As the Crow Flies

Salutations, dear reader. Last week, we analyzed The Mythology of Mindanao. This week, I'm writing a modern story based on that tale from the Philippines. I hope you like monsters!

Regular crow or deadly giant?

John stopped at the edge of the trail and listened. Everything was silent. He grinned. "This way." He turned back to his brother. Matt nodded and followed John. Both men had belted their swords on after they lost the other hikers, and now they walked with their hands on the hilt. There was a monster out there, and they were not going to be caught off guard.

Despite his vigilance, John almost didn't see the shadow getting bigger and bigger until it hit. He rolled out of the way, standing up smoothly and drawing his sword. Matt had rolled the other way and also stood with his sword in his hand. Their attacker looked like an oversized crow with wicked talons and a cruel beak. This giant bird of prey had been attacking everything on this mountain for a few months. It was high time someone stopped it.

The brothers didn't need to speak. They had done this often enough. While the bird was grounded and disoriented from its botched landing, they moved in on either side of it and slashed its wings. Aggravated, the bird flapped its wings outward, but they didn't work quite right anymore. There would be no flying away from this battle. The indignant squawks of the bird drowned out any noise the brothers were making. As always, they worked quickly and efficiently. There was no sense in giving their enemy time to recover. Soon, the bird was going through its dying throes and the brothers stepped away to avoid being hit.

"Nicely done," Matt said.

"Thanks," John replied, cleaning his sword. "Can we eat this thing? I'm starving."

Matt looked critically at the bird. "It doesn't seem to have any poison on it or it would have tried to attack us with that."

"Great! Let's eat."

Soon enough, the brothers had set up camp far from the body of the giant crow and were cooking chunks of it over their fire. There was supposed to be a fountain of health somewhere in these mountains, which is probably why the giant crow had chosen here, but the brothers didn't put much stock in tales like that. In John's experience, everything magical was usually out to kill you.

After a time, they were done eating. "I'll take first watch," John offered. Matt nodded and climbed inside his tent to sleep. The two had hunted enough to know you had to set a watch during the night when you were in the field. Their small tent walls would do nothing to stop most monsters.

The brothers changed watch during the night and the morning found them both awake and unharmed. They broke camp quickly and got back on the trail. These two mountains were supposed to be cursed and John and Matt were intent on getting to the second mountain quickly. They found that often these curses were monsters that most people didn't know how to explain or deal with.

A few uneventful days of camping later and they reached a spot on the second mountain that was missing bird calls, squirrels, or any living thing. John smiled and nodded. He supposed it wasn't that far, as the giant, vicious crow flew. They knew nothing about what kind of monster was on this mountain, but it was likely to be similar to the giant crow they had fought on the first one. Animals like that tended to like having one of their own kind close by, but not so close their hunting territories overlapped.

Sure enough, a shadow began to get bigger and bigger over John and Matt. John rolled out of the way and stood up with his sword. Matt hadn't been so lucky. His right leg was already bleeding. John guessed Matt had gotten hit with one of the bird's talons, each as large as a sword. "I guess our luck couldn't last forever," John thought. This would be a different battle. Matt wouldn't be able to move as quickly, so John would have to distract the bird. Great.

The brothers moved in, but John kept himself nearer the bird's range of vision than Matt. They sliced the bird's wings, managing to ground it, but then everything went wrong. The bird knew it had wounded Matt and it focused on him, trying to grab him in its beak. John was forced to jump in farther than he wanted to and cut the bird's neck without the benefit of Matt acting as an equal diversion. Every time he cut it, the bird focused on John for a moment and John danced out of the way. Then the bird would go after Matt again and John would look for another weak spot.

Finally, John landed the final blow and the bird went into its death throes. John dodged out of the way, but the bird was still headed toward Matt, even as it died. Matt was hit by one of its wings and went flying. Immediately, John ran after his brother, dodging the bird as he went. By the time he got to Matt, the bird was already dead and Matt looked far too pale.

"Stupid way to go," Matt said.

"You're not dying on me!" John snapped, looking around him. "There's got to be something." He looked around for anything that might help with Matt's several injuries. His eye fell on a glass of water. At first, he didn't believe it. How could that have appeared on a mountain side? Cautiously, John picked it up and sniffed it. It smelled like water, which is to say like nothing. Slowly, John took a small sip.

He felt restored and rejuvenated. He could do anything now. John remembered the legends he had heard about the fountain of health in these mountains. It seemed John had found it. Propping Matt up, John got him to drink the whole glass.

Matt sighed with satisfaction and sat up. "What was that?"

"A drink from the fountain of health," a woman's voice said.

The brothers tensed and snapped toward her.

"Don't worry," she said. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have already. You killed the monster. That deserved some kind of reward."

John was trying not to let his jaw drop. He hadn't expected anyone else out here, let alone a beautiful woman who just happened to know where a mystical spring was. "Who are you?" he managed.

"My name is Melody. I used to come to this mountain all the time to gather supplies, but with those giant birds, it became a lot trickier. I knew they were looking for the fountain of health and I couldn't let them find it. They were a big enough problem as it was."

"But you gave us some of that water," John stated. He was trying to get his brain to start working again.

"Yes, in return for killing both birds. I thought it would be a shame to let him die."

"Thank you," Matt replied. "We are truly sorry to have trespassed on your mountain."

John could have hit himself. Just because she looked like a beautiful woman, didn't mean she wasn't a spirit or any other magical creature who felt territorial.

Melody laughed. "It's hardly my mountain. Well, I expect you'll be wanting to find the nest."

"The nest?" Matt asked.

"Yes. Otherwise once those eggs hatch, we'll just have the same problem."

"Oh," John said, standing.

Melody shook her head, smiling. "You two are fun. Let's go."

Wondering if, once again, they had gotten more than they bargained for, the brothers followed Melody up the mountain to their next adventure.