The boy found a quiet spot, away from the crowds on the street, tucked away in the lot behind the stores. He sat on a pile of discarded pallets, humming softly to himself as he watched the crows and pigeons gather around him, drawn in by the millet bread in his hands. He tore it into small pieces, bit by bit, throwing them out to the birds just far enough to draw them in closer. He smiled as he listened to their chatter - their voices were familiar, their petty arguments as they squabbled for food endearing.  He almost wished he could have more time to sit and chat with them, but alas. 

[i]”Kore kara oni no…”[/i] the boy sang softly to himself, tearing up the last of the bread. There was a good sized flock now, he thought. A dozen or so. Enough to get some work done. He crumpled the paper bag the bread had come in and tossed it over his shoulder, then rose slowly enough off the pallets that he didn’t startle the birds, his hand grabbing something next to him and bringing it with him. The charms hanging off the hilt of his sword clattered together faintly as he raised it in front of him.

“I hope you guys don’t hold this against me,” he said, almost sounding genuine. One of the phone charms started to glow ominously. “But I’m gonna have to put you to work for me, alright?”

[hr]

Screams from the end of the street. People running, confusion and panic echoing through the air. Heads turn, drawn by the clamor, curious about what could be happening. A fight? An accident? Some begin to step toward it, wanting a closer look, only for eyes to widen in shock, legs rooted in fear. Monsters, like huge, humanoid birds begin to spill out from behind the shops down the road, pursuing the fleeing crowd. 

They are clumsy, crashing into storefronts and flapping awkwardly through the air, like children struggling to adjust to take their first steps, but they’re learning quickly, getting faster, more agile with each moment. Some learn faster than others, sprinting on distended limbs after their victims while others swoop in from above, grabbing people off the streets and lifting off with them - or so it seems, but no. Their bodies fall to the floor, unresponsive, the creatures clutching some amorphous ball of violet energy in their clawed hands. 

The Witch of the Waters waded through the crowd in long strides, hair flowing freely behind her like a cloak. They had moved quickly, much more quickly than she had expected - or perhaps she’d awoken much too late. No matter; she was here now, and that was all the difference. She squared her feet in the middle of the road, dark hair shining like gold as the early dusk light filtered through it. One of the creatures had knocked over a red cylinder on the roadside in its clumsiness, and pillars of water poured out of it. She smiled at her good fortune as she threw one arm out to the side, a gnarled coral staff coming quickly at her call. She raised it high over her head before her, the water filling the street circling gracefully around her as she did so, and the words came just as easily to her lips now as they had so long ago. 

“Oh warriors of ages past, lost to time,” she intoned, her voice grandiose and beseeching. The water around her churned faster, more aggressively, rising around her like a curtain as she spoke. “Darkness encroaches, and the music of calamity sounds. I call to you who would stand as bulwark against the tide, to offer your strength to those with the will to fight. Rise now, and lend thy aid to those you deem worthy, that this world may yet be safeguarded from those who threaten it! [i]Come!!”[/i] 

Her staff struck the ground with a thunderous crack, the water around her bursting forth as the spirits within shot free, taking to the sky and rocketing in different directions. They moved too quickly for her to get a count - perhaps half a dozen, perhaps more. It would have to be enough. 

She only hoped they weren’t picky.