He saw Sabal and Mylia run onto the deck and join the melee, using rifles to shoot at the beast. He recognized the soldiers he had seen in the forest. He saw a tall black-bronze woman with rust hair who stood out from the crowd. She fought fiercely.
Mylia noticed Ranglen and threw to him the pistol she had taken, surprising him with her trust.
The rifle fire drove the creature back, but it didn’t have a lasting effect. The bird was wounded—red spots splattered its wings—but its attacks didn’t lessen.
Then the other assailant, Crooked Beak, joined the fight. Its bright yellow but blunted beak was so large it could ram more than one person at a time. It pummeled people, knocked them down with its battering weapon, crushed them.
Ranglen hurried to the side of the deck where a low wall lin
