Blood and Feathers: Part 2

As they plummeted to the ground, they eyed each other with scorn. An eagle and a hawk, two sworn enemies locked in war. Chickadee the eagle, his feathers bloodied and his wings torn, extended his shaking wings and tried to maintain control over his descent, but the gashes torn in his primary feathers by the hawk, Red Tail, left him with little control.

            She fell near him, similarly injured. During the ongoing battle in the cloudscape, the red-tailed hawk had collided with him midair, her beak ripping gashes in his breast. He had reacted likewise, slashing her with sharpened talons.

            Chickadee tore his focus away from her and focused on the nearing ground, and with it, the jagged trunks of pine trees. It took all his concentration to weave through them without colliding with one. Landing in a rough heap on the ground, he felt his right wing splinter under the impact, and knew immediately it was broken. Severely.

            Limping on battered legs, Chickadee scanned his surroundings for danger. The forest floor was not an ideal destination for a creature of the air. He wondered if Red Tail had survived the fall. She was a warrior, he knew. It would take more than gravity to slay her.

            A bush rustled several wingspans away. Turning to gaze at it and assuming a defensive position, he lifted his good wing high into the air and pointed his beak forward, like the tip of a jagged rock.

            “You eagles are tenacious devils, I’ll give you that,” said Red Tail. She limped into the open. The hawk had suffered just as badly as he, dragging an injured leg behind her and clutching a broken wing close to her body.

            “We have to be, when we have opponents like you. Before I rip out your gullet, tell me, why did you eradicate the red-furred mouse? What pleasure could you possibly gain from such a fowl deed?”

            Red Tail chuckled feebly. “Feel the sharpness of your beak and talons, observe the magnificent shadow of death you cast upon the land when you unfurl your wings. These are why I, a hawk, have the right to exterminate fellow life. I am a hunter, engineered to reap the lives of lesser creatures. To deny my right to sow extinction is folly.”

            “I couldn’t agree more. Which is why, for your crimes, I shall extinguish your life. The very animals you hunt will feast on your rotting flesh.”

            “Then we have nothing left to discuss.” Red Tail limped towards him, clearly fighting back waves of pain. The strained expression on her face said it all.

            Chickadee held his ground until the last moment, leaping forward with his beak open. Red Tail tried to evade the lunge, but Chickadee’s assault was too quick. His beak snapped shut over her throat, and with a vengeful twist, he snapped her neck. Gently, he laid the hawk’s broken corpse on the ground and limped away, off into the forest. 

            Twin slit eyes, unblinking, watched Chickadee’s movements. With a contemplative hiss, a slithering body followed him at a distance.