{"id":25156,"date":"2021-07-20T07:49:35","date_gmt":"2021-07-20T11:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=25156"},"modified":"2021-08-24T08:05:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T12:05:39","slug":"dapriles-fools-fourth-chapter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/dapriles-fools-fourth-chapter\/","title":{"rendered":"D’Aprile’s Fools – Fourth Chapter"},"content":{"rendered":"

D\u2019Aprile\u2019s Fools<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Tale by Michael DeAngelo<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chapter Four: Bixby and the Bird<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cold rain pelted the ground, leaving the grass slick.\u00a0 The unsteady terrain meant no difference to the man skulking through the trees though.\u00a0 He took his time, studying his surroundings, listening to the wind that hummed through the valley.<\/p>\n

A flash of lightning exploded overhead, and Bixby wondered if it was a natural phenomenon, or if it was produced by the majestic creature that he pursued over the past several days.\u00a0 A screech filled the air, and he grinned, knowing that his task was soon to be completed.<\/p>\n

Bixby had seen the creature aloft in the air, had been in awe of its massive wingspan, and even a little intimidated by its massive talons\u2014the idea of being torn to ribbons by its claws seeming like as unappealing a death as he could think of.\u00a0 But he had never seen it in the light of day, or at any proximity where he could truly appreciate it in all its glory.<\/p>\n

He reached into the pocket of his britches and retrieved the old piece of parchment.<\/p>\n

Bixby didn\u2019t travel with any sort of bag, or belongings other than what he wore on his back\u2014a sleeveless red cloak that sat upon a yellow tunic, and a pair of grey britches accounted for his most of his garb.\u00a0 There was always the chance that he\u2019d end up parting with whatever extra equipment he brought along, and he preferred to keep his things nice and tidy with that in mind.\u00a0 In all honesty, he was surprised that he\u2019d managed to keep hold of the parchment for as long as he had.<\/p>\n

As he unfurled the notice, he looked at the artist\u2019s rendition of the creature.\u00a0 The thunderbird illustrated upon the page appeared powerful and menacing, as though it had made conscious measures to cause havoc in that part of the northern Grand Falmere.\u00a0 More likely, he thought, the hunters it had attacked entered too close to its roost,\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t quite earned the bolt of lightning that struck them\u2014and were lucky to survive it\u2014but neither did the thunderbird deserve the mark of death that the lodge had placed upon it, or so Bixby thought.<\/p>\n

Still, if people were frightened of the thing, it was only a matter of time before someone found their way to it.\u00a0 One way or another, if Bixby didn\u2019t involve himself, someone or something was going to die.\u00a0 There was one other option that he knew of: he could drive the majestic avian away.\u00a0 There were other cliffs to roost upon, and the mage knew that the thunderbird would have a better chance of survival if it left the northern reaches of the great forest.<\/p>\n

Another ribbon of lightning streaked across the darkened sky then.\u00a0 Bixby could only give thanks that the lightning didn\u2019t strike the ground nearby.\u00a0 The clouds above were natural, the moon shrouded behind an impenetrable veil.\u00a0 In those moments, the lightning served to help Bixby locate his bounty.\u00a0 His slow approach served him well, for all he needed was a single golden feather to prove he had ensured the beast would cause no further harm to the hunters.<\/p>\n

As the rain came down, Bixby stepped out of the dense copse of trees, and looked upon the nearest cliff face.\u00a0 Water poured down the side of it, and he knew that the ascent would be dangerous.\u00a0 But he had more than a few tricks up his sleeves after so many years of demonstrating his magical acuity.\u00a0 As another shriek from the thunderbird rang out above, the mad wizard held his hand against the cliffside.<\/p>\n

Though it was cold, Bixby summoned an even frostier magic to bind his hands to the stone.\u00a0 Ice formed around his fingers, locking them into place upon the jagged rise.\u00a0 When he kicked into the cliff face, he summoned icy steppingstones as well, falling upon them to rest his weary arms after he had climbed dozens of feet into the air.<\/p>\n

His hair was soaked then, and water cast into his eyes.\u00a0 It was enough to have him struggle to see how much farther he had to scramble.\u00a0 There may have been a better way to get to the top, but the man couldn\u2019t dismiss the rush he felt by the danger.\u00a0 Where most arcanists might have formed an icy staircase to climb to the top, there was something enriching about the more primal experience.\u00a0 The sensation of his heart beating rapidly in his chest, his heavy, quiet breaths steadying him\u2014it was all a sign that he couldn\u2019t take any shortcuts to his destiny.<\/p>\n

As he crested the top of the cliff, he could see the massive avian considerably closer than he had in previous encounters.\u00a0 The thunderbird\u2019s back was to him, and it didn\u2019t see him, but every now and then it flapped its wings, buffeting the air and sending a loud noise reverberating through the air that Bixby had earlier thought was the deep resonation of thunder.<\/p>\n

Another bolt of lightning roared across the sky, and the intruding arcanist could see that it coincided with the mighty bird\u2019s upraised wings.\u00a0 It shifted again, squawking into the night, and he was surprised that anybody would have had a hard time finding its roost with all the racket it made throughout all hours of the night.<\/p>\n

Swinging his feet over the ledge, Bixby crawled until he arrived on solid, safe ground.\u00a0 The thunderbird\u2019s roost was not so far away then, and the courageous wizard could see the branches that had been used to fashion its nest.<\/p>\n

When it crooned into the sky once more, the man making his approach hesitated.\u00a0 He could see the oval shape just beside the monstrous bird, and he realized that the creature had reason to be so ornery.\u00a0 If it had something to protect, it would certainly keep any dangers away from the cliffs.<\/p>\n

Coercing it to leave might have been a little trickier than he had initially hoped, Bixby thought.<\/p>\n

As the thought pulsed in his mind, the thunderbird took flight, flapping its mighty wings enough to have the thick and sturdy branches in the nest rumbling.\u00a0 It flew high into the air, disappearing into the clouds, another cry leaving its beak.<\/p>\n

Bixby was afforded an even better look at the nest then, and of the single egg within it.\u00a0 Cracked open as it was, it didn\u2019t appear that the thunderbird was hatching the egg anymore.\u00a0 But as Bixby drew closer to it, he understood that it was not caring for any offspring either.\u00a0 Something had happened to the egg or the chick, he supposed, and he realized that all of the screeches he heard were likely ones of distress.<\/p>\n

Still, she couldn\u2019t stay.\u00a0 Her grief was likely to cause even greater destruction.<\/p>\n

Bixby held out his hand then.\u00a0 He could only hope that his plan for her would spare her life, and that she would find a new home.<\/p>\n

A flame seemed to flicker in the air just in front of his hand, and he focused on it for several moments.\u00a0 Then, a beam of light emerged from the air behind the flame, almost as though it were tearing through the flesh of his palm.\u00a0 As the beam converged on the summoned fire, it turned into a blazing ray that landed upon the wooden nest.<\/p>\n

The scent of the fire carried on the wind at once, and Bixby squared his jaw at the sight of the eggshell succumbing to the tremendous heat.\u00a0 He knew that there was some comfort that the thunderbird likely felt in returning to its nest, looking for its offspring though it would never be present.<\/p>\n

Another screech permeated the air, that one emerging with a different tone.\u00a0 Gone was the frantic cry of a mother\u2019s mourning.\u00a0 Instead, it was one punctuated with rage.<\/p>\n

The thunderbird emerged from the clouds, carrying strands of mist upon the edges of its wings as though it dove down toward the earth with the full might of the heavens upon its back.<\/p>\n

Bixby saw her at once and knew that there was no turning back.\u00a0 She had seen all that she had worked to create wrought to ashes, and the man who lit the spark still stood beside the pyre.\u00a0 With a loud shriek piercing through the rumble of thunder, the mammoth bird lifted her wings.<\/p>\n

The arcanist knew what that meant.<\/p>\n

Diving out of the way before he even heard the crackle of lightning, Bixby avoided a deadly blast of energy as it struck the ground where he had been standing.\u00a0 The power of that lightning bolt was tremendous, and he knew that it was reinforced by her fury.\u00a0 The cliff that he had climbed to arrive there crumbled under the force of the thunderbird\u2019s magic call.<\/p>\n

With the blaze roaring behind him, Bixby knew that there was nowhere safe to run to.\u00a0 That didn\u2019t matter, however.\u00a0 He anticipated such a thing in provoking a mighty thunderbird.\u00a0 Besides, it was just as likely that in trying to escape, the creature would hunt him down.<\/p>\n

No, standing atop the cliff beside its burning roost was precisely where Bixby meant to be.<\/p>\n

The thunderbird screeched again and flapped its wings to stay aloft.\u00a0 But it didn\u2019t summon up another bolt of lightning as quickly as Bixby had thought it would if it could produce the energy on its own.\u00a0 It was more likely, he surmised then, that the creature had to wait to let some sort of atmospheric material accumulate before it could harness the power.<\/p>\n

Bixby had no such limitations.<\/p>\n

Even as the thunderbird flapped its wings harder and faster, buffeting him and trying to send him tumbling from the cliff, he clung on.\u00a0 The arcanist reached into the aether, summoning a trio of small violet orbs that danced around his open hand, which he aimed toward the monstrous bird.\u00a0 At once, he sent out the trio of magic missiles, each finding their mark in the sky.\u00a0 One by one they popped against the creature\u2019s body, zapping it as it hovered where it was, in defiance of the man below.\u00a0 Small, uncontrollable convulsions had its body tensing, but it remained aloft, only sinking a foot or two in the air before a mighty beat of its wings brought it back to a more comfortable height.<\/p>\n

Bixby\u2019s projectiles were no match for the thunderbird\u2019s lightning, but they hurt just enough to incense the creature further.\u00a0 It brought its wings back\u2014not up, the wizard below noticed\u2014and dove forward.<\/p>\n

It was just as he had hoped.<\/p>\n

With its talons leading, the thunderbird was sure to dice Bixby to ribbons if it could reach him.\u00a0 He stood where he was though, just as defiant as the beast had been.\u00a0 His muscles tensed, and he prepared to move at the opportune moment.\u00a0 The bird moved on quicker than he expected, despite its size, but Bixby had many years of experience by then.\u00a0 He was familiar with the need to adjust the timing of his spells and knew that instantaneous alterations were a necessity in dealing with the legendary beasts of Tellest.<\/p>\n

One of those shifts was needed then, as the thunderbird swooped in.<\/p>\n

And Bixby was eager to oblige.<\/p>\n

An explosion detonated at the wizard\u2019s feet, sending him flying into the air.\u00a0 The burst of flame and flying rocks caught the thunderbird off guard, and it fluttered just a moment, trying to make sense of the new danger unfolding.\u00a0 It lost sight of the arcanist, who was high above it then.\u00a0 Bixby completed his arc and began falling back toward the ground.<\/p>\n

But he had managed his spell with impeccable timing, and gusts of otherworldly wind that he summoned from one direction or the other kept his intended trajectory intact.<\/p>\n

He landed upon the mighty creature without fail, his heft catching the thunderbird off its guard.\u00a0 Together, both careened toward the valley below, with Bixby clutching onto a handful of feathers upon the bird\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

The legendary beast refused to crash into the ground below.\u00a0 With a mighty flapping of its wings, it rose, further into the air then.\u00a0 Before long, Bixby could see the low clouds closer than ever, though they were still hundreds if not thousands of feet away.\u00a0 Still, he was farther than ever from the ground as well, and he couldn\u2019t ignore the trepidations that shook his heart in his chest.<\/p>\n

Bixby let a smile stretch his lips, excited by the prospect of being one of the very few people who had ever flown into the air with such power beneath him.\u00a0 There were other ways to touch the sky, he knew, but perhaps none were so incredible as riding on the back of a mighty thunderbird, even if it was under duress.<\/p>\n

After everything that happened to the gigantic bird, he couldn\u2019t help but feel a little sympathy for it.\u00a0 There was a very real possibility that the thunderbird would leave and never come back.<\/p>\n

Before it did though, Bixby remembered the task at hand.\u00a0 He needed something to show for his merits, after all.\u00a0 With all his might, he clutched a golden feather in hand, and ripped it from the thunderbird\u2019s back.<\/p>\n

An incensed screech rang out as he tucked the feather into his belt.<\/p>\n

Preoccupied as he was, he didn\u2019t notice at first as the static in the atmosphere began to accumulate again.\u00a0 By the time he looked up, and noticed the bird\u2019s wings rise, he realized it was too late to do anything except brace himself.<\/p>\n

The bolt of lightning broke into several ribbons of electricity, striking the thunderbird at multiple parts upon its back\u2014including the fellow who tried to ride it like a stallion.<\/p>\n

Bixby\u2019s body convulsed then, far greater than the pitiful missiles that he had shot at the creature caused.\u00a0 His jaw clenched and he growled through the pain, but he lost hold of his exotic, wild mount.\u00a0 As the thunderbird rose into the air once more, Bixby could no longer maintain his position upon its back.<\/p>\n

Despite all his preparation, he knew there were still sure to be some uncertainties.\u00a0 Still, he didn\u2019t expect the creature to strike itself with lightning.<\/p>\n

He rolled from the giant bird, the wind rushing against his face and summoning tears to his eyes before it dragged them away.\u00a0 Bixby watched as the ground seemed to race up toward him.\u00a0 The arcanist struggled against the refusal of his limbs, trying to bring his arm to bear.\u00a0 If he could just move a little quicker, he could survive the latest fall.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t unclench his fingers, the bolt of lightning leaving his hand gnarled and charred, he realized.\u00a0 There shouldn\u2019t have even been a chance for him to have survived the electric blast, let alone to chance surviving a deadly fall from such a height.<\/p>\n

Knowing that there was little he could do to fight against gravity, he closed his eyes, letting the last moments of his life fill him with what peace he could find.<\/p>\n

Bixby Alladocious barreled toward the ground, and he readied himself for death.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chapter One<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Chapter Two<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Chapter Three<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

D\u2019Aprile\u2019s Fools A Tale by Michael DeAngelo \u00a0 Chapter Four: Bixby and the Bird   Cold rain pelted the ground, leaving the grass slick.\u00a0 The unsteady terrain meant no difference to the man skulking through the trees though.\u00a0 He took his time, studying his surroundings, listening to the wind that hummed through the valley. A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[2438,2468,222],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-6xK","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25156"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25156"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25456,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25156\/revisions\/25456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}