swung his sword in a massive overhead swing, missing entirely. Dagger too. She was chugging half-burned sticks from the pit, none of which hit. They were yet to properly put on their gear.
Same pattern repeated - it hit the shield, then ran away. Tommy strained his ears to listen for any signs. Didn't work. His eyes couldn't see much either.
"Guys-"
"Shh, keep it low."
"Ok." Tommy whispered, "What should I do? I can't see it at all."
"Same. Can't sense it." Dagger replied.
CLANG!
...
Time passed. The initial spike in fear had settled, leaving only a puzzle to be solved.
The thing was something small, and held serious grudge against the round metal object, since it didn't bother attacking anything else. Sometimes multiple clangs rang within a breath, other times they found themselves wondering if it had left. In the meantime, they slowly gathered their equipment. Their vigilance was dropping once the initial alarm faded and not much changed. They tried keeping their guard up, as well as they could.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
"Do you think it's Tier 4?"
"Nope. Maybe Tier 3." Dagger said.
"Yeah, it's just fast. And weird and blurry. Like a cloud or smoke.
"And orange." Tommy added.
"Probably."
CLANG! Clang! Ddupp!
They kept trying, and soon enough, Lester got a clean hit, bouncing it off the ground. Away from them and into the fog it went.
Ttok! Clink!
It came back right away, from behind them, jolting Lester's arm as his sword was smacked. Sword that broke. Lester was staring at his half sword, literally half of it. The other half was just...gone.
"What the hell!"
Until the thing returned and yanked that out of his hand too.
"No!!!" he cried.
"Look..."
Beside him in the hard ground was a deep talon print, half the size of his hand. Another one lay a bit further away, where it had landed after he had managed to strike it.
The blur was gone. For quite a while. Not knowing gnawed at them.
"Some kind of a bird? Small. Not completely immune. Still mostly harmless." Dagger announced, "Dummy, can you hit it?"
"Are you kidding?"
"What if it is stopped?"
"Maybe."
CLANG!
The pattern changed. Attacks were coming from random directions now, more aggressive too. The shield had been punched in, deep dents in the metal. The tank was shaking. His voice quaked as he whined,
"Why is it only hitting me?! Do something..."
"I think it wants the shield, Fatty. How about throwing it away?"
"No! This is the only thing protecting us."
"We would already be dead if it wanted to kill us."
"What if that's its plan?"
CLANG!!!
Lester and Dagger had stopped trying to hit it, taking a break to plan while Fatty vehemently held his own.
Soon the first rays of sunlight lit the tiny battlefield. A bright orange blur flashed repeatedly, as if a vengeful ghost haunting the angry boy holding up the battered round shield.
CLANG
"What does it want?" Fatty grumbled.
"It's toying with us", Lester replied, sullenly.
"Throw it away, Fatty. It's only after the shield."
"No! I'm not giving it my shield."
"You're going to die."
"Then do something."
Tommy felt like he was going mad. A nice walk in the everchanging forest had turned into a nightmarish parody of an adventure. They were stuck on an island surrounded by fog that turned people into drooling babes, and a tiny speeding monster bird thing was playing with them.
"Mad world..."
