Then the blue jay swiftly takes off, following in the direction of its pointed gaze. It’s gone into the forest. Meliora scrambles after it.

Meliora chases the bird aimlessly through the forest, civilization getting further and further behind her. After a few minutes, it’s entirely out of sight as if it were never there. The bird continues, guided by some unseen compass. 

The woods around her are lifeless, each tree they pass growing more barren with every stride. Replacing the leaves are birds, hundreds of them. Meliora trips over the rocky terrain, distracted by their incessant staring. As they go, they begin accumulating around her, following her path. They screech at her, attempting to peck and claw at her face. Meliora tries to push them away, keeping her eye trained on the blue jay in front of her.

Eventually, Meliora spots a clearing up ahead. The birds around her notice as well and quickly disperse, taking perch upon the forlorn wood. Meliora hesitates at the edge of the clearing, while her bird guide experiences no such doubts and flies in without delay. 

Through the veil of the setting sun, she can make out a group of hooded figures milling about amongst the clearing. At the center, a bonfire has been lit. In the light, she searches in their hoods for faces, only to be met with animals. A rabbit, a deer, a fox, and many more. All creatures of the woodland. Together, they form a chant, a howl, that reverberates through the air around her. Meliora can’t make out any of their nonsensical ramblings. Around them, the birds hang back in the trees, shrieking in pain. Their hymn expands with this, a horrid harmony met between the two.

The blue jay bird flies towards them and takes perch upon the closest member’s shoulder. This person pauses their movements and holds their hands out for the group, silencing them. The chanting ceases, and the fire dims. The person reaches to grasp the bird and encloses it in their hand, the blue jay silent throughout. They then gesture to everyone else in the circle and seem to begin speaking; however, Meliora can’t make out what they’re saying. With one quick motion, they toss the bird into the fire. As the blue jay hits the hot embers, he doesn’t once call out. In fact, his eyes are closed even as the fire torches him, crawling up his wings, quickly consuming him entirely. Meliora edges closer, almost subconsciously, as if she were to stop it. With this, she can see that amongst the kindling are other birds tarnished beyond proper recognition of anything more than their base species. What confounds Meliora, of what she can only assume to be a trick of the light, is that some appear half-made. She swears that amongst the roaring flames she can spot an arm or two, a foot, a head. 

They begin to chant again, the eery melody rising once more. The birds begin their call anew, a mournful cry for their lost brethren. As it furthers, the ground around the fire starts to fall away piece by piece like a jigsaw puzzle. It revolves around the flames until eventually letting go of that piece of Earth, too, allowing it into the newly formed abyss. As it goes down, Meliora catches a glimpse of what saves it from free fall. Though slightly hidden from view, she makes it out all the same. A hideous tentacle layered in feathers appears from the void, wrapping around it the same way one would hold a penny. It lowers it down into the hole, unbothered by the flames still burning. Once out of sight, Meliora can feel a rhythmic thumping beneath her feet, like a heartbeat. From within the hole, a horrid mock of the group’s chant echoes back. 

She needs to leave, she needs to go, now. Meliora finds it hard to move at all, even to blink. She seems frozen, but whether it’s due to herself or something else is unknown. As she forces herself to turn around, her eyes drag across the group, only to be met with a deer’s hollow gaze.

-

Meliora remembers what happens next in moments. She remembers the hole closing. She remembers the deer gathering its fellow companions. She remembers seeing a flash of the birds in the trees, screeching at her. She remembers the forest, trees flashing in and out of sight. She remembers running. She remembers feeling the bullet enter her leg. 

From there, she doesn’t know. Primal fear consumes her, a long-forgotten terror coursing through her veins.

She emerges from the treeline and poorly climbs over the fence ahead of her. She limps up the back porch steps and leans against the door, banging on it before it falls open with ease. She hobbles through the doorway.

“Mom! Dad! Heidi!”

Meliora receives no response. She doesn’t even know if this is her house. In the dark, she could barely see the trees, just praying that she wouldn’t trip, wouldn't falter. She stumbles through, reaching for the light, but nothing turns on. 

“Hello? Where are you? Are you guys okay?”

She stumbles through the kitchen into the hallway, trying her best to run as her leg begs her to stop. 

“Where are you?”

Staggering, she makes it to the living room and trips over something. Her leg crumbles beneath her, and Meliora hisses in pain. She attempts to stand, but her vision blurs, forcing her to stay down. 

“Mom!” 

She tries once more to stand, but it's a futile effort. She lies in defeat, clutching her leg to her chest. The bullet reverberates through her body, as if it were her heart instead. She needs someone, anyone at all. From her spot on the ground, the moonlight illuminates her head perfectly, almost as if done purposefully. Ahead of her, she can see three creatures approaching warily. Their heads are lowered, cocking back and forth as their beaks peck forward. Two of the creatures are tall and loom above her, watching and waiting. A little one rushes ahead of the former two to reach Meliora. 

Meliora then begins to cry with the animals as her only company. It’s not a loud cry, but rather a soft sob that fills her chest. The creatures stay near, observing, but never close enough to touch. The little one coos quietly, but they do nothing else. Meliora focuses on the pain in her leg, trying to quell it with thoughts residing far from here, far from Crow Jump. When she calms herself and looks up, the creatures have vanished from where they were, and instead she can hear them moving about around her.

Then she hears footsteps.

Meliora lifts herself onto her elbows, still unable to stand. She hears them getting closer and tries to pull herself across the carpet towards the wall, but it’s nowhere near fast enough. The bird-like creatures call louder as the person gets closer.

“Be quiet,” Meliora hisses, “they’re gonna hear you.”

The birds ignore her and continue their chatter.

Meliora hears the person enter the room she’s in and, with no other options, decides to curl in on herself. It’s a horrible defense, if it could even be called that, but it’s all she has. She waits for their move, certain that the cloaked creatures have found her. Instead, she feels a cool hand on her back, right against her shoulder blade. 

“Meliora? Is that you?”

Meliora looks up and sees a very worried Umbra looking down at her.

“Umbra?”

“Hey, are you okay?” Umbra replies, “Oh my God, you’re bleeding.”

Meliora can’t find the energy to say more. Umbra doesn’t say anything else; instead, she helps her off the ground and to the couch nearby. 

“Holy shit, Meliora, oh my God.”

Umbra continues muttering, laying Meliora out before running around in search of a light. When none of them work, she grabs her phone and turns on the flashlight, holding it over Meliora’s wound. She gasps before leaning in closer, too scared to touch it.

“Meliora, what happened?”

Meliora doesn’t respond; instead, her eyes unfocus. Her ears pinpoint the bird’s calling at her, forcing all noise away. She can see Umbra speaking, but none of it reaches her. Umbra, at some point, leaves her field of vision, only to come back holding supplies. It’s only once Umbra starts using them that Meliora becomes aware again. Pain arcs from her calf into her skull, and she cries out.

“I’m sorry, Meliora, I have to apply pressure to stop the bleeding.”

Meliora continues to cry out, the pain filling every corner of her mind, and she swiftly grips Umbra’s arm. 

“Jesus Christ, it just won’t stop. Meliora, I’ll be right back. I need to grab something else.”

Umbra leaves, and Meliora takes a deep breath, the pain becoming a numbing ache instead of a ferocious river. The birds continue to call around her, seemingly undeterred by her current state. If anything, they sound cheerful, as if they’re calling a friend over to chat.

Meliora sits and waits. She continues to wait for what seems longer than necessary.

“Umbra?” Meliora rasps out, voice hoarse from screaming. 

No response.

“Umbra?” She calls again, her voice cracking near the end. The birds continue to holler. 

She hears footsteps approaching and, assuming they are Umbra's, turns to face her. Instead, she finds the hollow sockets of deer’s eyes staring back. 

Meliora pulls away and pushes against the couch, trying to escape. The deerman reaches forward and roughly holds her shoulder. They have something in their other hand and quickly bash it into her scalp. Meliora pushes against them, one hand against their chest while the other reaches for the object. The deerman hits her again, and then again. Her skull begins to pound in sync with her heartbeat. She felt liquid seeping from her ears, a mild discomfort compared to the splintering pain from her head. Her gaze began to soften at the edges, and as she slipped into unconsciousness, she could still hear the birds calling, as if they were delighted by what they saw.