Altair didn't dignify the taunt with a single word or even a flicker of emotion. With a powerful woosh that sent dead leaves, gray moss, and swamp water raining down, the Golden Eagle launched himself into the air.
In a matter of seconds, he was nothing but a streak of brilliant gold vanishing into the gray sky.
"That bird..." Vex muttered to the empty air, brushing the dirt from his shoulder. "That bird is, without a doubt, the most irritating, personality-devoid creature I have ever had the displeasure of meeting."
Things had definitely not gone as planned. He had masterfully set the stage, weaving a web of urgency and despair. He had anticipated that Altair would rush to the castle in a desperate, heroic frenzy to save his mate, dragging the precious tiger cub right into Vex's waiting grasp.
But instead, the bird brick wall had simply taken his prize, ignored the bait entirely, and flown away.
Vex let out a dramatic sigh, the sound lost to the vast expanse of the swamp.
