Micheal left after the meal and making sure they understood that any accidents that happened in their rooms were their responsibility. With the evening coming to a close they settled in for the night choosing to wear their armor while they slept.
It was uncomfortable but if the bird monsters attacked at night they would need their armor.
The next morning Chronos was finally finished recording his journey up to this point when Lyla woke up.
"Mm... hm."
"Good morning. Sleep well."
As she stretched Chronos stared at her impressive figure, then shook his head. It was becoming harder and harder to control his instincts around her.
"Well enough, given that I was sharing a room with a massive predator." She smiled smugly, having caught him staring at her.
A sailor walking past the door heard them and did a double take.
"Oi, don't use such confusing language." Chronos scolded.
Lyla chuckled. "What do we have planned today?"
"According to Micheal we'll be arriving at our first stop this afternoon, but I forgot to ask where we're landing." Chronos said.
"Not that you really care, right? Regardless of where we end up, you'll do what you want just like always."
Chronos smiled, she was right. As long as he wasn't bored, he would be satisfied no matter where he went.
Boom! Caw! Screech!
"Looks like you woke up just in time for some fun." Chronos remarked as he picked up his sword.
It was difficult to draw his sword from the armory amulet while onboard, so he hadn't been storing it away since they had boarded the ship.
"Hmph, I doubt it. They probably won't let us on deck." Lyla grumpily said.
"Then how about a bet while we watch? I bet that the guards will ask us for help when the birds start gouging out their eyes."
"Hm, then I bet they'll ask for help when the birds drop them off the edge of the ship." Lyla said.
"They won't ask us for help. They have way too much pride." Gregory joined them as they made their way towards the main deck.
"Instead, I bet Chronos won't be able to stand their poor fighting and will jump in to help out." He whispered to Lyla.
"Deal." She shook his hand.
Guards were running through the corridors while the researchers ignored the commotion going on above.
"Stay in your rooms! No apprentice archivists are allowed outside until we drive back the monsters, and no one is allowed to open any windows." One of the guards shouted as he pushed an archivist back into her room.
Luckily, he seemed to think Chronos's group were a part of the guards since no archivists carried weapons with them.
Following him to the main deck they saw a swarm of birds flying around the barrier trying to break in but most of them were unable to make a hole larger than their beak in it. Every time a guard got too close the birds would bite their weapons and try to pull them through the barrier for an easier meal.
The archers were staying in the center of the ship shooting at the birds but unfortunately, they were fast enough to avoid normal shots, and their feathers blocked any glancing blows they took.
Sitting on a box near the door Chronos watched them fight for a bit becoming more annoyed the longer he watched.
"They aren't very good are they?" Sariah said as two guards had to pull a third one back from the barrier when a bird managed to grab his spear.
"No, they are pretty skilled, but they aren't used to fighting on a ship's deck or fighting a flying enemy. They also aren't assembling into groups, I think they are from different guard units and were just cobbled together for this trip." Gregory corrected her.
"Aaaah."
One of the guard's screamed as one of his fingers was pecked off when he failed to retreat in time.
"You're right about that. They don't even have any healers or priests up here to treat them." Lyla said noting down that she needed to purchase an area healing spell soon.
Several guards tumbled towards the railing as the ship veered off course to avoid a massive two-headed bird. While Chronos had to grab Lyla's waist to prevent her from suffering a similar fate.
Lyla looked at Chronos. "You can't help them. If they don't handle this themselves, they won't be able to grow stronger."
"I know that but they're making so many mistakes that it's pissing me off." Chronos growled.
He glared at two guards being thrown around when a bird grabbed the spear they tried to stab it with and shook its head.
"If someone doesn't help them soon some of them are going to die." Gregory commented as a wind blade slammed into the deck a couple of feet from them.
"But we can't help them. If they're going to be guarding these flying ships regularly, they're going to need to learn how to fight flying monsters." Lyla countered, she didn't want to lose her bet too easily.
Chronos watched as one guard swung a net at a bird and was nearly pulled overboard when the bird flew backwards.
"You're supposed to have help when using a net on a bigger creature. That's basic training for hunters; how do they not know this?" Chronos angrily muttered.
Creeeaak!
The ship lurched forward as the two-headed bird slammed into the rear shield.
Scritch, scratch.
It flapped its wings as its feet scrambled to find a hold on the barrier causing the crates and men on board to be knocked over from the wind pressure.
The bird's body was half the size of the ship and had two long necks with large sharp beaks on its face. Its feathers were a common brown, but it had some purple streaks on its wings that reminded Chronos of lightning.
"!? Why is a thunderwing this far from the northern mountains?" Gregory spoke in shock.
"Oh, so that's what a thunderwing looks like. I'd always wanted to see one, but I'd heard they never come down from the mountains. Do you think the troll's army was avoiding it?" Chronos said.
As it continued to flap its wings most of the other birds were blown away, it would take them a little while to fly back to the ship.
"Maybe but wouldn't we have to at least be close to the Averest forest to attract its attention?" As Lyla asked this all of them looked to the north.
Sure enough, the forest was only a few kilometers from them.
Lyla sighed, realizing how close they were to the forest changed the whole situation. A previous king had forbidden anyone from entering the forest and being this close was pushing the limits. There were rumors that he had made a deal with the people living there but others said that the creatures living there were too powerful for the kingdom to fight.
Other than the royals nobody knew which was true.
Their thoughts were interrupted as a guard screamed when one of the thunderwings' heads snapped forward and captured him.
Lyla and Gregory rushed forward to help, but a shadow zoomed past them.
Bang!
The thunderwings head snapped to the side dropping the guard as a fist collided with its cheek.
"Oh, come on! What are you people doing?" Unable to restrain his anger anymore Chronos exploded at them.
His voice attracted the attention of all of the guards.
"Don't just stand there you louts! Form up in groups of three, two archers to one spearman. Spearmen focus on defense, keep the birds at a distance, don't let them catch your spears, archers riddle them with arrows! Anyone not shooting go get more arrows!
Anybody using nets give the ropes to two other people! Do not try to pull them down on your own, the birds are much stronger than you. I'll handle the thunderwing!" Chronos started barking orders in frustration.
The captain was going to say something, but his men were already jumping to follow Chronos's orders. To the guards Chronos's voice sounded like a drill sergeant causing them to instinctively follow his orders.
"Damn you win." Lyla said as she handed over a few gild to Gregory.
He accepted the money, "I can't blame him. Both of us were about to jump in as well but a deal is a deal."
They went to support Chronos while Sariah stepped back into the doorway, out of sight of the thunderwing, and began casting curses.
Chronos had already climbed onto the top deck's roof and was waving his sword at the thunderwing drawing all of its attention onto himself. The guards would have a hard time surviving if it went after them.
"Don't damage anything up there! It's valuable equipment!" Shouted a voice from the captain's wheel.
"Then you shouldn't have put it out in the open!" Chronos yelled back.
Screech! Crash!
The thunderwing, who did not appreciate being ignored, had struck out with its beak but Chronos smoothly deflected it causing a hole to appear at the edge of the roof.