[SleepingDragon]: 268.Os-screech

Os-screech
Excerpt from War of Evelon- Chapter 16

Copyright 2003


"Oh look! It is an os-screech!"

Gareth thought he had never seen Mary’s eyes so delighted with the sight of anything. She now jumped up and down in place without either of her feet actually ever leaving the ground. Gareth was almost as fascinated by that maneuver as he was by the site of the os-screech.

They stood just outside a log fence that defined the property of whomever owned the os-screech, or os-screeches maybe. They could only see the one but it was a large piece of property and more of them could have been hiding anywhere.

This particular bird was white in color with a bright yellow beak and yellow legs. The long legs and long neck would have been the only things to keep an observer from believing it was a giant chicken he was looking at. The bird stood about a stone’s throw away from where the newlyweds were. Clumps of underbrush and the occasional rock dotted the tall grass of the field in which it stood.

Gareth touched Mary’s shoulder now to get her attention, the first finger of his other hand in front of pursed lips urging her to remain silent. When he had her attention, he pointed off to the left a ways from where the os-screech was.

A man was hunched down with his back to them under the cover of a clump of bramble. He was slowly sneaking up on the os-screech. On his back was a small pack with miscellaneous items tied about it. One of the items appeared to be a musical instrument of the string type similar to those that Gareth had seen strummed by some of the street musicians at the festival. All Gareth could make out of the stranger was that he was slender with long wavy brown hair past his shoulders and that he was dressed in green and yellow garments of a type similar to his own.

The man was close to the bird now and leaped out from a nearby bush and onto its back, grabbing it about the neck as he did so. The bird made a loud screech and began running about, back and forth, in all directions much quicker than anyone present, including the man upon its back could have ever predicted. It darted to and fro and ran around in small circles for half a moment or more before running strait towards where Mary and Gareth stood by the fence. As the crazed os-screech approached, the couple just caught a glimpse of the man’s wide eyes before the bird jumped clean over the fence between the two of them. The would be bird rustler was thrown headfirst off of the os-screech into a nearby rock and knocked unconscious. The frightened bird continued running and disappeared into a nearby wood.

"Fool!" Cried Mary, rushing to the young man’s side where his head bled upon the rock. "I should ‘cold-cock’ you myself for how you have frightened the poor os-screech and I should feel a fool for mending you now."

Illustration here ->http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/d/r/dragon916/os_screach_phin2.jpg.html